So I found myself thinking, “What made me think this puppy thing was a good idea?”

Make no mistake, this isn’t Hilda’s fault. Maybe not even mine. It’s just been one of those days. The thing is, I kind of thought about not writing this entry at all, but then, thinking about it some more, I decided that it would be disingenuous of me to leave it out. What good is documenting an experience if it’s all positive and whitewashed?

The thing is, if not for just a bunch of things stacking up today, this probably wouldn’t be anything at all. The whole keeping on top of an active puppy (one who just had some nasty diarrhea this morning, besides) combined with a bunch of runaround and what not with melanie’s care, I sort of started feeling like the guy juggling plates, or better yet, flaming torches, and being just about to drop one. So as Hilda and Leno and Fiona barked and growled and played and had a high old time, and then as I spent lots of time telling Hilda she couldn’t chase the cat, and oh…did she just pee?!, And no, you can’t go there, and ouch, here, chew on this instead, and no, don’t eat that, and Hilda, over here, this way, c’mon, there’s a girl (as she stared fixedly at a cat, or Leno, or god only knew what and blithely ignored me), and Sorry Hilda, you have to go in the crate, yes again, I thought, wow…this dog thinks just about anything is more interesting than I am! Where did I go wrong?

Yes, today was a day with a bit more crate time than usual. Some of that was having to do stuff that wouldn’t allow me to give Hilda proper attention. Later, some of it was as much to preserve my sanity as anything, because really, I just didn’t have the energy for one more “Off” or “keep the puppy from chasing the cats” or whatever. In short, my brain was in serious danger of going into meltdown. Which then of course made me wonder if I was well on my way to breaking the puppy. You know, everything on the critical puppy periods stresses how, well, critical it is that puppy’s experiences are very positive, and how some mistake or other could scar your puppy for life, or…well…just lots of ways things can go very, very wrong. So had a brief chat with a couple of folks, both of whom assure me that puppy is just being a puppy, not to worry, everything is fine. Which helped a little, anyway.

The awful truth? I don’t have a clue what I’m doing! You know how they say that kids don’t come with a user’s manual? I guess puppies don’t either, although there’s lots out there that is supposed to be helpful. It probably is, but, like kids, I guess puppies don’t come with user’s manuals either. I guess, about like everyone else, I’ll muddle through the best I can.

What made me think this was a good idea? I’m not sure, but I’m sure it was a good idea anyway. This is just a bit of a rough patch. Puppy is just being a puppy.