Puppy Love

You guys. It's National Puppy Day! Anymore, these random holidays kind of spring up out of nowhere. So I'm not sure if this was even a holiday this time last year. If it was, I can assure you I did not celebrate. We found Luna online at a local breeder, instantly fell in love with her, and waited a few weeks until she was ready to come home. We got the call that she was ready, and were absolutely elated. Yes! A puppy will complete our family! Oh, how naive I was...

We brought Luna home on St. Patrick's Day last year. I did not know what I was in for. My self-centered world took a drastic turn as we welcomed this 2 pound yorkie into our home. 

Enjoying her first belly rub from her Papa Scott :) 

Jonathan and I got into an instant argument as soon as we got home about whether or not we should take her to my grandma's for our St. Patrick's Day dinner. We ended up not going. I couldn't believe what we had done. We had just thrown away life as we knew it: easy, simple, and no responsibilities. 

As the days and weeks passed on, I still couldn't bond with this dog. She was peeing and pooping everywhere. I couldn't get the training thing down. I would dread going home because I knew I was going to have to deal with her. Seriously, I cried every single time I looked at her. Jonathan was superman those first 3-4 months. He took her out every single time, played with her until she napped, and held her when she was being needy. 

We discussed giving her to family members to raise and have as their own. We briefly talked about taking her back. But in the back of our minds, we knew we had made a grown up decision and we were going to stick with it. 

I will say this: she only cried the second night we had her. She didn't make a peep the first night because I'm sure she was terrified. The second night she cried from 11:30-5 in the morning. Since then, she's been the best sleeper in the world! 

If we did one thing right, it was crate training. She loves her taxi and glady accepts going in when it's time for us to leave.

When we got Luna, my mind wasn't in the 'in it for the long haul' zone. The excitement of bringing a puppy home was short lived. But as time passed, somewhere along the way, I grew to be absolutely obsessed with this yorkie. She still makes me so mad sometimes. But we changed a few things about how we were raising her (we trained her to puppy pads..this has drastically changed our life! Think what you may...but she isn't your dog!) and that has made all the difference. Anymore, I can't imagine our lives without her. She is unashamedly our baby, and our little family of 3 is absolutely perfect for us right now. 

Lu is now around 6 pounds, has too much sass for her own good and if she isn't curled up in my lap sleeping, she's play-growling with her tail wagging, insinuating that she's ready for me to throw her plush octopus across the room, yet again, so she can only bring it back to me to chase down once more.

Luna brings so much laughter to our lives. She is the most loving, friendly four-legged creature you'll ever meet. She's full of wet, in-your-face kisses and the only time her tail isn't ferociously wagging is when she's snoozing. She's too smart for her own good, really, and while I do remember the days without her, I don't want to remember life without the pitter-patter of her paws walking on our floors and her hopping up on the back of the couch to watch the cars pass by while I'm getting ready for work. 

It's a lot of responsibility to bring a dog home. If I hadn't had Jonathan those first months, I'm not sure I would've made it. But I can only chuckle when I think about how far I've come. Jonathan was out of town a couple weeks ago for work, so it was just Luna & me. We had the greatest week ever and when he returned, Jonathan couldn't believe how attached she had become to me. 

If you don't have a dog but want one, really -- really -- weigh your pros and cons. You can make it, and you will make it. Shoot, you may absolutely love your dog from the get-go and never think twice about life as you knew it. But as many of you know, I'm the queen of second guessing my decisions, so I was just positive our lives were over. As time passed, I was positive that our lives were incomplete before our pup came along. 

Happy National Puppy Day! 

Sincerely,