Life, Lately (The Puppy Edit)
2025 started off with a real bang. A quick update on life lately…
About six months ago we lost our sweet Gia Bear, a 5.5 year-old Bernedoodle who unfortunately got sick with a rare genetic cancer common in Bernese Mountain Dogs. We were absolutely devastated to lose our sweet, loyal, fur baby who made our lives so joyful and silly. She offered so much peace of mind knowing this giant 90 lb dog would keep us safe and she was always so happy to see us whenever we walked in the door.
My husband took losing Gia the hardest, I think. Followed by my son. Not that my daughter and I weren’t just as sad but I think we channelled our grief in a more productive way. But who says there’s any framework to how we’re supposed to grieve? From the moment we received her devastating diagnosis, I channeled my energy into the next move. How do we get her home? How do we make her comfortable? What can she eat? How and when do we know when it’s time to say goodbye? We had six sweet, peaceful, perfect days at home with her after her diagnosis where she was her relatively normal, happy self. And the morning we had to say goodbye, I knew she was ready. On a bit of a whim, I put a deposit down that morning on a new puppy, knowing that my family would need something to look forward to. But also knowing that Gia would want to pass on knowing her family would be taken care of by another sweet, loyal soul.
And so, about four months after we said goodbye to sweet Gia, we said hello to sweet Brunello — an English Cream Golden Retriever. He’s been with us since November 6 and he is a bundle of loyal, sweet, silly energy. Just like Gia. Sometimes I catch myself asking him if Gia is in there somewhere because they have some very similar characteristics and little quirks that bring so much joy back into our home. We are SO blessed to have him just as we were beyond blessed to live with our sweet girl for 5.5 awesome years.
But in the spirit of Adagio (at ease), I thought I would share a few of my favorite products and tips keeping us all sane during the chaotic months of puppyhood.
Here’s the Puppy Edit:
Get on a regular schedule ASAP. The best thing about Bruno so far is his schedule. Being consistent with feeding, sleep and things like walks, training windows, etc. really helps with potty training and keeping me from going completely mental. I designed his schedule to fit around our family life and after a few months of trial and error, it’s pretty solid. I feed him at 7:30 every morning and not a minute sooner. He can always go a little later but as soon as you start feeding puppies at a certain time, that will be the time they wake up. Forever. So I picked a time that worked with our family’s natural breakfast window (7:30 - 8:30) and everything fell into place from there. Lunch is at noon and dinner at 6pm. These were manageable times I knew someone would always be home and again, they are in our family’s feeding windows so they work for us. But pick 3 normal feeding times and stick with them. Then you can predict when the puppy needs to go potty, take naps, when they want to play, walk etc.
At Home Essentials (No you don’t need EVERYTHING on Tik Tok shop). Bruno is an English Cream Golden Retriever and unlike our Bernedoodle, he sheds A LOT. So the first thing I bought after bringing him home was a value pack of lint rollers on Amazon. I have one at the front door, the garage door entry, my car and my closet. I was super worried about having a shedder but to be honest, it hasn’t been that big of a deal. I do feel bad for my bestie and her kids who have a pretty major dog hair allergy so I keep a bottle of Claritin on our entry console at all times. My other go-tos have been single use poop bags (there just hasn’t been a better way in my experience), a GOOD flashlight (like the brightest one you can find), a harness (so he doesn’t choke himself trying to go after squirrels on potty runs) and of course, patience. LOL. Oh and those enzyme sprays for in-house accidents and lots of paper towels (my son prefers Bounty FYI).
A crate. Bruno used to sleep in his crate until our BURGLAR ALARM went off twice (both false alarms thanks to a failing 8-year-old alarm system!!) in the middle of the night and now he sleeps with me. Hopefully it’s temporary. But he loves his crate and hangs out there whenever someone cannot directly supervise him or we have to leave the house. This is probably my biggest tip for puppy training… get them used to their crate from day 1. Give them treats in there (we used just kibble for the first few months) and you can even feed your puppy in there. We lay down his favorite pineapple beach towel and he likes to snuggle with his Duck (Go Ducks!) But one tip my vet gave me: don’t use the crate as punishment. It’s more of a positive thing to give him a space to chill out alone or keep him safe when we aren’t home.
Quality food/kibble (to be used as treats). I know DTC brands like The Farmers Dog and others are super trendy and all over our feeds right now, but puppies need very specific nutrition while they’re growing (did you know a dog ages the equivalent of 15 human years in its first year alone?) And new research shows the grain free diets may lead to health problems later in life… so we went with our breeder and vet’s recommendation and decided to feed Bruno their recommendation: Fromm Family Foods Large Breed Puppy formula. We may switch over to a whole foods-based diet at some point once he is fully mature but for now, I feel at ease knowing he’s getting all of the nutrients he needs. But my puppy pro tip here (especially for the food obsessed puppies like Bruno) is a slow feeder. Shout out to my friend Andrea who told me about these after her English Cream Golden would make herself sick eating so fast. This thing works great (bonus tip, if you time it right you can get dishes done while your puppy eats… this thing gives me about 10 minutes.)
A car seat. I know this sounds ridiculous and I am NOT one of those crazy safety nerds… well maybe I am. But after trying to get Bruno used to riding around in the car to run errands, pick up the kids, etc., I finally bought one of these doggy car seats on Amazon and he loves it! It clips onto the backseat headrest and makes a little bed that you can clip them into (make sure you clip in with a harness with rear clip and that the leash is taught). We have a basketball tourney coming up this weekend on the Coast and hoping this harness comes in handy so Bruno can hang out in the car while we’re watching our son play basketball. Why don’t they let puppies in gyms anyway?? Oh yeah, they’re super cute and cuddly but crazy destructive and distracting! Can you imagine a bunch of middle school boys trying to shoot free throws when an adorable puppy is barking at them? What a mess!
Well those are my top five tips/essentials that I think could get you through the puppy phase. Just remember they’re only here with us for a short time and it goes by way too fast. Enjoy every moment with your pup because you never know how much time you’ll have with them. Gia girl, we miss you every day! Bruno is lucky to have such a great big sister to look up to. <3
xo,
Jules
My OG Puppy Gia the Bernedoodle. December 3, 2018-June 25, 2024
Gia’s little bro Brunello (aka Bruno) the English Cream Golden Retriever. Born September 10 2024.
