As I have noted in this blog before, Steve and I have come to think of the first two months with any new puppy as Puppy Hell. That’s when the hardest work of puppy-raising takes place. With Adagio, however, or maybe with our increasing store of CCI puppy-raising experience (he’s our eighth), it feels more like mere purgatory.
Most of the time he now sleeps through the night. He’s growing at an astounding rate. Yesterday I took him in for his second (of 4) set of puppy shots, and he weighed 19.8 pounds — almost 8 pounds more than when we got him three weeks ago.
We’ve begun taking him for micro-walks, just around our block, and he seems to adore that. Even though he still despises his halter, he likes being out so much that half the time he forgets he’s wearing it. He still accidentally pees in the house, though it’s no longer several times daily. And although he turns into a hellion when he plays with other young dogs…
…he soon transitions into a calmer state.
I have to confess that once again, Steve and I were completely mortified (and exhausted) at puppy class Monday night. Once again, Adagio disrupted the proceedings by barking and shrieking. He had a wild look in his eyes, like a three-year-old kid on a sugar rampage at a birthday party. It was so bad our teacher suggested he stay in the classroom with us alone when she and all the other young students and their human caretakers did some exercises outdoors.
Later, I looked up my blog post about how Beverly (Adagio’s half-sister) behaved at her first class (back in the summer of 2016). She “barked once or twice, but for the most part she watched the proceedings and cradled calmly,” I wrote then. At first this reminder of Beverly perfection dismayed me. But then I did the calculations and realized Beverly was more than four weeks older, at that point.
So we’re cutting Adagio some slack. We think he’ll shape up. Even now, a spell in purgatory with him doesn’t feel that tortuous.
You do get charming photos!
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