With so much going on at the office these last couple weeks, I am glad to have a new puppy at home to distract me and make me crazy.

Beta, my new Boxer, is now 12 weeks old and she’s beginning to show us just how much trouble she’s planning on getting into. In the last 72 hours alone she has escaped her crate twice, knocked a puppy gate down, climbed over the same puppy gate silently twice, had a $300+ emergency visit to the vet, urinated on her bedding three times and had two baths. Last night when I was in the shower, she grabbed the end of the toilet paper and brought it out to show my husband, naturally dragging the rest with her. When I came out and saw what had happened, he said, “I looked down and this was actually happening.” I’m glad we have a sense of humor about all of this.

This whole thing I read about dogs naturally not wanting to soil their dens is not true for our dear Beta. I’m following a trainer’s advice regarding crate training and although she does great overnight, during shorter daytime stays in the crate, she’s urinating on her bedding and then lounging in it. Thus the baths. I’m not sure what to do about this other than continue to try to develop a good routine and keep it. She hasn’t had any other elimination issues in the crate or in the house (fingers crossed) in several weeks, so I guess that’s progress.

My husband and I decided to let Beta and our cat, Houdini, work out some of their issues on their own. Beta still tries to play with Houdini like he’s one of her littermates and instead of stepping in immediately, John and I give Houdini a chance to bat her in the face with his (declawed by a previous owner) paws and show her who’s boss. It’s enough in the moment to make her back off, but she always comes back for more anyway.

It’s amazing, though, how quickly we’ve all acclimated to having this little creature in our home. It’s only been 5 weeks, but it seems like we’ve known her so much longer. I guess some of you readers can relate. I love her to death already, despite all the puppy craziness.