Anyone who knows me well will know that I have dreamed of having a French Bulldog since I was a little girl. I grew up around Bulldogs, and while they tend to be a slobbery and rather stinky breed, I absolutely adore them. My last semester of college looked a lot different. Most of my friends were no longer on campus, and I found myself having a lot of downtime, which led to feeling quite lonely. I found myself going through the motions of school and work each day, with a large cloud of unfulfillment looming over my head. At the same time, I was spending hours every day looking at puppy adoption websites, and slowly introducing the idea of having a puppy at school to my parents. After a lot of searching, puppy meetups, and convincing, I drove 2.5 hours on a snowy day in February to pick up my dream French Bulldog and got him signed off as my emotional support animal. On the drive home, he sat so calmly, snuggling right into my lap. It was a surreal and overwhelming feeling to know that the 3 pound, 8- week-old puppy looking up at me with his big green eyes was mine to care for.
I did not take my parents seriously when they told me that at the beginning I will be extremely stressed out, and even question if I made the right decision. While his puppy cuteness was exciting, I was in for a rude awakening the first two to three weeks. At first, I found it endearing that he wanted to be held and snuggled all the time, but then when it came to trying to get classwork done, leave for work, or even take a quick shower, the neediness quickly turned demanding. I was not prepared for this large disruption in my routine and was humbled to learn that puppies do not just adapt to their owner’s schedule right away. Puppy accidents I was prepared for. If you’ve never had a dog before, get ready to have a lot of cleaning supplies and rags nearby. At 8 weeks, my Frenchie truly had no concept of where to go potty, and it was a coincidental miracle if he happened to go on his potty training pad. Nighttime was the absolute worst. I attempted crate training, as my family was very successful training our past puppies to do it, and I read over and over again that it was the best way to sleep train a puppy. Let me just say this, crate training is not for every puppy, and that is OKAY! I tried every trick in the book: feeding him in his crate, leaving special toys, leaving a T-shirt with my scent, putting a blanket over it, I even bought a stuffed animal with a heartbeat to mimic a real one. Absolutely nothing worked. Every night for the first two weeks was hours on end of barking and crying. I was so determined to be successful with crate training, that I was becoming deeply sleep-deprived and jeopardizing my own mental health. I remember one morning I was so overly exhausted, I called my parents sobbing and saying I made the wrong decision (kind of like exactly how they said I would feel). I explained that I was getting no sleep, couldn’t take 10 minutes to shower, lost all sense of my routine, had puppy accident aroma all over the place, and felt no reward or connection to the dog. I felt so defeated, tired, and guilty for not having the bond I dreamed of having with this puppy. My parents couldn’t help but laugh a little, responding with “Welcome to parenthood!” They assured me that it does get easier and that the feeling of reward and connection comes with time. After all, this 8-week-old puppy was taken from his litter to live in a completely unfamiliar place with a stranger.
Weeks three and four did get easier. Just like every article I read and advice I heard from people, it does get better with time. One night I decided to just try letting my puppy sleep in bed with me, and he slept through the entire night, only waking up once or twice to use the potty pad. I decided that giving up on crate training does not mean I’m less of a good dog owner. He even picked up right away that the bed is not a place to go potty, it’s just for sleep, which is rather smart for a little puppy! He quickly started to pick up on where the right place to go potty is (it’s definitely not perfect yet, but it’s getting there). As the weeks went on we understood more about each other and learned to build our own routine together. I found myself stressing over the little things less, and enjoying him more. Now, I can’t imagine life without him.
My puppy is 3 months old now. He is growing and learning so fast, and it truly is rewarding to see the progress they make in such a short time. My biggest advice to any first-time puppy owner is to just have patience, and know that you’re both learning things about each other together. Our time with our four-legged friends never feels long enough. Enjoy every moment and soak up the puppy days, as they go by faster than you’d think.