Adventures With Albus

I know I talked about this handsome little monster on Wednesday, but I want to formally introduce everyone to Albus. Sometimes I want to tell people his name is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Decker and see if they get the joke, because I'm pretty sure it would be a good way to tell if we should be friends or not...

Guys. I thought I knew what I was getting into with a puppy, at least a little bit, I was wrong. Albus is about 50% snuggle monster & 50% tornado. I swear he only has two speeds: passed out or Tasmanian devil. He's been a handful since day one. 

I picked the little monster (as I have come to call him, obviously in a very loving manner) from a family friend's farm about an hour and a half north of where I live. She told me to bring a box for him to ride in, which I did, and he wanted to sit in my lap. Mind you, we're going about 80 down the highway. From that moment on, he has honestly been my shadow.

In typical lab fashion, he's grown like a weed. The original estimate was 50 pounds. Overachiever that he is, he breezed right past that. He just turned 7 months old (yeah, I know I missed the instagram with his chalkboard, I'm a bad pupmom) and is already sitting pretty at 60 pounds. His legs have been the same length for the past few months, which has been hilarious, he reminds me of Bambi when he first learns to stand up.

We took the first puppy training class at PetSmart and it was definitely worth the money, so worth it that we even signed up for the Intermediate class. We start on Super Bowl Sunday (but don't worry, plenty of time before kickoff.) We're still working on all of the things, especially stay... and the whole loose leash thing. He's just so excited whenever we go on a walk that he wants to go a lot faster than I do. Or smell everything. We've almost mastered not pulling on the leash.

Now, what I could really use tips on is how to make him less of a morning person. He is up every morning at 6:15am and ready. to. play. Never wants to let mom have a cup of coffee before roughhousing. How does he do that? Maybe the question is how can I become more of a morning person like him? I don't see that one happening any time soon. Tell me about your pups! Are they also crazy morning people? Or do they let you sleep in?