WitchGrotto Blog

Spring is finally visibly underway here. The lawn is slowly turning from brown to green. The daffodils in our front yard have put out their glowing yellow flowers. The buds on the trees are swelling although there aren’t any leaves or flowers yet.

And in my little family, we have a new puppy!

We’d been talking for a while about the possibility of getting a dog. The kids wanted a dog. My sweetheart wanted a dog. I thought a dog was probably a good idea. So we did some talking, did some research into what type of dog might be best for our family, and then finally picked a place where we could get a puppy.

Then on the long Easter weekend we brought our puppy home.

She’s a cute little curly carrottop we’ve named Paques — it’s French for Easter. She is a mixed breed dog, half English cocker spaniel and half miniature poodle. She’s really cute and all puppy.

Which means that not only do we have a dog in our family, but we also have what is essentially a baby/toddler. Complete with regular bathroom breaks (she can’t hold her pee for very long), an enormous need for attention, and of course a voracious appetite for cuddles and playing.

We’re getting into a routine with her and are starting to get a bit better sleep at night. The first few nights I didn’t sleep much as our puppy would wake up and whine because she didn’t know where she was and was scared. I’d get up, sit with her and cuddle her, wait for her to fall asleep, and then sneak off to my own bed again. She’d sleep for a bit longer (a couple hours if I was lucky) and then repeat the process.

I took her for her first checkup by the vet on Wednesday and asked about sleeping arrangements. He suggested that like with a human baby it’s OK for the parents to let the baby learn to sleep on its own without constant comforting through the night. So we’ve worked out a routine now where Paques gets lots of attention and exercise leading up to bedtime and then when we’re going to bed (which is about the same time for everyone in our house) we put the puppy in her crate, say goodnight, and then leave her until we get up in the morning.

She still whines but thankfully she’s not that loud, and with our bedroom door closed between where she is and where where my sweetie and I sleep it means we’re able to sleep through the night.

I’m sure Paques will settle in and sleep through the night with less fuss. She’s a spring baby and just like the spring is blossoming and taking us closer to summer, our puppy is growing and changing before our eyes, and will undoubtedly become a wonderful grown dog.

Here’s a quick pic of Paques I just took with my laptop’s webcam. Isn’t she a cutie?

This entry was posted on Friday, April 17th, 2009 at 7:20 PM and is filed under Life in General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.