Welcome to reflections. The last entry in my Diary of a Middle Aged Puppy Mom series.
A collection of stories about one subject with a dual purpose –
(1) to keep you laughing, while I receive (2) free therapy sessions #everybodywins
Jaxson celebrated his first birthday on New Years Eve. Here it is February and and I’m still alive. #thereisaGod
SO I BRING YOU –
Last March I thought I had lost my ever loving doodle mind when I brought home a 9 week old puppy. #scream
After the first month my body parts were in serious warfare because of him. My heart loved him, yet my mind questioned him, and my muscles cursed him. #outloud
WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? –
That’s what my girlfriends asked me after staring at my disheveled appearance. My uncombed hair, sleep deprived eyes and wavering gait gave them reason to worry. And that’s the same question I asked myself when I crawled out of bed multiple times before dawn for potty breaks. #24/7baby
IT MADE ME WONDER –
- Could it be true?
- Am I insane?
- Could I actually be too old to raise a puppy?
Women my age don’t dare bear children. Should I have taken that as a sign? #doodleastrology
Raising Jax wasn’t supposed to be that much different than when I did it before. Intellectually it wasn’t. But honey, physically it was a different world.
Hence the series…
He’s super easy to love…
…and it’s impossible to stay angry with him…
HOWEVER –
This 65-lb bundle of curls has taught me a few things thus far.
LIKE –
- You really are as old as you feel. Some days I’m 28 and some days I’m 82 #noinbetween
- Caffeine is magic! My doodle clock is relentless – there is no snooze button #lickalarm
- If anyone I know ever swallows a sock, I have the peroxide recipe memorized #Icansaveyou
- If you need your screen replaced because your dog walked through it – call a sistah’ #1-800-onmyway #Igotyou
Yes indoodledeed – this has been a year I will never forget nor regret. I live with and love completely the canine version of Dennis the Menace. Don’t let the sweet face, curly fluffy soft hair fool you…
But if I had to sum him up in one word – I would choose the one which carries this definition:
a beneficial thing for which one is grateful; something that brings well-being:
BLESSING
ONE MORE THING –
If your day could use a laugh enhancer, here are the first three entries to Diary of a Middle Aged Puppy Mom #thatsme
DIARY OF A MIDDLE AGED PUPPY MOM #THE BEGINNING
DIARY OF A MIDDLE AGED PUPPY MOM #CONTINUES
DIARY OF A MIDDLE AGED PUPPY MOM #CRATES
Have a great day and keep smiling – it’s free – it’s fun and it feels good 🙂
February 8, 2016
Dear DoodleMom,
I think your age (?) is perfect.
We (Wife, 80, Me 78) were a little long in the tooth when we brought our 3 month old bundle home from from Dr Kelly. Teddy is 69 lbs and is 1 Year and one month old and VERY active. My wife and I split the duty of hugs and love and are glad it takes 2 of us to satisfy his playing in the back yard blizzard snow (almost gone) and fetching toys. He ate a wire tie, small metal flower pot stabilizer ans savaged on of my prescription bottles.
Three trips to the dog emergency hospital and vet and now appears to be a little more discreet about what he chews on.
All the best for the next exciting year.
Rich
February 8, 2016
Hi Rich – thank you so much for commenting! You and your wife have given me inspiration! Do you think Teddy and Jaxson are siblings? Sounds like they are the same age – was Teddy born at the end of December? I would love to see a photo of him. You can send it via email – [email protected] Great to hear from you.
February 8, 2016
Cathy,
He was born 12 Jan, right after Max.
Will send pix shortly
Rilch
February 8, 2016
Great! Can’t wait to see him.
February 8, 2016
I’m impressed that you can hold him. I can barely pick Rodrigo up.
I’m proud of you. You’ve come so far and I love that we’re great friends. I love this little guy and I’ve never met him. You deserve all the happiness your boys bring you every day and I enjoy the stories you share about your #lifewithdogs.
And I have to say that I love the hashtags.
February 8, 2016
HA! I only picked him up for the photo. He is so thick – dense weight! If Lee said “hold it” one more time – I would have dropped him. Thank you Kimberly for those kind words -the feelings and sentiments are mutual. Your support through my journey means a great deal!
February 8, 2016
I can SO relate! I often say about Piper (aka, my Kardogshian / Princess Piper) that “what she lacks in manners, she makes up for in cuteness!” That’s how it works, right?! Even when she is dragging me down the block, or running around in circles so proud of the item she has in her mouth that she’s not supposed to have, or shredding toilet paper in the bathroom, I am still 100% honestly so thankful that this goofy, playful little girl became part of our family last year. And when she finally exhausts herself and turns into my cuddle bear baby, it is such a wonderful blessing!
Thanks for cracking me up today and letting me know I’m not alone in this journey!
February 8, 2016
Hi Amanda! Like my Nana used to say “you’re going to live a long time” because I was thinking about you over the weekend. How is Piper doing? No you are not alone – there are many of us! For me – he’s truly like the baby of the family and like you – even the naughty things brea me out into a smile. What has become of us I wonder LOL
February 8, 2016
You made it!!!! And now you have a handsome young man and the toughest times are behind you.
I had to laugh at what you said about older women not bearing children and maybe that should be a sign….I never thought of it that way, but there might be something to that! 🙂
Luke was a pretty easy puppy, but maybe I should have taken that as a sign that he wasn’t going to grow up to be easy! But whatever challenges we face, our love for them gets us through it!
February 8, 2016
Your last sentence puts it all into perspective Jan. I think through it all – I’m a much better person having them in my life.
February 8, 2016
With Bailie at 2 1/2, we are well out of the puppy era here, and silly Mom seems to have forgotten all the trouble she was as a youngster. She is once again dreaming of another puppy one day. I personally don’t need another sibling and am thankful our town has a law limiting us to three dogs per home. Jax is a wonderful addition to your family and we are so happy you all are a happy family.
February 8, 2016
HA! If your mom can’t remember – have her read some of her earlier blog entries – that will jog her memory real fast. I can’t believe Bailey is already 2.5 – time does fly. Jax is a great addition – even though Harley may seem annoyed to the doodle with him, I do believe he would be a rather lonely doodle w/o him.
February 8, 2016
Congrats on surviving the first year. Here’s to many more years of love and laughter with your sweet fur-kid. 🙂
February 8, 2016
Thanks Monika – I may have to do the “terrible two’s” series. Let’s see how he behaves #ornot 🙂
February 8, 2016
Yeah you survived! One year already boy time flies.
February 8, 2016
JoAnn – sometimes I can’t believe it myself. I think about how fast the year went. A-mazing!
February 8, 2016
You made it! I think our household is going to be puppy-free. I get super cranky when my sleep is interrupted!
February 8, 2016
Mr. N. I laugh at myself now because if I’m away – I’m still waking up. I’m doomed 🙂
February 8, 2016
I completely understand. I have had two litters of collies in the past. And in my first litter, we kept two puppies, Kori and Ryder, pictured in my header. We raised them and Scarlett from our second litter, without any real problems. But Tate, born in October, was more work than both litters combined. He was a singleton puppy, and I have never had a puppy like him! While my heart broke a little when he left, I was relieved that my friend wanted to take on raising him. (she is a CGC judge, and competes in obedience with her collies.) So I know what it is like when you have a challenging puppy.
February 9, 2016
Ahhhhh – but don’t you just miss all that chaos? I’m starting to train him again now that he’s older. He’s truly a reward dog. So I am doing some positive reinforcement treat training. So far so good. He’s so sweet – I just need to mix in a little obedience with all that sweetness. #wishmeluck
February 8, 2016
OMG! I’m laughing so hard. I will definitely remember the thing about the sock in case that ever happens. And yes, caffeine is magic. Does it count if my kid walked through the screen and my dog followed?
Really funny post. Thanks!
February 9, 2016
AbsoDOODLEtutely! I fix screens no matter how they occur especially when there’s a dog involved!!
February 9, 2016
Too old to raise a puppy? NEVER! 🙂
February 9, 2016
My heart would agree Nicole but tell that to my body at 6:am when it’s cold and raining outside! That’s when I really feel like 100 years old.
February 9, 2016
Mom says she totally understands! Me and Stanley were littermates so she had 2 puppies at the same time. And we are totally different personalities too. Stanley really does get wild with joy! Congrats on surviving!
Keep Calm & Bark On!
Murphy & Stanley
February 9, 2016
My secret to surviving. I sing My go to song is “Wild Thing – you make my heart sing” that song from some baseball movie – I sing it all the time when I’m cleaning up some mess that has Jax written all over it. #therapy
February 9, 2016
Congratulations! What a great series. These dogs are gifts, aren’t they? Absolute gifts. I couldn’t love them more –their stares, their naughtiness, their early wake up call, their picky eating days, their hugs, their kisses, their snuggles, their …what else! The list is so long. Great series!! Well done!!
February 9, 2016
Thanks Deirdre – It was so much fun to write, I was praying people enjoyed reading. There will be more Sshh – just a different title 🙂 #staytuned
February 9, 2016
I loved this series so much!!!
February 9, 2016
HA! Laughing at my old age huh? LOL There may be more to come, Jax is already giving me a #preview to the terrible doodle twos! Stay tuned…
February 9, 2016
Love your puppies and your blog! Keep up the posts.
February 9, 2016
OMDoodle – thanks so much ❤️ Our audience means the to us!
February 10, 2016
Wow, a year already? Puppies are definitely a lot of work! (And that’s why they make them so darn cute!) When we got Rita she was 7 months old and already house trained, plus super mellow. I think that’s the way to go for us from here on out! Congrats on surviving the year!
February 10, 2016
I oscillated back and forth when I was ready for another doodle Jackie – half of me wanted that whole “puppy experience” since Leo came to me at 6 months of age. So I listened to the crazy half. LOL
February 11, 2016
Raising a puppy must be a really hard task regardless of your age. Raising a cat isn’t that hard compared to it, but also has it’s ups and downs.
I love that last picture – Jax is a really big boy indeed!
February 12, 2016
You’ve said all the right things -raising a puppy IS challenging at times and for me (can only speak for me!) doing it again at my age proved comical at best. But I have no regrets! I just laugh at myself – share it with you all and embrace the journey. I remember someone once telling me how tough it was trying to train their cat to stay off of their kitchen counters. She struggled with that one.
May 25, 2016
I don’t have a “Golden” but I do have a “Berne”doodle and he is a hot mess….lol. I can totally relate to the “older Mom vs. puppy” stories. My Doodle’s name is Elmo and he is currently 7 months old and 64 lbs. Thank goodness for The Pet Mahal and their doggy daycamp program! Elmo loves it and I love a tired Elmo!
May 25, 2016
7 months old and already 64 lbs WOW! Love the name Elmo – I haven’t tried the Pet Mahal for daycamp yet. But I do have that on my list. Do you take Elmo to the beach? That would be a nice little romp for them one day this summer. Would love to meet you!