Meet Our Puppy Rosie.. The in’s and out’s of getting a dog!

Hello everyone!

So I thought I would write a post all about our little puppy, Rosie! Rosie is a Border Collie she is tri-coloured and just the cutest, yet naughtiest dog we could ever dream of! Rosie is my first ever dog and it is true what they say looking after a puppy really is like looking after a baby, and I really didn’t not realise truly how hard it would be. We got Rosie one week after moving into our own home and it was very unexpected so not only did we have to quickly adjust to adult life and looking after ourselves a week later we were looking after a fluffy little monster too!

How we got her

So we got Rosie from a couple who live next door to someone we know, this couple had had Rosie for only a few days but due to health reasons they realised that maybe they could not look after her as well as they had hoped. We were invited round and we wasn’t told why but when we saw her we instantly fell in love! Me and A had always known we wanted to get a dog eventually but it wasn’t something we thought would happen so soon. We were unsure on what to do so we asked the landlord just out of curiosity because getting a pet was never mentioned on our tenancy agreement so we left it up to fate, however when they came back a couple of days later and said yes as long as any damage is paid for it pretty much made our minds up. I was still pretty apprehensive at this point but A’s heart was so set on it I couldn’t really say no! The couple didn’t want to sell her as they wasn’t looking to make money however they gave us her and so many things they had brought including her bed, blanket, toys, bowls, food they had her on, some medicine, poo bags etc. so we gave them some money as a gesture and to cover some of the items they had brought. She was 10 weeks when we got her and she is now 5 months!

Settling in and sleeping

When we took her home it only really took her a few hours to get settled, we just let her roam round her new home and adjust to the surroundings. We didn’t want to be too full-on with her so we just tried to ignore her and be calm to ensure we didn’t make her confused or unsettled. Rosie was used to sleeping in a crate however we didn’t know hoe we felt about it so the first night we took her upstairs to sleep with us and she seemed completely fine and content however we woke an hour or two later to find our bedroom floor had been covered in poo! So from this we decided to clean up, brave through the night and the next day we brought her a crate to sleep in.

The crate training was some of the hardest and most stressful because she really didn’t like it however we couldn’t have her going to the toilet everywhere through the night so thought it was best. We kept her in the crate in our room and she cried and barked rather occasionally through the night to go wee and by 5 every morning she was fed up and wanted to get out so we barely got any sleep the first couple of weeks! After a week or two we moved the crate downstairs which made her sleep maybe an extra half an hour as she didn’t get disturbed by us so much but it was still stressful getting up at half 5- 6 every morning. After a few long tired weeks we upgraded her from the crate to letting her sleep in the hallway so she could roam the hallway and kitchen and this was the best decision as instantly we didn’t get disturbed until around 7 and if she couldn’t hold her bladder it was only on hard flooring so it wasn’t the end of the world.

Tricks and training

Training a puppy is hard work because they really don’t understand a word you say, when we got Rosie she could sit but that was pretty much it. We managed to teach her to lay down, give her paw and speak (bark) on command within the next few weeks. We are now working on getting her to stay (especially when putting food down or leaving the house) which we are slowly getting there. The main thing about training is making sure you treat them the second they do it right so they know that they done good!

One of the hardest things to train was toilet training and even now at 5 months old she still has accidents. At first it felt like all I was doing was cleaning up wee and sometimes poo from the floors and carpets. Rosie understood fairly quickly where she needed to go toilet but she struggled on holding her bladder long enough to get there or letting us know that she needed to go. We tried her on puppy pads for when she couldn’t make it but the second these were put down she would steal them and chew them up instantly so going outside was our only option!

What she is like

Now this is going to be the downsides, what having a puppy is really like. Getting Rosie was one of the hardest thing I have ever done. Rosie is the most excitable dog I have ever experienced, she loves absolutely everyone, and I mean EVERYONE! She gets excited at any other person/animal that she sees, as soon as there is someone down the road she gets excited, tries to chase after them or jump up at them. So as you can imagine, walk times are extremely hard because as soon as someone walks past you on the pavement I have to try and hold her back and stop her from jumping up at people, and as you can imagine, some people don’t want to be jumped at! Don’t get me wrong its lovely having a loving friendly dog who doesn’t bark or growl but walk times are so tiring and stressful and embarrassing sometimes when I feel like I cant control her.

And possibly the worse thing of all is chewing. Rosie is currently teething and she is currently chewing everything in sight. She has ruined numerous items of mine including shoes, books, various DVD’s, A’s brand new PS4 game, our carpet(!!!), the curtains, stair bannister, and the corner of the wall including the wall paper. This is extremely upsetting and worrying because we have to obviously pay for any damage she does and we could always lose our house deposit, it also sucks not being about to have anything near floor level in the bottom floor of my house because it will get destroyed. Rosie has numerous chew toys, Kong toys and bones but as soon as we leave the house she will chew on something she knows she is not allowed.

What looking after her is really like

They really are not wrong when people say that looking after a puppy is like looking after a baby and I think on occasions it possibly is worse because I know a baby will not chew through wood or the wall, I can’t even tell you how many times she has made me cry, I’ve at times massively regretted her because its such hard work and I’ve just wished we could give her back because she’s ruined something else. I really think if you ever consider a dog you have to give it so much thought at the situation you are in and if you have got the time or money to take on such a big commitment. Me and A both work so every minute of our spare time is spent walking her and we get someone in during the day to check on her, we have pretty much no time to ourselves and I do feel like sometimes she needs more attention but despite all of this I really do love her to bits I give her every minute that used to be mine, she can be the worse most stressful things to happen to me but as soon as its night time and she gets sleepy and cuddly I remember exactly why I love her!