Oreo's Life Lessons

As I mentioned last week, Aaron and I are now puppy parents.  Awesome.

Let’s just say we have our good days and our not so good days...  

Oreo (our Maltipoo puppy- a Maltese and poodle mix) is proving to be very intelligent and also pretty strong-willed, which happens to be an awesome combination for her… and a difficult combination for her never-before-puppy-owner-parents.  In the game of Oreo’s life, the score stands Oreo: 142 the Browns: 2.

So this week, allow me to remind you why you should never get a puppy. Regardless of how ridiculously cute and cuddly they might appear.  It’s just an act.

T-R-U-S-T me.

Oreo’s life lessons:

1. Cute things aren’t always cute.

When we looked at Oreo and her brother, we were trying to decide which puppy to take home. Her brother was super cute too, but even more rambunctious than our “sweet lil’ Oreo”. {Insert Sarcasm}  Actually the couple who owned them advised us to take Oreo because she was such a chill dog. He told us that she was the calmest easiest dog out of the litter. Winner!!!! It was an easy choice once we found that out. She was the perfect puppy!!!

And all that is true. Except it’s not. Yes, there are periods where Oreo minds her own business and plays by herself, but then there’s the other 95% of the time that she is literally fastening herself to our feet as we walk (she gets on the top of our feet and holds on as we walk); refusing to walk on a leash, requiring us to drag her little bottom across concrete until she decides to feel like walking; picking up her water bowl and purposefully tipping it over so she can watch us mop it up…etc…

All true my friends. All true.

So the life lesson that I have concluded is that cute things aren’t cute.  What?  Well, on the outside Oreo is adorable, fluffy, soft, and precious. On the inside she is mischievous, conniving, and manipulative.

In life- if it looks or sounds too good to be true, it is.   Do your background checks. Hire the private investigator. Don’t believe the smooth-talking attractive boy who’s had 14 girlfriends in 2 months but tells you that you are different.

Always remember- cute things aren’t always cute.

2. Causing dissension is way easier than bringing harmony.

Everyone seems to believe the notion that puppy training is a predecessor to infant training. So many people said “Oh you got a puppy?!?! So you’re going to have a baby then?!”

“What?!? Nooo!!!! We just got a puppy. We’re not in the market for a little human.”

 It felt like in our arena of life, friends and family filled the stadium to watch how Aaron and I would handle Oreo. And, now, after having her for almost a month, I must admit I see why they wanted front-row seats.

To a certain level, like an infant, Oreo requires nourishment, constant monitoring, repeated and consistent discipline, and a somewhat stable routine. Aaron and I now  have regular conversations about who will do what, and which one of us will handle which part of her regimen. Along the way we discovered a shocking revelation. We don’t always agree with the best way to handle Oreo. Whoa. I know. That’s a twist you didn’t see coming.

There have been more than one occasion that Oreo has chewed a wall (I only wish I was kidding), nibbled on a vacuum extension tube, decided to taste her “off-limits white rug”, pooped on a kitchen rug, pottied on the hardwood floor, body-slammed her cage door, or sprinted in circles around us when we wanted to catch her… Sometimes, I start to handle the sheer chaos one way and Aaron handles it another. We then begin arguing with each other- all the while, the mischievous, 3 pound black runt who is completely to blame, looks up with her head cocked, and I swear a grin on her face as she watches us fight it out.

She doesn’t wear that same grin when she watches us sitting together without her on the couch, or observing us enjoy our dinner without her.

And I realized, she is blatantly acting out what many of us wish we could do, or go ahead and do in more subtle ways.  It’s easier and sometimes even more fun when we cause conflict in our homes, our friend groups, our classes. Why? What in the world makes me say that?

Well, let’s start with this. Oreo likes to push the boundaries at times for no other reason to see what our response will be.  Which makes me wonder- who do I do that too? Who do I test for no other reason to push their button? In what areas am I behaving just like my puppy??

Or maybe, when we, like Oreo, cause a ruckus, we enjoy knowing we created the stir.  Or maybe there’s a bit of relief knowing that you distracted your teacher from the real issue at hand. Or maybe causing your parents to pick at each other keeps them from picking at you. Or perhaps when you’re getting in trouble, you’re at least getting attention, which is something that you never seem to get any other time.

It’s easier to do something that causes conflict than to work for something that brings harmony. And sometimes when we’re truly honest, we admit that we would rather have the dissension than harmony.

3. Walking away from something you care about is easier than you think.

Case in point, when Oreo gets sick of us (a giant whopping 5% of the time), she leaves us. Without looking back. It still surprises us a little every time she does it. She’s having a great time, playing tug-of-war, fetch, or “jump-all-over-Aaron” until she’s done. Then she’s over it.

For some of us, this doesn’t seem like a magical gift. For others it is. In our minds we are screaming- if only I could walk away???!!!!! How many times have you kept dating the wrong guy, because you just couldn’t break away? How many times have we gotten in trouble because of our poor friend choices because we couldn’t make the separation? How many times have we over-eaten the cookies because saying no is impossible in that moment?

Ladies, let’s take a lesson from the puppy. Walk away. Learn to say no when it’s needed. Protect yourself. Protect your heart. Protect your health. Protect your choices. Protect your future. Protect your kids. 

No isn’t always bad. In fact, sometimes, it’s the best, most loving thing we can say or do.

Here’s the thing- Aaron and I aren’t mad at Oreo when she leaves. We don’t hate her. We think it’s pretty awesome actually. At the young age of 3 months, she knows more than I do in my 29 years. She knows when she needs to be done. 

And for you, the people who truly care about you will support your decision to do the same.

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Ok, ok….So, maybe those don’t completely support the argument to save yourself from getting a puppy, and if I’m being completely vulnerable, I’ll admit that I’m pretty attached to Oreo myself. I mean, she is pretty cute, right?!

Give me 5 minutes to when she’s back to eating our wall again- I might change my stance.