Still here!

I've been having a problem with my phone not emailing pictures, so I've been waiting to see if the problem magically solved itself (ummm no). Today I texted some pics to my sister and she emailed them to me... it'll work for now!

Today was Stella's first 1/2 day of daycare. The place has webcams, so I sent the link to my sister and she said this: "I just showed a coworker. Everyone's productivity has dropped. Heather, we can't cure (major disease that is the whole point of the organization she works for) if we're too enthralled watching cute doggies!" Stella seems pretty tired. She's also pretty irritated with me because she likes to nap in whatever room I'm in, and if I keep moving from room to room she has to keep getting up to follow me. I just feel her thinking, "Dammit woman, would you just stay in one place already!" as hard as her little brain can.

Last weekend Stella met her Uncle Eric. I think it went well!



She's also figured out that the spot I like on the couch is the best spot in the house. She can see out the window, keep an eye on me, and get comfy for a nap.

Which is exactly what she's going to do right now!

Soccer Puppy

She could do this all day. It's the herding thing....

Princess Prissypaws

Stella hates to have to go outside when it's raining. Mostly because she hates walking in wet grass. Baby.

Yesterday was Stella's first agility class! She's definitely the youngest dog there, but what she lacks in age she absolutely makes up for with enthusiasm. It wasn't too hard this time (maybe a little intimidating, especially the tunnel) but it took a ton of brain power because she came home and slept for 3 hours. I had to get her up because I was worried she wouldn't sleep at night. I think she had fun, and I sure enjoyed it.

Today we had a play date with one of her classmates from puppy class. They went nuts, played and played and played for about an hour and a half until they were worn out. Then the grownups decided to have lunch so we went to a place with a patio. Stella was so good- she lay down next to my chair pretty much the whole time. No begging, no freaking out, no barking, and no peeing on the floor. I was so proud of her!

I installed a new shower-head in my bathroom, and while I was at it I went ahead and bought a 7' hose to go on it. Bath time was MUCH easier today. Stella still hated it, but it wasn't nearly so traumatic for her. I didn't have to fill up the tub and I didn't have to dump cups of water over her.

Anyway, she's flat worn out today too, so I got a ton of stuff done while she was sleeping. You have to love a tired puppy.

Stella Bella!

Hello. This is my chunk of mulch. I luuuuuuuv it.

Stella is losing her baby teeth like crazy. She's got little holes in her gums and I'm sure it's all really uncomfortable. So she chews lots of stuff. So far we've managed to avoid any major shoe or furniture catastrophes.

I switched her back to the Blue Buffalo food because a few days after I started her on Wellness she started itching like crazy. My puppy is on antihistimines! So we're staying with Blue for the time being. I worry that she's not eating enough though.

Stella's DNA test results came back and I'm so positive that they are wrong that I called the company. They're sending a new swab test- no questions asked- and I should get it on Friday. They were really nice and apologized that the mail had already gone out or they would have sent it today. Impressive customer service.

They think I'm WHAT?!?!

So now I've been clicker training her to let me put my finger, and next q-tips, in her cheeks so I can get a super good DNA swab out of her. She doesn't like having her mouth touched at all. She's also getting fussy about having her feet touched, back to the clicker on that too! I tried smearing peanut butter on the fridge so that I could trim her nails and she'd have something to distract her, but she just was not having it.

I'd rather eat mulch than get my toenails trimmed.

And she's still a complete cuddle bug. When we play fetch she'll run back to me with her toy and then just dramatically drape herself across my lap and take a little break. When I put her in her crate at night (she's starting to just go in there on her own after I take her out for the last time at night), she sleeps on her back with her little (ha ha, there's nothing little about them!) paws up in the air. She's so funny and so darn CUTE! I love this dog to pieces.

Terrible picture- but look at those little eyelashes!

One of her favorite toys are still the Kong Airballs, but she has this weird habit of hiding them behind the couch and then trying to get to them again but they roll away so she can't reach them. She will spend several minutes with her head an shoulders crammed as far under the couch as possible staying completely still and quiet until I come and rescue the tennis balls for her. I'm not sure what the deal is with that.

Out of Commission

I hurt my back last weekend. I can only blame myself because I overdid it and wanted things done just the way I wanted them RIGHT THAT SECOND, so I rearranged furniture between floors and took the brick edgers out of my flower beds and didn't think about how I was doing those things. Sunday night I got up from the couch and I was in a world of pain.

SIGH.

So now I'm on muscle relaxers and pain pills. I can't take them during the day because I can't drive when I take them and a girl's gotta work. Also, puppies and back injuries don't mix too well, but Stella has been great. Last night she was chewing on her cow hooves and I sat down to pet her and an hour later I was laying on the floor sound asleep and she was curled up next to me still chewing her cow hoof. Such a good girl!
She getting bigger and bigger and even her face is changing. Every day she looks different to me and I'm trying to remember to take pictures so that I see the changes day by day. Tomorrow we're doing another puppy play time session to wear her out a bit, and afterwards we're going back to the dog bakery for more bully sticks and tendons. She adores them, and zipped right through them. She loves her Elk antler too, and has hardly made a dent in it.

I'm also going to try changing her food. She still spits out her Blue Buffalo food because she likes to pick out all the brown pieces and leaves the little black bits all over the floor. My sister pointed out that I sound like the mom on the Pediasure commercials, "I have a picky eater on my hands...." I'm not going to pay for this premium dog food if she won't eat it all! Also, she's still scratching and the vet said that if a bath didn't help, I might want to try switching her food because there might be something in it that she's sensitive to. Great. I'm going to try the Wellness brand and see how she does on that.

A Glimpse of the Future?

Stella is CALM today. She's just so tuckered out from yesterday that she's not really into playing, but she is into cuddles and chewing and napping. If I'm on the couch, she's chewing on something (lately her elk antler) right next to my feet. Right now I'm at the computer (obviously) and she's lying on the floor under the desk SLEEPING. That's right, sleeping. Just sacked out down there with her feet on top of mine. It is so weird.

She loves her new crate. Besides just being bigger it's less noisy somehow- maybe the pan is coated with something that doesn't rattle against the metal so much- and she's sleeping better because of it. She's been in there 3 times today on her own, chewing on whatever gross animal part she's dragged in with her, with the door open, which she never did with her old crate. But I've got this crate in the corner so maybe it feels safer for her. She doesn't need to be right next to the front door anymore (hurray!), and I think being there kept her on high alert protecting me from intruders like ants and moths.

Education

Stella graduated from puppy class today! I'm so proud of my little terror. Okay, she's not a terror at all today, she's exhausted. Puppy class followed by puppy playgroup followed by a trip to the dog bakery? Are you kidding me? She has been laying next to my chair all evening. Not sleeping mind you, but really tired.

If it seems like she finished fast, it was only a four week class. She loves practicing obedience at home and she does well in class, which is full of distractions.

So I came home and immediately signed up for both Basic Family Manners, and Beginning Agility. She's going to have a blast. And I'm going to have some busy weekends coming up in March and April.

Also, Stella's new crate came today (I love Amazon Prime, I got it overnighted and delivered on a Saturday for $4), and it looks HUGE. Okay, it IS huge, but I don't know how big she's going to get so I jumped 2 sizes from what I borrowed from my dad, which was 31 x 21 x 23, and this one is 42 x 28 x 31, so of course it looks massive. It completely freaked her out when I first unpacked it, but once I threw in the blanket from her old crate and some treats she was good to go. It came with a divider but I don't think she'll need it.

A crate this big has required some furniture repositioning and I'm still trying to figure out how to make everything work. But she has a safe place to stay and that's what really matters. I'm not sure if we're going to need the crate forever so I'm not doing any DRASTIC rearranging- yet.