Dog Mom Reporting for Duty
Growing up, I never really had pets. I had a gold fish named Goldie for a few months (maybe years), but that was it until I was in middle school and my parents got 2 cats. Which I am allergic to, lots of sneezing nights. My hubby Chris on the other hand has had dogs in his life the majority. I wasn’t against getting a dog but I also wasn’t 100% for it. They are a lot of work and can be high energy. But we compromised and got one of the most high energy breeds out there, a Siberian Husky.
The photo that captured our hearts.
Since we were very specific about the type of dog we wanted, we looked at breeders and found one in North Carolina. From where we were it was about 12 hours of driving. I remember finally getting there and getting to hold her for the first time, although she was not quite sure about Chris and I at first. She was about 12 weeks old and was one of the last to be adopted in her litter. The 12 hour car ride home she slept on my lap pretty much the entire way.
Potty training was ruff (pun intended)! We lived on the second floor of an apartment and she just potty where ever she felt like it. Once I thought she was just being cute running around and jumping on the couch. I was taking photos. Turns out she was trying to say “MOM, I gotta go potty!”. I got a photo of her in the very act. We found that the best way to get her potty trained was consistency. Every 2-3 hours we would take her out. As she got older, she was able to hold it a lot longer and now will bark to tell us when she really needs to go. Best advice for potty training is that consistency factor.
Chewing was also another area that we needed help on. She loves to chew on everything. Still to this day she chews. To minimize shoes and pillows, we signed up for BarkBox (get the Super Chewer box, if your doggo is a chewer). Each month she gets 2 new toys, 2 bags of treats, and a meaty chew! We also used Grannicks Bitter Apple Taste Deterrent to spray on the couch and decorative place in the house. This we only did when we first got her to deter her from chewing on things we couldn’t put away. A huge lifesaver.
Nyssa graduating Puppy 1
Training was also a huge thing for us. We enrolled her in Petco’s puppy training courses. We did the Puppy Essentials class which included 2 classes and then the AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy test. This training was more helpful for Christopher and I, than Nyssa, I think. It provided us with structure and a knowledgeable trainer to ask questions. I would 100% recommend getting in a training course and not only training at your house. We worked on extra commands at home, but the structure of puppy class was very helpful for Nyssa’s development.
Check out Nyssa’s Instagram cute photos to fuel your week! @husky.nyssa
