I hesitated for a long time before getting a second dog for several reasons. One of the main reasons was potty training.

I truly thought when I adopted a second dog he would be a little older (at least a year), and hopefully potty trained.

But after seeing Teddy, I knew instantly he was meant to come home with me. I wasn’t expecting it or planning for it, but putting in the application for him was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made.

One of the reasons I wasn’t sure I wanted to go through the early puppy training again was because it was so difficult with Cubbie. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Cubbie from the instant I got him, but he was not an easy puppy at first. Cubbie whined a lot and rarely slept more than an hour or two at night. Then he spent the rest of the night crying at the foot of the bed. It was exhausting.

Puppy training has gone much more smoothly with Teddy.

I believe that’s for three main reason:

1) Teddy was four months old when I brought him home where Cubbie was only seven weeks. A lot of growing up happens between seven weeks and 16 weeks.

2) Cubbie is a terrific big brother. I think following Cubbie and copying his behavior has really helped Teddy adjust to bedtime and potty training and everything else much more quickly.

3) I’d like to think after six years of having Cubbie in my life, I’m better equipped for the training and the responsibilities that come with a puppy.

I honestly can’t even remember the last time Teddy had an accident. He is amazing when it comes to going potty outside. Again, he learned from Cubbie.

Teddy came home with me almost four months ago. The first night I tried putting him in his own crate (much as I tried with Cubbie as a puppy), but he whined and I caved. I also figured the sooner he gets used to the bed, the better because that’s where I wanted him to eventually sleep anyway.

For the first three months I set an alarm for every three and a half hours to wake up in the middle of the night to take Teddy potty so he wouldn’t unintentionally have accidents in bed.

I slowly increased the time up to four hours, and within the last few weeks he’s able to go five or more hours without needing a potty break during the night. This is great because now I’m only waking up one time during the night as opposed to two or three times.

Also, Teddy has learned to wake me up if he needs to go outside and the alarm hasn’t gone off yet. He began touching his nose to my nose, and at first I wasn’t sure what he was doing. Then I took him outside and sure he enough, that’s what he wanted. I took him back to bed and he went right back asleep. So now if he touches my nose, we both know what he wants.

I was very worried about disrupting our lives (Cubbie and me) by getting another dog, but I can honestly say I have no regrets. It’s even hard for me to go back and remember what it was like before two dogs. They are brothers, and they are my boys.

Posted under Cubbie stories