When we first brought Ruger home (at 7 weeks old), he was a teeny little thing, small enough to pick up and tuck under your arm like a football. Remember this?
Here he is 3 weeks later (at 10 weeks old):
And today at almost 13 weeks old:
Our little guy isn't so little anymore - its amazing how fast he has grown in such a short amount of time! He is such a good puppy, we really lucked out with his temperament and personality. He hardly ever gets into trouble, although he does still have some accidents in the house which we are working on. And he does have his moments where he can get a little mouthy:
But mostly he just lays around the house snoozing the day away, usually in a position that makes him look utterly adorable:
He has had a lot of firsts lately, which is exciting. He went on his first walk in the neighborhood, which totally wore him out even though we only went about 6 blocks. He also had his first puppy play date at a doggie daycare near our house. Its a gathering for puppies 8 weeks to 5 months old and we go once a week for an hour to play. Its pretty fun, there are a ton of adorable little puppies there, and its great for Ruger to have time to socialize with other dogs. His first class he was really shy, and sat at Matthews feet for the whole hour. But the last two classes he has been coming out of his shell and starting to have some fun playing with the other dogs. He seems to only like interacting with the smaller puppies - maybe because he likes to play by sitting on them, which is much easier when they are 1/4 of his size!
He also had his first bath, which he was less than thrilled with:
This is going to become a weekly thing for him, not so much for the cleaning because we will only use water, but more to get him used to the idea of baths so he doesn't freak out when he actually needs one with soap.
Its taken us a while, but we are doing well at adjusting to life with a puppy. Its been hard...there is no way around that. Some days I feel like all I have gotten done is playing with him and taking him potty. We definitely have to prepare a lot more these days, especially because he can only hold it for a few hours before he has to be let out to go potty. So we really have to plan out doctors appointments and errands to make sure that we wont be away from the house for too long. Its hard to plan play dates with friends unless they come to our house, and its difficult to work in time to train and socialize him into our already busy schedule. I don't even want to get into how much we have shelled out for him....I expect that between what we paid for him, vet bills for shots and neutering, and training, we will have sunk at least $2,000 into him before his first year is over. There have definitely been moments of buyers remorse, but when all is said and done we love this little guy with all our hearts, and already cant imagine life without him. He is such a good boy, so smart and easily trainable, and I love the relationship that the kids are forming with him. We are all looking forward to when his series of shots is complete so we can take him more places. The kids are dying to take him to the park! And this summer with him is going to be so much fun, I cant wait to see his reaction to the ocean when we take him to the beach for the first time. I know that all this hard work and training is going to pay off, and we will have a wonderful companion and beloved family member for many years. Its exciting to watch him grow up, and when there are moments where I get a glimpse of the dog he is going to be, I know in my heart that we wouldn't be complete without him. ♥
Here he is 3 weeks later (at 10 weeks old):
And today at almost 13 weeks old:
Our little guy isn't so little anymore - its amazing how fast he has grown in such a short amount of time! He is such a good puppy, we really lucked out with his temperament and personality. He hardly ever gets into trouble, although he does still have some accidents in the house which we are working on. And he does have his moments where he can get a little mouthy:
But mostly he just lays around the house snoozing the day away, usually in a position that makes him look utterly adorable:
He has had a lot of firsts lately, which is exciting. He went on his first walk in the neighborhood, which totally wore him out even though we only went about 6 blocks. He also had his first puppy play date at a doggie daycare near our house. Its a gathering for puppies 8 weeks to 5 months old and we go once a week for an hour to play. Its pretty fun, there are a ton of adorable little puppies there, and its great for Ruger to have time to socialize with other dogs. His first class he was really shy, and sat at Matthews feet for the whole hour. But the last two classes he has been coming out of his shell and starting to have some fun playing with the other dogs. He seems to only like interacting with the smaller puppies - maybe because he likes to play by sitting on them, which is much easier when they are 1/4 of his size!
He also had his first bath, which he was less than thrilled with:
This is going to become a weekly thing for him, not so much for the cleaning because we will only use water, but more to get him used to the idea of baths so he doesn't freak out when he actually needs one with soap.
Its taken us a while, but we are doing well at adjusting to life with a puppy. Its been hard...there is no way around that. Some days I feel like all I have gotten done is playing with him and taking him potty. We definitely have to prepare a lot more these days, especially because he can only hold it for a few hours before he has to be let out to go potty. So we really have to plan out doctors appointments and errands to make sure that we wont be away from the house for too long. Its hard to plan play dates with friends unless they come to our house, and its difficult to work in time to train and socialize him into our already busy schedule. I don't even want to get into how much we have shelled out for him....I expect that between what we paid for him, vet bills for shots and neutering, and training, we will have sunk at least $2,000 into him before his first year is over. There have definitely been moments of buyers remorse, but when all is said and done we love this little guy with all our hearts, and already cant imagine life without him. He is such a good boy, so smart and easily trainable, and I love the relationship that the kids are forming with him. We are all looking forward to when his series of shots is complete so we can take him more places. The kids are dying to take him to the park! And this summer with him is going to be so much fun, I cant wait to see his reaction to the ocean when we take him to the beach for the first time. I know that all this hard work and training is going to pay off, and we will have a wonderful companion and beloved family member for many years. Its exciting to watch him grow up, and when there are moments where I get a glimpse of the dog he is going to be, I know in my heart that we wouldn't be complete without him. ♥
