Today is my first day on full time puppy duty. My parents are out of town, so we’ve spent all day together. Thankfully, she’s been an angel.

Luckily this morning, she was plenty sleepy and let me eat my breakfast while she slept in her crate. Breakfast was a handful of berries and sweet potato bread with soy milk. Sweet potato bread recipe to come!

Our only bump in the morning came when she ate a few bites of breakfast and then threw it all up. I gave her something to calm her stomach, and waited a bit before giving her her food in small increments-she was hungry! Also big news this morning-for the past week or two she’s had all her adult teeth with the exception of the canines. For the past few days, the canines have started to grow in, but the sharp baby teeth are still there so she’s had a double set of canines that are about the same height! This morning, one of the baby canines was gone! Yay! I’m ready to say good riddance to those needle-like puppy teeth.

I put her in her crate, and then went to Crossfit. We did bench presses, and then the following WOD:

10 minute AMRAP of 5 squat cleans and 5 dips. I didm the cleans at 95# and the dips assisted. I got through nearly 7 rounds, slowing a bit because I’ve spent all summer working on my cleans and I have no intention to reinforce bad technique because I am tired!

After Crossfit, I made myself an early lunch because I knew I’d never make it through a puppy walk without fuel, and I wanted to get our walk in before it got too hot. Lunch was a wrap, the same as lunch yesterday.

A veggie wrap, turkey, monterey jack, spinach, avocado, and garlic sauce. (Love that stuff, and love the ingredient list!)

Eaten with a side of puppy, as it should be.

I was trying to figure out what to do for our special day together, but in the end I decided to settle for a nice long walk for her and tanning time (LOL) for me, plus a trip to Petsmart. It was her first ride in my car, and she was really good!

Our walk was by the bay. I was hoping it wouldn’t be too warm, and I wanted a trail with minimal leaves. My puppy likes to put EVERYTHING in her mouth-leaves, acorns, rocks, and it’s a toss up what she’ll actually eat. Even still, there was a fair amount of dragging her from nature’s sweet bounty (aka rocks).

Overall, she was pretty good. I had planned to go for about an hour, but it was warm and she was starting to drag a bit so the walk only ended up being about 50 minutes. We stopped a few times for water, and during our break she laid down in the shade with no indication that she wanted to leave.

(I know everyone thinks they have the cutest dog ever but I actually do ;))

She was more than ready to get into the air conditioned car, and I got drooled all over in the process. With a puppy plus my job at the vet this summer, I’ve given in to the fact that I’m going to constantly be covered in some form of animal bodily fluids. We took some selfies while enjoying the air conditioning.

We then headed to Petsmart, and got 4 Halloween themed toys. Hey-it was buy 2 get 1 free-I couldn’t pass that up! With the edge taken off her from our walk, she was pretty good in the store, and enjoyed a treat from the woman who checked us out.

The aftermath?

She was 100% out all afternoon, so we stayed downstairs and watched Netflix. I woke her up to feed her dinner, and she scarfed it down and was suddenly reenergized. Around dusk, we headed out for walk #2. She was SO good for her walk. Very little dragging, very little attempting to eat things on the street. She surged forward like a puppy on a mission, and I had no idea where she thought she was going! On the way back, I couldn’t help but laugh at her. She was prancing ahead with purpose, with her little puppy booty swinging side to side and her ear totally inside out. I really enjoyed our time together. The puppy was so good, and despite the warm day, the night air had that bite of fall. I half expected to turn a corner and see the lighted face of a jack-o-lantern smiling back at me. We enjoyed views from above the entire Bay Area, and being out in the night also brought back memories from the summer before college, a summer to remember. It was my last time without responsibilities or worries but with freedom, and the anticipation of starting a new and exciting chapter of my life. At the same time, it felt like the victory lap of college and many nights like this one were spent with great friends doing what carefree teenagers do.

Another bonus? I avoided the mischief of a steadily reawakening puppy, and she is currently passed out by my feet. Not a bad day for the two of us!