Annie gets a puppy: On navigating Petfinder, vetting breeders, and falling in love with a new dog

Two months after losing her 15.5-year-old Yorkiepoo bestfriend, Annie and her family welcomed a new puppy into their home. In this episode, she talks about the experience of falling in love with rescue dogs on the Internet, conversing with breeders charging top dollar, and, finally, landing the perfect puppy for her family. Go to School For The Dogs' Instagram to see a picture of Annie's new puppy! https://www.instagram.com/p/CJhGbJFn6Ir/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Join the School For The Dogs Community at http://schoolforthedogs.com/community Episode with Anna Heyward : https://anchor.fm/dogs/episodes/Lessons-learned-from-foster-dogs-A-discussion-with-our-apprentice-Anna-Heyward-ejr8oh Products mentioned in this episode: Squishy Face Flirt Pole https://storeforthedogs.com/products/flirt-poles DIY Flirt Pole https://storeforthedogs.com/blogs/news/dog-flirt-poles-you-can-diy Revol Crate by Diggs https://storeforthedogs.com/products/the-revol-dog-crate --- Partial Transcript: [Intro and music] Annie: Hey folks, it’s New Year’s Day. And I only have a short window of time to record this while my in-laws are at the playground with my daughter. I actually had a different episode lined up for today. Kind of like a business lessons, behavior-minded business lessons of 2020 episode I was going to do. But at the last minute I decided instead I wanted to share that there’s some big dog news in my life that’s happened in the last week, which is that I got a puppy. And I thought while this event is still quite fresh, I would talk about it. We got her on Tuesday and today is Friday. So it’s really only been a few days. So as regular listeners might know, I lost my beloved 15 and a half year old Yorkie poo Amos about two months ago, November 3rd, after a swift illness. And I had him for most of my adult life. He really shaped who I am. And so it was a big loss, big loss to recover from. And it didn’t feel right away like, okay, now we need to get a new dog. I just kind of thought, I’m just gonna let this settle, see how I feel. Don’t need to rush into anything. And my husband was like, why don’t we wait a few years? And I thought, I don’t know if I can wait a few years. I mean, this is my life, dogs are my life. The house feels empty without a dog. Plus I realized I’ve only ever had one dog. I mean, I had dogs when I was a kid, but like since being a dog trainer, I’ve only ever had one dog. And when I got into dog training my dog was already five. So I’ve never had a dog who I’ve trained from the beginning. And the more I thought about it, the more I felt kind of like, gosh, am I fake? Am I a failure that I’ve only ever had one dog? I mean, I’ve certainly trained many dogs. I’ve spent extended periods of time with many, many dogs, but I just felt like, I think it will benefit me to be in the trenches with a new dog. That experience can only benefit my understanding of dogs in general. Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcast Get full access to Don't Be a Dick to Your Dog at dogtraining.substack.com/subscribe