We rescued Nellie in 2002. Abused for barking and suffering from extreme separation anxiety, we gave her our all and Bill and I raised her to be the perfect dog for our family.
Of course, times were different. She was our first baby so she got all my attention which made her background easier for us to handle.
After The Bean was born, poor Nellie just couldn’t handle protecting yet another little kiddie. The stress and her age got the best of her. She passed in 2011.
Since then, I’ll admit, I was left scarred a bit, exhausted just thinking about the attention and clean-up she required and she set me back for any desire to add a pup to this house with three young kids.
Until Father’s Day this year.
I asked my family, who have been wanting begging for a dog for a few years, to visit some puppies after brunch.
After I picked Bill’s chin up off the floor, we spent the afternoon warming up to several adorable, cuddly, bouncy beauties and I was convinced it was the right time.
Or at least I convinced myself that there is no right time but we should just go for it.
Life is good so I was a bit reluctant to shake things up. But before I could change my mind, I found myself driving over an hour to pick up a tiny, furry and adorable creature. 
Meet Griffin.
Griffin. A powerful and majestic mythological animal thought of as the king of all creatures. They are known for guarding treasure and priceless possessions.
This little guy has already proven he is powerful. On his third day here, he conquered the stairs and is already showing how head strong he is.
Majestic. Obviously. Look at his beauty. 
But it has only been a few days. A few days with some doubt, if I’m being honest. Doubt hits me when I’m taking this cutie out at 3 a.m. or sleeping on the floor next to him as he whimpers.
I had a brief moment of regret just as soon as my MC stepped in his steaming pile of fresh dog poop and proceeded to wipe her bare foot all over the place.
I sometimes wonder if I made the right decision. It’s been a long 3 days and my rugs and knick-knacks are being attacked by this boy.
But I look at the face of this sweet Chocolate Lab pup and sort of melt. Griff follows me everywhere in the house and has become my little sidekick already. A guardian and protector in training, I hope.
I am happy I took the leap into this crazy, chaotic and sometimes disastrous puppy world. 
He’s keeping us all on our toes. 
Welcome home, Griffin boy!
So, tell me…do you have any sanity-saving advice for this new puppy mom?
Thank you to Paul at Barefoot Labradors for introducing us to this little lab and making our house his forever home.
Oh he is such a cutie!!enjoy the puppy phase, they sure grow out of it fast.
Thank you! He sure is lucky he is so cute because he can be one naughty little pup. lol
He’s sooooo gorgeous!! I feel for you in this puppy stage. When you said “…there is no right time… we should just go for it”, that really struck a chord. So. True.
I have stashed away a piece of advice I heard somewhere that I intend to use with my next pup and that is to keep repeating puppy training classes until they get it, and even later on if they start slipping up. So smart! But potentially pricey?? ???????? Hopefully our future dog won’t need too many. Ha.
Best of luck with sweet Griffin!!
Thanks! He’s a cutie but he needs some good focused training. Will be starting soon….wish us luck!