7 Days of Cupcake

written by Justin Barsanti, editor-in-chief http://www.SproutVine.com

(if you have a pet and need any products – all the pictures are clickable to link over)

So after hearing about wanting a dog all summer from the kids we decided to surprise them last weekend. We currently have no pets in our home and we knew it was going to be a big adjustment. After doing some research and figuring out what we wanted to do we finally decided on an English Bulldog. We had been communicating with a breeder only two hours from where we live and she had given us a few choices. Once she sent us these it was all over. We were in love:

After finalizing our deal with her we told the kids that we had to run an errand and pick something up at a mall there. They were being typical kids and moaning and groaning because they didn’t want to do the drive and “take up their Saturday”, but had no clue what was about to come…

DAY 1

So we pulled into the parking lot where we said we would meet them and they were standing there with the dog and they weren’t even paying attention. The kids were still playing their games and listening to their headphones when we got out and put the dog in the car. It took them a minute to even realize what was going on, but when they did (unfortunately after the video) they went crazy!!

The kids were over the moon. Didnt stop petting her the whole way home

There was a PetSmart about 20 mins from where we met the breeder. So we stopped there. Andrew and I went in to get some supplies while mommy, Brandon, and Claire took her potty around the corner.

She was a little scared because she is only 8 weeks old and was just taken from mom, brothers, and sisters, however, she will learn real quick that she came to a very loving family who is going to spoil her rotten. Even being scared she had a pretty comfortable ride home being pet and snuggling in her new bed.

When we got her home she was a little dirty and stinky so we gave her her first bath:

We used a very small amount of Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo and lightly rubbed all the dirt and smell off of her.

She spent the rest of the night snuggling with the kids, sleeping, and playing.

We still didn’t have a name for her – we were throwing around a bunch of options, but nothing stuck.

I will so nervous, never having raised a puppy by myself, that I even purchased a couple of guides:

They were definitely helpful in giving a lot of good advice.

DAYS 2-4

Well, they say having a puppy is a lot of work and compares to having an infant. I can honestly say it might be worse! At least an infant has a diaper and naps in a swing, etc. A puppy is constant. These last few days my life was completely on pause to care for the puppy. Of course the kids “helping out” became limited as it became more and more work – leaving dad and mom to tend to most of it.

I have to be honest that during this period there was more than one discussion about giving her to a close person to us that has raised bulldogs before. We thought maybe we had “bitten off more than we can chew” so-to-speak and that maybe we had made a mistake. When we brought up to our 8 year old Brandon that we were considering getting rid of the dog he had a meltdown of epic proportions. And it wasnt the I want attention time of meltdown, it was heartbreak. That was it for us – there was no more discussion, she was going to stay with us and be part of our family.

When we decided that she would remain with us it gave my wife the green light to hit the shopping for her:

…and shes just getting warmed up!!! There are multiple more products in the mail on the way!!! As you can see Rachel is a huge Rae Dunn fan.

We started to transition her to some new food – and after all the research we did we decided that Blue Buffalo had a great formula for her food and treats that we wanted to start her on. It seemed much healthier for her than some of the other brands.

We were told to transition slow to avoid diarrhea, which we did, but she still had just a touch of it. It didnt last long at all which was nice.

She is picking up the potty training really quick. We bought the puppy pads, but only as backup. I think we are going to stick with getting her to go outside.

We bought some other essentials as well at Target and Amazon:

I started taking her on a few rides in the truck so she could see the world.

…and found out she absolutely loves her truck rides!!

Towards the end of day 4 we all decided that we really have to give her a name. We were so indecisive. It had boiled down to Delilah and Daisy. Our children are ABC (Andrew, Brandon, Claire) so we thought it only fitting to go with a D name. That was until Claire, out of the clear blue, said I want it to be Cupcake! It wasn’t a D, but she was beyond adamant that’s what she wanted – so we all agreed and her name became Cupcake…

DAYS 5-6

By day 5 Cupcake was getting used to our home and us and we loved having her.

On the third day she had developed a small cough that had gotten worse, so on day 6 we took her to the vet to get looked over. Turns out she has “kennel cough”. We had to put her on some medication. She was having some trouble breathing and sounded like she was coughing up a hairball. 🙁 We will bring her back after 7 days to have the follow-up.