Sleep matters — so does coffee ☕️ This explains two things about how I raise my puppy.
First, I gave up “crate training” baby puppies long ago. Okay — that is not exactly true because my dogs all ride comfortably in crates when in the van, including Starry G. I have safety issues.
What I gave up was putting a baby puppy in a crate at night. Until my puppy can sleep all night without needing to potty, she is in a small pen in the living room with a washable potty pad.
Puppies are used to being contained in this way and sleep matters, and so this all just makes sense to me. I use that particular pen because it is sturdy and does not tip over like an x-pen. I have it placed on remnant marmoleum.
Some puppies will not tip an xpen —Sparkle was respectful of the shortest xpen throughout her entire life. Starry G, on the other paw, is absolutely fearless — her response to a knocked over xpen is, “whatever.” This is a puppy who wags her tail at the vacuum!! 😂
Cindy told me about these washable pee pads, and they are wonderful.
I like them because they don’t slip, which means they stay in place. And I have washed and washed and washed them, and they show no sign of giving up the ghost.
Once the puppy is sleeping through the night, she will move to the bedroom in an extra large crate; she will be ready for the crate by then.
Okay — so that covers sleep. Now for coffee.
I am ridiculously possessive of my mornings. I get a lot done before most people are even awake — work, writing, setting intentions for the day, etc. But a puppy wakes up ready to go, and their needs are also important.
Enter the Toppl.
Before going to bed, I fill it with half of Starry G’s homemade breakfast and freeze it. In the morning, I fill it with the other half of breakfast.
I discovered through trial and error that if it was 100% frozen she got bored and did not finish it, and if it was 100% not frozen, she was done in ten or so minutes.
Half frozen and half not frozen is working perfectly. I get a solid 45 minutes of morning coffee time, and she expends some of that crazy puppy morning energy working on her breakfast. #winwin
After breakfast and morning play, she conks out for a couple of hours to recharge ❤️
And speaking of puppies, Han Solo Sapphire is doing so well.
Isn’t that just so amazing and wonderful? 💙
