My favorite part of owning a puppy - Laughing!

Everyone said to us, "when you get a dog, your life is going to be sooooooo different." I knew that and expected it. I knew that it would mean more time at home, and I knew that in the beginning, it meant having him around me or Rob pretty much all the time. I knew that my wakeup time would change (which, actually, is really nice - I've seen three sunrises this week and they are pretty gorgeous!), I knew that we were going to have to start being more careful with what we left around within reach of the dog (though, I must say, he's amazing about not getting too badly into stuff...I mean, for a dog). I knew that the transition would be tough, and the first week, by and large, was actually a cakewalk compared to what it could have been. Despite my worries, the positives far, far outweigh the negatives. Rob asked me about mid-week, after I had been bringing him to work with me, armful of stuff in hand every single day, whether I regretted getting a dog. The answer was no, and it still is, in spite of the fact that he is currently chewing on my concert shoe. It seems to be his favorite chew toy, for reasons unknown.

As we dawn on week 2 of our ownership, and close out week 9 of his life on Sunday, here are some things that make me laugh at least three times a day about my dog:

1. The yawning is probably the funniest things I've ever heard. I laugh hysterically every time he yawns, and it is my major goal of mine this week to get a recording of it. It truly sounds like Chinese Opera - Rob was not exaggerating even a little bit when he wrote that in the first blog post.

2. Even when he's getting into mischief, he is the most hilarious dog ever. When I say "NO, MILES!" I know that he knows exactly what he did, but he still gives me the Mr. Innocent look with the adorable eyes, which I am positive will get him out of many a sticky situation.

3. The fact that he has to dig and dig and dig and dig and dig at his pillow and get it perfect before he lays down and goes to sleep on it. The first day he did this was at work on Monday, and I stopped him. But I was laughing while I said no so he didn't take me seriously. So I left him to his own devices. He didn't rip it to shreds - he did it for about ten minutes and then went to sleep on it. I like that he does it there, because if we don't let his nails get too long (an adventure for this weekend that is sure to be a very, very good time), then he'll have a place to dig freely as dogs are meant to do, and will get it out of his system. He will occasionally dig in the yard, but he's only done it once in the past three days or so.

4. He may be the darn smartest dog I have ever met! Ready? At nine weeks old, this is the list of stuff he knows:

His Name
Sit
Outside (and he even consistently sits at the door while he waits for me to open it)
Come
Down (almost)
Paw (almost)
Leave It (almost)
He's, like, 90% housetrained. If he has an accident in the house, it's my fault for missing the signals, not his for just peeing in the house.
He's also completely crate trained. He slept through the night for the first time last night and when I woke up this morning, I nearly cried I was so excited.

All of these things make me laugh because it brings me so much joy to see that he learns more every single day. Also, he's becoming the type of dog that if you bring a baggie of anything that resembles a treat out of the cabinet, he sits. HE SITS LIKE A FREAKIN' CHAMP. :)

5. He is an absolutely hilarious sleeper. My favorite is when he yips in his sleep, and sometimes wakes himself up it gets so loud. Once on Wednesday when we were at work, he was napping and outright barked in his sleep and startled himself silly. I laughed for a good ten minutes.

Anywho, he is a great dog, and I finally realized that I am really easing into the change much better than I would have, say, six months ago. My anxiety has been high this week (as it always is with major change...except when Rob and I got married, go figure), and the adjustment to having him with me nearly all of the time has been a bit of a challenge. I had been super busy beforehand anyway, and when I got to teach last night, no dog to worry about, I ran some errands. For instance:

I made my car payment.
I went to the bank and deposited checks that I had been sitting on for upwards of three weeks. (I hadn't had time to go to the bank, how absurd is that?)
I celebrated the luxury of being able to do both of these things with an iced tea from Dunkin's, which was right next door to my bank.
Also, I practiced for a good solid hour.

These things may seem small in the grand scheme of things (the practicing thing isn't...I am soloing with an orchestra in May and really need to fine-tune some things), and they certainly are - but I am finding that I hate leaving Miles in the car, and I can't go through the drive-thru at my bank because I go to different credit unions that will only let me come inside. What I'm saying is that running these errands felt huge because I hadn't given myself the time to do them. Also, my "maintenance required" light started blinking yesterday (meaning that it will come on in full probably today), and I've really been feeling the stress lately, and I started crying because I didn't know when I would have the time to do it. Yup. Not ashamed to admit it.

The next step is that I really need to make peace with the idea that sometimes, I am just going to need to leave Miles in the car for a few minutes. Also, I need to make peace with the fact that he hates it when I practice, but I need to do it anyway, even if it DOES make him POed. I mean, really POed. That's a topic for another time.

Today, I am going to go to the pet food store in Concord (look on the side - "links that get licks", and go to Sandy's Pet Food...I get nothing for plugging him, but he absolutely deserves the plugging - he's SO knowledgeable and I feel totally confident going in and talking to him about what to switch Miles to, and he even gives samples so that we can try before we buy!) and figure out what we are going to feed Miles. I have a hunch that I know what he's going to say, but I always like to read up on it beforehand and ask the opinions of others so that I go in prepared.

So, all in all, excellent first week. I am excited that the first week is the hardest, because that means that everything will start to get a little easier than it already is. I already maintain that this dog is going to be pretty much effortless - he's so low maintenance, and he's just great.

Yes, Miles and I passed out on the couch. He's a huge cuddlebug. I normally do not post embarassing photos of myself passed out on the couch (and there are more than you realize), but he's too cute when he's sleeping. :)