I mean, puppies and stuff.

I figured out the problem with getting Reagan to go outside to potty. Well, two problems. Only one of them I can fix.

1. She doesn't do well on a leash. (This is the one I can fix.) She didn't like going out in the yard and coming back in from being in the yard on a leash. I've heard this is a problem with puppies sometimes, but I've never seen it first hand. And this is coming from a good 2 years of professional pet sitting experience. Anyway, it's an easy problem to solve. We just let her out in the back yard. Thank goodness for the fence. We'll slowly work on the leash issue when we start taking walks. Right now, it's not a huge concern for me - especially since I've read that it's a fairly easy thing to cure them of and sometimes they just naturally grow out of it.

2. Listen, I know she's a puppy. And we expected there to be accidents in the house. But seriously, it's like she has to pee every half hour. I'm aware that puppies have to be taken out a lot more than adult dogs, but who has the time to put their shoes on and go outside every half hour with a puppy? Not me. And not Chris. Oh, but suuuuuure...she can hold it for 4 hours from when I leave for work to when I come home for lunch. I don't get it.

Anyway, we're working on the potty stuff. We just have to be consistent (or so I've read). There's been SUPER DUPER interneting happening around here about training a puppy. It's all new to us.

Good things: She loves her new tennis balls and can entertain herself for a good 45 minutes on her own with them. She loves her new bed and is a-ok with sleeping in it on the floor of our bedroom. And she knows what the phrases "come" and "go get in your bed" mean and obeys them.

Not so good things: The obvious potty issues. The cats are still adjusting. Chewing on shoes and, well, anything. Eating inedible things like the pieces of concrete and rock that she gets off the fireplace.

We are looking into puppy training classes, but a lot of them interfere with Martha's due date, so we're still trying to figure that out. Until then, we'll keep interneting and self-educating.