A Pain? I Don't Care!!!

I'm starting to get a little ticked off at the people who keep telling me that puppies are a pain.  I know they mean well, but I really wish they would stop and think before saying it.

First of all, I have done this before.  Granted, Speedy was a pretty easy puppy in many ways.  But he was a puppy.  He had boundless energy.  He used to just run right into walls at times, he was so nuts!  He destroyed things.  I had tote bags nailed to the wall in our Shendo house so we could put things up away from him because he would take things off of tables and shelves.  He destroyed a pair of Ben's very expensive sunglasses.  He destroyed and partially ate the wooden cross I had that was blessed by Pope John Paul II.

When I started training Speedy, he thought everything meant to jump up in my face!!!  I had to train Sammie to do everything I wanted to teach Speedy to do (to figure out how it would go) because Speedy wouldn't sit still long enough for me to get a thought in edgewise!  He picked up targets and ran away with them and I had to use dinner plates to teach him targeting!!

Oh, and add into that the fact that he was terrified of everyone and everything outside of our home and we lived in a busy town . . . 

I will say this with no reservation - I would do it all over again.  I would gladly let Speedy destroy almost everything I own if I could have him back again even for a short time.  I never think back on Speedy's puppyhood and think "he was a pain".  I think it all went way too fast.

Second, I have just lived with old dogs for the last few years.  Although they are very different from puppies, old dogs aren't always easy.  I had to lift Sammie onto the bed every night for over a year when he couldn't jump up anymore.  I cleaned up countless accident spots when he couldn't hold his bladder sometimes.  Old dogs need blood tests and medications, and over time you watch them be able to do less and less and less.  Speedy got kind of odd and started eating and licking everything in sight.

Know what?  I don't look back on these last few years and think, "they were a pain".  I think, "it wasn't enough time".  I would have happily done what they needed for much longer than I needed to.

The most insane run-ragged month of my life was the first month Dean was here.  He was nuts.  He had no self-discipline whatsoever.  And he was a giant untrained 10 month old Border Collie.

In some odd way I treasure the memory of that time.  There was so much potential and I loved the work that I had to do to help him start to get a grip on his own mind.

I guess the only dog who has ever come into this house and not been something of a pain at some time is Tessa.  Honestly, I would rather that she had been able to come into my house a crazy and overly-energetic puppy!!  My heart still breaks for her when I think of the life she had to live when she should have been someone's treasured and spoiled little princess girl.

So . . . . he'll be a pain sometimes.  I don't care.  I want to welcome this puppy into my home.  I want to give him the gift of a life where he never knows a day without love.  I want to be the one who teaches him how to be a well behaved member of our household.  I want to see those little eyes of his brimming over with fun and curiosity and a healthy sense of adventure.

I want to enjoy this side of a dog's life for a change.  I feel like I've been at the other end for far too long.