We are sleep deprived. Like babies, puppies do not sleep through the night.
We are trying this whole crate training thing. The crate was set up out in the living room as Handy Man is such a light sleeper and he said that Boji used to wake him up all night long changing positions, wondering around the room and making little dog noises. He said he didn't sleep for 14 years. I think he was being mellow-dramatic; however, I was happy to make this compromise during the dog negotiation period.
First night:
11:00 pm crying. I got up, took Tucker out to go potty and put him back in his crate. There was a little crying but I laid down on the floor next to the crate and he slowly went back to sleep.
2:00 am crying. I got up, took Tucker out to go potty and put him back in his crate. There was a little crying but he slowly went back to sleep on his own.
5:00 am crying. I got up, took Tucker out to go potty and decided to just stay up as Handy Man's alarm would be going off soon. So tired!
All in all, not too bad for our first night. Handy Man would disagree as apparently I only woke up to the really loud crying. He apparently was awake all night due to constant little cries and bumping of the crates metal frame.
Second night:
9:00 pm lots of crying. Tried tough love.
10:00 pm lots of crying. Tried tough love. Must not engage.
11:00 pm lots of crying, howling and barking. Some return shouting, scolding and cussing. Take Tucker out to go potty.
11:30 pm all are sleeping.
12:15 am lots of crying, howling and barking. Handy Man and I are carrying the crate through the hallway, banging walls and doors, cussing, and maneuvering the crate in our bedroom.
12:30 am some crying. All fall asleep.
4:15 am crying. I got up, took Tucker out to go potty and decided to just stay up with Tucker in the living room as Handy Man is sure to kill us both when his alarm goes off.
5:30 am Tucker sleeps soundly. Handy Man secretly hates us and wants to move into an apartment.
Kids slept through the ENTIRE event. They were completely shocked not to see the crate in the living room in the morning.
We have new bedroom furniture and the living room is now adorned with an old familiar accessory.
Babies and toddlers might get into everything, but puppy-proofing your house is on a whole different level.
Tucker aka Jaws.
Don't let that sweet little face fool you. He is a one open door to a bedroom away from a disaster at any given moment. Nothing is safe in his wake. He takes no mercy. He spares no sock, nerf gun dart, flip-flop, or toy.
And on the third day..... there was a massacure.
I walked into my bedroom after making the kids their breakfast and noticed these tiny little pieces of flesh colored plastic all over my floor.
Oh crap, those are fingers. I think that's a forearm...
Emergency! Emergency! We have a Barbie in need of a tourniquet!
I searched high and low in slight hysteria for the maimed Barbie. The bathroom, the closet, his crate, under the bed... she was not where to be found! Dear Lord don't let my Brown Eyed Girl find her this morning before I do!
I hurried the kids out the door and off to school. I returned and spent an hour looking for Barbie. I contemplated calling CSI. She was completely missing. Only her discarded appendages remained evidence of the gruesome occurrence.
Three times I searched the house. I swear I was losing my mind! I mean where could he have hidden Barbie??? I asked him but he didn't answer me. He was exercising his Miranda Rights.
I was completely positive that my Brown Eyed Girl knew nothing. What about Mr Blue Eyes? Had he stumbled upon the crime scene before I found it? He was the only other person in the house. I felt like I was in an life-like episode of CLUE only I knew it was Jaws (Tucker) in the master bedroom with his teeth. I just couldn't find the body!
I counted down the hours until the kids were off school. It was a Tuesday and I had to endure carpool pick-up and taking three girls to gymnastics an hour later before I could interrogate my only other possible eye witness. No sooner did the last door shut and I turned around in my seat, looked Mr. Blue Eyes in the eyes and asked, "Gotta question for you buddy. Did Tucker get one of Sis's Barbies this morning?"
A wave of shock came over his face and he said, "Yeah Mom. He got one of her mermaid Barbies. I knew that if she found her she would be super upset and cry before school. So, I stuck the Barbie in Dad's sock drawer really fast and took Tucker outside."
The sock drawer... never checked there.
My heart spilled over in love for that blue-eyed boy. What a great brother. It's amazing how a simple act of dumping a Barbies body can make a mom so proud of her son.
As soon as we got home, I found the poor, poor soul laid to rest among a drawer of socks.
I am sorry meeting Jaws did not end well for you my friend.
Mr Blue Eyes reminded me she had like four other mermaid Barbies. We decided to let this be our little secret. She was wrapped in a plastic shopping bag and disposed of for the morning's trash. Miss Mermaid was never spoken of again....
Mobile babies and toddlers traumatize your pets.
Everyone knows Miss Kitty is the most amazing cat in the entire world. It's a fact. Period.
Miss Kitty has endured (with grace) both of our kids pulling on her tail, attempting to pick her up while squeezing the life out of her. Not so gentile petting. Eye poking. Hair pulling.
Our Brown Eyed Girl used to lay on top of her nearly crushing her with love. She was a saint with them.
She's put in her time. She deserves to live out the rest of her 5 lives in peace and quiet.
So, so sorry Miss Kitty....
Miss Kitty is excellent with dogs. She and Boji were great buds, often spotted curled up together in the yard. She openly greeted Tucker without prejudice... and he jumped on top of her. Finally someone his size that could be a play friend!!!
Startled, but like the perfect little lady she is, Miss Kitty just turned her nose from him and tried to be the bigger person and walk away. You could see the wheels turning in that little yellow brain as Tucker took one gigantic leap towards Miss Kitty and grabbed her by the tail!
Miss Kitty turned in utter shock. How RUDE! She let out an uncharacteristic hiss and he let her go. Again she attempted to walk away from confrontation, but out of no where he pounced on top of her clobbering her to the ground. She wiggled from underneath him, hissing and batting him off of her. Yet, no claws. She truly is a saint! We jumped on his case shouting, "NO! Tucker! No bite. Leave it!"
Miss Kitty retired to the fence post, out of reach from fuzzy, yellow-headed devil puppies. She gave me a very disapproving look and I felt it burn in my soul. I know. I am sorry. Please forgive us???
A few weeks have passed and Tucker is starting to learn the ropes. He is sleeping though the night. He is starting to leave the kids' toys, socks and shoes alone. Though tissues and nerf gun darts are still one of his triggers for a relaps.
He is a perfect gentleman at the vets office.
He's a bit of a snacker with his food. Handy Man keeps trying to get him to eat all of his food in one sitting.
We found an "old" bone in pantry... inside tears. He thought those were pretty neat treats.
Right now Tucker thinks he is a lap dog. Like my kiddos who have outgrown snuggling on my lap, I will enjoy these moments as long as I can.
He really, really likes being a couch dog.
Like really, really likes!
He sometimes gets yelled at as we do NOT climb on the back of the couch!
Handy Man and our Brown Eyed Girl thinks he looks like a kitty-cat sitting up there. They encourage it and laugh and laugh. I am the mean mom that makes him get down.
He has contemplated moving in on Handy Man's chair...
And he would really like to be a bed dog but we aren't very excited about that one. Thankfully the bed is still too tall for him to get onto. I am sure it is only a matter of time!
Our routine has been shook up and spit out. We are sleep deprived. We now shut all of our bedroom doors. I have repeated the words "No Bite!" more than I would like to admit.
But he's wiggling right into his place in our home and we love him!
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