It’s been a while since I did a life update, and to be honest, it’s probably about time. A lot has happened! The last few weeks have been especially long and frustrating; between three launches, the fact that my social media workload has at least doubled, and that we’re currently hiring to bring in a new boss for me, work just on its own has been a lot to deal with.
But today, that’s not what I’m here to talk about. No, I’m here to talk about what’s been going on at home.
Because last week, Shane and I got a puppy!
For the last year or so, we’ve been watching our families raise puppies. My sister got a little Bernese mountain dog puppy about a year ago, and it’s taken her an insane amount of work to turn him into the friendly giant that he is. And even so, he’s still a baby, and has no concept of his size—and will happily thieve napkins off the table even though he knows it’s wrong. My in-laws got a little lab mix puppy about a week after our wedding, and we’ve seen her grow from a Beanie Baby-sized nugget into a hyperfriendly powerhouse capable of pulling just about anyone over.
So because of that, we thought we were ready.
And let me tell you, I’m not completely sure we knew what we were in for.
That’s not to say it’s going badly; it’s actually been going incredibly well. Our sweet girl, Harley (named for Harley Quinn), is smart and picking up on things quickly. In a handful of days, she’s almost got her name figured out, she can do some basic commands, she’s learned stairs and how to walk nicely, and she’s even figured out why you don’t just let loose on my area rug.
But none of that was the case right away.
On Thursday night, after going through sellers who listed their locations incorrectly and a long drive that involved dusty dirt roads in winter, we brought home a lovely little golden retriever puppy. She was just the sweetest, but it didn’t take us long to realize that she was scared of everything—and that meant accidents happened.
I think I slept maybe three hours total that night, between anxiety about what the next day would hold and fear of whether I’d wake up to the sound—or smell—of a mess in the making. She’s a little older than puppies normally are when they come home, though, so she did really well, and made it all the way through the night.
But even though she did well, that sleeplessness made for a long first day. Doubly so because she didn’t know how to listen yet. And triply so because I still had to work that day.
Now, though, things are looking up.
At first, we only trusted her to be on the main floor, where she could easily ask to go outside without much risk of an accident. We’ve been working hard with her to get her to a point where we can trust her on other floors of the house, which means she’s been able to start getting used to living in a gamer household.
And so far, I think she’s actually liking it! She definitely shares some of our interests; she loves helping me write, and may have accidentally deleted a draft or two of this post in her enthusiasm. She also loves watching us play video games on the TV—she’s been especially interested in Animal Crossing and UFC so far. She was even fascinated to watch us boot up FFXIV this weekend, and was happy to hang out on the couch and watch our screens in action.
It’s been a massive relief, really. I was so worried that with a puppy in the house, we wouldn’t have time for the things we love, and the things that help us unwind after a long day. And I’m so glad that was an unwarranted concern.
