7 Things No One Tells You Before Getting A Puppy

As I'm sure you're all very much aware by now, I have a puppy. His name is Murphy and he is an absolute sweetheart. He was born in May, came home with us in July and has genuinely turned our lives upside down ever since.

In a good way, might I add.

He is the cutest thing ever and whilst the first few weeks really were difficult, they were 100% worth it.

We'd never had a dog before. 

Sure, we'd been around dogs and my grandparents had had dogs, but we'd never had one ourselves. Heck, other than a few fish, we've never had any pets.

We'd looked after a family friends' cockapoo for a few days and loved it, but, just like being a grandparent, we only had all the good bits and we knew that! Going out for walks in all weathers was fun, and picking up a dog poo or two was a novelty. He was perfectly trained and totally obedient - it was an utter breeze. Alas, when you pick up a puppy of your own, it's not quite such a walk in the park...

The Realities of Having a Puppy

So, for today's post, I thought we'd have a bit of chat about what having a puppy is really like. Yes, puppies are the cutest things everrrr but there are SO many things that don't make it onto the 'gram, so I figured we could talk about them now...

~ Spoiler; these don't apply to every dog ever,  these are just things that we've discovered since having our cockapoo puppy! ~

01. You (occasionally) have to wipe their bum

Yep. I didn't realise that I was signing myself up to looking after a newborn baby... Now, it's not all that frequent, but sometimes puppies have some toilet-related difficulties and you end up chasing them around the garden with a wipe, whilst they have a stool half-hanging out of their rear end. No, it's not fun, but yes, it's just as amusing as it sounds to anyone who happens to be watching. 

02. Their teeth fall out

If I'd actually thought about this hard enough this would have been obvious, but I didn't. It was only after we got Murphy that people asked if his teeth had started falling out, to which we looked suitably perplexed and said obviously not. Well, much like us, they have baby teeth that fall out and get replaced by adult ones. This also, unfortunately, means that they go through the whole teething I'm-going-to-bite-everything-in-sight phase again.

03. What social life?!

Now, I know that we expected a puppy to take up a huge chunk of our lives, but I think we were slightly naive not to think it would be 99%. Since having Murphy we haven't been out for a family meal nor do we make any noise after 10.30pm for fear of waking him up. But, on the flip side, people looove puppies. So, whilst you may not get to do all the things you used to love doing, these soon all get replaced by dog walks and puppy visits. No one can resist a puppy.

04. There are 726918 different diets and everyone has their own opinion 

When we picked up Murph, our breeder told us what food she'd been giving him and we trotted off to Pets at Home to buy our own stash and thought that was that. We then joined a few cockapoo Facebook groups, attended a few obedience classes and became aware of just how many diets there are out there. And, much like with any diets, people all have strong opinions on what they think is right. Raw? Cooked? Prepared? Kibble? Who knows.

05. They get things called 'zoomies'

And, if you've never heard that phrase before, let me enlighten you. Essentially, your puppy will lose the plot temporarily and run around like an absolute crazy dog for a few minutes before going back to their usual self. Murphy will run around the garden at speeds we've never seen before, run into the house, do a few laps of the lounge before heading back out into the garden for a few more frantic laps of the grass. But, it's normal and lots of puppies do it. My one piece of advice? Just get out of the way when they start, there's no stopping a dog with zoomies.

06. They have so many outgoings

Again, much like having a child, the expenses are never-ending. You've forked out a lump sum for your puppy, bought half of the pet shop ready for their arrival to be told that they should also have XYZ. You then take them to the vets to the first time to be sold a monthly package and insurance, you book in with a groomer who recommends regular visits, and choose an obedience class to help with nurturing your puppy's behaviour. Said puppy then chews through their bed, all of their toys, your clothes, and suddenly you're back at the shops with yet another trolley load of supplies.

07. They are needy

Now, I know this is a known trait of the cockapoo breed, but, oh my, I wasn't expecting it to be quite so bad. Murphy is literally like our shadow and doesn't like to spend more than a few minutes not by our side. He follows us to the loo and sits outside waiting for us, will sit by the bottom of the stairs if we go upstairs, and whined all night every night for the first 6 weeks we left him downstairs in his crate at bedtime. (We've caved and now have his crate upstairs with us and guess what, the whining has pretty much stopped!)

Now, as frustrating as some of these things are, they are all SO worth it. Murphy is such a bundle of joy, he has such a great personality and is also the cutest dog I've EVER seen. He also has his own Instagram account which he posts on daily, you can follow it here!

And there we have it, they were my realities of having a puppy, do you think I've missed any? Let me know in the comments or slide in my DMs, I'm always down for puppy related chat.

I've since added to this post, click here to check out five more things no one tells you before getting a puppy!