Seriously. Don’t let that cute face and those pouty brown eyes fool you, our little Pickle is a real brat. Even before our alarms have gone off, Pickle insists on getting up to go outside and doing her business. Every morning we share a chilly morning as I watch her do her business and the sun rise. Not only that, but when we come back inside, she insists on getting into bed with us, pushing her way between our legs and curling up by our heads. I can’t get the smell of puppy breath out of my nostrils!

Ten minutes of rolling around the bed and nibbling on our ears is usually enough before she is at the foot of our bed whining for breakfast. Without even a thank you she gobbles down her food and runs back to the living room to demand that we play with her. Her pouncing and play barking keeps us from addressing our own breakfast needs just to entertain the little beast (with all the rolling on the floor and tugawar). Turn your back for one second and she’s gnawing on a sneaker or one of my girlfriend’s boots (or destroying flip-flops).

God forbid we have time to make coffee in the morning. Before long Pickle is ready to go back outside and walk around the neighborhood. Would it be so hard for her to ignore that pile of leaves and walk more than ten feet in a straight line? And forget getting her attention when another walker comes by. Her tail wags so hard and her body wiggles uncontrollably, there’s no way to keep her focused.

When this ball of energy and fur has had enough she just ignores everyone and goes to bed. Seriously, she’ll get all antisocial and curl herself up in her kennel and not even ask if I want to play. Sometimes I think all she wants is food. Even if I wanted to I couldn’t pry her from her kennel, unless with loads of stinky, greasy treats. I don’t know if that smell will ever come off.

I guess, in the end, Pickle is a pretty cute pup. She is a brat, whining when she doesn’t get her way and unable to focus through most of her obedience training. But how can you be mad a puppy that’s crate trained, hasn’t had an accident indoors since she was spayed, is getting really good at her impulse control and biting, and at the end of the day just wants to cuddle up at your feet or under your legs with her chew stick. My heart melts every morning when she starts whining because it reminds me that I have a wonderful pet who sleeps through the night and doesn’t wake up until 7:30 AM. Not only is she potty trained, but she comes when I call her to come back inside.

On our walks, Pickle barely pulls on her leash, and loves to greet everyone (dogs, adults, children, etc) with the same reluctant politeness and love. She’s given up on the biting of fingers and gone to licking wildly. She no longer tries to automatically jump on the faces of dogs and greets them more controlled. Not bad for a puppy that’s not even 4 months.

Pickle is a loving, adventurous, curious, ear biting, howling, chews-anything-within-reach puppy. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.