We are rounding 4 weeks since the little Maizey Blue has joined our family, and I am going to cautiously state that a puppy joining our family has gone much more smoothly than I anticipated.
When I remember getting Lloyd as a puppy, I remember a puppy as A TON OF WORK! Which... there's not doubt, a puppy is a ton of work.
But contextually, adding a puppy to our lives right now brings a different amount of work than a puppy did 9.5 years ago when Lloyd joined our family.
Hubby and I got Lloyd Carr the puppy in October 2011. He and I were married in June. We moved in together for the first time in August, and in a new rental home. He started a new job in August. When Lloyd joined our family, we were just adjusting to married life and our only dependent was Lexie, my three-year-old cat.
For us, a new puppy was A TON OF WORK -- and really, our first shared responsibility in marriage.
Really... a month in, she is not as much work as I remember Lloyd being.
She's still a rambunctious puppy who chews and needed to be house trained, and still needs a lot of training... she is a puppy who is a ton of work... but really, Hubby and I juggle A LOT of things that are a ton of work.
We now have five children (who are very demanding). When we got Lloyd, we had JUST received a number of lovely wedding gifts (which our sweet puppy was now trying to chew). With Maizey, those beautiful wedding gifts were put into storage about five years ago when the twins were born with no plans to take them any time in the next decade.
Our house is already baby-proofed because Hunter is a newly walking toddler and loves to explore. The baby-gates were already up for his safety... and now Maizey has the same boundaries.
We are teaching Maizey what toys are HER toys to chew, and what she is not allowed to chew... but truthfully, we don't have THAT many nice things in our life with five children and one more on the way. We teach our children to be respectful of our furniture and our home... but accidents happen, and we expect accidents to happen. This is why Hubby and I will not be investing in a new family room furniture set for another decade or so.
I'm sure she'll find her own mischief and prove me wrong... but really I'm not sure what Maizey could damage that our children haven't already damaged.
She was sleeping through the night a week after we got her. She is very at home in her kennel (which she spends time in at night, when we leave the house, and when we're eating meals), and she has not had an accident inside in over a week.
She is also a LOT of fun, very gentle with our children (even Hunter), and she copies everything Lloyd does -- and Lloyd is a very good dog.
When Lloyd was a puppy, I remember feeling very guilty that if Hubby or I wasn't playing with him, he was by himself. Now... wow, we have a LOT of people to love on Maizey. She plays and cuddles with Lloyd, and Hubby, and Tracey, and Howard, and Caroline, and Lee Lee, and even Hunter. Of course we need to makes sure are being gentle with he and that she is being gentle with them... but there are a lot of people to make her feel loved and wanted.
The only one who spends zero time with Maizey is Lexie. She watches her from up high and from afar -- but she enjoys the fact that she can go places that Maizey cannot, and when Maizey is in her kennel, Lexie continues to enjoy the king size bed cuddling by my feet.
All in all, we are not in the market for another puppy and time soon... but a new puppy (especially a really good puppy like Maizey Blue) did not bring nearly the chaos I was expecting to our already crazy crew.
Ask me again in three months when the baby arrives and I might have a different story.
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