For those of you that know me, I am slightly obsessed with my puppy Remi. We have almost had him a year and it has been an interesting year to say the least. Right after me and Cole got married we started talking about getting a dog. Cole works night shifts and I wanted a dog to keep me company at night and during the day when Cole was sleeping. We don't have a very big yard and knew they dog would probably mostly be inside. We started looking on KSL for the perfect puppy. One day while at work Cole sent me a picture of Remi and I knew he had to be mine.
I mean get real, he looks like something out of a puppy calendar. He's got button eyes for heaven sakes. We went the next day to go and get him. I imagined that we would have a magical ride home full of puppy kisses and cuddles. Once we got in the car Remi started barking and scratching me with his sharp puppy claws. He was panicking and I was doing the same. We picked him up in Bountiful and I made cole stop at the Petco in Layton because I couldn't handle it any more.
Once we got home it got better. We got our fill of puppy kisses and cuddles, and then we had to go to work. We were both working a graveyard shift that night. Remi would only have to be home alone from 11pm to 5am that morning and I didn't think it would be a big deal because he should have been sleeping. When I got home at five that morning Remi wasn't in his kennel. I was freaking out, I finally found Remi hiding from me behind the couch crying. He didn't know who I was and was in this new scary home. He had escaped his kennel and pooped in four different areas of my house. I felt so bad because I am sure he was so scared.
I feel so lucky to have a dog like Remi. He is indoors most of the time but does great. I remember when he was a puppy thinking, "how do people ever leave their dogs home alone?" Now Remi will stay home while i'm at school or while Cole and I go on a date. He never wakes us up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and he will sleep in until at least one or two in the afternoon if I work at night. We make sure to take him to do a lot of things so that he gets exercise being an indoor dog. We love him and I am so grateful to have such a fun and energetic dog. He definitely isn't perfect (those who have come to my house and gotten jumped on definitely know) but we are still working with him and he just gets better every day.
Here are some tips to having an indoor dog and some livesavers if you plan on getting a dog anytime in the future. First, train them when they are little and stick to the training. If you don't want them to sleep with you in your bed every night, don't let them do it when they are little. That goes for any training. When puppies are little its cute when they jump on you, but when they are big its horrible. That is something we are still working on with Remi because we didn't do it with him when he was little. Taking them on walks when they are little helps a TON! I started walking and running and even riding my bike with Remi when he was really little! It has helped a lot so that he doesn't pull on his leash now. Since Remi is indoors I have had to find things that work for him when we leave. I found that if me and Cole were gone too long he would get bored and start tearing things apart, specifically pillows. I bought a little crate at walmart and filled it up with toys. We get it out for him when we leave the house. I sometimes will put different toys in different areas of the house. Since we started doing that Remi hasn't ruined anything in a long time. When Remi was little a huge life saver was baby gates. If I was doing dishes I would baby gate him inside the kitchen with me. I found that if he was near me I could potty train him easier and he would get himself in less trouble. I always kept him gated where ever I was until he was fully potty trained. Along with training him we loved bite size treats. I would buy tiny treats so that I could give him them while I was training him. Here are some of our favorite dog toys!
Remi is a power chewer. There are not very many toys that he can't destroy after having them only a couple of minutes. These are all toys that are great to keep any dog busy, but especially dogs that like to chew. The first picture is a Kong toy. You can put treats or peanut butter or they even have a type of cheese whiz for dogs. We love this for Rem because it takes him a while to get the treat out of it so he will work on it for awhile to get it. The second one is a Nylabone. They come in different ranges of softness. The one Remi has right now he can't chew through so we love it. The third picture is just your average soft stuffed dog toy. You can get these ones for about a dollar at Walmart. When we first got Remi we were getting him more expensive stuffed toys but we quickly gave up because Remi would destroy them so quickly. Now I just buy him stuffed animals from the dollar store or cheap dog toys at Walmart so that I don't care when he ruins them. Our last and most favorite toy is the Chuck-It ball. We have had this ball since Remi was a puppy and it is still holding up great. It floats in the water, which is awesome, and its really durable so Remi can chew and chew on it and it never gets ruined. With regular tennis balls Remi would chew the fuzz off of them so with these he can play with them all day and I don't have to worry about it.
My most favorite place to take Remi is the dog park on 24th street. For any of you that have dogs this is such an awesome place. It is all gated in and there are usually other dogs there for Remi to play with. We took him when he was really little to socialize him with dogs so that he would get along with them. Now that he is bigger the Ogden River runs right near it and we go and throw the ball into the river and he swims around. There are tons of dog lovers down there and it is so nice to take Remi some where and let him be off the leash and not have to worry about it.
Needless to say we love our Remi dog!
Lots of time and training Remi fits into our family so perfectly. We love having him around. Having a dog is so fun. I wanted to share this post because recently I have been going to the animal shelter and volunteering a little bit. I see so many dogs there that have been left behind. If any of you are considering getting a dog PLEASE make sure you are ready for it. Remi took and still takes a lot of time. We make sure to take him to the park and take him on walks. Going on trips isn't the same anymore because we either have to take him or have someone babysit him for us. Luckily we have awesome family that will do it for us. Remi has destroyed many a pillow, shoe, and our yard on occasion. Once he even ruined a Jazz hat that Cole had signed by Trey Burke #nightmare. We LOVE him and can't imagine not having him, but if you are considering getting a puppy please make sure you are ready for it. No dog deserves to be taken from their families and given to an animal shelter. If you are wanting to take in a puppy or a dog, please consider adopting from a shelter. There are so many awesome dogs there that need homes. If you can't get a dog, but you really love them. The animal shelter is always looking for volunteers. You can go and walk the dogs and play with them and give them lots of love. If you are feeling down in the dumps dogs are the best way to boost your mood.
