if you were a mouse in our house you'd figure out quite quickly that when it comes to puppies, my hubbie is just an old softie. it looks like i'm definitely going to have to be the disciplinarian. of course, i'm the only one who read cesar milan's book on how to raise a well-balanced, submissive dog. we'll just blame it on that. here are a few conversations to prove my point.
old softie hubbie: let's just leave their food down all the time and let them eat whenever they want.
mean old mama: no. they need a schedule and a routine.
old softie hubbie (at 3:00 am): now that they've gone potty just put them in bed with us for the rest of the night.
mean old mama: no. they need to sleep in their crate. once they sleep with us, they'll whine to sleep with us every night.
old softie hubby: i'm just walking her around in my arms so she'll go to sleep before i put her in her crate.
mean old mama: you're spoling her and treating her like a baby. she's a dog and we need to treat her like a dog. otherwise, she'll have an identity crisis.
old softie hubby: look how they're crawling all over me and biting my hair and ears.
mean old mama: you're letting them be dominant over you which is getting things off to a bad start.
old softie hubbie: let's just let them play for awhile before we take them out
mean old mama: they'll have an accident.
old softie hubby: you were right. they both just pooped on the carpet.
mean old mama (said with big sigh): read the book, please, read the book.
seriously, things are going wonderfully. they want to please, are very quick to learn, and are already begging at the door to go out. they go into their crate on their own when they want to nap and love our big back yard where they can run and leap, tumble and play. zoe is the lover, wanting to cuddle more than bella although bella is coming along. zoe is also the adventurer and the first to do just about everything. bella seems to be more of an observer and follower.
we couldn't be happier and are loving every minute of this experience.
