Simon is seven months old now. He’s a constant source of fun, laughter, and love, with a healthy dose of puppy panic added! When you have a new dog in the house, every time you turn around there’s something new to think about.

Pure puppy panic – that was a close one

We’ve learned over the last few month with Simon to watch. Everything. Carefully.

Just because no dog did it before, doesn’t mean this one won’t.

Simon “tried” drain cleaner today. No dog’s ever gone anywhere near the bathroom cleaning stuff before. Simon did!

A quick call to the Pet Poison Helpline (and $60) later and now we know that he’ll be fine. But that was a panicked moment we could have lived happily without.

Making us laugh – that was a funny one

We prepare our dogs’ food so they eat at the same time we do. We choose to feed them in their crates so our mealtimes are relaxed for everyone. Their food waits on the table while we finish getting our own plates ready. From the kitchen, we hear the sound of a dining room chair moving. Simon was helping himself to dinner! None of our dogs ever did that before.

Simon did!

This one’s just interesting

Simon loves chew toys. His style is unique. Whatever he’s chewing has to be elevated. He stands on the couch with the bone between his front paws, resting against the back of the couch. And then, of course, it falls. Behind the couch, between the cushions, the most inaccessible places possible.

He’s a hoarder

He hoards his bones. For training reasons, the only always-available toys in the house are chew toys. There are at least a dozen and a half lying around at any time. And yet, they disappear. Because Simon has collected as many as he can find and hides them in “his” place.

When we disrupt the stash and put them back in circulation, the other dogs think we’ve just given them all sorts of new toys. It’s been days since they’ve seen so many!

He’s learning

Simon is not only creative on his own – he also learns quickly from the other dogs.

If he’s bored, he justs goes up to Tango to start trouble. Tango doesn’t see terribly well these days and startles pretty easily. Simon comes up behind him and bounces his front feet on Tango. Which makes Tango dash after Simon, barking, cranky, and wagging his tail. Simon does it on purpose.

From Torque, Simon’s learning to play “bitey face.” Some people call it “mouth wars.” It looks and sounds nasty, but it’s not. There’s a lot of noise and wiggling around. The only casualty so far seems to be Torque’s whiskers. We think Simon’s bitten them all off!

And from Booker, Simon’s learning how to be a Boston Terrier. With slightly better weather, we’ve been able to enjoy the yard. And the running of the Bostons has begun.

Remembering why we prefer dogs

We’ve always tried to space out getting dogs so we’re not faced with a bunch of oldsters at once. It hasn’t always worked out as planned, but there’s usually been a few years between puppies. Plenty of time to forget how challenging, stressful, joyful, and fun puppyhood can be.

What are your best and worst puppy experiences? And do you love the pups? Or prefer older dogs?