puppy blues

 So I just want to start off by saying....I am completely grateful to have a dog! a puppy nonetheless! I love her to pieces

but oh my gosh, puppies are haaaaaaaaaard to take care of.

Coco...in all her glory.

I got this lovely puppy back in January and it has been the most amazing, frustrating, humbling experience of my life. My boyfriend and I completely underestimated how easy it would be to take care of a dog. We were watching training videos on Youtube, thinking "Oh! We got this!"

No. No we did not. 

Well we did, but it was just definitely a learning curve. 

Personally, I've never had a Staffy before. The only dogs I ever had were two Yorkies who were mainly raised by my parents and my job was just to pick them up, cuddle with them, and give them silly nicknames. 

When we were looking for a dog, I didn't remember with my yorkies any specific issues with potty training, or training in general. I just remember showing them tricks and that was really it. 

Well, Coco would come and show me how much I hate the potty training process, and the strength a baby Staffy has versus my fragile Yorkies who were practically stuffed animals in comparison to her. 

Coco has been much better in regards to potty training, and hasn't had an accident in a while. However, she frequently needs to be taken out which again, I underestimated that. I am though very grateful that she signals by staring at us intensely and stomping when she needs to get taken out.

Coco demanding to be let back inside.

Another thing I had to learn is oh my god....can this dog DESTROY toys! My Yorkies had like no issues with this, so I didn't expect this at all. She has gone through sooooo many toys its ridiculous. We even have gotten these like..super hard ones that make this loud THUD noise when they hit the ground, and she has even managed to mess those up. Right now her favorite is those Kong toys, and a like rock solid bone toy. Not destroyed....yet.

Coco with a broken cat toy 
and her toy

And her strength...oh my gosh. this dog has MUSCLES. Like, I will be kneeling down, and she will jump up to me and boom! I'm on the ground! Or if she jumps on the bed to say hello in the morning, she will knock the wind out of me! 

Going back to training, one thing I am still getting use to is crate training. Before we moved, my pets slept in the same bed as me (don't judge). But now, with Coco in our lives, we thought it would be best to train her that her crate is like her bedroom, and that's where she sleeps. It hasn't been unpleasant, and I think honestly she likes her crate when she's tired.

I think the last pet I ever had to train was my cat, who is still with us. Coco has a terrible tendency to jump on him or try and play with him (I think), which pisses him off and causes him to hide or run to us or hiss. I really am not sure how to fix this issue. She doesn't always jump on him, but for the most part Artie has learned to just keep his distance. Coco too.

Anyways, I just wanted to talk about my dog. I really do love her but man... she was not what I was expecting at all. Here's a photo of my kitty to end the post <3