My First Year as a Puppy

Well it was the moment of truth, I had no idea what to expect. Were there any other dogs that I would have to share my space with, compete for attention with?? As much to my surprise absolutely not, I knew I was this family's first dog as soon I stepped paw into the house.

It was immaculate inside and out, no scratches or fur on the floors, the windows were sparkling and not a spot on that lawn....I couldn't wait to get my paws all over this place... did I mention there was a pool?!

I thought to myself, could it get any better than this??? And out comes the cat, she didn't look very impressed with me at all, but I knew if I played my cards right, we could be great friends. And we are...kinda...when she's in the mood she tolerates my sniffing every inch of her fur until I get her claw lodged into my muzzle and that awful sound bellows out of her, I know it's time to back off. I'm sure that one day she is going to need me in a desperate situation, whether it's another cat, squirrel or bird, I will be there to back her up and of course give her some of the credit!

The first few nights were rough, couldn't understand why these people were making me stay in this crate all night long while Belle (the cat) had free roam of the house?! Needless to say, 11 months later I am still in the crate at night (only a much larger one) and Belle is still roaming free.

My housetraining went very well, I never took a liking to those pads, I much rather go fertilize the beautiful oasis in my backyard, never in the same spot of course, that would be too easy on my family. I can promise you that when my owners were landscaping their yard, the thought of one day owning a dog never entered their minds.

They can't have many complaints though, I have yet to drink from the toilet bowl, never have I chewed the woodwork or ate through any walls.

Since I've been completely honest I might as well fess up to some of the things I have done over the past year, like the time I dug up the Hibiscus bush and ran across the yard with it in my mouth, or the time when I thought I was helping out by digging holes in the gardens and the time when I thought the Wii remote was my new chew toy. I assumed anything left out in plain sight was fair game...boy was I wrong.

Oh and I can't forget the day when the baked potatoes just came out of the oven, they smelled sooo good that I decided to do some counter surfing and helped myself to one, another dumb choice, I spent some time in my crate for that one.

Did I mention that I passed Kindergarten Puppy Training with flying colors (I couldn't have done it without my big human sis, Kailey) and I also won an award for Cutest Face at the Pet Rock Festival, surely all these accomplishments out weigh my puppy antics!!!

All in all it's been a great year with my family and for some reason I can't help but feel they would completely agree!!! Can't wait to see what the next year has in store for us!!!