whelp, we got a puppy

Introducing Miss Molly May Stewart! If you don’t want see a whole bunch of pictures of this puppy, this is not the blog post for you!

I think, in its own way, this blog post can still be educational. Read on to learn when NOT to get a puppy (based on expert experience) (me, the expert is me):

• when you have a senior dog who does not like other dogs
• when your kids are sick
• when you just had a procedure at the hospital done that is still causing you discomfort and limited mobility
• when your husband is going away THE NEXT DAY
• when you are a couple weeks away from a huge camping trip that involves a 12 hour drive each way
• when you already have 3 pets living in your duplex

If you have all of those things going on, it is not the right time to get a puppy! haha

All joking aside, she is a sweet dog even though very much a puppy. If we stay consistent with training her and nipping (which, coincidentally, is her worst behaviour) her bad behaviours, I feel confident that she will be such an amazing addition to our family for many years.

We’ve been talking for about a year about getting a puppy and going back and forth on timing. Our senior dog is the perfect family pet: so sweet and gentle, never has accidents, doesnt chew, snuggly, just all around the perfect dog. Except she is not friendly with other dogs! We were / are hoping with getting one from a puppy it will be something she can get used to. She bit the puppy already within 24 hours of having her home but they have stayed away from each other since. How did we decide to just go ahead and do it? We went to Secret Life of Pets 2 and then to the animal shelter to “look”. Add that to the list above of what not to do! haha In seriousness though, summer is a good time as its nicer weather for having her outside and on lots of walks. And she was cute and won us over!

All jokes aside, our kids are a lovely age to have a puppy. They are so so so excited and have wanted a puppy for so long. They are so happy to help by taking her outside lots to go to the bathroom and they have the energy to play with her that I dont always have. And now they will grow up with a dog and the dog with them. Our other dog was 5 when Hailey was born and while the dog does love them, she has never been one to really play with them. Hailey has been super helpful taking the pup outside and keeping an eye on her inside. My littlest love, Sophie, has always been such a an animal lover so she is thrilled!

how i can make this educational

BOOKS! The way to make everything educational is books! I just blew up amazon (thank goodness for prine) and ordered all the books about dogs and dog training. I ordered books for me but also books geared to kids about training dogs, different breeds of dogs, dog anatomy, you name it!

Now, I sort of joke about making this educational because we are finished of school for the year. But I did actually order all the books from amazon and I do plan to learn this along with my kids! Because my one girl loves animals so much, this will grab her attention and she will retain this info like a sponge. Even though it is a bit of a joke that homeschoolers can turn everything in to school, I did want to mention it just to show that whether you homeschool or not, there are learning opportunities all the time! You are probably facilitating your child’s learning all the time without even realizing it! The beautiful thing is, God created us all different with different abilities. So we may all learn something together and one of my kids may take to it better than I do! That then becomes a skill that child can use to serve our family. (Can we all just hope together one of my girls is an amazing dog trainer?)

I will keep you posted over on instagram how our puppy training saga is going.

I will leave you with a few more cute puppy pictures and a question….who knows how to train a puppy??? Email me or comment with any and all tips!