Sammy Part 2: The middle of the beginning

February 2010

Sammy doesn’t like the outside, and she likes her little pink doggy sweater even less. She is so small and it is so cold out that without the sweater we barely make it out the door before she begins to cry and huddle up next to our feet. This has been making the task of house training her, somewhat difficult. After about a week, my mother decided the only solution would be through potty pads. It makes me wonder why they don’t have litter boxes for dogs, but I suppose this is effectively the same thing.

There is one thing Sammy likes about her pink doggy sweater, and that’s that it is the ideal toy for tug of war, her absolute favourite game. She doesn’t really understand the idea behind fetch. She loves running after toys, but has absolutely no intention of bringing them back to us. She’s already destroyed several stuffed animals with her razor sharp puppy teeth, and most of her plastic toys aren’t holding up much better.

I read once that a puppy’s breath always stinks, even if you give them a breath mint. However, what they don’t tell you is that there is nothing sweeter than puppy kisses. Our little Sammy is the sweetest puppy I’ve ever known. I know part of this must be the thing that makes parents think that their kids are the best children ever, but I also know that Sammy is just a sweet dog. Sure she loves to romp and play as puppies do, but she also loves to curl up on our laps or on our shoulders and to give us little sleepy puppy kisses before she passes out from a hard day’s play.

She’s still too little to climb the stairs, but we know it’s only a matter of time before she’s all around the house. We’ll have to get a doggy gate on top of the weekly need for new chew toys.