I swear I took a million photos of Jake when we first got him, but why didn't I take any videos?! I love watching videos of golden retriever puppies on YouTube, but I really regret not taking any of our own little puppies playing together. Here are some more pics of Jake and Cooper when they were 8 weeks.
At the end of April, we moved out of the non pet friendly apartment in Williamsburg, and into a new PET FRIENDLY!! apartment in Park Slope. We were so happy and relieved to not have to hide Jake anymore. He could be as noisy as he wanted in this new apartment. Immediately upon arrival we met some of the other tenants in the building and their dogs, so we knew this was going to be the perfect place for him. We also loved the close proximity to Prospect Park (two blocks), which has become Jake's new favorite place (but more on that later...).
After we settled in to our new place, we still had some challenges. Jake still wasn't sleeping through the night(just like having a baby, I know!). I would have to wake up multiple times during the night to try to get him to go back to sleep. Unlike babies, who wake up because they need fed, I wasn't sure what to do with Jake. Normally, I would just pet him for a while and he would eventually fall back asleep. Then bright and early around 4 or 5 A.M. he would be up and ready to begin his day. I can recall many mornings waking up with him and playing with him on the living room floor while the infomercials were still on T.V. (that's how you know it's way too early to be up).
Another challenge was potty training. By this point, he had learned to do his business on the puppy pads, but there were still many accidents when he "forgot" to go on the pad. It's a good thing we have hardwood floors, or else it would have been a nightmare. I knew I wanted to start training him to go outside, but was still leery about taking him out due to what I had been reading about parvo. So at about nine weeks I took Jake for his first set of puppy shots and I asked the vet if it would be okay to take him outside. She said it was fine to take him out to go to the bathroom on the street, but no walks or park just yet. Who knew there was so much to worry about when raising a puppy in NYC?! So I did my best to take him out every couple of hours, and to exercise him in the apartment as well as I could.
*I'm happy to report Jake was fully trained by 12 weeks and has not had an accident since. He also is fully vaccinated and we are now able to enjoy long walks and romps in the park together :)
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