Meet Haruka

World, meet Haruka.

Jim and I have been talking about expanding our little fledgling family with a furry addition basically since we moved into the house. The past few years of being out on my own have frankly been difficult without the companionship of a dog under the same roof. My apartmentmate had Olive the cat – but as much as I generally like cats, it’s just not the same. And while I was able to get my weekly dog-fix by visiting Hilde and Linde at my parents – again, it’s still not the same.

And so after some deliberation and some waiting for my schedule to hit its summertime lull so that I can be home with her during the day, we’ve added little Haruka to our ranks.

And Haruka? Haruka is at once a saint and a demon. She is, after all, a lab puppy.

At about 10 weeks old, Haruka cycles between being the most sweet, adorable, sleepy puppy and being a moving ball of teeth that’s full of piss and vinegar.

She’s training relatively fast in some ways – she’s already gotten the hang of “sit,” “wait,” “leave it,” “come,” and “okay take it.” Potty training is also going decently well – the amount of in the house accidents has decreased significantly with every successive day, and we *almost* had an accident-free day yesterday.

But she’s also a big brat who will only really listen when she wants to. You’ll give a command, and she’ll look you right in the eye for a second as she decides whether or not she wants to comply. It’s clear in her eyes that she understands what you’re telling her, but she gets this little “f*ck you, I’ll do what I want” face once she decides, “nah, I want to keep doing this other thing.”

It’s been a while since I dealt with a full-blooded lab puppy, since both Hilde and Linde are poodle mixes. I forgot about that face.

And I kind of forgot about the razor teeth, too.

But it’s all good. This isn’t my first lab-puppy rodeo. My first mostly solo adventure without my parent’s help, sure. But not my first all together.

And I know for all the little nips, for all the torn up toys, for all the frustration and stress and mess…

It’s worth it.

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