I do not remember looking after a puppy being this hard!
Partly this may be selective memory, or even poor memory – it’s been over ten years since we got the schnoodles after all. But I think it’s harder this time round because Maggie is so young. She’s only two months old, whereas all my previous puppies have been three or even four months old. It gives me more influence over those vital early weeks of socialization – not sure if that’s good or bad?
Being so young, she’s still waking up in the night to be fed, which seems rude. I’m having to feed her more often than any of my babies, in fact, which seems unfair because with a baby you end up with a person whereas with a puppy you’ll only ever get a dog out of it, no matter how hard you try. At least this intense phase shouldn’t last so long with a puppy. Plus, no cracked nipples.
Puppy food has moved on since I was last involved, as well. She has to have pet milk multiple times a day. This is a new one on me. It’s very expensive, too, I suppose milking pets must be very labour intensive? I also have to give her a certain brand of dog roll. Apparently it reminds them of the food their mother would puke up for them. Strangely enough, I don’t see that written on the label anywhere. It smells a bit predigested also, I must say. I did make a very clever investment on the puppy biscuits, though. The brand they recommended is phenomenally expensive, but I discovered that if I buy it in bulk, the price per kg is more reasonable. This is great except so far she refuses to eat any of it. Raw diets are the new big thing. She’s currently scarfing down several chicken necks a day, which makes a satisfying crunchy noise whilst being eaten, and are very reasonably priced. As long as I don’t get campylobacter I’ll be very pleased.
