We Got a Puppy!
Hopefully you’ve seen some pics of our newest family member, but if not, meet Cashew! After years of wanting a dog, we adopted Cash from Dogwood Animal Rescue back in September. We took advantage of remote work and finally having a backyard to raise a puppy, and I don’t think it would be possible in “normal life” when we’d be away all day at work. So even though this year has sucked in so many ways, one bright spot has been bringing Cash into our lives!
As a first-time dog owner though, it’s been a massive challenge. It was a big change adjusting to the dog life (everything smells like bully sticks and we’ve lost a pair of shoes to the teething cause), but fortunately, since we got him at 8 weeks old, he came to us already crate trained and 90% potty trained. That made all the difference, not having to deal with accidents in the house or losing sleep! Now, two months on, I feel like we’ve found a groove with training and socializing.
Cash is a German Shepherd mix, and at 5 months old he has a lot of energy. Puppies need structure and routine, and while not every day is quite the same, we usually start with play first thing in the morning (after going potty, of course). Gone are the days I used to have slow mornings with coffee and reading time! Then I’ll spend about 10-15 minutes training him commands in the front yard (keep it short so it stays fun!) and then it’s time for breakfast.
In the late morning, we’ll take him for a walk around the neighborhood (side note: puppies are great for forcing you to take a break from work!) and then he basically naps for the rest of the afternoon, which is awesome. Then in the evening we do another training session and go for a longer walk either at a local trail or to a park where we can play some more. Then after dinner, he sleeps like a log!
In a lot of ways he feels like the perfect puppy—we’ve grown a strong bond thanks to being home together all the time, and he’s pretty smart and a fast learner. We’ve taken him out to Ace Hardware, Petco, and Home Depot, and he behaves like he’s done it a million times!
But the biggest challenge we have is that he’s pretty shy and scared. A lot of this is because we probably waited too long to get him out and socialized. For his first few walks, he wouldn’t budge past the driveway and would only go with both of us, not just one. Other times, he’ll immediately stop playing when he hears a loud sound. But with a bit of patience, he’s slowly coming out of his shell! And it helps that everyone we pass by thinks he’s so cute and pauses to say hi.
It’s been rewarding to see his progress, and I have YouTube videos and Instagram to thank! The most helpful dog trainers, behaviorists, and enthusiasts that I recommend are Robert Cabral, Yolo Pup and Elevated Canine Academy. Since this is my first dog, I’ve probably gone a bit overboard with the research, but it’s incredible to see just how much dogs are capable of. I look forward to the many years of training Cash new things!
