Yes. Take a minute to absorb the cute.

After much begging and pleading on behalf of the shorter people in my home, I have caved and said, FINE. We can get a dog. Previously, I’d been following the college dorm rule of pet life: If you can hold it under water and it doesn’t die, you can keep it as a pet.

Thing is, fish die. We’ve had two fish die in the past six months and frankly, the girls wanted a pet that could be more easily embraced into the family. They wanted a pet that they could love that might love them back, a pet they could hug and take for walks. A fish may be nice and quiet and a fish may never poop on your carpet but hugging a fish isn’t fun. Also, it’s messy.

Hence the totally adorable labradoodle that we’ll be picking up tomorrow night. The Princess researched to find a breed that would be most likely hypoallergenic, which is a nod to the whole “mommy likes to breathe” thing, and we’ve purchased a book on dog training (positive training, yes).

But, I’m looking for other puppy wisdom. Like babies, there are 101-bajillion things on the market for your pet – and some I’m guessing, I probably don’t need (seriously – I saw doggy diapers at PetSmart yesterday). What do we need for our little puppy? Any training tips you recommend? Help a girl out.