Don’t get me wrong, I love dogs.  Puppies are super cute, but they are also SUPER messy, and in my opinion, way harder to keep up with than a baby!  So, I bet you’re sitting there asking yourself why the heck did you get a puppy in the first place?!  Good question. *Insert eye roll here*

The kids begged and begged for us to get a dog when we moved out of our rental home and into our dream home with plenty of land.  Jeremy and I had absolutely no intention of getting a dog for at least a year after we had settled into our new home.  Plus, all of this land we have has not been able to be landscaped due to TONS of rain, therefore it’s nothing but mud.  MUD everywhere!  BUT – see, there’s always a but—we had something happen our very first night in the house that made us change our minds and want the protection of a dog.

Let’s be clear, I wanted an already trained two-year-old dog.  Jeremy had his heart set on this puppy named Bentley.  He was a Black Lab, German Shepherd, and Pit Bull mix.  He was an absolutely adorable little puppy, but the only thing that kept going through my mind was how much work he would be.  BUT—see, another but—Jeremy won this battle.  He said it would be better to have a puppy and train him the way we want him to be trained just in case if an older dog was bad with kids or babies.  Fortunately for us, Bentley was actually an excellent puppy those first few months…until the teething stage!  Before I go into a rant about how many things Bentley destroyed during his teething phase, here are five tips on how to survive a puppy with a baby and four other rascals.

1. Puppy Proof Your House

There’s a reason why this is number one.  It’s the easiest and most important part of surviving a puppy!  You have to think of having a puppy the exact same as having a baby because that’s exactly what puppies are!  If you have stairs, buy baby gates immediately.  Bentley was in a habit of exploring the house and wanting to get into the kid’s bedrooms to tear things up.  Our upstairs is carpeted so he also thought that was fun pee and poop on.  Also, if you have lever handles on your doors then I recommend you taking the time to change those to doorknobs.  We didn’t and not a day goes by that we don’t regret it.  Bentley learned to open the doors so quickly!

2. Routine in Check

Again, treat this puppy like a baby!  Puppies need routine.  That’s one of the best ways to train your puppy to sleep, use the bathroom (outside), and when to play.  Our weekday routine slightly differs from our weekend routine, but Bentley quickly got the hang of it.  When the kids wake up for school, they know to feed Bentley while they are eating breakfast and then to take him outside to use the bathroom.  They crate him when they leave for school and that’s when I workout so Bentley knows to stay calm until Lleyton wakes up in the morning.  He is typically roaming around the first floor of the house or laying on top of the couch cushions for most of the day until the kids get home from school—that’s when it’s playtime.

3. Share the Responsibility

Taking care of a puppy is A LOT, especially when you are also caring for a baby and four kids.  This is the perfect opportunity to teach your kids responsibility.  Make them share in the role of caring for the pup by walking him, feeding him, playing with him, etc.  It takes a HUGE load off your back.  It still gets challenging because, after all, they are impatient kids, but teaching them the right way to do it is better than not teaching them at all.  Every Sunday (weather depending), we like to take Bentley to the nature trail near our house so that he gets some energy out, but also so that he learns to walk or run by our side.  The kids will usually ride their bikes or rollerblade and they love to have him run and pull them — it’s absolutely hilarious.

4. Get Prepared to Clean

As I mentioned above, we have a TON of mud surrounding our house right now.  Every time the kids bring Bentley inside from playing, I just have to close my eyes and take a deep breath before the messy madness happens.  I was tired of our new furniture and rugs looking like they were owned by a dog so we did some research and bought the Bissell Spot Clean Pro Upholstery and Carpet Cleaner.  It worked miracles!  Watching the vacuum suction up all of the dirt and grime was both rewarding and gross.  It was about $160 from Amazon and totally worth every penny!  I recommend everyone buy this.  It’s so much better to have on hand than to have to pay someone to come to your house to clean the rugs and upholstery.  While you’re at it, go ahead and buy a Swiffer for some quick floor clean up and a magic eraser for the walls!

5. Puppy Boot Camp

This is where we went wrong.  And by we, I mean Jeremy.  He claimed he would have all this time to train Bentley the way we wanted him trained.  WRONG!  Don’t waste your time.  Invest in a professional dog trainer.  We know we screwed up on this one and we’ve been paying for it this whole time (no pun intended).  Now, guess what we are doing?!  Yep—hiring a trainer!