Puppy’s First Year – Month 10
Documenting my puppy Edna’s first year of life.
How is my puppy 10 months old already, that’s just crazy! Does that mean in 2 months when Edna turns one I can no longer call her “my puppy”? That makes me a little sad – I think Edna will always will be referred to as my “puppy” since she is the “baby” of our pet family.
How Has My Puppy Changed Since My Last Update?
What Challenges Have I Faced – Still Face With My Puppy?
Physical Changes: Physically, Edna is growing up and becoming more mature looking. She is smaller in stature compared to my pug Edie, but don’t let her small size fool you, she is a physical powerhouse!
Small, Powerful and Athletic!
Daily Routine: Edna has become accustomed to her daily routine of walks, playing in the garden, meal times, potty times, and how going in her crate is not to be feared, but a time to chill out and relax.
Dog Walks and Leash Pulling: Although Edna absolutely loves going on walks, she still challenges me. The excitement of going on a walk can be overwhelming for her and she still pulls on her leash. So dog walks are a work in progress as we learned in our previous post “learning to walk on a loose leash“
Meeting People and Self Control: Edna LOVES people and this can be a challenge for her when it comes to self control. She becomes super excited and can be vocal about it, embarrassing herself and me 😉 but we are working on greeting people with “manners”.
Car rides: Edna is and always has been a joy to take in the car, although she still sits backwards in her carseat LOL!
Edna is never one to follow the crowd 😉
Fearless Puppy!
Pros and Cons
Fearless! Being a fearless puppy, in my opinion, is a combination of positive and negative. When your puppy thinks she is Super Pup and can leap from tall buildings in a single bound that’s a negative! Ok, maybe not leap from tall buildings but you get the idea. Edna has made my heart skip a few extra beats since joining our family. The positive side of being a fearless dog/puppy is she does not back away from much due to fear, she is very inquisitive.
Stubborn? Who me?
Stubborn and Challenging! It’s said that pugs in general can have a stubborn streak, but Edna combines stubbornness and challenging to a whole new level at times. I’m sure she’s testing her boundaries. An example of this would be how many times in a day I have to tell her to “leave and/or drop it”. The thing is, Edna knows what “drop it” means. How do I know this? Because she will drop whatever forbidden object from her mouth when I tell her to so, but only when I get up close and personal. I guess she’s seeing if I will actually follow through on my demand for her to drop the forbidden object.
Puppy Quirks
Puppy Quirks: All dogs have their own little quirks and personalities and Edna is no different 😉 What are some of the quirky things my puppy Edna does?
Potty Quirks: Some dogs go to the door indicating they need to go out and relive themselves, not Edna. Edna’s potty queue is to run to a particular corner in the house. I’m not sure why or the reasoning behind this, I’m just grateful she doesn’t pee in the house anymore! However, the one potty issue that frustrates me most is that Edna becomes so busy playing and investigating when outdoors she “forgets” to potty. So now, before we go back inside, I put Edna’s leash on to get her attention and give her the command to “go pee”.
Can you prove it that it was me that chewed on the pillows?
Toy and Blanket Suckle: My puppy is a chewer. She likes nothing better than having a good chew on a toy or rubberized bone such as a Kong. But then there is the issue of blanket corners, pillows, and tags on toys. Edna will dig at a blanket just to find the corner so she can suckle on it, same goes for tags on dog toys. I think this gives Edna a sense of security and relaxes her. But now when I purchasing dog toys, I have make sure there are no loose tags or parts my puppy can chew off and/or digest.
Stairs: Edna has been going up and down stairs on her own for several months – however – it all depends where the stairs are! Edna has no issue going up and down the stairs to our deck outside. BUT, the stairs inside the house are a different story. Edna will only go UP the stairs, not down. I’m really not sure her reasoning for this? So for now, my puppy gets carried down the stairs inside the house. I will say this does have some advantages – she can’t sneak away and get into (more) trouble without me knowing 😉
October 30, 2018
This so lovely and useful. I can only imagine how many people will find following your experiences useful and insightful.
October 29, 2018
She is so cute! I love that she sits in the car seat backwards! Plus, it’s what human babies have to do, so she is right on the mark! 😉 Gosh, I remember when our Harley, who is our first Husky, was coming up on her first birthday, and in March she will be 14! Although, don’t tell her that, she still thinks she is a puppy, which by the way, Edna will be until like 2! Or 12! <3 Age is only a number, right?!
October 29, 2018
I love watching Edna growing up. She appears be very mischievous.
November 1, 2018
Mischievous is one way of putting it LOL
October 28, 2018
I can’t believe Edna is 10 months old already either! She is such a fun little character, I love seeing her antics. The puppy phase is so fleeting, I wish I’d taken many more photos & video of Icy when she was little. Icy loves everyone too, it’s still hard to get her to Leave It when it comes to meeting new people LOL! Edna is doing so great, what a joy.
Love & Biscuits,
Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them
October 28, 2018
Edna is a kindred spirit. I greet people enthusiastically, maybe we can learn together!!
October 28, 2018
She is adorable and learning so fast but her puppy side will always be with her, I love that energy she has
October 28, 2018
OMG Edna is so cute! I would be putty in her paws. Kilo the Pug digs and sucks and chews too, and pulls on his leash. I am very impressed she will Drop or leave things. Kilo and I are working on that but very hard for him as he resource guards.
November 1, 2018
As far as “drop and leave it” she understands the concept, just doesn’t always follow direction to do it – but we are getting there
October 28, 2018
Well I still call Mr. N my puppy so I think it’s totally valid! Edna is adorable and making so much progress. Mr. N only has one speed for stairs. Zooming!
October 27, 2018
Aw, a puppy is a puppy forever, no matter how old! It sounds like she’s doing great with training.
October 27, 2018
Edna is so cute! I’ve love watching her antics. We have a puppy house guest this weekend, and her energy is crazy. I don’t remember my dogs being that energetic at her age.
October 28, 2018
It’s amazing how we “forget” how crazy and active a puppy can be! There must be a reason for that 😉
October 27, 2018
Edna is such a cutie! My how time flies. I feel like it was just the other week I discovered your new addition to the family! It’s been great to follow her journey growing up.
October 28, 2018
Some days it feels like she’s only been with us for a short time, and other days… LOL!
October 26, 2018
She’s so cute! That head tilt must get you everytime.
October 26, 2018
I love your idea of documenting your puppy’s life, and it will be such a beautiful thing for you to look back on when she’s older. I’ve never had a puppy so it’s interesting for me to read a first hand account of the stages you’re all going through. Enjoy every moment!
October 28, 2018
I missed being able to do this with Edie and maybe that’s why I take so many photos and videos of them both now.
October 26, 2018
Edna sure is growing up to be a beautiful girl! I love how your’e documenting her first year of life. I wish I was blogging when I adopted Lexy so I could have something like this to look back on. Luckily, I have my book that documents Lola’s first year with me.
October 28, 2018
Documenting helps me see just how far she has come since the first day she came home and it’s nice to have it to look back on in years to come.