I Have Puppy Brain

I recently adopted an approximately 4-month-old puppy. 

And ever since, my life has been nothing but chaos ... after thinking about it for a bit, I figured out why. I now have puppy brain. 

I get nothing done other than watching the puppy, cleaning up after the puppy, and working on training her. In addition to the things that all puppies need to learn – – house training, not chewing on human appendages, on furniture or on rugs and carpets – – she needs work on socialization and fear responses. She seems quite fearful of vehicles we encounter on the road – – there are no sidewalks in my neighborhood – – as well as being fearful of people we encounter during our walks and in particular, other dogs. She gets rewarded with a tiny, soft puppy treat whenever she shows acceptable behavior. And she is a quick learner. I’m already seeing improvements in how she reacts to vehicles and individuals. Her reactions to other dogs, however, can still be quite excessive. But she did very well yesterday morning when she saw her first hot air balloon floating over the road on which we were walking.

Because she is young and full of energy, she gets two walks most mornings. I live in the high desert, and it is simply too hot for a walk after about 10 AM. She eats three meals a day, her lunch being dispersed in a treat ball. I take her outside very frequently to relieve herself and hope that she will eventually figure out that pottying inside is not OK.

I received a soft doggie playpen yesterday, although I’m sure she won’t like spending time in there because she wants to be as close to me as possible. But having her safely confined will give both me and my other dog a break from her antics.

If I’m lucky, I can accomplish one non-puppy thing each day. Yesterday, I vacuumed my bedroom. And I did a small load of laundry and ran the dishwasher at bedtime. So I got three things done yesterday, which is quite unusual these days. I have been working on setting up a new laptop for close to a week.

It is at all extra work with his puppy, however. This morning she had me laughing as she raced around the back yard under the sprinklers. Some days, she’s just a doofus. And these days of puppyhood, as trying as they can be, will not last forever.

With a dog so young and so in need of training, I am sure my puppy brain will be with me for many more months.