Ahhhh the "crate"

Well it is easy to say that life with our pup was certainly alot different than life with no pup LOL! We now had this little sweet puppy who totally depended on us for everything. Luckily Scott was working nights so he was home all day with her and then I was home all night so she never really was left alone.

When we first thought about getting a puppy everyone was adament about "crate" training and told us oh it is the best thing to do and if you don't you are crazy blah blah blah. So we took their advice (who were "they" anyway I cannot even remember LOL) and the night we bought our puppy we also bought the biggest most expensive crate we could find. We came home that first night and set that crate up and thought oh yeah this is gonna work - this will be sweet Brittany's home away from home - a place where she can retreat for some R&R and some privacy - oh yeah SURE!! Let's just say the first night in the crate was perfect - we didn't hear a peep out of her. The second night was not so bad either maybe just a little whimper here and there. We actually thought this is kind of odd - aren't puppies notorious for keeping everyone awake during the night? Well yeah our sweet little bundle decided to wait til that third night to show her true "nighttime" colors. She probably figured by this time we were totally in love with her so alittle "crying" during the night couldn't hurt. So that is just what she did - she barked and she whimpered and she "cried" on and off for most of the night. I of course would get up and go out into the dining room (that is where we kept her crate since at that time we had no furniture in there) and make sure she was ok - I would stick my hand in the crate and pet her and just as she would settle down I would head back to bed only to get nice and comfortable under the covers when the barking and crying and whimpering would start up again. Of course Scott slept right through all that. Funny how a guy can do that - sleep right through anything that happens during the night? Crying babies or crying dogs nope they sleep right through it. I guess their hearing is not as good as ours LOL!.

So let's say by 5am I was just at the end of my rope I was SO tired plus I felt horrible :o( I felt like here we just ripped this poor puppy away from her mom and brothers and sisters and the only life she knew and threw her in this crate in this empty room all by herself - how cruel!!! So you can all guess what I did next - I know someone who tries to be "logical" and do the right thing I did the totally wrong thing - I let that little darling fuzzy puppy out of her cage and let her follow me down to our room and into our bed. I know BADDDDDD thing to do but really I just couldn't help myself. Of course as soon as she got herself settled nice and snuggly between us with her head on the pillow she was snoring in no time! And I too was able to go to sleep (not knowing that this particular "scene" you know with her nice and snuggly between us with her head on the pillow would be going on for the next 7 years!!!)