We're in the final stretch of preparation.

Hey everyone!

So I'm not sure if you remember, one of the last posts in July was what resulted in a game changer and stopped us from redecorating our house: The fact that it would cost A LOT of money to redo our backyard. And on top of that, turf was out of the question. So what ever are we going to do about our puppy going potty?

Well, thank goodness for the patio we have upstairs, because we went ahead and bought her a Porch Potty!

I read different articles about potty training your puppy and there seemed to be a problem with using potty pads indoors as it'll teach the dog to go inside. And we really wanted to eliminate that. We did get her some potty pads for the inside of her crate JUST in case. But we mainly wanted to focus on her going outside. So this was a perfect opportunity - since our backyard is, basically, not going to work out - we found something that was the next best thing.

So we will be on puppy potty duty almost every hour for the first couple of weeks and then we will work to ween her will train her to give us some kind of a queue. Needless to say, I am quite excited to start setting this up as well as her crate. 

I'm sure, as you guys all saw in the previous posts, we've set up some of the gates up so our cat will get used to having to use them. We're trying to make this process as painless for her as possible. We've set up very strict rules - Dogs aren't allowed on the bed or the couch. The guest room (soon to be our closet) is HER room and she has a tower in every single major room of our house. We're making sure that she doesn't feel like she's getting ALL of her territories confiscated. She has places to escape to. 

We're easing her into the process and we're trying very hard to set thing up prior to the puppy coming so that she will get used to the weird new things. 

I know, I know - this blog is rather dull and only someone like myself would get excited about the set up part, but like I said, we're in the final stretch - we've got a couple more months and the puppy will be ours!

Research is my favourite part!

Hi, guys. As mentioned before, in order to ready myself for a new puppy in our life, I've started researching about different breeds to see which dog would be the best companion for me. I've taken several different match maker tests and my favourite of all was the Pet Centric by Purina that my dear friend introduced me to during the middle of setting up for her Thesis Project. Not only are they incredibly hilarious because of the fact that the dogs talk, but also is a great first step in finding about what breed really suits you.

Choosing a breed was difficult for me, because there are so many dogs that I would love to have. And before I started my research I had a predisposition towards the dalmatian breed. However, the more research I did about the dogs, and testimonials from different owners I've gathered, I've come to the conclusion that they're absolutely perfect for me. The Pet Centric Dog Breed Selector is what ultimately began my whirlwind of research. I'm a professional at this, as I work at my school archives and have for the past year done research on different requests that we receive from all different sources.

From the Dog Breed Selector, I went to different websites and breeder sites to learn more about the dog - This included history of the breed, temperament, health issues, diet, and ideal training techniques. It's great to start off understanding the history of the dog breed. Dalmatians at the earliest time in history were used as war and guard dogs. They were also known to be hunting dogs, and later were used as carriage dogs - they ran alongside, in front of or under horse drawn carriages to encourage the horses to run faster and to clear the path of traffic. From there, I went to understand their temperament. Their history shows that they are high stamina dogs - they need a lot of exercise and can't just sit around for hours on end. However, at the same time, they love being with the family and being adorable snuggle-muffins. Being able to balance both of those traits out is ideal. Next were the health issues: Dalmatians, like any other dogs are prone to health problems and it is important to research more about these problems and alter the lifestyle as well as diet to best benefit the dog.

The most exciting bit is being able to teach your dog tricks. Now, I am a firm believer in the potential of dogs. I think that a lot of people are predisposed to different dog breed stereotypes, and don't give certain dogs a time of day because of that - They're quick to judge how difficult a certain dog is going to be to train or to have. The most infamous dog breed are Pitbulls. Some people refuse to give them a chance because they're known to be aggressive, but some of the sweetest dogs I've ever met were Pitbulls. I don't ever blame a dog for their behavior - you can't generalize a dog the same way you can't generalize people. Every dog is different and with the right mindset, and training techniques, I feel that any dog has the potential to be well behaved, intelligent companions. All dogs need to continue their training after the basics of sit, down, and stay. They become brain games and are fun for the dog and useful for the owners. Ideally, I want my dog to be perfectly trained and just all around fun to play with. Kind of like this beautiful Dalmatian, Dino.

Or Moose (yes, it's perfect because he has the same name as my cat)  Link because the video won't embed So in order to succeed that, I went ahead and began researching training techniques. I bought a fantastic book called Brain Games For Dogs at Barnes and Noble to learn the different games dogs may want to play.

Now, I know I'm getting extremely ahead of myself here and am projecting an idealized concept of getting my puppy and having her trained at a drop of a hat. Though, underneath that, I do know that there's a lot of responsibilities involved and hard work. There will be a lot of ups and downs, like anything else in life. I'd like to think that I'm being a responsible owner in doing research and not getting a dog on a whim. And of course the research doesn't end here - There's so much more to do: puppy classes, pet insurance, and most importantly finding my puppy. But I'd like to think I'm getting a good start here considering we're waiting another year for her to come into our life. Because out of all of this, more than anything I want to be a great owner to my dog and not just her be a great dog for me.

That's it for now! Much love,

Lily.