00:00So it's been one whole year since we brought home our first dog and while I don't have a human baby
00:06I think I can relate to the emotional rollercoaster and lack of sleep that most new parents experience
00:12We were up every two hours during the night. I could not believe how tired we were
00:19Our routine was completely upended
00:23I thought I had it all figured out
00:25I got so much stuff to prepare for bringing home a dog and most of it was completely unnecessary
00:33It was an emotional rollercoaster
00:36Filled with surprises, firsts
00:42And so much cuddling
00:48I also surprised myself too. My number one rule was no dogs on the couch
00:55Or in the bed
00:57But rules are meant to be broken, right?
01:00Looking back now. I think it was the best year of my life
01:08It is 4.45 in the morning
01:10We took the airport to pick up Penny. My boyfriend and I recently moved from New York City to San Diego
01:16So it seemed like the perfect time to get a dog of our own
01:19We flew halfway across the country to pick her up. I mean she was even cuter than I could have imagined
01:24Oh, good hugs
01:26We get a really long layover
01:28So we got to know her a bit
01:31We're on the first flight back to San Diego
01:35Hopefully she stays calm
01:37She was a 10 out of 10 good girl. You're home
01:43The first night she literally screamed all night
01:48Penny sounds like a whole pack of coyotes screaming all the time
01:52We had a lot of cute moments
02:02And some challenging moments
02:05All of those hours spent researching crate setup went out the window in about 90 seconds
02:11Because that's how long it took her to figure out how to climb over it. So Penny is destroying all of her toys
02:18We realized that Penny was going to need some serious puppy training
02:23You want your puppy to see this hand signal and you're gonna be pointing and you're gonna want to get some steps without her jumping
02:31Penny responded to her training so well
02:40And we really kept at it every single day
02:47I'm home
02:49But no amount of training was going to keep her off the couch. There's clumps of hair everywhere
02:54Roomba is working overtime and she's tired. So quick Penny update
03:00It's possible that teenager Penny is even harder than puppy Penny
03:09We started taking Penny to more and more places and it was like our whole world opened up
03:18I
03:21Let go of a lot of my original expectations and I met her where she was at
03:26My dog prefers to have her face squished in between the cushions while she's taking her naps
03:32So I like to make sure she gets in there and help her get extra squishy
03:37People say getting a dog really ties you down. But for us, it's really felt like the opposite of that
03:43We are so much more active
03:48And
03:51Honestly, she's made me appreciate life a lot more. I really didn't expect the bond that we would have
03:59Or how completely upset she'd be with my boyfriend
04:04Don't get me wrong. She's not perfect and we're still working on training
04:10She still jumps on us all the time. I am constantly cleaning
04:19But as a millennial dog mom, she really is my baby
04:23And as we celebrate her first birthday, I am really proud of her and of us
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