I was reminded yesterday why I keep this blog - it's been so long since I've had a puppy I spent yesterday reading back through my first few weeks with Ria, and there was so much I'd forgotten that was very reassuring to read!

I am absolutely exhausted. I think we are starting to get some semblance of a routine, and I think Luna may be starting to get the idea of house training - which will completely change my life. I'd forgotten just how physically demanding house training is, so for someone as restricted as me it's just taking everything I have and then some. I love her to pieces but at the moment I am just so exhausted I am struggling to enjoy her as every bit of energy I (don't) have seems to be going in to standing outside for hours. But it's not the sort of thing you can do some of - it obviously has to be all or nothing!

The nights are problematic - ironically partly because she seems able to hold it for longer than I expect! She wakes me up crying at least once or twice a night (usually 3am) but as I mentioned I can't take her outside at night so I'm having to use puppy pads. Which was fine the first night, but since she hasn't gone on them - which is awful for me because I never know if she doesn't actually want to go, or if she's just not wanting to go on them! Last night she woke me up whining 3 or 4 times and I let her onto the pads (one occasion was hilarious as she came out of the crate, walked on to the pads, looked at me and then took herself straight back to the crate and lay down) but she must've gone about 8 hours before she peed, which was when I took her outside at 5am (and pooped thent oo). I was more on edge because I was fully expecting her to poo before then, having not had one after her last feed. But she seems ok not peeing for so long so I guess as I get to know her better I'll be able to relax a bit more.

During the day is mixed - yesterday we actually managed all day with no accidents except a poo first thing and a wee last thing. I find the most common ones are when she catches me out because she's only been half an hour or less before, but then goes again. That's happened twice today - first thing this morning she weed inside having just done one outside about 15 minutes previously, and then the same happened just before lunch.

I've started to try and get her out more now she's settled. She's finding the world a bit scary at the moment! We've had a few sessions on the drive over the last three days, and then yesterday we ventured to ASDA (supermarket) and that was interesting, I had to stick to the quieter bits as it was all a bit too much otherwise. She's not good with people at the moment, but then she was terrified of the traffic the first time I went on to the drive and she's 100% better there now. We even saw a tractor this morning and she was too occupied eating her breakfast from my hand to care!  I had her up the drive yesterday evening (sitting on my lap) and the first person who walked by she was terrified of (and she just walked past, no interaction at all) so the next ones I moved further away and she was wary but still accepting food which was an improvement. Then we had to call it quits because there were no more handy people about!

We went for a first carry down the road this morning which was ok - she seemed to deal fine with the traffic, and when someone caught me off guard and stroked her although not happy she wasn't quite as freaky as she was yesterday. Time will tell!

I suppose it's easy to forget just what we're asking of them - when they've only ever known one place and with the comfort of their litter mates, and all of a sudden we uproot them to only the second home they've ever known, away from their mum and siblings and then also expect this tiny thing to deal with an enormous great world full of sights and sounds.