Destroyed

Lily has become pretty energetic (hence the time inbetween blog posts). When she plays, she plays hard.

Poor seahorse...

Life with Lily

Life with Lily is... hectic, to say the least. She has very definite ideas about what the world should and should not be like. Needless to say, we disagree on several major points:

- Whether or not she should be allowed on the couch
- If biting at people is truly necessary
- That a harness has to go ON before one can use it to go on a walk
- That the puppy is attached to the leash, not the human
- That pants are for wearing, not chewing
- That naptime should last at least an hour, not fifteen minutes

I'm pretty sure you can guess whose ideas are whose. I get very frustrated with her sometimes - she's such a little ball of energy! - but puppies are like toddlers: always on the go, and unable to sit still. I constantly have to remind myself that she is a baby, and she's not being "bad," she just doesn't *know* yet what we expect of her and what's dangerous.

Hence why I had to puppy-proof the library after she tried to eat a Littlest Pet Shop Snail.

Ahh, puppy love...

Vet's office

Lily went on her first trip to the vet today. She was amazingly good in the car; so long as she was in daddy's arms, she was fine. :) (She HATES the car) She's 12.2 pounds now (double her weight since we got her), and everything looks fantastic! The vet said we're doing everything right and that she's absolutely adorable. I agree, of course. Lily fell asleep on the table; what else could we possibly ask for in a well-behaved puppy girl?

When she got her shot, her daddy had to turn away, but I couldn't help laughing at the "What the HECK is wrong with you, woman?!" look she got on her face as she glared at the vet.

Unfortunately, I think they put some kind of puppy crack in the vaccine. She has NEVER. BEEN. THAT. HYPER. If she gets that hyper from a parvo vaccine, I'm terrified to see what happens when she gets spayed...

Lillerz!

I love my puppy so much. She has this new habit of flinging herself into my arms when she sees me in the morning; it's adorable! There's not much to write home about, except that she's afraid of lightning. When I pull the treats out to practice our training, she sits down, so now we can't work on "sit" because she pre-empts me :)

We're working on "stay" slowly - stay tuned!

Frustration!

Puppies are babies, and babies mean accidents. It's been a very frustrating week in the LilyBean household, culminating in a chart of when she "goes" to see if there's a pattern.

Our Lily Bean is a wonderful, awesome puppy who got her VERY FIRST OFFICIAL PETCO BATH today, but I'm really hoping she learns not to poop inside!

Adventurous.

Lily has shown that she's more border collie than anything else.

She is the smartest freakin' dog I have ever met in my life.

My tiny 6-pound puppy is usually baby-gated in our pantry, since it's a small area that can contain her crate, toys, food, and her beanbag chair while providing a safe area for her to explore and play with while we're away. We went out to dinner at Denny's, and when we came back, I hopped over the baby gate to see my precious baby girl.

... She was nowhere to be found.

Frantic, I called for her, both of us bewildered until we heard the tiny tinkling of her collar as she trotted downstairs, acting as if nothing was wrong, and it was completely normal for someone that small to ESCAPE THE BABY GATE.

Keep in mind it was well-positioned and not loose in any way. She climbed it.

We now have two baby gates stacked on top of each other. Let's hope that she becomes potty trained before we need to figure out something ELSE that will hold her...

Worn out.

Lily has been more energetic than I can keep up with. I've had a migraine all day, but she played quietly while I was out cold on the couch. I was so proud of her! She's pretty "snappy" - she'll jump up and snap her teeth at you, and we're going to have to break her of THAT little habit pretty quick.

Otherwise, she's so cute! She learns so fast. If you tell her "no" and she can tell you *really* mean it, she doesn't test it. She loves to curl up in your lap and play, especially in the mornings. Today she was sleepy and woke up enough to come over to lay next to me and let me pet her, it was very sweet.

All in all, it's a scary, trying, exhausting thing to have a puppy. I still wonder if we made the right choice in getting a puppy, but I think once we both settle into a routine it'll be easier and so worth it.