I'm a cool kat...I mean, DOG!
She's sitting on my lap!
Hey, stay away from the phone, Pip! This is mine!
Awww...
This is a game they play which they've named "Criss Cross Applesauce" due to the fact that one will sit indian style because Pip will immediately jump in their lap and snuggle and then when they want her to go to the other brother the one that has her will open his legs and she'll run to the one sitting indian style. It's pretty cute.
So my children literally run around singing this Adam Lambert song and I swear it's been the story of my life lately! What do you want from anyway?????? It seems like everything and all at the same time!!
The Pip saga continues....So after trying to abide by the laws of the puppy books and take the dog out when "they" all say she should be going (she's not, she didn't, she CAN'T)...I took matters into my own hands last Tuesday and decided, by god, I WILL get this puppy to pee AND poop outside IN the goddamn spot if it's the last thing on earth I do...you can see where this is leading...I literally spent all day outside standing there with the dog figuring if she doesn't actually GET it then by the end of the day when she "accidentally" goes there 10 times and maybe a couple poops that maybe, JUST maybe it'll click..."OH, so THIS is where I go potty". So really, at this point, the dog is peeing outside. I'll say that much for her. She has a random accident sometimes but I'll forgive her those. It's the pooping that's the issue. You would think we were in an unclean, gas station restroom or something and not the comfort of her cushy leave pile in her own backyard! What is the problem?! To get back to my story, however, by 2pm the Pip has still not pooped AT ALL on Tuesday (unless you count the mess in her crate at 4am). So it's been 10 hours and no poop. Literally, I've tried everything with this dog...treats, praise, singing a little potty ditty, walking around, standing still....short of popping a squat and showing her how it's done, I've done it! I get back in from standing outside for god only knows how long...where are my kids you ask? I don't know. Seth was outside with me some of the time, otherwise, they're inside fending for themselves. "Mommy's busy with the dog." I've been outside so much that my neighbor commented, "I saw you outside, standing in the middle of the woods, and it looked like a scene from a horror movie. You were just standing there, staring down, catatonic-like and I thought 'uh oh'". He didn't see the dog...thanks Walt!
Anyway, I bring the dog back in at 2pm, put her in her crate and proceed to go do something. Imagine that, me being able to DO something other than be outside with the puppy! She starts whining and having a fit and this time I ignore her....and you got it...she poops in her crate. I am SO livid that I actually could have killed the dog. DOES IT HATE ME? I mean, really, come on...what are the chances??? We had spent SO little time indoors. I just couldn't believe that I'd tried so hard and spent so much time getting her to go even accidentally outside and she still waited to go in her crate. Ugh...totally stressed out.
By Wednesday, after that awful, awful experience and utter FAILURE. I decide there's no way I'm doing that again. I'll just take her out when I think she needs to go and otherwise not waste my time. Wednesday also marked the first morning where Eric would be home in the morning (every Wed and Fri). These are the days that I do things...ie go to the gym, schedule appts, etc. On this particular day, it's a little frantic. We have a vet appt for Pip and I also have a dermatology appt. Plus we scheduled in gym time and have to work out who gets the boys from school, etc...all while watching Seth AND the puppy. It felt a little ridiculous to now be telling my husband, "Make sure you feed the dog at 10am and take her out after that!". It's like giving the 4th kid's schedule, "She's pooped twice, and had a nap, so play with but get her too riled up, she'll need to nap again at 1!" So insane....
I get to my appt and realize that we hadn't discussed that Eric was picking the boys up from school so I got nervous that in the chaos of feeding a snack to Seth and Pip and taking Pip out that there was a possibility he'd forget to get them at 11. I'm not going to lie...there's been days I've completely forgotten that I even had two other children off at preschool and didn't even keep track of what time it was and when I needed to get them! Then I'm in with the nurse at my appt and she says, "So did you get your bloodwork done?" as she's flipping trying to find it. UGH! Until that moment it has never even crossed my mind to go do this the day before like I do EVERY month. I'm so flustered that I blurt out, "I just got a new puppy". She kind of rolls her eyes and looks at me like, "what kind of excuse is that?". I hear her out in the hall telling the doctor, "No bloodwork, she just got a new puppy" and I feel like an idiot. Thankfully, the dermatologist just got a puppy in February so she totally understood and we talked about puppies for the first 5 mins! Who doesn't love a puppy right?!
The next couple days are a blur. We're both exhausted from getting up with the puppy 2-3 times per night. The fact is she's too little to hold it through the night and when she does have an accident she squeals and screeches like there are 50 pigs being slaughtered in my kitchen. It's a little freaky. Due to poor planning, I had the unfortunate circumstances of Eric going away on a guy trip the weekend after we got Pip. So here it is Friday, 6 days after we get the puppy, and I now have to do everything. Ugh! I planned for reinforcements on Saturday but nighttime puppy duty and all the other kid duty was up to me! After a day of literally running around like a chicken with my head cutoff, I decided to lay down the law. You see, getting the puppy made me realize a few things. First and foremost, that I do WAY WAY too many things for my children, mostly Ben. The kid is almost 3 1/2 and I help him do EVERYTHING! I know in my head that he can do it...usually it's just faster and easier for me to but since the puppy came on the scene I don't have time to anymore. So effective immediately, Ben had to put his shoes on, wash his hands, and go potty ALL BY HIMSELF. He hemmed and hawed and said, "But MOMMY, I can't!". Yes, you can. NO. Yes. NO. Finally, I bribed him to put his shoes on for 15 mins of TV and that's all it took. I turned to Pip and said, "Will you go potty outside if I let YOU watch TV?" She didn't reply.
Anyway, after now 11 days, we've settled into somewhat of a routine. Eric and I have decided to alternate nights staying downstairs so that at least one of us can get uninterrupted sleep and the other can take care of the puppy. I don't take her out as much now and if she has an accident, I don't care. The boys just adore the heck out of her. Ben has decided he definitely likes her and plays with her as if he was never afraid of a cat or a dog. Even Seth has gotten used to her and will let her sit on his lap and lick his face. The only problem now is I think I might be allergic to the dog!
To be continued...
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