Puppies and Chronic Pain
Sometimes I am totally blown away by the love my husband has for me. My fiscally conservative husband (putting it mildly) bought me a puppy.
Now before you hit me with the flame comments from hell, for not adopting, we have tried to adopt 3 dogs since Tiger passed and all were failures for one reason or another. My health conditions, plural, led us to believe that we needed to train a puppy from the ground up to be what we need for my pain.
Now two weeks in, #leohusband and I are obviously insane because we got a puppy, but we are so in love.
Well, not insane actually because, after our last three disastrous attempts at dog adoption, tiny puppy energy is much more manageable than big dog energy or anxiety.
Plus, I put my foot down and said, no more big dogs. We loved Tiger and we were lucky that my in-laws raised him to be a wonderful, trained, and obedient dog. However, when Tiger's health started failing and I couldn't do anything physical to help him (pick him up). I was in a terrible bind and felt so helpless when I couldn't care for someone I loved so dearly.
I really wanted a small to medium dog, that didn't shed a lot...again I don't want to flare up my chronic pain with constantly cleaning the house.
#bubbletwinbff found the solution, a Mini Goldendoodle. One Insta search later and I was in love. Luckily, there was a breeder in my city. Sweet!
Yes, they are as cute as you can imagine.
Enter Freddie. Our new addition to the family. A cute fluffy baby shark that knows sit and down sometimes rings the bells on the back door to pee and poop, and our main goal is to get the puppy biting under control before he is 6 months old.
For those of you not familar with the very popular childrens song:
The only downside is my adhesive arachnoiditis has completely flared up with the bending over to pick him up. I've haven't been lower than a 6 on the pain scale for over two weeks now.
I'm learning the hard way of course that I just have to kneel down and let me tell you, kneeling down on the frosty cold and wet grass at 4:00 in the morning is not pleasant. So I usually end up bending over and scooping him up before I have to go upstairs to teach. Even that has flared up my SI Joint, which has also now, in turn, flared up a terrible case of Sciatica.
And crate training...
We hired a professional dog trainer with 15 years of experience and his crate training philosophy in conjunction with potty training makes sense. If #leohusband and I cannot actively watch him, he goes into his house or is on his leash in the house with me.
The trainer likens it to a baby and a crib or one of those toddlers you see at Disney World on a harness. However, it's hard to listen to Freddie beg to be let out of his house so he is usually on the leash by my side. He has learned to be calm and quiet over the last week in his crate, but it's obvious he would just prefer to be with momma. I cannot wait until he is potty trained so he can join me for my afternoon power nap. Oh yeah, puppy snuggles!
Other than that, Freddie joins me when I cook dinner. He can't seem to get enough of laying on my feet at the stove, the island, and the sink.
I started my emergency medicine in the hopes I can get this pain flare under control before actual Thanksgiving. I am hopefull that with all the awesome things I have learned in the last three years I can do it like the Badass Babe I am.
Now before you hit me with the flame comments from hell, for not adopting, we have tried to adopt 3 dogs since Tiger passed and all were failures for one reason or another. My health conditions, plural, led us to believe that we needed to train a puppy from the ground up to be what we need for my pain.
Now two weeks in, #leohusband and I are obviously insane because we got a puppy, but we are so in love.
Well, not insane actually because, after our last three disastrous attempts at dog adoption, tiny puppy energy is much more manageable than big dog energy or anxiety.
Plus, I put my foot down and said, no more big dogs. We loved Tiger and we were lucky that my in-laws raised him to be a wonderful, trained, and obedient dog. However, when Tiger's health started failing and I couldn't do anything physical to help him (pick him up). I was in a terrible bind and felt so helpless when I couldn't care for someone I loved so dearly.
I really wanted a small to medium dog, that didn't shed a lot...again I don't want to flare up my chronic pain with constantly cleaning the house.
#bubbletwinbff found the solution, a Mini Goldendoodle. One Insta search later and I was in love. Luckily, there was a breeder in my city. Sweet!
Yes, they are as cute as you can imagine.
Enter Freddie. Our new addition to the family. A cute fluffy baby shark that knows sit and down sometimes rings the bells on the back door to pee and poop, and our main goal is to get the puppy biting under control before he is 6 months old.
The only downside is my adhesive arachnoiditis has completely flared up with the bending over to pick him up. I've haven't been lower than a 6 on the pain scale for over two weeks now.
I'm learning the hard way of course that I just have to kneel down and let me tell you, kneeling down on the frosty cold and wet grass at 4:00 in the morning is not pleasant. So I usually end up bending over and scooping him up before I have to go upstairs to teach. Even that has flared up my SI Joint, which has also now, in turn, flared up a terrible case of Sciatica.
And crate training...
We hired a professional dog trainer with 15 years of experience and his crate training philosophy in conjunction with potty training makes sense. If #leohusband and I cannot actively watch him, he goes into his house or is on his leash in the house with me.
The trainer likens it to a baby and a crib or one of those toddlers you see at Disney World on a harness. However, it's hard to listen to Freddie beg to be let out of his house so he is usually on the leash by my side. He has learned to be calm and quiet over the last week in his crate, but it's obvious he would just prefer to be with momma. I cannot wait until he is potty trained so he can join me for my afternoon power nap. Oh yeah, puppy snuggles!
Other than that, Freddie joins me when I cook dinner. He can't seem to get enough of laying on my feet at the stove, the island, and the sink.
