Can you believe that Murph is now 8 months old ??? That tiny little fluffy thing we brought home with us over the summer is now looking like a real dog!!

In case you've been living under a rock, I have a cockapoo puppy, he has his own Instagram account (obviously) and is a very treasured addition to our family. I wrote a post a while back on 7 things no one tells you before getting a puppy and for today's post I thought we could revisit it, adding 5 more things to the list. As always, I'd love to hear any other things you think I might have missed as a part three could very much be on the cards...

Onto the things no one tells you before getting a puppy... 

1. Alllll the nipping and biting

2. You literally can't leave anything on the floor

3. They can jump onto dining room tables from standing

4. Puppies seem to learn everything but the command leave/no chew

They are SO clever but can they learn the command leave? We took Murphy to training classes and the intelligent little pup has learnt so many different things but does he know the one command we'd really like him to know? Does he heck... We've tried all sorts, so if anyone has any tips please do let me know - it's a pretty vital one, eh?

5. Everyone will remark how big your puppy is/isn't for their age

We've found this to be particularly true with cockapoos, probably because of the great variations in their size. But, the second someone asks you how old your dog is, their response is ALWAYS something to do with how big they are/aren't. For us, as soon as we tell someone Murphy's age we always get an 'oh, he's going to be a big dog then' in response. And? He's our little bundle of fluff and if he ends up being 100KG and the size of a bear, so be it, there's not a lot we can do about it now!


And there we have it, the updated 'things no one tells you before getting a puppy' post. If you know anyone soon to be getting a puppy, definitely point them in the direction of this blog series, knowledge is power and all that!

As I'm sure you're all very much aware by now, I have a puppy. His name is Murphy and he is an absolute sweetheart. He was born in May, came home with us in July and has genuinely turned our lives upside down ever since.

In a good way, might I add.

He is the cutest thing ever and whilst the first few weeks really were difficult, they were 100% worth it.

We'd never had a dog before. 

Sure, we'd been around dogs and my grandparents had had dogs, but we'd never had one ourselves. Heck, other than a few fish, we've never had any pets.

We'd looked after a family friends' cockapoo for a few days and loved it, but, just like being a grandparent, we only had all the good bits and we knew that! Going out for walks in all weathers was fun, and picking up a dog poo or two was a novelty. He was perfectly trained and totally obedient - it was an utter breeze. Alas, when you pick up a puppy of your own, it's not quite such a walk in the park...

The Realities of Having a Puppy

So, for today's post, I thought we'd have a bit of chat about what having a puppy is really like. Yes, puppies are the cutest things everrrr but there are SO many things that don't make it onto the 'gram, so I figured we could talk about them now...

~ Spoiler; these don't apply to every dog ever,  these are just things that we've discovered since having our cockapoo puppy! ~

01. You (occasionally) have to wipe their bum

02. Their teeth fall out

If I'd actually thought about this hard enough this would have been obvious, but I didn't. It was only after we got Murphy that people asked if his teeth had started falling out, to which we looked suitably perplexed and said obviously not. Well, much like us, they have baby teeth that fall out and get replaced by adult ones. This also, unfortunately, means that they go through the whole teething I'm-going-to-bite-everything-in-sight phase again.

03. What social life?!

Now, I know that we expected a puppy to take up a huge chunk of our lives, but I think we were slightly naive not to think it would be 99%. Since having Murphy we haven't been out for a family meal nor do we make any noise after 10.30pm for fear of waking him up. But, on the flip side, people looove puppies. So, whilst you may not get to do all the things you used to love doing, these soon all get replaced by dog walks and puppy visits. No one can resist a puppy.

04. There are 726918 different diets and everyone has their own opinion 

When we picked up Murph, our breeder told us what food she'd been giving him and we trotted off to Pets at Home to buy our own stash and thought that was that. We then joined a few cockapoo Facebook groups, attended a few obedience classes and became aware of just how many diets there are out there. And, much like with any diets, people all have strong opinions on what they think is right. Raw? Cooked? Prepared? Kibble? Who knows.

05. They get things called 'zoomies'

06. They have so many outgoings

Again, much like having a child, the expenses are never-ending. You've forked out a lump sum for your puppy, bought half of the pet shop ready for their arrival to be told that they should also have XYZ. You then take them to the vets to the first time to be sold a monthly package and insurance, you book in with a groomer who recommends regular visits, and choose an obedience class to help with nurturing your puppy's behaviour. Said puppy then chews through their bed, all of their toys, your clothes, and suddenly you're back at the shops with yet another trolley load of supplies.

07. They are needy

Now, I know this is a known trait of the cockapoo breed, but, oh my, I wasn't expecting it to be quite so bad. Murphy is literally like our shadow and doesn't like to spend more than a few minutes not by our side. He follows us to the loo and sits outside waiting for us, will sit by the bottom of the stairs if we go upstairs, and whined all night every night for the first 6 weeks we left him downstairs in his crate at bedtime. (We've caved and now have his crate upstairs with us and guess what, the whining has pretty much stopped!)

Now, as frustrating as some of these things are, they are all SO worth it. Murphy is such a bundle of joy, he has such a great personality and is also the cutest dog I've EVER seen. He also has his own Instagram account which he posts on daily, you can follow it here!

And there we have it, they were my realities of having a puppy, do you think I've missed any? Let me know in the comments or slide in my DMs, I'm always down for puppy related chat.

I've since added to this post, click here to check out five more things no one tells you before getting a puppy!

Murphy is our little 12-week old apricot cockapoo puppy, and, let's be real, he is the cutest little thing ever. His mum is a chocolate cocker spaniel and his dad a cream miniature poodle, and we collected him just over 4 weeks ago now. It was all very sudden, and, clearly, was just meant to be.

I'd gone out for drinks one evening, blissfully unaware that my Dad had been busy researching puppies and breeders. I came home and was told that we had a viewing planned for the very next day... Whaaaaat?! Anyway, after spending many an hour that night watching puppy training videos, the following morning we headed to the breeders' house to meet her last two puppies left. She had an apricot boy and a black girl.

We'd already set our hearts on having a boy, an apricot boy, so, unsurprisingly, when we met him, there was no question of whether he was right for us or not. He was part of a litter of nine, the majority of which were scheduled to be picked up the following day, so the breeder asked if we wanted to take him there and then. *Cue a little panic*

Yes, we'd love to, but we've also never had a dog before and were yet to buy any supplies. Instead, we agreed to collect him the following morning. We then proceeded to spend the rest of the afternoon wandering around pets at home... Can we just take a minute to talk about the sheer volume of products there are in that shop that I didn't even know existed? Prosecco, birthday cakes and ice cream, all for dogs - wow. We didn't buy any of the above, but a bed, crate, food bowl etc did all make their way home with us...

So, we picked him up, and the past four weeks have absolutely flown by. The first few nights were difficult. He whined pretty much all night, but, with any new puppy, that's more than to be expected. He's just about getting better with his sleeping now and we've just started a new routine. We stay up until midnight, take him out once more, and then put him in his crate for the night. We then leave him until the morning. He tends to wake up and start whining at about 5ish, at which time one of us comes down and lets him out before he naps again until about 6.30. No, it's not ideal but it's faaaar better than what it was.

As I'm writing this, he has his second set of vaccines today meaning that it won't be too long until we can actually take him out properly, yaaaay. As of this moment, he knows how to sit, he's getting there with lying down, and has mastered jumping up onto the sofa (before promptly being told to get off). He's wolfing all of his meals down and sleeps for about 6 hours at night. He isn't a massive fan of baths and also refuses to go out in the rain most of the time. He is the cutest little things and my favourite member of the family (shh, don't tell the others)