New Pyrenees Puppy

Devotion Never Looked So Ragged

I got a dog.

A puppy, rather.

It is the singularly most exhausting experience I have had to date.

People sort of warn you, I guess. Still, nothing quite prepares you for the level of constant attention, correction, training, education, praise, caring for, feeding, treating, and potty training I am currently tending to.

I lost count of how many times I just got up in the past twenty minutes it took me to write those few sentences due to the need to get up and kindly correct her behavior. She must learn not to nap in front of the bedroom door but instead on her bed.

It’s not just the getting up and repetition of correcting her (which, broken down further, is distracting her, showing her what to do, getting her to do it, calming her down, and praising her) that exhausts my weary body, but the emotional patience and calm I must call forth to do it well. When inside, I am just…beat. Frustrated. Heavy. All the annoying feelings we don’t want to have towards the young, clueless, and innocent.

My head feels like a stone.

I try to give her the patient disposition of
the sun watching the Earth
destroy itself but
nurturing it
with all the warmth and
glory it had on day one.

At last, she is sleeping in her area.

Dogs need boundaries for their happiness and to cultivate a mutual understanding with their housemates regarding how the house dynamic can exist in peaceful abundance and respectful partnership. It is achingly exhausting to teach them, and it is my number one priority at current. I want her to be happy. I want us to be partners in life, and that requires a long period of putting all of my needs aside to train her.

I look like shit. My bedside table is a mess. Things that need to be put away are piling up on areas she can’t reach.

I need a nap. I am too wired to conceive one. I feel like the shell of a person.

Elsie Bear is going to grow to be around 100 lbs quite rapidly. A Great Pyrenees, her breed is bred to kill wolves, meaning she has a very strong jaw and a very independent and stubborn manner of existence. She is a livestock guardian, the gentlest of breeds. She is intelligent, a miracle, and a blessing. It is absolutely imperative that she is trained well for our family’s safety and happiness.

It took a few years of life for my rabbit Fi’s personality to round out. He’s ten years old now and perfect. During his early days, I lived in studio apartments. He would attempt to eat everything and thump and rattle his cage at night and keep me up. For years. It was a lot. And in the end, my patience and steadfast loyalty to our long-term relationship was unmistakeably worth it. He is an enormous light in my life. He and I have one of the most special relationships I have ever had.

So, here we go again…

I’ve always, always wanted a large dog. Truly. For all of my life. I do see every bit of blessing that is the gift of Elsie Bear. I just hope to the powers that be that I find the energy to enjoy these early years of her puppydom the best that I can.

A hui ho,

Julia