we have absolutely loved having little sage in our family! within our first couple days of with him, we took him to the vet for his puppy physical. the vet answered all of our [millions of] questions …. gosh, just imagine when we have a kid!? …. and was so kind and helpful. he also affirmed our decision of adopting a sweet baby pitbull. he said pitbulls have the sweetest temperaments of any dogs that come into his office, and if we train him well as a pup, he will be an absolute wonderful dog as he grows up. so, of course, scofield is immediately ready to train and discipline sage when appropriate. while i thought training a puppy is ‘no big deal’ [insert eye rolling emoji here], it is much harder than i thought … both physically and emotionally.physically:

– at first, sage did not like his crate at all. we probably got 4 hours of sleep the first night we put him in it. once he finally stopped whining and we fell asleep, he would begin his crying all over again. then, with his little puppy bladder he would have to go to the bathroom multiple times throughout the night. so he would whine again when it was time to take him out. then…once we took him out, he would want to play when we came back in, so of course there was more whining when we put him back in his crate. people weren’t kidding when they said having a puppy is like having a baby. i’m so glad we persisted though, because now he loves his crate and sleeps all through the night! he’ll even go in there just to hang out sometimes.

– One morning, right after we brought him home, i was in a hurry to get ready for work. while i was in the middle of getting dressed, little guy starts to go to the bathroom on the floor. i immediately tell him no and give him a spanking, and needed to take him outside to finish his business. of course, i am half way dressed, barefoot, and it’s 25 degrees outside. i throw on a robe as quick as i can and take him out [still barefoot, mind you] in the freezing cold. we get back inside and he does it again. what!? i was really late that morning….

– he’s 15 weeks now, and we’re still working on potty training :/. we’ll get there soon enough! although, i think we’ve conquered the puppy biting – so that’s  a positive!emotionally:

– it is so much harder for me to punish sage than i thought it would be. i feel like he’s too little to punish and really know what he’s doing wrong. scofield [and the vet] disagree. puppies are a lot like children, in that if you discipline them well and train them young, they will grow up to be obedient. oh, but when he gets a spanking or reprimanded he gets sad and lets out a little wine (or he’ll hide under the bed). my heart! i hate seeing him sad. of course he’s a dog and he bounces right back, but still, for the moment!

– then, of course, it is so hard to leave him in the morning [his crate whines certainly don’t help]. by the end of the day, i am so ready to get home and love on him i can hardly stand it.

but oh my goodness, little sage is so worth it! we constantly find him in the most hilarious sleeping positions throughout the day…like sleeping on my pajama pants instead of his comfy bed, or jumping into scofield’s pants while he is going to the bathroom and falling asleep [tmi?? probably…]. and his puppy breath and puppy belly, oh my goodness!! i could go on and on…and on and on…about those two things.

so for now i’m off to snuggle my little bubby. hope you’re having a great week!