I’ve teamed up with Merrick Pet Care to share three things we have learned since becoming dog parents. John and I are the proud parents of five rescue kitties, four chickens, three dwarf goats, and two Great Pyrenees Puppies. 
Despite being experienced pet parents, we definitely had a learning curve from day one when we flew our two giant fluff balls home to Georgia from Minnesota. 
Paco and Pearl are Livestock Guardian Dogs, which means they live outside and are guardians over our small hobby farm. Here are three things we have learned since becoming dog parents.
1. Polite Pups are the Best Pups
I know this may be common sense, but it takes a lot of hard work and consistency to train two puppies. John and I knew from the beginning that Paco and Pearl were going to be very large dogs. We wanted to make sure that we were doing everything we could while they were small to train them to be polite. At 18 weeks old we started behavior lessons with them. Our trainer emphasizes learning whether food, praise, or toys motivate the dog. We learned that Pearl has a strong drive for food and will do a skill for just a piece of kibble. Paco is driven by praise and “high currency” food.
AKA we have to break out our Merrick Wet Recipes and feed him chunks of the chicken breast before he will be interested enough to do a skill. I just imagine him saying, “I don’t get out of the air conditioned barn for less than wet food.” John says he is moderately high maintenance like his Momma…
2. Puppies are Sneaky
John and I severely underestimated the ingenuity of our puppies. We have had an ongoing saga between our chickens and the puppies.
Our chickens typically give us four eggs a day and we have gotten used to eating our farm fresh eggs. Slowly but surely that four eggs a day number started decreasing and we couldn’t figure out the reason!
One day when I was watching our surveillance cameras I saw Pearl STEAL an egg from the chicken coop and eat it! The next day I saw Paco do the exact same thing. Don’t worry, our vet says it won’t hurt them. We learned that they LOVE to eat the same things we do and we are working on a solution to the egg stealing problem! Our breeder recommended injecting a few eggs with hot sauce so they will learn it’s not fun to steal eggs!
3. It's Ok to Spoil Them
Paco and Pearl LOVE getting their Merrick Wet Recipes on top of their kibble for dinner. They also love trying to steal a lick straight from the can. 
We do not give them table scraps but this is our way of giving them a taste of what we eat. 
I mean this food has whole carrots and peas in it so it has to be great! We love that Merrick Pet Care is crafted in Texas and only uses the highest quality ingredients.
Spending time with us and a good hearty meal is what makes them happy, so we feed them the best food ever! You can find Merrick Wet Recipes at Amazon.com, Chewy, Petco or your local independent pet food store.
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Merrick Pet Care.
