New stress
Whenever anyone asks me what stresses me out, I say "nothing". Not even work. No aspect of my life causes me stress.
That was the case until last Monday evening.
What happened Monday? We adopted a puppy. We named her Savannah. (which, I'm convinced, is the Portugese word for "anxiety" - or was it Icelandic?)
I should probably mention that she is a 7 week old golden retriever, and one of the cutest pups ever (pics coming soon). She is a ball of energy and has a playful and happy demeanor, which bumps up the cute factor even more.
The stress is mainly coming from trying to decide how to housetrain her. No two recommendations are the same. We got some ideas from the breeder, and we've consulted various websites, but haven't generated a cohesive plan yet. It doesn't help that most of the websites assume that we're chronically unemployed and have all day to watch her, or they assume we're feeding her an all-natural diet of alfalfa grass and goat scrotum or some shit like that.
So we tried leaving her in the crate the first night. BIG mistake. We woke up to a very stinky, messy puppy. Luckily we had off for July 4th, and we gave her a bath. Last night, we left her out of her crate, but confined to one room. She still made a mess. I'm at work right now, and planning on going home for the lunch hour. God knows what I'll find.
We're trying to figure out what to do. At the end of all this, I know we'll have a good, obedient dog, but getting from point A to point B is going to be a nerve-wracking trip at times. Are we trying to train her too early? Does she have to adjust to the new surroundings first? Lots of questions, so few answers right now. Maybe I'm just being impatient.