Why I Want a Puppy Part 3

Izzy

8/3/20

    I did some more research about getting a puppy that I thought I would share. I've definitely gotten my parents closer to saying yes (which I'm very proud of) but the biggest thing holding them back is Noodle. Noodle gets sick in the car, so for him to be able to meet any possible puppies he would be on meds which would change how he acts. If he didn't get sick in the car it would be so much easier, but we will have to find ways around it. Having another dog to worry about when we go out of town on top of Noodle and Boba and Sesame is a lot, so that's another big worry. Other than that, I think we might be getting one!!!!!!!!!!! 

    One thing that made me very happy to read was that puppies 4 months or younger are more likely to view guinea pigs as friends rather than prey because they are still developing their social skills. This made me very hopeful that the puppy would be friends with the guinea pigs and they might be like one of those unlikely friendships. I also know that I would have to take care of the guinea pigs and the puppy but, I know I can handle the work.

   

    I also wanted to know if it would be easier to get a girl puppy because Noodle is a boy, and the answer is yes. Turns out that when dogs are the same gender they are more likely to fight, so our puppy will have to be a girl. I wasn't sure about the gender before but Fuzz (mentioned in part 2) is a girl and I might ask about her if she hasn't been adopted yet. We might have to meet a few puppies before we find one that Noodle doesn't hate, so I'm not getting too attached to her-- even though she is ADORABLE! I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited that my parents are actually considering it!!! 

    Of course getting a puppy comes with all the responsibility of training it, so I've been learning about that too. I watched a few videos on a well known dog trainer, Zak George's YouTube channel where he showed the process of him training his new puppy. I think it's been easier to watch exactly how he gives the commands and rewards with treats and I'm already learning a lot. He talks a lot about positive reinforcement and desensitizing so your puppy gets used to new things. It isn't ideal that we'll be starting school again and are going to be doing some stay-cations this month because I need all the time I can get to train the puppy, but we'll still be at home when school starts. During "quarantine," so many people have brought new puppies into their homes because they're thinking "If not now, when?" I think this applies to us because once things go back to "normal" we'll be at school most of the weekdays, we'll be traveling again, and we won't be home as much. But now and probably for the next 6 months, we have the time and shouldn't let it pass by without taking advantage and getting a puppy.