P is also for Puppies

No, this is not my pug. Just putting that out there before anything else.

For those who've been here for a while, you guys will know how much I prefer dogs over cats. And how much I wanted one. But every time I pitch the idea to my parents, something always comes up; we don't have enough space, I'm not responsible enough, my mom hates the smell, I'm way too young, and the list goes on.

But on my 17th birthday, my dad got me a pup.


This was by far one of the best surprises my parents have ever set up. About a month before my birthday, I was hinting on wanting a puppy, but my mom immediately shot down the idea. Which kinda resulted into an argument, a few tears, and of course a march up my room (classic, right?). I remember wanting to move out that day because I really wanted my own place where I can house a pup of my own.

During these days I tried my best to just accept the fact that a puppy was going to have to wait until I've settled down in my own flat or something. Slowly, I started to delete some sites I had saved about puppy training, healthy treats for them, tips and tricks for house training, etc. (yes, I had all of those because I was so sure I was gonna get a puppy one way or another).

So, naturally, on the day of my actual birth, I didn't expect anything but cash which was the usual gift.

But, boom. There it was. In my grandparents' living room. It's beautiful black eyes looking at mine. I absolutely fell in love. It was love at first sight, I swear.

We decided to call this small ball of fur, Ponyo.

It's one of Hayao Miyazaki's characters from his animated movies. Ponyo's hair resembled the little pup's coat color and we loved Miyazaki so why not? Initially, I wanted to name him Fred, after Fred Weasley, but I think Ponyo was a better choice since my entire family really liked Miyazaki films.

Anyway, this day last month was the day I got my shih tzu. I guess this is a bit of a celebratory post. Ponyo is now 13 weeks old, we just visited the vet this morning for his 3rd round of shots and I was also told that he was to undergo surgery right after all his shots because of hernia, but more on that in a different post.

He is an absolute pain in the ass, but he is also such a joy to be around. Everything he does is hilarious in his own way. his energy levels definitely match mine (this pup literally plays so energetically for a few minutes and then decides to snooze for hours!), and he's such a good stress reliever.

Although, I do admit that a few days ago I had a bit of trouble being patient and I got upset because Ponyo seemed to have forgotten a month's worth of potty training overnight. But, needless to say I didn't lose hope and continued to train and train.

I'm really glad I've embarked on this adventure as a dog owner. I'm learning so many things and I'm having so much fun with Ponyo, even though he can be quite naughty and stubborn sometimes. I love him to bits and pieces.

I'm thinking of making this a regular thing and calling it Puppy Chronicles where I basically document Ponyo's adventure with me (or mine with him rather), but I'm not sure I can actually update it regularly, so I suppose I'll just write about milestones and all that.

I don't have very good pictures of Ponyo (I do have a lot of blurry and badly taken ones), but here's a compilation of the most decent I could find.