The Fritz Chronicles

Life with an adolescent, including a confession

Well. I have to say that bringing an adolescent dog into our home has been a stark reminder of just how much work puppies are! Fritz von Doggendorf was six months old when he walked through our doors and while we are making progress, there is still much to be done. I wanted to share with you how it’s going, not only to make you feel better if you are in the throes of adolescent puppyhood (keep reading - I promise that my story at the end will make you feel better), but also to illustrate how much time it takes for a puppy to become integrated into an existing canine structure.

As I do with every new dog, we set up a gated area for Fritz. It was 1.5 ex-pens zip tied together. This sat on top of a Drymate pad and had an ample variety of chew toys within. I cleared my calendar, knowing that I needed to basically camp out next to that puppy area for the first week of his new life in America (he came from Czech Republic).

From the outset, it was obvious that this is a resilient, well-adjusted puppy. He had a low level nervousness when he first explored the backyard, but curiosity and bravery quickly won out. He jumped into planter beds and trotted through the entire yard, sniffing as he went (many, many dogs arrive and won’t leave the putting green area, afraid of what’s beyond). He also picked up everything in sight.

Everything.