Her name is Ruby. She is a toy poodle pup. She is black and came with a lot of cute cred. She certainly has not replaced Liberty but is filling the void nicely. In fact, potty training is filling more than one void in our lives. I didn't realize how much idle time I actually had on my hands until the all-day-Ruby-watch started. She tries to act innocent and disinterested in pooping when we are outside. Then we come inside the house and she bides her time until I finally blink due to dry eyes from keeping a constant vigil to catch her before she does her business. She is tricky. Once she fills a void by emptying her bowels in the house, she resorts back to the innocent look complete with puppy dog eyes. Luckily, a little puppy has little poops.
Everything else is pretty normal. We've been showing her off to all our friends. Many of whom ask, "Is it real?" the first time they see her. Her size has caused her to be mistaken for a Beanie Baby.
We wanted to surprise the kids so we didn't tell them anything about getting a puppy. On the day we brought her home we took her to Sweet Pea's school at the end of the day. When SP walked into the office, her first words were, "It is real!!!". Followed by, "She's so cute. I love her!"
We've had Ruby for one week now and she is finally getting into a routine. In the morning we get up and immediately pee. Ruby outside, me inside. Then we come in for breakfast. She is so tiny that our old dog bowls were too deep for her. She eats out of a Tupperware lid and drinks out of a Barbie play bowl. Then Ruby plays for a half hour and exhausts herself. She then climbs to the top of the tallest pile of laundry she can find and zonks out for an hour or two.
The rest of her day is spent similarly. Sometimes she substitutes play time for curling up on Lady Di's lap or my shoulder. She only weighs about a pound and feels like she has bird bones. But she's pretty tough and likes to roll around a little.
In the evening we let her outside one more time to do her puppy business which she is sometimes reluctant to do. Mother Nature decided to play a trick on us and lower temps to the 40's and crank up the wind. We sometimes have to create a wind break for Ruby with our feet to keep her from being toppled by the mildest of gusts. She will often squat to pee and then race back to our feet to look up at us and whimper from the cold. I tell her she has to finish going potty. She looks around and then turns on the turbo-cute by adding a squeaky bark with her sad eyes.
Once in her kennel bed, we wind up the clock for the tick-tocking and set our alarms for every 2 & 1/2 hours to let her out for overnight potty breaks. It's funny how after Ruby finishes her nighttime business, I strangely feel the same urge to complete some bathroom business. It's also puzzling how I usually count only one overnight trip to the front yard, but Lady Di says she wakes up two to three times a night. Maybe the alarm is quieter on my side of the bed.
Hopefully, when the weather warms up a bit the potty training will get a little easier. Regardless, Ruby is earning her keep by entertaining us with cute puppy stuff with cute puppy toys. As long as her poops stay small she can probably stay.
