Puppy woes

About six weeks ago we got a new puppy: Maggie. This is something we've talked about off and on for a while because Max is 14 and for a lab that is very old. We had another dog for a while, but he didn't do well with the kids. He was very jealous and an attention hound so we gave him to some friends who were better equipped to meet his neediness. But with two little munchkins we felt it would be better to get a new dog before Max passed, so here we are.
I do not have a lot of experience with puppies. Or with animals in general. I'm pretty open to trying stuff, but in this particular instance my expectations were apparently not at all in line with reality. I couldn't quite understand why everyone was so amazed that I would take on a puppy with two little kids too. Truth be told, Samson, the other dog we had had was housebroken in less than a week. Obviously that is rather fast and I knew that. I just didn't really understand how unusual that is. Maggie is still not completely housebroken. After about three weeks with almost no sign of improvement and rescuing my children from various puddles and spending my days mopping up and disinfecting or changing little clothes and giving extra baths and what not all I had about had my fill. Particularly because we don't have a fenced yard here, so when I do let her out I have to be there the whole time so that she doesn't go too far. Very time consuming. And awkward when she's made a mess in the house and needs to be put out but you have a little boy who thinks that that puddle looks like the best spot to play in!
I had a few meltdowns. We came very close to getting rid of the puppy. I succumbed and tried again. And again. And again. And again. It was very wearing. Particularly when you could see that she was getting it and then she would just totally backslide for a few days and it would be worse than ever! She nearly didn't survive that!
However, on Monday this week she was harassing Max, as she likes to do, and he was dancing around trying to get away from her and accidentally stepped on her! One broken leg later we now have a puppy that is MUCH more attentive and suddenly seems to have grasped the housbreaking concept! There are still accidents, but comparatively speaking few and far between! Yeah!
I am so very, incredibly thankful!
It also does warm my heart when I hear that little "thonk, thonk, thonk" behind me wherever I go, occasionally accompanied by whimpering if she gets a little careless. It is hard to resist that attachment when it is obviously so important to her.
Ken has commented several times how it reminds him about the story of the shepherd having to break the leg of one of his lambs so that the lamb will pay attention to him. Well, this little girl is definitely paying much closer attention to us now! And it makes me wonder if there are any areas where God is "breaking my leg" to get my attention. Definitely something to ponder on over the next few days.