Busyness & Puppies

I'm not even sure if "busyness" is a legitimate word, but it's the only term I can use to describe how things have been for me lately.  The main reason for this is the fact that the dear BF and I decided that we needed to get another dog.

Actually, it wasn't quite that way...

On his birthday last week, for fun we went to visit a tiny little litter of cockapoos.  We played with them for a while, talked to the man selling them, got some knowledge, picked the one we liked the most, decided to wait until the end of June, drove home.

For the rest of the day we agonized over whether we had made the right choice or not.  Words we kept bandying around were "we have to wait for the right time", although we both agreed that there was no such thing as a "right time" when it came to getting a puppy.   It is always going to be challenging, no matter when you get one or the circumstances surrounding it.

We flipped a coin multiple times, talked, prayed, waited, thought...called back the man that night and when he didn't pick up, left a message.  We had already picked and named the puppy we wanted (incidentally, the runt of the litter), so we agreed that if he was gone, we wouldn't get another puppy for a while.

We waited overnight.  The BF was saddened as the time passed.  "I guess he's been sold", he kept saying.  The seller had warned us that the puppies go extremely fast.  

The next morning it rained and the BF stayed home from work...construction in the rain is a no-go.  At ten in the morning we got a phone call from the seller saying, "I'm sorry I missed your call last night.  The little guy is still here if you're interested."

We were both still in bed and we jumped out of bed, threw on our clothes and drove like crazy to the house.  A little while later we returned home with "Oliver", our precocious new handful.

He may look cute, but don't be fooled...he IS cute!  He's also chewy and nippy (puppy teething) and chases the poor cats around, hounding them constantly.  I can already tell that I have my work cut out for me.

Licorice has been patient!  He has also growled warnings when the puppy has been excitable or nippy.  Eventually, as Oliver gets older, I'm sure they will get along more.  Right now the age difference is VERY noticeable.  

Sometimes they're okay though.

I've already been working on "dominating" Oliver.  I read up A LOT on puppies and the alpha male (or female, in my case) and one technique I've picked up is holding him in the air and growling at him until he goes limp in my hands.  I know that sounds strange (and it probably looks strange when I do it!), but it definitely works.  

I'm very determined not to have a yappy little dog under our feet.  The BF and I force him to walk behind us, even on long walks with Licorice.  We try not to carry him much and I'm still struggling with the nipping/biting thing.  My gut tells me a huge part of it is puppyhood, but I want to be careful that it doesn't carry on past there.

Fortunately, Oliver is extremely intelligent...smarter than Licorice. We had in crate trained in five days.  He's pee pad trained and we're slowly trying to move him toward peeing only outside.  He does walks very well and he was playing fetch with me earlier this week.

All in all, he is a fun little addition to our menagerie.  We have reached capacity, though.  No more animals.  None.  This is the last furry friend, especially while in this apartment.

If you have any puppy advice, leave it below! I love hearing ideas about puppy training.  I'm now off to get a clicker from Petsmart.

Cheers.