Changes

We are now in our 3rd week of owning little Beasley and its amazing how much has changed. For starters we are both more responsible people. That was almost an immediate change. We have a schedule and a routine to follow. We had one before, but this one supersedes that one. Since we both work we have to make sacrifices to make sure the dog gets what she needs before we leave her all day.

Sleep is a big sacrifice. We now get up at 6am to take her out and to make sure she gets almost 2 hours of playtime before we leave her for the day. I never thought anything could make me get up at six. Sometimes on the weekends she lets us sleep until 7:30 god bless her. This will hopefully only be a puppyhood wake up schedule...at least on the weekends we are hoping to sleep in until 8:30 one day.

We also make our lunches the night before and I have become a night shower'er so the mornings are left for her and the little prep we have to do for the day. Our apartment has never been cleaner. I mean it gets messy, but we have to clean often so she doesn't eat something or chew something we don't want her to. Plus we are usually having people over to meet her so that is motivation as well.

New Family Portrait

These have all been positive changes so far. Yes, there is a dog to consider when we want to hang out with people or when we need to want to go shopping, but we can have people over to our place if we need to socialize and is staying home from a mall really the worst thing?

I know for me it has made me really value down time. There is not much to go around these days so when it comes its amazing. I can't compare having a dog to having a kid, but there is a weird parental feeling that comes with raising a puppy. You have to worry about more than just you and that's something new.

Once our wedding was done and before Beasley was here Glen and I would spend most of our evenings watching tv, lazing about and going shopping. We do run as well, but that's not a huge part of us. Now we have all sorts of things to do when we get home. We still get to have TV, but not as much and she was just the excuse we were looking for. It will only get better as she grows and is trained... and of course in the Spring where she realizes going outside is fun and not torture as she once thought squatting in -30 temps.

I am actually surprised at how many people say "oh we will never have a dog". It's not for everyone, but we seem to enjoy it!