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Many of you probably know a bit of Peggy's history. We saw some red flags within hours of picking her up from the breeder, and by the end of the first week, we were seriously considering returning her.
We were told she had a poor temperament. We were told she'd been under-socialized. With our own digging, we began to suspect she'd had some extremely unpleasant early interactions with young children. We were told "Once a bad dog, always a bad dog."
And the worries piled up.
Honestly, it was a terrible time. Bringing home a puppy is a challenging time, sure. But it should also be a hopeful time.
We were running extremely low on hope.
Obviously we ended up keeping her, but my anxiety ran high for months. I don't even like looking back at my old Peggy posts, because they bring back those memories in a very visceral way.
So why am I bringing this up? Because the neighbours in the house behind ours have family over today—including grandkids with their squeaky little voices and sudden shrieks—and they're playing croquet.
Whack! Clack! Cheers! Oh my!
The noise is constant and we're separated from it by only about 2 feet of trees. And what's Peggy doing?
"Wanna play?"
"Can I at least have a treat?"
"Okay, fiiiine."
I know this doesn't seem like a big deal. She's 14 months old, she should be able to relax in the backyard.
But I wasn't sure Peggy could ever be this dog. And I'm not only proud of her. I'm proud of us, too! And I'm grateful.
We've benefited so much from your collective knowledge and your generous support and insights over this past year. I'm so grateful for Poodle Forum and for all of you.
I hope you know you're all Peggy's godparents.
We were told she had a poor temperament. We were told she'd been under-socialized. With our own digging, we began to suspect she'd had some extremely unpleasant early interactions with young children. We were told "Once a bad dog, always a bad dog."
And the worries piled up.
Honestly, it was a terrible time. Bringing home a puppy is a challenging time, sure. But it should also be a hopeful time.
We were running extremely low on hope.
Obviously we ended up keeping her, but my anxiety ran high for months. I don't even like looking back at my old Peggy posts, because they bring back those memories in a very visceral way.
So why am I bringing this up? Because the neighbours in the house behind ours have family over today—including grandkids with their squeaky little voices and sudden shrieks—and they're playing croquet.
Whack! Clack! Cheers! Oh my!
The noise is constant and we're separated from it by only about 2 feet of trees. And what's Peggy doing?
"Wanna play?"
"Can I at least have a treat?"
"Okay, fiiiine."
I know this doesn't seem like a big deal. She's 14 months old, she should be able to relax in the backyard.
But I wasn't sure Peggy could ever be this dog. And I'm not only proud of her. I'm proud of us, too! And I'm grateful.
We've benefited so much from your collective knowledge and your generous support and insights over this past year. I'm so grateful for Poodle Forum and for all of you.
I hope you know you're all Peggy's godparents.