The Finn Chronicles – #2: Losing Sleep, Cleaning Floors, Getting Snuggles

Right now, Mick and I are mostly staying home while Finn the Wheaten learns the ropes. Having my social schedule determined by a puppy hasn’t been all that bad, though. It lets me be a homebody for a bit without having to explain myself. It feels comfortable to stay home, cook, read, watch murder mysteries in the evening, meander around the yard in the morning with a dog and a cup of coffee. Comfort is in short supply as the world lurches and cracks. I’ll take it.

This past weekend was a gray, wet example of March in Minnesota. On Saturday, I walked Finn in sharp morning air. Some other dogs were barking up a storm, but Finn, to his credit, was too busy sniffing and listening and looking around to answer back. At not quite four months old, he is learning leash etiquette. It’s slow going. He jumps on me at least once during each walk, as if to check that it’s still not a thing he should do. I’ve been making sure to wear old pants when I walk with him since he put a hole in one pair I love with those sharp puppy teeth; he nips at my pants every time he jumps on me. He’s not as persistent as he was the first time he tried this kind of behavior – that was the day he put the hole in my pants and he would not stop jumping on me, grabbing my pants in his mouth, making a giant game of it. I spent several minutes putting my knee out to make him get off my leg, only to have him jump again. I finally turned my back to him and waited him out. What is it about jumping that puppies love so much? We’ll have to talk to our trainer when Finn starts puppy classes in another week and a half. We’re determined to train this dog a little better than our first three. We’ve never been very strict.

But Finn is going to be a bigger dog. We are older. We have to be strict about behaviors that could hurt not only us, but our three-year-old granddaughter as well as anyone else. We want a polite dog.

He’s already quite a snuggler. He loves to hang out with us on the couch when we watch shows in the evening. He hangs out at our feet during dinner – mostly. In fact, he’s hanging out near my feet as I write this post, laptop set up on the dining room table. And I’ve discovered he really likes being out on the deck when we’re out there. It hasn’t been warm enough often enough yet this year to do that much, but he spent a good amount of time out there with me on Friday, while I had a cup of tea and read a book. He didn’t bark once. That is my favorite thing about him right now – he doesn’t bark his head off even when he sees another dog. Our last dog, Truffles the mini doxie, barked until she worked herself into a frenzy; she was the most reactive dog of the three we had before Finn. This is a nice switch. 

But life with a puppy is exhausting. We knew it would be. Finn was doing really well sleeping through the night and mostly getting outside in time to pee until a bout of puppy diarrhea set him back week before last. We relearned the recipe for a bland dog diet with rice, ground chicken, a little yogurt. We were also reminded how slowly kibble needs to be reintroduced; we went a little too fast and his upset returned. The vet wasn’t too worried, though. Puppies are like that. (By the way, Puppies Are Like That  by Jan Pfloog is one of granddaughter Maeve’s favorite books.)

Meanwhile, our daily walks are good for all of us. Finn has met a few more neighborhood dogs, convinced a lot of neighbors to pet him, and sniffed his way through the entire area. Mick and I are working on our patience, letting Finn explore a bit, and praising him as much as we can. And we’re happy to see our neighbors on our walks, too. A dog can be just the thing for a little more community connection. 

I can’t wait until he starts his training classes and we are with other dogs and other puppy owners. Granddaughter Maeve gets to tag along for Finn’s first class. We’re doing the classes through Canine Coach in St. Paul, a place we’ve heard good things about from at least four other dog owners. We’re looking forward to expanding our community.

And to a dog who sleeps through the night. No foolin’. Happy April, everyone.

---

One more thing!

Since this is the beginning of National Poetry Month, Finn recommends I Could Chew on This and Other Poems by Dogs by Francesco Marciuliano.

And I recommend Dog Songs by Mary Oliver.

Happy National Poetry Month!