Summer is Right Around the Corner!!

Technically, I have to work until June 22 but it feels like summer & freedom is right around the corner. No summer school for this girl. Woot.

I'll be taking a class this summer, but it is online so it won't be too inconvenient. Besides that, I have a list of projects that I want to work on around the house.

House To Dos:

• Organize "Treadmill" Room- (bookshelves, closet)

• Gather pictures and hang frames on upstairs landing- Something similar to this, but smaller scale

• Style bookshelves on either side of fireplace

• Reorganize laundry room

• Organize old pictures into photograph boxes

• Put up two floating shelves in master bath

• Hang pictures in basement bath

• Hang pictures in master bath

• Hang pictures in guest room & organize guest closet

• Organize closets in master bedroom

• Organize space behind wet bar in basement

• Install cabinets in basement for tv area (I will not be tackling this one)

• Paint main floor? (Gil is not convinced on this one haha)

• Paint or find fabric to accent cutouts:

Lots to do...can't wait to tackle our house!

On another note, Laila is passed out and snoring at my feet. She had a play date with her boyfriend, Wrigley, yesterday. She was pretty happy about that. Of course they stopped playing when I whipped out the iPhone.

Last summer when they played, she was so little! And I forgot to mention at the beginning of May, Laila turned one! This has been great in our household because she hasn't been chewing as much so we've been able to leave her out of her crate for short periods of time when we leave the house. I think she likes her newfound freedom. Hopefully it won't be too long until we can always leave her out. She still has slip-ups every now and then, like this:

Dang it, Laila!

...Now I'm off to go enjoy this sunny, 80 degree day. Three cheers for long weekends!

On Selecting a Doggy Daycare...

So...I think it's safe to say that Gil & I are going to end up being neurotic parents. Here's why.

We had been talking about having Laila start going to doggy daycare once a week instead of just getting her normal walks each day. Since I am going out of town this weekend and Gil is going to be busy, we needed to find a kennel for Laila.

So I began the search and found a dog "camp" that sounded good and brought her for a trial run. Welllll...I got there and got a tour of the place and have to say, not as cute and fuzzy as the website made it out to be. Yes, it was clean and safe but I was surprised at how loud it was in there. The barking...ugh, how do those people work their all day?? I wasn't thrilled with the size of the play area either (I think we've been spoiled at the huge dog park) and the kenne

l situation seemed a bit overwhelming. The cages were lined up one after the other and were just wire, so the dogs could see into each other's cages. Seemed stressful to me.

So by that point, I knew I didn't really want her staying overnight in that setting, but I felt okay about the daycare part so she stayed to play. This particular place has cameras so you can check in on your dog during the day. I left to do errands and because he knew Laila was there, Gil checked the doggy cam from work to see how she was doing.

A while later, I got a text from him saying that another dog was harassing Laila and wouldn't leave her alone. So of course I got worried and decided to go pick her up. Shouldn't the employees be watching them?? So just as I was arriving at the doggy daycare, I got another text from Gil that said, "It was actually not her. She's fine." Either way, someone's dog was being harassed even if it hadn't been ours. All in all, although nothing traumatic happened, Laila will not be returning to that "camp".

Today she went for a trial run at a different place, closer to our house, and on the way to work so it'll be convenient for dropping her off. She did great and I'm much happier with the kennel situation there. Dogs that are being boarded have a separate room, away from the play area, the kennels are bigger, and it was a much calmer environment. The dogs can't see into each other's crates, so she won't be stressed out.

So there you have it...we are the neurotic parents of a four-legged, furry baby.

This is what puppies look like four hours after doggy day care...

Pet Owner Guilt

So I know I'm ridiculous and treat my dog like a person, but I can't help it. I think it's because I don't have human kids yet. This weekend, Laila is going in the kennel for the first time and I'm starting to feel really bad about it!

She's only going to be there from Friday morning until Sunday morning, but I just picture her sitting in the kennel all by herself wondering where Gil & I are. I know she will probably be just fine, but I don't want her to be scarred for life. Again, I realize she's just a dog...but...

Tomorrow she is going to have a test-run with a half day of doggy day care just to make sure she does ok. I'm sure she'll love it.

Hopefully this weekend she'll get so tired during daycare that she'll just crash at night and won't even notice that we're not there!

Sporting her hot pink Gentle Leader

Laila in the backseat of the car...She loves a good car ride

Yes, This Did Happen...

Laila was invited to a [dog] birthday party last Saturday. Yes, those are party hats on top of their heads. The dogs were pretty excited about the party...Laila may or may not have caused the most havoc during the party.

I Was Sooo Over Winter...Until We Got 2 Snow Days in a Row!!

I have been feeling the winter blahs lately. I haven't felt like doing a single thing when I get home from work- not homework, not running, nothin'. But my spirits have been lifted since we were given the gift of two snow days in a row this week! Gotta love a winter storm. Now I'm back to wanting spring to arrive.

I was playing out in the backyard with Laila today. She can't get enough of winter. She likes laying outside and sleeping. I, on the other hand, can't wait to come inside.

Happy Pup...

Laila has been introduced to another life experience- the dog park. Gil & I felt like parents watching our child play with other kids for the first time. It was really funny & cute to see how she interacted with other dogs. There was even a full grown Newfoundland the second day we went.

Laila's interactions with other dogs pretty much goes like this- sniffing with her tail between her legs, rolling over, letting other dogs tackle her and pin her to the ground. She's pretty much the most submissive dog ever.

She also looks like the happiest dog of all time when she's around people and other dogs. She runs around with her tongue hanging out of her mouth trying to make friends with everyone. I heart her. If only we could get her to stop jumping on people to show her love...

Laila & Cash on their way to the dog park.

Did I mention that Laila loves Cash?

Well, she does.

Cash, on the other hand, could do without Laila.

She found a new friend to follow around.

Laila is now 8 months and about 80 pounds. She's growing fast, but showing us that she's a smart pup. She can sit, lay down, stay, come, "leave it", shake, wait, and she knows what "out of there" and "get down" mean. She's not an expert at these, but as she calms down with age I think she'll get even better.

Wordless Wednesday...

Winter Storm?

Supposedly we are getting a good amount of snow tomorrow. I for one never believe the weather reports until I actually see the snow falling. I tend to get excited for a snow day and then it doesn't actually happen. Having grown up on the west side of the state, I love getting huge winter storms because I'm used to lake effect snow. I hate driving in it, but I love the snow when I can stay inside. :)

On Friday, Laila was spayed and she's pretty much been sleeping ever since. She also had a tooth removed that was extra- growing behind the normal row of teeth. The vet tech was really excited about this...apparently it was pretty slow around their office this week and they were excited to find that. Haha. They gave us the extra tooth in a container when we picked her up. What they expect us to do with her extra tooth I'm really not sure. They also found one FLEA on Laila. Gulp. That was less than exciting news for me to hear. Hence I will be cleaning our entire house from top to bottom today- steaming the floors, lots of laundry etc. Ew. I guess this is what happens when you bring animals into your house!

Where'd November Go?

Well, November came and went quickly and now I can't believe it's already almost time for Winter Break (hallelujah)! I don't know what it is about this school year (well yes I do, it's the kindergarteners) but I am exhausted all the time. I think trying to keep my patience all day is the really exhausting part! Exhausted as in- I fell asleep sitting up watching TV on Friday with Gil...at 9:45. Saturday I barely made it to 11 and if I'm being honest, I fell asleep about three times before actually going up to bed.

Last weekend we got our Christmas tree but we didn't decorate it until this weekend.

We contemplated getting a fakie this year, but in the end, we opted for the real thing and I'm glad we did. You really can't replace the smell of a real tree. I love when our house is decorated for Christmas. I just want to sit on the couch in front of a fire for the next 4 months. I really would hibernate if I could.

Gil got me a new camera for my birthday, so I will have to post new pictures more often. It's hard to get everything done after work when my bedtime has been 9:30 lately and I have homework to get done in there too. I definitely want to post pictures of Laila more often because she's getting to be sooo big. She's 7 months old now and she is getting spayed on Friday. I'm pretty nervous about that...getting her in and out of the car (she is 70+ pounds now) and keeping her still so she can heal afterwards. Hopefully everything will go well. Wish us luck!

Fun With Yard Work...

Laila at almost 6 months old "helping" in the yard...

Wordless Wednesday...

Another Golfer in the Family...

So the other day I was in the kitchen cleaning up dinner when I began to hear some suspicious noises downstairs. Knowing that darling little Laila must have gotten into something, I rushed down the stairs. She had knocked a bag off the counter and out had rolled a new toy. Now, I know that this might not be the safest thing ever for a puppy, but I assure you that she is supervised while playing with her new-favorite-thing-ever. Laila has been endlessly entertaining herself with a golf ball. She hasn't tried to eat it and it doesn't seem likely that it will lodge in her throat, so I'm going with it. It rolls around great on our tiled floor, bounces, and doesn't get stuck under furniture. She gets as tired out from the golf ball as she would after playing with another puppy. In short, it's fabulous.

Laila Likes to Pull

Laila is a puppy. Therefore she gets lots of walks each day in order to maintain some kind of control in our house. But Laila is a big puppy and big puppies like to pull. She pulls me over to greet other dogs, she pulls to get closer to squirrels, and she pulls because frankly she's in the mood to frolic. Laila is now right around 50 pounds at nearly 5 months old.

Enter the harness. Today while we were at puppy school at PetSmart, we picked up a Sporn Non-Pulling Mesh Control Harness. Within approximately 10 steps, she had begun to chew through the part that connected to the leash. I went back to the house and sprayed Bitter Apple on it to keep her from chewing and that worked well enough.

The harness itself worked really well when she was trying to pull forward. It gets uncomfortable around the front legs, so the dog stops pulling. However, Laila also likes to pull to the side or she dilly-dallys behind me and it's like pulling a mule. The harness didn't help with any of those scenarios. The other problem that I had was that she didn't like the feeling of the harness fastened at her back (which I'm sure takes some getting used to) so she repeatedly barrel-rolled across several lawns. I'm sure we looked pretty interesting walking down the street.

I've heard that the Gentle Leader is good. Does anyone want to weigh in on this?

...Sigh, remember when she was just a little teeny baby and we didn't have this problem?

Oh, How Fast They Grow...

2 months...

4 months...

She doesn't look amused...

15 Weeks

Laila is growing everyday. This puppy has some long legs on her! It's so fun seeing her turn into a big Newfie! Last weekend Laila went to the beach for the first time. She swam a little, but the waves were really big & intimidated her a bit. Can't wait to try again soon.

She even got to go to Butch's Beach Burrito where she met a few new friends. I have to say, Newfies seem to get a lot of attention on the street. Everyone loves to comment on how big she'll get and what sweet dogs they are. The woman in the booth at Grand Haven State Park even had some doggy treats for her!

Don't Let That Sweet Face Fool You!

Laila has an undesirable new habit. She's now 12 weeks old and she's developing some less than lovely behaviors...nipping at our heels and biting. I'm not a fan. For the most part she's a great puppy, but every once in a while during the day, Laila has random bouts of extreme energy where she runs around the room or yard like a dog possessed. It's during these times that she nips and bites at us. After a few minutes, she crashes and then naps for hours. Hopefully she will grow out of the biting!

Her newest habit is ruining our yard a bit...DIGGING. Any suggestions for how we can get her to stop? She loves digging and then laying in the hole because it's nice and cool.

I turned my back for two seconds and this is what happened:

Good grief.

Meet Laila's Boyfriend

Laila has a boyfriend. Well, I've decided she does at least. My best friend recently got an English Setter puppy and Laila has now had 3 play dates with Wrigley. On the first date, Laila was pretty shy but she has definitely warmed up to Wrig now. They get to playing pretty roughly but they are being pretty mild in these videos. Don't mind my chatting in the background...

I can't believe how big Laila is getting. Three weeks ago at the vet, she was 13 pounds. Today when I brought her for her 2nd appointment, she weighed 20 pounds. So cute!

She's a Water Dog, She Just Doesn't Know It Yet!

Over 4th of July weekend, we tried to introduce Laila to the water. She wasn't a huge fan. We wanted to bring her to the beach but didn't get a chance to. Newfoundlands love the water (although you can't tell from this video), so we definitely want to bring her swimming!

Doesn't she look sweet and calm in this video? In the past few days, she has started chewing on EVERYTHING and is biting anytime our arms or hands are near. Can't wait til she's out of that stage! I am also still having to get up practically every hour with her at night to let her out. I think she mostly just wants to get out of her crate, but it's really hard to tell if she's whining because of that or if she really needs to go out.

We originally had her sleeping downstairs in her crate, but she would cry and whine forever. I bought a smaller, pop up soft-sided crate that we could put in our room. It's right next to the bed and she still cries and whines. She jumps and scratches at the side to the point that she flips the crate. This morning, she flipped it completely upside down. But she's chewing so much now that she has to be in a crate at night. I look forward to the day when I can sleep through the night again. That day will come, RIGHT????

I Fear for My Ankles

Laila got a bath and she wasn't happy about it at all. Lucky for her, it was 95 degrees out today, so she dried off in no time.

Laila is 9 weeks old now. Can someone please tell me what I'm supposed to do when she barks at me and bites me? It feels like she has knives in her mouth. Doesn't she know that I'm her mommy? I tried giving her a frozen washcloth in case she's teething. That helped for about 5 seconds. The rest of the time, I'm being chased as she nips at my ankles.

From what I've read, I'm supposed to be showing her that I'm the "leader of the pack". I missed the lesson on how to effectively do that...

Puppy Advice Please!

Laila has been so good so far. She hasn't been chewing on our things, she hasn't peed in the house much and she has been sleeping a lot. The only problem we have is that she HATES her crate.

We have been leaving the door open so she can explore it if she wants. She has a toy inside and we give her a treat when she goes inside it. She doesn't have a lot of interest going inside the crate though.

At night time, we have to put her in the crate, since we obviously can't be watching her. This is when she FREAKS out. Our otherwise calm puppy whines, cries and barks for quite a long time (30 min. +). Reading online, it sounds like we've been doing the right thing by not going to her when she cries because she wants our attention. We have been setting our alarm for the middle of the night to give her a bathroom break. But she is getting so upset that she is going to the bathroom in her crate several times per night because she's so worked up. I've been doing tons of laundry.

This is the only thing that has been frustrating about our otherwise perfect pup! Any ideas??

"Please don't make me get in the crate!!!!!"