As many of you know, we welcomed Pumpkin, a cavalier king charles spaniel into our lives last week! He is the first pet I have ever had in my life besides a goldfish named frisky when I was five! Growing up my parents where never up for an animal in the house, and by the time college was on the horizon, I let that argument go. Pumpkin comes from a long line of award-winning ACK certified cavaliers with longevity of 14 years!
Rob’s family has two cavalier king charles spaniels, so we kind of always knew that if we were to get a dog at some point, he would be a cavalier too. We started down that dangerous path of looking into breeders in our area, and taking some trips to see the puppies. Low and behold when we met our future Pumpkin, it was hard to say we’ll wait any longer to get a dog! I knew from the moment I looked into his eyes that he was the puppy of my dreams!
Since I work from home the breeder was comfortable letting us adopt a puppy of this breed that requires a lot of attention. Since the beginning of March, we anxiously awaited little Pumpkin’s arrival and started stocking up on all of the puppy essentials and certain things recommend based on his breed. Naturally, I started an Instagram for Pumpkin and scoured pet sites, and amazon for all things pumpkin!
There’s no waiting until fall for me when it comes to dressing little Pumpkin up in t-shirts, jerseys and sweatshirts! Pumpkin is three months old, and loves face scratches, tummy rubs, and his pumpkin toy linked below!
Check out the rest of the things Pumpkin is loving (and learning to use!)here. You can find all of these things on my Amazon list too!
Kruuse Buster Incredibowl, Small/34 oz, Dark Grey
Since spaniels are very prone to issues with their ears, our breeder highly encouraged we purchase spaniel bowls for Pumpkin’s ears to flop over and avoid getting wet every time he takes a drink. So far, he’s eating out of a small dish
I got this tiny pumpkin t-shirt for one of Rob’s family cavaliers a couple of years ago, and like to think I secretly knew it would be perfect for my little Pumpkin one day. And it is!
They couldn’t have made a more perfect toy for our little Pumpkin! A PUPkin Spice latte toy from StarBARKS! Rob surprised me with this toy before we brought him home, and now Pumpkin loves it. You know it’s making for a lot of great photo opps too!
Continuing on our orange theme, I had to complete the look with this orange pumpkin harness! You better believe Pumpkin will be wearing this on his first walk outside! The pumpkin face faces out from his chest.
I love this cute little pumpkin dog collar! We also bought Pumpkin a plain orange one, but I plan on busting this one out as much as possible, and all fall long!
Zack & Zoey Pumpkin Pooch Dog Costume, Large, Orange
Is it too early to start planning Pumpkin’s Halloween costumer? I think not! I’ve got my heart set on this one for sure! Little Pumpkin as a pumpkin for baby’s first Halloween! I’m also thinking he would make a cute ghost!
Working from Home and Taking Care of a Puppy
Pumpkin’s first week with us was definitely an adjustment for me in terms of planning out the day so that I could get work done. During his first couple of days he was still a little shy and getting used to his new surrounding, which made it easy to hold him in my lap as I sat in the computer, or let him curl up on his own in his dog bed.
Towards the end of our first week, Pumpkin’s rambunctious side definitely came out! He became much more playful, vocal and into biting everything–including every shoe in sight! But that’s normal for a puppy right?! I really enjoyed soaking up all of the puppy snuggles I’d never had before, and made it work with my work in between his chill-ness and sleeping.
I do crate him when I leave the house, and those puppy dog eyes starring out at me tug at my heart strings every time I have to leave. I find myself thinking “I wonder what is pumpkin doing right now?” in the middle of barre class or when I’m talking to someone about him. I get in now when people say “I have to go home to be with my dog!” because that’s how I feel now!
Week two with Pumpkin continued the same pattern as the end of week one. Lot’s of biting, prancing to full on sprints in the apartment and little puppy barks when he sees himself in the mirror or window! Poor planning on my part, and lots of crate time proved to be a little disastrous for us on Tuesday, the first time I started feeling like getting it all done with a puppy in tow was going to be harder than I thought.
It’s weird because as I was feeling slightly annoyed at myself and at him, I still couldn’t be mad or upset because of the joy he has already brought into my life. I almost can’t imagine what the apartment was like without the pitter-patter of tiny paws and his cute face licking my toes. His excitement for the littlest things makes me so happy to have all of these experiences with hims!
If you’ve worked at home with a new puppy, I’d love to hear your tips on what worked for you, and how you made it all work!
Potting Training Pumpkin
With Chicago’s winter like temps in spring, we opted to start Pumpkin on training pads in the apartment. We did try taking him out on his first night with us, only to see one scared little puppy with his tail so far between his legs! There are also quite a few bigger, less friendly dogs in our building, so we don’t want to take any chances bringing him to the dog run at this time in his early life.
Our breeder got him used to taking care of business on newspapers so that’s what we’ve continued to do. Week one brought a few accidents in random spots (all on the hardwood thankfully!) and here in week two Pumpkin has been a newspaper champion! In a way it makes it easier for me because I don’t need to take him downstairs every hour, but as soon as the temps warm up, and he gets the rest of his shots we will start the walks outside and potty training phase two.
I’m still learning a lot about his personality and navigating our daily routine, and would love to hear from you if you have any tips, tricks, or experience when it comes to raising cavalier king charles spaniels!
oh, and happy National Pet Day!
