A National Dog Day Reflection on 6 Weeks as Puppy Parents

You hear it all the time when it comes to kids... they grow up so fast. The same can be said about puppies. Carter is growing and changing quickly. On this National Dog Day, let's reflect on our time with him so far.

It was just over six weeks ago that we adopted our new Sheltie (Shetland Sheepdog), Carter. He was barely tall enough to get to his food bowl (definitely doesn't have that problem anymore) and so mellow those first few days. Then he became a typical puppy. Crazy.

The American Kennel Club equates the first year of a dog's life to 15 years in human years. Since Carter turned three months old on August 15, that would put him at about 4-years-old. Turns out when I joked about a month ago that he was already experiencing his terrible 2's, I was right on.

The pictures at top and the one below were both taken a week ago. He's gotten a lot taller and now weighs around 12 pounds. The day these were taken his ears had escaped the glue that after time provides the common look you see in Shetland Sheepdogs.

Below is the typical look of a sheltie's ears. Is there a more photogenic breed?

Ok, back to Carter. He's mellowed out quite a bit over the last couple of weeks. A soft, cloth bone that soaks up water and can be frozen has become his gnaw toy of choice, replacing my left arm. However, he still hasn't met a blade of grass he doesn't want to eat and thinks everyone should be awake at 5 a.m. every day. Doesn't matter when you or he went to sleep. It's 5 a.m.

There's been progress, though. "Outside" and "potty and poopy" have become part of his understood vocabulary along with "let's go inside", "food", and "treat". We're still working on trying to get him to stop treating the cats like bareback broncs, but they're amazingly patient. Julie and I are too as we always try to remember we'll soon miss these days. And when they're gone, his teenage years will come. That'll begin sometime around the first of April. Julie and I better start preparing now.

*Share photos of your beloved dogs below on this National Dog Day (Friday, August 26).