The Journal of a Puppy: His First 5 Months

As a recent housewife living on a military base during the world’s pandemic, I thought the right time to have a puppy had finally arrived.

I have always and secretly wanted a dog, but I felt discouraged in getting one because of the suffering I’ve seen in the living conditions of most dogs in my home country, especially the stray dogs. It is very sad to me that there, being considered a “house dog”, a protector of the house, is a common fact for the animal to spend its entire life in a small yard, most of the times not even being seen by the veterinarian or washed with anything else but the rain.

In Canada, the dogs are very loved and respected, considered real members of the family, having their own needs and rights. Honestly, I cannot agree more!

The Proceedings:

It wasn’t long until I knew what was the perfect dog breed for myself and my husband: the Labrador Retriever.

The Labrador has a gentle temperament, loves people and the affection, is cuddly, very intelligent, easy to train and eager to please.

I must say that, from the moment we decided, until we were actually able to bring a dog home, it took a long time (about 7 months). As we were facing the Pandemic, the demand for puppies was higher than the supply, meaning the competition between the buyers was like never before, and while we were trying to get one, the price went up twice. Fortunately, after successfully passing few waiting lines and interviews on “explain why you would be the best parents for the dog”, we got our Gigea: a sweet and shy 8 weeks old yellow Labrador of 12.4 lbs (aprox 5 kg).

The Start:

The drive home, from the farm in the Annapolis Valley was long, and I closely held him in my arms, kissing and singing to him for half an hour, until he forgot to cry and fell asleep. So our new life with a puppy began!

Since the beginning, Gigea didn’t cry after his mother. Maybe he whined a bit on his first day with us, but we made sure to cuddle, talk gently, play and stay with him on the carpet, at his level, keeping him company for as much time we could. And I could, because as I said before, when we got the dog, I was a stay at home wife with not much to do.

We fed him four times a day, 7 and 11am, then 3 and 7pm, and he needed to pee every one hour, and to poop almost every time, 5 minutes after he ate. Between meals he was up and ready to play for about half an hour, the rest of the time he peacefully slept in his cozy and expensive bed.

It happened few times for Gigea to misplace his toilet habits, and only his first two days at home with us. From the early beginning we realized how smart the dog was: he chose a spot on the grass, outside the house, which he kept always.

At night, we all went to sleep at 10pm. We made sure Gigea’s last water to drink was at 9pm, when he also peed for the last time of the day, before going to bed.

My husband and I chose not to buy and use a crate for our puppy, considering it a little cruel and inappropriate for a happy animal to sleep in, but please don’t get us wrong -it’s just our opinion! I am sure there are very good reasons for people to crate-train their puppies, but we chose to ignore them.

So Gigea had his own fluffy bed close to and facing ours, being free from the start to get up and stretch his legs whenever he wanted. And, oh, he wanted it! Almost every two-three hours came to me, at the edge of my bed, sitting in his bum and whining to be held and petted. If anything really tested my patience, that was it: trying to sleep during the night, while having the puppy in the same room with us. But, no matter how tired we became because of Gigea, the love for him grew and grew. Even today, while I am writing this article, I am falling more and more in love with my dog.

Settling in:

The shyness of the dog we took, not long ago, from the Valley, was soon forgotten.

Gigea was a brave and happy explorer of the house, and how else a puppy best explores the world if not through his mouth and teeth? Every time I walked somewhere, he grabbed my trousers; for a while you could have said he became my body’s short furry annex.

We noticed he had A LOT of energy, too. It happened more for about two hours a day, around 7am and then again at 6pm. On these particular times he was literally running in the house with toys in his mouth, jumping and playfully trying to bite us.

So we read online that whenever the puppy tries to bite, is better to calmly say “no” to him, give him some toys he can chew on instead, or/and turn his back not encouraging his wrong behaviour. Well, even though we did all that every time, I must say that as long as he started teething, there was nothing much we could do: expect for the biting behaviour to gradually decrease from the moment the puppy turns 5 months old.

And when it comes to exercising and taking the puppy for walks, on other Labrador specialised websites we found out that there is a “five minute rule” that refers to no more than five minutes of walking for every month of the dog’s age (https://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-puppy-exercise-how-much-is-too-much/), and no walk what so ever before the age of three months.

After he had all his vaccines done, Gigea was brought to an open grass field to play fetch, and run for half an hour a day, or even more, when he was only 4 months old. We have never felt this amount of exercise harmed or made him overtired. At the contrary! We saw how unhappy the dog became when he didn’t walk or play enough outdoors. Therefore, I don’t know what to think about the “five minute rule”; maybe it applies to some dogs only, not to our Labrador.

And by the way, when it comes to the level of energy of a Labrador, we found out that there are two types of their breed: the English and the American. The English Lab is slightly shorter and stockier, mellow and calmer than the American Lab. The American retriever is taller, very energetic, loves to be on the go, or into something, and is very mouthy.

Guess which one is ours? You got that right: Gigea is American!

The Bills:

And then, there are the costs a beautiful puppy like Gigea comes together with. I surely wasn’t prepared to pay so much money for having my first dog, but fortunately, my husband was.

Besides the initial price of the dog, that in some countries around the world, it represents way more than an average monthly salary, there are few mandatory vaccines and medical checks that need to be done, as well.

Then, there are the bed, bowls, collars, leashes, shampoo, monthly toys and expensive food (you want it healthier right?) and treats.

And so far, we haven’t had the need to hire a dog trainer; that would cost few extra hundreds of dollars, too! Although at 5 months old, our dog still pulls the leash while walking... Well, we will try harder.

The Conclusion:

As a conclusion, our yellow Labrador retriever brought us so much joy and love that honestly, I didn’t think would be possible.

No matter how hard the beginning and training of a dog can be, or how expensive, it worth everything. I even started to consider finding a brother for Gigea!

I have always loved animals, but I have never imagined one day a dog will have a place that deep rooted in my heart. Gigea is my baby, a member of our family, a kind soul that everyday teaches me lessons of patience and unconditional love.