My First Little Puppy

My First Little Puppy(linda burke) My First little Puppy

By: Lin Burke



For my birthday my boyfriend bought me a puppy. The sweetest thing he had ever done for me. I had been nagging at everyone and hinting that all I wanted for my birthday was a puppy. You see I am what you might call a loner and figured that this would be perfect for me. So home came this tiny little adorable puppy, was half Chihuahua and terrier or something or other. A mixed breed of some sort. A Chihuahua for sure, but as she grew we weren't sure what breed she was.

I had moved into this gorgeous studio apartment, which allowed animals. I seemed to always end up being all alone. Once you saw her beautiful face, the fact that she could fit in the palm of a hand, was all so adoring. when I put her into my purse she was content with it. Everyone would ooh and ahh over her anytime we would go into public places, shopping, anywhere this was typical. I took her everywhere with me. She was a whole lot of effort. Of course, It didn't take too long for me to completely fall in love with my baby furball, Caden. The guy who is now my X boyfriend. I was ok with the break up because I had my new best friend, Caden. I named her Caden.

There I was feeding this little ball of fur, Such a cutie pie, a little baby animal who needed my attention 24/7. Kind of like a human baby, only worse. She didn't cry when she wanted something, she cried and whined and barked, you name it, when she knew or when she didn't know what she wanted. Then she would cry constantly, growl, bite and chew, attack at times when I didn't pay enough attention to her, when I ate my food, When I went to the restroom, anytime for any given reason. It was very exhausting. I never enjoyed anything anymore. She was the main thought that went throught my mind 24/7.

She begged for food and I always gave in when I was eating and she ate 1/2 of my meals every meal... Soon she wouldn't eat dog food but would enjoy whatever I was eating. In the long run, this was unhealthy and was damaging to her little baby insides. I never knew that Puppys could get sick or die from eating human food. Only dog food could be fed, I soon found out, frantically inquiring about this frightening piece of information I learned on the internet (I learned the hard way, when she was vomiting, and was hot to the touch, she got so sick from my actions, I was in tears.). The guilt set in, hitting me pretty hard indeed. OMG, it was MY fault for giving her pork, chicken bones (bones rip her little intestine's and tear little holes in them till she suffered painfully). Finally taking her to the vet, she had symptoms of a digestive problem. 2 weeks later into this little puppy's life and mine, she got sick. It was my fault. So stressful, I thought she was going to die. Yelping so loud. I had no clue what to do. It was so scary.

She therefore suffered with a lot of pain and yelping all through the night off and on. There was not much they could do but let it pass. I could not figure what was wrong. I just wanted to give up. She was suffering and so very delicate. She needed round the clock attention. I Spoiled her rotten. I thought she ate something I fed her that was bad. It was 3 copper pennies she vomited 4 hours later. Thank god she got through it.

After the recovery. I just could not make her happy. She was constantly barking, howling, growling, and whimpering, for everything. It seemed to go on non-stop. I would put her into my bed, being careful not to roll over on to her little body, because she would not sleep in her bed. I would carry her in my purse when I'd go shopping or running errands. Living here in The city of San Francisco, CA., there were times it would get so hectic. People would be running across the street to get a peak at her, thinking she was the most... and come running from across the streets sometimes shouting "Ahhhhhh, how cute or adorable!" Wanting to pet her, which I always denied them due to the fact, she was too young and needed to first get her shots. (Her shots appointment was 3 weeks from that time.) So she really should of stayed home at all costs. But I had to take her everywhere, she didn't like to be alone. I was very careful. So in public I would get the following questions over and over till I'm blue in the face:
1. How old is she
2. What breed is she?
3. Is she going to get bigger than that?
4. What is her name?
5. Can I hold her?
Asked by anyone on the bus, store, anywhere I would go through the questions, I just was sick of answering. Soon I got rude and would not answer. People said I was rude, called me a B----h to my face. When I did answer it was never ending. So....on and on did I answer. Cute never paid the bills, I thought. Cute only goes so far.

She had a teething problem and would chew all the time. I got concerned when she drew blood on my hand. I read all I could to try to get a solution to this problem. Several bandaids and several bites later... By this time I was fed up and ready to trade her in and get a refund. She changed my mind, when I thought you would not trade a baby in. You cannot give up, Lin. Caden will soon grow out of this. Well It's now 4 months into the puppy thing and no, she has not grown out of anything except her harness and leash.

First I decided to research the information and try to come up with some solution. What I found is that they would not answer the question directly for free, anyway. Some recommended "crate training, Where the pet is put into a cage to have his/her own space, and this also works for potty training, along with the Wee Pads. I just could not do this recommended crate training withe the stay in a cage, so to speak, and I couldn't do this to her...to my new baby, then decided this is not for us...

Next idea was to buy bones and things for her to chew on. Give her a treat when she chews the toy and not my hand. now she has passed go and is presently chewing on shoes, anything she can put into her mouth. She picks up things off of the ground and swallows it whole. I pray she doesn't get sick again. I don't think I could cope with another vet trama incident.

I pray I live to see her grow up. At 5 months old, I thought I would give up, but I did stick it out and I do love her ever so. I would not change a thing. I love her to death. She is a great addition to my life.

the end