Puppy Life Lessons

I am so tired. Never having had a young puppy before, not to mention a job and being an old lady celebrating anniversaries of her 28th birthday since last century, I had no idea! I behold the sunrise every morning, every day. In fact, more sunrises graced my mornings this last month than all of the months of my life prior. Often, I get to see the morning sky without the sunrise–we are up just that early! I get up and pee–Mama’s first around here–and then fetch the pup crying, “I gotta go. I gotta go. I gotta go. Mommmmmieeeeee. I gotta go. I gotta go. I gotta go.” Of course the fact that she really would rather not go outside due to being afraid of it does make this a bit tough, but out we go. First time we pee and poop. Times two though five we go to pee again, otherwise I am on my hands and knees cleaning up the floor. I hate cleaning up the floor, and not just for the obvious reason. My puppy is addicted to the cleaning spray and would prefer I just squirt it into her mouth. I think she has the Alcoholism gene because she also really loves it when I take off nail polish, so I figure the lure of these things is all about the alcohol. Not only does the pooch love the hooch (ha!) but she also loves cayenne pepper. I found this out when I sprinkled it on the wood of the sofa she thinks would be fun to teethe on, and instead of her crying and backing away, she licked it up. Thankfully, I also know now that she hates mint. Needless to say, my house is minty fresh these days.

You may be asking yourself why in the world I would put myself through all of this torture. Trust me! At five in the morning, I too am asking myself what the heck I got myself into. Then I see her cute little panda marked body bouncing around and melt. She really is a love, and she is putting a lot of F.U.N. back into my life. I needed the fun and her as my teacher. I can be sooo serious sometimes. Plus, knowing she was coming into my life really helped me to start planning for my future and stop looking back over my shoulder at the painful past with The Bean.

Those early morning wake-up calls ground my whole day towards taking care of her, and in so doing I also take care of my own soul. As we played catch this morning at eight, instead of our usual 6-6:30 stint. What a God-send she woke up at 7:30, with a tiny bit of encouragement at 5:30, 6:15 and 6:45, given that I was on-call last night and went to a death until almost 3 am! So in my sleepy haze tossing her ball down the hall and praying to not hit the china cupboard, I started to think about what I am learning from little Emma. Here are my musings:

• The adage “don’t bite the hand that feeds you” is really smart. When she nips at me, I wish the wrath of the puppy gods upon her cute little deranged head with the sharp needles for teeth! We can all nip at our bosses about this and that–my favourite nips center on the antiquated systems that make everything take forever to do, coupled with “productivity” requirements (Yes, even Chaplains have quotas!)–not always taking to heart that if they had a magic wand they too would fix the DOS system that makes their life a living hell as well.
• Toys are fun, but even more fun when you play with someone else. Emma never steals things that are not hers unless I am ignoring her. She demands attention, that is for sure, but she also has a lot more fun when we play together. Take me: I always went to the movies by myself over the years. Even when I was in High School! But now I really just like going with a friend, especially Paparazzo. So much more fun to talk about it with someone and share the experience. This holds true for me and bike riding as well. I go further, have a better workout and enjoy myself more. I guess I am not as much of a loner as I embraced at an earlier time.
• A good day includes eating both your meals and some yummy treats, pooping and peeing, walking around outside, being curious, playing with friends, and loving on those around you, so do not worry too much about all the other complicated stuff. Granted, Emma is cared for because I get up and go to work, etc. She has an easy life, which I lecture her on when she is a pain in the rear-end. But she also shows me that keeping things more simple can lead to a really amazing walk on a cool evening or some precious cuddle time with a wiggly puppy in my lap. The Internet or TV are never as wonderful.
• Kiss, kiss, kiss is always better than nip, nip, nip. In our world, Emma kissing me is always better than when she is a mouthy puppy. The Bible puts it this way,”A kind word turns away anger.”
• Jump into the arms of the one you love. My heart fills up with sheer glee when I see her bounding towards me, leaping into my lap and arms, and snuggling in to get close. So often we see those who matter the most to us and say, “Hey.” That is it!???! How much better to just fling our arms around them, hug them tight, and say, “I am so much more happy now that I see your beautiful face. I love you.”
• Naps are good. This one is self-explanatory, and causes a great deal of jealousy around my house. I put her down for a nap and sulk away from her crate. Pitiful!
• Napping with another warm body beside you, even better. I need to work on this in my personal life as well as my puppy life! She prefers napping in her bed than in mine. Plus, if she is in my bed, she insists on checking my head for fleas. “Mommie is not a puppy,” gets said around here quite a bit. Mommie also knows that just any warm body will not do in her bed. Only one encasing the heart of a man who really loves me for who I am will do at this point. I am glad I get that now.
• Accidents happen. I keep thinking of that old Bissel ad that said, “Life is messy; clean it up.” Shit happens; we all do it! I try to focus on cleaning things up and moving on with life over getting all upset that it happened in the first place.
• Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. She is growing up and has to learn the rules, test the rules, and grow into accepting the rules. I try to be as consistent as possible, and fair. Sometimes I just mess up on the Mommie end, and often she messes up on the baby end. I must forgive her in order to wipe my heart clean of my anger at the “mistakes” and to be open to loving her fully again, so I might train her to be the dog I want her to be. I also have to forgive myself for not always doing the right thing or for getting overwhelmed, etc. A girl has to work, ya know? Grace has to be the cornerstone of all of my relationships–even the one I have with myself–in order for them to grow and flourish. Forgiving the nicks along the way means that I understand pruning as being a part of life.

Emma and I are both growing up around here, and I am honest with myself about that.