What I Didn’t Expect about Having a Puppy

I am back from New York, and I want to tell you a secret: I don’t hate New York anymore.

Before, I thought of NYC as purely dirty and gross and crowded and obnoxious and expensive. And I’m not going to lie to you. It is quite dirty and crowded and expensive. It’s also lively and beautiful and fun. I still will fight for Chicago every single day over NYC, and you KNOW I had that conversation several times while I was there, but… New York doesn’t suck.

I don’t have a super thorough recap for you, but I’ll give you the gist before I get to the puppy points.

Monday, we flew in, got dinner, and went out until nearly 1am. Tuesday, we were in training from 8am to 5pm, and then bowling in Times Square from 6pm to 8pm, and then we went out for a few hours after. Wednesday training was from 8am until 6:30pm, and we had that night all to ourselves, so I went to a Mets game with a few friends.

The Yankees weren’t in town, or we’d have gone there, but the Mets won, so this was extra fun, as was successfully getting to Queens on our own. Usually when we went somewhere, we were following someone with some New York familiarity, but this was four people with nearly no NYC experience. I will say that navigating around Europe on my own has made finding my way around any public transit easier, but it still felt like an achievement. We had speeches to give on Thursday, so we skipped out on going out after the game. Thursday, we had the same training schedule as Tuesday, followed by a rooftop reception at the hotel and going out afterward.

Guys, I slept for a grand total of 15 hours between getting back to the hotel on Monday night/Tuesday morning and getting back to my apartment on Friday evening. It was wild, and so fun, and I’m so tired. I genuinely like every single person I met/reconnected with, and I’m so glad we get the chance to go through this program together.

And now what you’ve been waiting for…

Having a puppy is hard.

Like, really hard. If I had any doubts, Ben is confirmation that a kid is not a thing I want right this second. I adore kids and puppies. But oh.my.land are they a lot of work. I talked about this with one of my program managers last week, and she was like, “Great birth control, right?” I mean, that wasn’t the goal, but she’s not wrong. Hearing this successfully convinced three people in my program to not go looking for dogs for their new apartments just yet.

I’ve always felt awkward comparing my dog to a kid, but I’m told it’s a pretty fair comparison by mothers everywhere, so I’m doing it. I kind of have a kid, and he is a lot to handle. Here’s just a little of what I didn’t know about having a puppy.

He gets into everything.

Even though he knows what is allowed, and has a million toys and empty boxes to play with, there are just some things he can’t leave alone. Right now, those are my carpet (yikes), fake plants (I guessed this would happen), and anything on my kitchen table (still trying to find a home for everything). It used to be my fingers and toes and nose and clothes, though, so I guess it’s progress?

He makes packing more difficult.

I had to add this after I got ready to go to New York last week because he made packing so tough. I should have crated him, but I really didn’t want to listen to the whining and he had been asleep almost all morning. He stole my shoes, my bras, and my clothes out of my suitcase and dashed away with them to the living room. I overpacked more than usual because I was never sure the stuff I planned on packing stayed in my suitcase. I didn’t even bother to put all of it back into my closet. It was such an ordeal that I was okay to come home to a messy apartment.

He changes my schedule.

I try to be at work between 8 and 8:30. Otherwise, Ben is the determinant of my plans. If I planned to work out early on a weekend but he’s asleep on the couch and I don’t want to disturb him, I’m probably going to hang out and write or study till he gets up. I can have plans in the evening on a workday, but I need to make sure someone can sit with him for me so he isn’t stuck in the crate all day and all night. If he is up at 5 and my alarm is set for 6, I’m getting up at 5.

He is loud.

I mean, I knew dogs bark, but I thought you could stop it? Pippa doesn’t bark. Ben… Ben definitely barks. According to my dad, he only barks at me, though. He didn’t bark at my parents while he stayed there last week. Awesome.

I want to take him everywhere… and I’m so glad I don’t.

I wanted to take him to Chicago and the Outer Banks so badly. Guys, even when he’s a pain, he’s just so freaking cute. In Chicago, it would’ve been possible but hard with our schedule or lack thereof. In OBX, we weren’t staying in a pet-friendly house, and it would have been hard to keep track of him in a giant house anyway. Both times, I noticed how relaxing my mornings (and afternoons and evenings) were and just loved soaking up the puppy love when I get back home. Not bringing him made those really feel like vacations. So, I’ve learned to fully embrace the breaks – and appreciate the people who make those breaks possible.

I pick my battles.

At my parents’ house, I was adamant that Ben didn’t play with his food bowl. I really don’t know why; it’s just not a toy, so I didn’t want him to play with it. As soon as we moved to the apartment and I discovered that it is like a free 15-minute break for me, I gave in. Yes, you can play with your bowl, my empty water bottles from the gym, almost-finished peanut butter jars, the box from every package I ever get, and my old to-do lists. They’re all yours, buddy. I’ve even given him an ice cube to chase around the apartment.

He takes my money.

I mean, not actually, but when he’s being obnoxious, I will buy any toy/solution that I find. Bully sticks are stupidly expensive, and now he can go through one in under two hours. I read about bitter apple spray to make him stop biting the carpet, so I got some. Didn’t work, but I sure tried. I have at least four treat dispensing toys to keep him busy and he only uses two. He goes through treats like crazy. He needs (more) training. His rent is cheap compared to mine, but he’s not a cheap roommate.

I am crazy about him.

You KNOW I adore Pippa. Love her. Wish Ben were more like her. My love for Ben is just different. Every time he does a good or cute thing, I am SO PROUD. Like, hell yes, that is my puppy. The way he stretches out of his crate in the morning and army crawls across the floor is my fave. The ornery way he runs away after he steals something that isn’t his makes me smile despite myself. And even though I go to bed kind of annoyed at him plenty of nights, every morning I’m ready to greet him with so much love that I get a little offended that he would rather eat breakfast than cuddle with me. He’s awesome.

Your turn:

Do you love NYC?

Do you have a pup? What didn’t you expect about it?