
Natalie Halbuer with her puppy.
Life with a new puppy in the house can be fun, but there is also a lot of work involved considering all of the care and responsibility that comes along with it.
When my puppy Grace first stepped into my home, her eyes filled with joy and she bounced around as happy as a clam. My mom, dad, and I had previously puppy-proofed the house and purchased all of the things needed to be ready for her arrival so that Grace couldn’t get into any mischief. We also bought toys so that she has things to play with and also to teethe. We then introduced her to her crate where she would be kept when either sleeping or whenever we couldn’t watch her. Once she was in the crate, we gave her a Nyla-bone to show her that the crate is a “happy place.”
Later, after a long evening of going “potty” every twenty to thirty minutes, I decided to hit the hay and rock Grace to sleep and put her into her crate. About two hours later I heard a little “ruff, ruff” coming from the crate that lay next to my bed. I immediately took her to her designated spot in the yard, waited until she went potty, then headed back upstairs and to sleep. This same process repeated until about 8:30 a.m. You can imagine how much sleep I got.
Make sure that you wait a few days to get your puppy adjusted to their new home and then go

Dog in the water. Submitted by Natalie Halbuer
Natalie Halbuer is a member of the Optimist Club of Marco Island’s Junior Journalism Club. She is 11 years of age.
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