Sorry for the teaser title, but I had to suck you in somehow!

Josh and I have always wanted a puppy, but our first shot at puppy ownership didn’t exactly go the way we wanted or expected.

After a very difficult decision that we had to make with Charlie (you can read about Charlie here) last year, Josh and I adopted our darling kittens-now cats- Simon and Eloise.

We have been a very happy family for the past year and we have never regretted our decision to hold off getting a puppy or the decision to adopt the cats.  But we always knew that we eventually wanted to add a dog to our family.

We’ve both grown up as dog people and were excited to one day be dog owners. Well, now that we have a house of our own, a huge backyard, and the time to devote to housetraining and obedience training, Josh and I decided that the time was right to dive back into the world of dog ownership.

This time around, we were prepared to do as much research as we could before we took home the first fluffy baby that we came across. We researched different breeds and weighed the pros and cons of big versus small, and puppy versus mature dog. We researched different housetraining methods, ways to train our dog and how to handle different behavioral problems. We looked at how a dog would impact our lives and what adjustments we (and the cats) would have to make. And then we started looking.

We decided that we wanted to rescue a dog from a shelter rather than go to a breeder, so we started looking into the different shelters in our area. Then we headed to the adoption fairs. We saw dozens of puppies and dogs. We walked into all the kennels and played with everyone and tried to gage their personalities. And week after week, we left without filling out an application. This time around, we wanted to be very selective so we didn’t have a depressing repeat of last year. Josh had a very particular idea of what he was looking for in our newest addition, so I had to really hone my self-control and patience. Every week I scoured the shelter website looking at the dogs who were up for adoption.

After weeks of searching, we finally found a few puppies that Josh was interested in. We spent time playing with each litter of puppies and narrowed it down to one puppy from each litter—a Golden Retriever mix and a Chihuahua Terrier mix. Both puppies were incredibly cute, had the qualities we were looking for in our new dog, and both of us had our favorite. After more than an hour agonizing over which dog to apply for, we applied for our puppy.

The shelter required a veterinary reference check so they could make sure that we gave our animals the best care possible and that our current pets were healthy and happy. After the reference check, we scheduled a home visit with the puppy. She came to our house and we got an even better sense for her personality AND she got to meet the cats. Eloise is incredibly shy and hid through the duration of the puppy visit, but inquisitive and nosey Simon was in full force. The puppy had never been around a cat, so she was pretty hesitant which was good for Simon to assess her. There was lots of smelling and a little swatting, but over all a very positive interaction. And I fell in love with the puppy, who happened to be Josh’s choice puppy.  We scheduled her adoption and started prepping for her arrival.

Once we knew that we were going to adopt a puppy, we researched everything we would need to welcome home our new fur-baby. We selected a crate, leash, harness, toys, treats, grooming supplies, and everything we could think of that she might need. We picked up the very basics that we would need as soon as we brought her home and ordered the rest.

We luxuriated the cats with love and attention as they spent their last nights alone as only children and then we brought the puppy home.

Everyone meet Penny

She is an absolute doll! From day one she’s been sleeping through the night, working on potty training, and learning new tricks. After three days with us, she can “sit”, “lay down”, “get up” and we’re working on “shake”.

While Simon and Eloise are a little hesitant to approach, they love to investigate her toys and crate while she’s sleeping. With every passing day there are more positive interaction between the three of them, which is amazing!!

Josh and I are so blessed to add another darling to our fur-family and I promise to keep you updated on her and the cats’ adventures.

If you have any tips for puppy training, please let me know!!

Mrs. Dominico

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