Will the benefits of puppy love outweigh the inconvenience of backpain and aching joints?

The Joys and Perils of Adopting a Puppy When Retired

We’re hopeful that more free time and an abundance of YouTube dog experts will compensate for our decreasing physical flexibility as we dive into puppy training.   

We welcomed our first family dog into our home almost 20 years ago. Taz was a feisty Jack Russell who lived a long and happy life and trained us well. After he lost a valiant battle with cancer at 17, we wondered if we would ever own another dog.

We mourned Taz for two years, traveled spontaneously, and marveled at our dog-hair-free existence.  

But it was becoming too easy to skip my morning walk, and I missed our friendly chats. Remarks were being made about me talking to myself.

Then my husband retired and devoted his work-free days to searching breeder websites, shelter Facebook pages, and local rescue organizations. We agonized over size, breed, and gender.

Was it more sensible to rescue a larger, older dog? Calmer and already trained. But puppies are adorable, and a smaller dog is just more practical. Less dog to wrangle when trimming nails or hauling out of the laundry room sink. Plus, I needed to think about my aging joints and avoid leash-pulling induced injuries.

Before we knew it, we were poised in an obedient, but ungainly, sit-stay on the floor at a foster home of the Jack Russell Rescue of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. We’d been told not to move or speak. The anticipation was excruciating, as was the grumbling from my knee joints.

Once the tiny tri-colored bundle of Jack Russell and who-knows-what scampered over and jumped in my lap, I knew there was no more analysis needed. We were adopting a dog. We were ready. As the shivering slowly subsided and our new four-and-a-half-pound friend curled up on my lap in the car, I knew I was smitten.

Welcome to our world, Charlie.

When we brought Taz home, my kids were pre-teen. They were enthusiastic to practice the puppy class lessons but somewhat preoccupied with life. My husband worked long hours and was frequently traveling. So, I was usually alone at the Petco training classes and did my best to enforce rules between raucous playtimes with the rest of the family. Our training successes were adequate.

Now the kids are out of the house, and hubby is retired. My days are filled with flexible volunteer positions and easily ignored writing projects. We have limitless YouTube training guidance. Older and wiser, we’ve learned from our previous pet-owner shortcomings. This is the perfect time in our lives for a new furry friend.

How hard could it be?

If you have ever enjoyed the delights of bringing home a little bundle of puppy love, you will know that those first few weeks are indeed hard. Do the nonstop soft puppy kisses outweigh the exhausting need for constant vigilance and relentless reinforcement of expectations? Is the reality of effective dog training even close to the successes of the many YouTube experts with seemingly compliant canine companions?

Do we have adopters’ remorse??

Doubtful, but here are a few highs and lows of our first month with Charlie. There have certainly been times when we’ve wondered if this whole enterprise was a stupid idea.  

1.       Sleep deprivation: These days, we don’t sleep that soundly anyway, so we assumed getting up a couple of times a night would be no big deal. In reality, an afternoon nap was often required to make it through pre-dinner play sessions. It’s hard to stay focused when you’ve spent all night with one eye squinting into a dark crate, wondering if the pup needs to wee or is just getting comfy.

2.       Hand feeding kibble: YouTube dog trainers urging you to hand feed your pup’s food to maximize all those wonderful training opportunities clearly don’t have 60 + year old backs. The nonstop bending, combined with a lack of sleep, was a killer. Thankfully, we’ve progressed to making a game of hiding his food, so our backs get a rest from hand feeding all meals piece by freaking piece. But the temporary backache seems to have paid off as we’ve established ourselves as the givers of good things and worthy of frequent eye contact.  

3.       Arthritic knee challenges: A few strategically placed pillows have helped save my uncooperative knees and lessen the back bend required to encourage the dog in or out of his crate. Cushioning is also welcome when engaging in energetic puppy games on the carpet.

4.       Bathroom breaks: If the pup sniffs at anything, starts to circle in place, suddenly stands still in the middle of a game, or just looks at you cross-eyed, always run for the door. Even if he just peed outside 2 minutes ago. Charlie is getting the hang of heading for the door, but that only works if you are watching what he’s up to 24/7.

5.       Teeth: Puppy nibbles are not adorable and ticklish. Puppy teeth are like needles and will make you scream like a banshee if your hand inadvertently obstructs his tiny jaw closing around a favorite toy. Even a play snap will make your eyes water if a tooth slides down the side of a fingernail.

6.       Consistency: Without intentionally playing “good cop, bad cop,” it’s hard to maintain a united front on puppy training when we keep forgetting which verbal command we agreed on. We call the poor pup Taz (our previous dog) half the time and keep confusing Drop it, Give, and Leave it. Luckily, a throaty “eh eh” usually gets his attention long enough to remove any contraband from his mouth.

7.       Conversation starter: Having a puppy is the ultimate babe-magnet. Whether in his pre-vaccinated cute carry tote or scampering around your ankles, everyone wants to stop and say hi. Fellow wine bar drinkers or crusty, bearded woodworking shop personnel all go equally gooey for a good puppy face-washing. With so many dog-friendly eateries, we are constantly making new friends over dinner.

8.       Teamwork: We finally set up a combined Google calendar so we can coordinate our golf/tennis/fishing/book club/volunteer/social obligations with dog sitting/training duties. It’s only taken us 30 years of marriage to actually know what the other one is doing all day! This puppy has taken our teamwork to a whole new level.

9.       Socialization- of Pup and Husband: My husband is finally getting to know our neighbors. With seemingly nonstop visits to the patch of sod installed in our front yard as a doggy-loo (we have no lawn) and a YouTube-fueled desire to introduce the pup to all possible variations of humans and sounds, he is running up and down the street chasing lawn guys with leaf blowers, random kids with backpacks, and previously unknown neighbors with hats, beards, and varying skin tones in an effort to expose Charlie to all of life’s experiences.

10.   Dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin: You can almost feel all this good stuff coursing through your body when you are greeted by a friendly lick, an enthusiastic tail wag, or catch a glimpse of those adorable puppy-dog eyes. While other body parts are failing, Charlie will supply all the warm fuzzies to keep our hearts and minds happy!

So definitely no adopter’s remorse here.

Quite the contrary! Adding a new furry friend to the family is proving to be a wonderful bonding experience- with the neighbors, the servers in our favorite restaurants, and in promoting renewed spousal thoughtfulness.

And once we’ve conquered the challenge of loose leash walking, I’ll be back to my morning walkies routine.

I expect I’ll still be constantly talking to myself. At least until Charlie’s vocabulary increases.

(A final thought- this piece took me a ridiculous amount of time to write. It seems a disjointed succession of 5-minute bursts at the computer doesn’t produce my best work. But having a cuddly puppy on my lap was so worth it! )