Day 184: Remember the Time... Part Two: Winging It As A First-Time Pup Mom

Now that you know the story about Chloe's adoption, I thought I'd move on to write about winging it as a first-time pup mom.

Before bringing any dog home, I did my research. I read books and online articles about what to expect with my first pup; went shopping for a leash, collar, dog dish, kibble, bed, and toys; and felt ready to be a dog owner when I went to pick her up.

They gave her over to me wearing a green rope leash, and I directed her to jump in the backseat of the car. She then pretty much joined me in the front seat by standing on the center console and staring out the windshield.

First order of business? A desperately needed bath. So we headed to the dog bath section of Pet Supplies Plus. After narrowly avoiding a run-in with an over exuberant Rottweiler, I told Chloe to get into the steel tub, secured her in there by the neck, and went to work. Giving her a bath was distracting, however, as I kept glancing over at the woman next to me bathing her lab who kept yanking her hand away from him and yelling at him to not try and bite her again. Chloe was the model of obedience.

And when we got home, I fully expected her to trot in behind me, lay down at my feet, and go to sleep. That's what dogs do, right? (Now, actually, that's what she does because she's getting to be an old lady.) Nope. This one wanted to explore every inch of our three-bedroom condo. And with me not knowing what she was going to do (chew my shoes? Scratch the doors?), I spent that first evening following her around watching her get acclimated to her surroundings.

But because I was still scared of what she might do when we weren't home, I made the decision to cage her while I was at work. So right before I left, I grabbed her collar and directed her to the cage and set off for the day. I still remember the drive home later that day, as I was looking forward to playing with my new pup before heading to an evening work function.

Poor Chloe, though, had a rough day. I imaged waking her up from a nice all-day nap ready to play. Instead, I walked in to a dog trying her hardest to cower in a corner of her already probably too-small cage to avoid the piles of both puke and diarrhea. (I have now learned that you don't just change a dog's food. Apparently you have to slowly introduce the new food over the course of many meals.) Poor baby.

So that left me dressed in my work clothes hosing off a dog cage in my front yard. The cage became a battle for me, as Chloe was not happy having to go in the cage, and let me know by hiding when she saw me put on my shoes in the morning, and then whining and piddling if I tried to force her in it by her collar. That cage also, however, led to Chloe becoming a magician because toward the end of that short period where I caged her, I'd find that she managed to unhinge it and jump out more times than not.

She didn't like the cage and she let me know she didn't like the cage, but I didn't know to listen. I stopped caging her and I swear when she looked at me it was a sort of "what took you so long to trust me?" look.

I have since learned that Miss Chloe will tell me when she doesn't like something by misbehaving until she gets her way. Like the time she refused to get on her feet on a walk when I was yelling at her to get on her feet because she didn't like me yelling at her (I've since learned that she was abused and rolling on her back is a show of surrender). The second I switched the tone of my voice to sweet baby talk, she hopped right up and was like, "Let's go! Where are we off to?"

And that dog usually gets her way. Like when she wants to be petted, she'll ask to be petted by putting her head down somewhere on you and look at you with those oversized brown eyes. I haven't yet found a way to resist those eyes and her sweet, loving nature. There truly isn't anything like the unconditional love and devotion you get from your loyal dog - even one owned by an inexperienced, first-time pup mom.

Chloe was telling me what I needed to do from the minute I brought her home. I just needed to learn to listen.