Stella Rose

So, we got a puppy.

Well, we've actually had a puppy for almost three months now (!) and I'm just getting around to fully introducing her to everyone in internet world. We weren't supposed to get a puppy. Nic and I have been on opposite ends of the spectrum with getting another dog for quite a bit and during our honeymoon we made a bet. And I won. And we therefore were supposed to wait until we found somewhere to live in California, move, and then possibly get a puppy.  But my husband somehow has a way of convincing me and no one can really say no to a cute little puppy.

On our stop home after our honeymoon we ventured to the pound with my parents, found a dog named Benjamin who I absolutely loved and pray got adopted and then realized we couldn't get an already full grown blue tick hound home with us on an airplane without paying an arm and a leg. And so poor Benjamin had to stay behind and it still breaks my heart.  Then we started looking all over and found some really cute Australian Shepherds but couldn't find one with a tail (a necessity), some adorable hound mixes but we didn't want any part of pit in a dog we got and they seemed to have a little bit. And then one evening we found an ad for Stella and her sister.  And, well, the rest is history.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't think she is absolutely adorable and a great dog. I'd also be lying if I said we got off to a perfect start, it was actually pretty rough.  The first two days we had her I was horribly sick and stuck in bed all day so she became super attached to Nic. Which is fine, except we didn't bond at all. I thought she was cute but she'd pick on Eevah which I wasn't okay with. And then we had to fly her back to Maryland with us -- which was fantastic (I'm telling you, the calming tablets I mentioned in our cross country trip work wonders). Nic started work the day after we got home and all of a sudden it was just Eevah, Stella and I and we ran into some hefty problems. She cried as soon as he left at 5am and wouldn't stop, she wouldn't listen to me for potty training and she was trying to eat Eevah constantly.  I will forever have a scar on my knee from her horrible puppy claws and inability to understand she isn't allowed on the couch.  I called Nic crying more than once that first week.

Thankfully some homemade toys (aka water bottles), teaching her how to take something without acting like a blessed piranha and Eevah sticking up for herself got us all on the right foot. The cross country trip and this fabulous new house and yard has helped SO much and I'm so happy she's here.  She also learned how to give paw which is just the cutest thing ever.

It's crazy to look back at photos and see how much bigger she has gotten. Eevah got bigger, but her change was from 1.6 to 8.1 pounds. Stella has gone for 16.8 to 55! It's absolutely crazy.  Both of her parents were bigger so she should get to a pretty decent size once she's full grown.  I LOVE the differences of her barks. When she's playing with us and/or Eevah, it's a softer and more playful but as soon as she hears something she doesn't like she has such a deep and scary sounding bark.  It's fantastic.

She adores swimming which we encourage and digging which is a constantly battle. A dog that actually LOVES to dig and isn't doing it because she's "bored" and looking for an outlet brings forth a major issue when renting a home with a gorgeous yard. I feel like grass like ours isn't something you encounter a lot in Cali and we'll probably not get back out security deposit if it's all dug up. She also adores real bones or bones that have some kind of flavoring on them, the smell of which makes me want to gag. But we're figuring it out (aka I'm sitting far away from her while she's chewing on the bones).  She loves to sit with me in the yard and she's realized she can pull pieces off the palm tree to chew on.  She's really a cutie pie and a perfect addition to our little family.