MEET MILLIE | BRINGING HOME PUPPY

I’m so excited to introduce y’all to our newest family member… Millie Mays! If you follow me on Instagram, you know we picked her up in Utah almost a month ago but I thought she needed a formal introduction on the blog and I wanted to share all the puppy must haves that we’ve been using and loving!

Millie is an F1B Sheepadoodle. She is 75% poodle and 25% Old English Sheepdog which makes her very hypoallergenic and a minimal shedder. She definitely has a few herding tendencies that we’ve noticed but Tex is also a sheep dog (Shetland sheep dog) so these behaviors are nothing new around here. I knew I wanted a doodle of sorts after 12 years of vacuuming and wearing Tex’s fur. We were pretty set on getting a bernadoodle but we saw a sheepadoodle in October after visiting the pumpkin patch and our entire family immediately fell in love with the breed. The breed is quirky yet so cute and they give the absolute best puppy eyes you’ve ever seen. Plus, they make great therapy and comfort dogs which is what brings me to why we got a puppy.

Back in October, we also made a trip to see my parents and Easton was immediately taken with my moms dog, Jake. Easton has always loved animals but I’ve never seen him take to a dog the way he did Jake. He was relaxed and calm around Jake and was more flexible. It was a complete 180 from his usual demeanor. We knew a therapy dog would benefit Easton. Millie will start puppy kindergarten when she is 4 months old and then she will start some comfort training so she can help comfort Easton when he is anxious or having a hard time. Comfort dogs are a great support in the Autism community and we feel really fortunate to be able to provide this for Easton.

So far Millie has been a pretty chill pup! She goes hard in the morning from about 6am – 7:30 am and then she sort of lays low the rest of the day. She gets a second burst of energy (much like a toddler) around 6pm and then heads to bed around 8:30! After the first night home with Millie and many many potty accidents, I began searching the internet and stumbled upon this app, Puppr (not sponsored, just my honest opinion). Using the Puppr app and method has helped us potty train, crate train and leash train Millie all at the same time. It’s a super easy method to stick to, not too complicated, and sets a schedule a routine for Millie and us so we know how long we can leave her in her kennel and when she needs to go potty, eat, etc… 

Now, how to bring a puppy home to two kids and an old grumpy dog… we just did it. We ordered her a bed and kennel so she had a safe space and put Tex’s bed out of the play space so she wouldn’t be tempted to invade his space. We keep the kids room closed off because they have a ton of small toys like legos. The biggest battle of adding a puppy to our family so far has been the fact that she loves and steals shoes… the kids aren’t used to picking up their shoes and neither am I. Millie will come running out of a bedroom as happy as can be sporting a shoe in her mouth. Other than that, Mills has been such a great puppy… she’s spoiling us for sure. 

Here’s everything we’ve bought and used for Millie! I searched high and low for all the aesthetically pleasing puppy items!

 SLEEP

We ordered her a cozy bed for relaxing and a kennel. Using the Puppr app has helped us to kennel train her so she naps and sleeps through the night in her kennel but she hangs out in her basket bed and relaxes or chews toys!

PLAY

This was one of my favorites… if you browse the aisles of Petsmart, every item is hot pink and lime green or primary colors. If you know me, you know my disdain for primary colors… especially strewn throughout my home. I’ve made it my sole mission to find beautiful and aesthetically pleasing items for all, kids, dogs… everyone! Here’s what I found in the puppy toy department.

POTTY & LEASH TRAINING

Through the Puppr app (again, not sponsored, just a true believer) we learned that potty training and leash training go hand in hand. We ordered a good harness for Millie, a leash, and collar to start leash training. When she gets a little older, we will switch her to the gentle lead harness as we’ve seen great success with that on Tex. We also decided to skip the potty pads after the first day and dedicated our time and energy to potty training her. She goes out about every 30 minutes when she is out of her kennel and about every hour to two hours when she is “napping” in her kennel. She’s had her fair share of accidents but she’s getting so much better and is almost fully potty trained at 3 months! Also I ordered this waste bag holder and I love it!