pet connection

This morning  just after dawn I slipped on the ice in my backyard. Ice. In California. Slipped, fell and landed with an embarassing and somewhat painful splat on my wood deck.

Why was I out on my wood deck in a nightgown, coat and clogs without socks at a little after dawn?

I was waiting for Otter to pee.

Of course, she wasn’t about to do that with me on the ground, and soon I was covered with sweet puppy kisses. I stood up as quickly as I could — not easy, since I was sure I had broken something — and then tried to encourage her to take care of her business.

Please, Otter. Please. Please. But oh no: She had found a leaf instead, and happily retrieved it for me. See? I’m a good puppy retriever? See? See?

What could I say? “Good girl, Otter,” I told her, taking the leaf she offered me. “Now puppy go potty before I freeze to death.”

Why would anyone want to raise a puppy in the winter? Even in California? I’ve long advised against the whole Christmas puppy thing for many reasons, key among them that Christmas puppies are usually available only from puppy-millers (either through pet stores of direct-sale Internet sites) or careless and clueless backyard breeders.

Aside from the philosophical reasons for not supporting such sellers, these puppies are often ill-equipped to be good pets: They’re often unsocialized and more likely to have congenital defects that will plague them throughout their lives. Do you need a neurotic pet with expensive health problems? If that’s no what you want, why not take the trouble to find a shelter or rescue dog from a group with an active foster program, or from a reputable, ethical breeder? No, you can’t whip out a credit card on a whim with these folks, but isn’t getting a pup with a head start worth a little research, effort and patience?

Seriously.  Think about it.

But the practical matters are important, too: It’s flat-out more difficult to raise a puppy when the nights are cold and the days are short. You don’t just throw a puppy outside, after all, you have to house-train them — note the use of the term “house-train” rather then the ill-informed concept of house-breaking. To train, you limit their territory in the house, manage their timing and take them where you want them to go and praising them for getting it right. To break, you punish a puppy for making a mistake she doesn’t understand. How bloody unfair!

And what about the all-important socialization? That’s so much easier in the summer, too, because you can always find people at outdoor tables willing to pet a puppy. (I always take my puppies where people, not dogs are. Socialization needs to be safe before puppy immunizations are complete.) When it’s 40 degrees outside, you’re going to find many people at those outdoor tables. And you can’t take the puppy inside the Starbucks.

Longer days are better for training, too, even though some of that can of course be done inside.

But we’re coping, Otter and me.  It’s just more work and more effort on my part. Otter isn’t really a “Christmas puppy” and she’s not even mine. I’m raising her for a friend, and she’ll go to that friend in April. That’s a lot of responsibility!

But when she does leave me, she’ll have all the basics covered, be healthy, well-trained and well-socialized. No matter how cold it is outide.

Given my druthers, I’d rather raise a puppy in the summer. And so should you.