Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Meet Stella

We got our little peanut last Thursday morning - We picked thursday because that way we would have four days to get Stella settled before we got back to normal life and Derek was going into work late so we'd both be able to pick her up and have some time to get set at home (good idea/bad idea because we didn't realize that it meant Derek would be away all day also - it's nice to have two sets of hands the first day with a new pup).
The Path to Stella… 
After the wedding we knew a puppy was next but not until we could get close to the end of winter or ideally into spring. We looked at breeds and finally decided on one and saw our little cutie available (the breeder said people would always get down to Stella and one other dog and pick the other dog - lucky for us, she was exactly what we wanted).  They said she was very mellow and loved cuddling, she had the perfect coloring and we were sold!  We had been debating getting her OR waiting until a litter that was available mid march because the weather was a little better but it turned out that litter just had four girls and they were a little darker so that's how we picked Stella.
Stella's breed…
Stella is a F-1 golden doodle 
Stella in Pounds… 
At Stella's last vet visit with the breeder, she weighed just 4 pounds! At her appointment she was up to 6.4 pounds.  It's stupid but every time we feed her I always say to Derek, "It's crazy that we're growing something."  I swear, she already looks bigger than the day we got her!  She's loving her new food that we mix in with what she was being fed, we think because it's smaller so easier for her to eat.
Stella got her name… 
Ever since we knew we wanted a dog we joked about naming her Stella… Artois.  It's a cute name, perfect for a little dog and when the time came to actually pick a name we had no hesitations, Stella it was!  Named after her daddy's favorite beer.  They had her labeled as "Butterfly" at first.
Stella is from… 
an Amish farm near lancaster.  Her breeders were nice as could be and said that Stella took a special liking to the lady and loved cuddling.  She has lots of brothers and sisters from her litter - we met one of her sisters and two of her brothers.  The drive out to get her was so pretty and country; very similar to our drive to the lake 
Stella's schedule… 
5:45am: wake up (we're hoping to get her to make it until six sometime this week)
6:15am: breakfast
noon: lunch
5-6pm: dinner
9pm: last call at the doggie drink bar
10pm: bedtime
*lots of water drinks, bathroom breaks, playtime and naps mixed in there.
Stella's special spot… 
We trained Nash with a big playpen in the kitchen where he spend most of his days and that's what we're going to do with Stella.  It's PLENTY of room and makes her comfortable to have her own space.  Sometimes we get in and play with her and sometimes we take her out to play and of course sometimes she plays alone.
Stella's Favorites… 
She loves eating her food out of our hands
She loves chasing leaves/trying to eat them
She is a killer with Nash's big stuffed rabbit toy - it's her favorite and we use it as a special reward
She loves Nash as well as all the humans she has met too
She loves cuddling and attention
She loves sleeping/traveling with her mini blanket and stuffed puppy
Stella with Nash's rabbit -- note the picture on the right for size reference, it's bigger than her but she can still drag it around!
So much love to give… 
On the way home after we "met" Stella, I said to Derek, I'm just so happy for her because we have so much love to give her.  But also she has so much love for us!  She just wants to love on us, cuddle and be near us.  If we get in her pen to play she wants to sit on a lap playing with her toy, she just loves being close.
The big pickup… 
Poor little girl was shaking (scared and cold) so I covered her up with her blanket, petted her with lots of love and kept talking to her and in minutes she was comfortable and enjoying her laundry basket.  Yes, laundry basket because due to the "blizzard" that we had last week, her car seat got delayed since it was coming from New England where there was actually a blizzard.
Stella's Adjusting Period… 
Like I said we picked her up Thursday so we could have four days to try to help her settle in before getting back to everyday life.. if your still interested in Stella, keep reading, if not, all the fun details were above :)  Here's a peak at Stella's first four days with us.

Stella's First Day
I could describe today with so many words.  
Our new puppy.  The escape.  The accidents.  Rescue Me. Etc.
Like most puppies there was lots of crying, squealing, etc. but hey that's normal!  She was taken away from her family she knew and wasn't use to a single thing here.  I knew what I was doing and then when she got here, it all went out the window, I did everything the opposite way as I should have! 
 
We had two big accidents but worked through them.  
We had one huge problem.  My beautiful dog gates that matched our kitchen didn't match Stella.  Little girl broke out once (and almost scared the life out of me when she brushed against my in the kitchen) and twice!  Luckily she was just looking for love and ran to me each time, smiling like "hey, I found you! let's hangout!  I barricaded all the ways out with water cases and we were good to go… I thought - that little pup escaped a THIRD time!! I may or may not have hid on the couch near her having a breakdown.
I called my parent's in for backup and they brought Nash's old play pen and it was perfect for her to bop around and stay where she was suppose to.
Another negative of Derek working late was I had to put Stella to bed for her first night!  Her crate is in our bed room and she has cute little bedding to make it more appealing to her and like most dogs she cried and barked and (softy) I sat in the bathroom talking to her/calming her and trying my hardest not to take her out.  After about 20 minutes she was out and sleeping.
We were so impressed with how Stella did overnight!  Derek woke her up to go out at 2am, she did her stuff and went back to bed after just a couple minutes of crying then woke us up at 4am and a little before 6am so not bad!  Derek is a PRO with the overnights.  He can fall back asleep in seconds whereas it takes me forever so he scoops her up, takes her out and gets right back to bed.  All the overnight trips out Derek handles as well as feeding Stella breakfast and some morning playing.

The next couple days
Two
+ We had Stella's first vet appointment and she did great, LOVED all the people and they loved her.
+ at night she met Nash and was so excited to have another dog for company - she was mostly in her pen and he was mostly lusting after her baby toys but it went well.
Three
+ Stella finally acknowledged her toys on her own and embraced playing alone.  She was content and happy in her play pen (for the most part) 
+ We worked really hard on not crying and us not giving into the crying. 
+ We left her alone for the first time and she did great!  There was one little accident but that's okay
+ We finally were both with her at the same time and got to have lots of family play time which she loved.
Four
+ Sweet girl will not sleep past 5:45ish in the morning!  But she's doing great overnight - she's always still sleeping when Derek wakes her up at 2am to go out so we tried for 3am and it worked great because we only had to do one overnight trip outside now!
+ She went for her first walk in the neighborhood and probably last for a while.  Since our neighborhood is still a construction site there's dirt all over and dirt mixed with snow mixed with puppy is not a good mix - she was a mess so we gave her a little cleaning 
(luckily we have a huge parking lot at work and we can take walks there)
+ stella made her introduction to the social media world on Facebook and Instagram and enjoyed her first party, one for the Super Bowl

6 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh, she is SO adorable!! She looks like a stuffed animal!!

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  2. Cutest little fluff ball ever!!! I love that her name is Stella Artois :) Butterly is NOT a dog name haha

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  3. Oh my goodness, Stella is precious! So precious!

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  4. Awwww, Stella is adorable. She will give you so much joy and love.
    /Charlotte @My Green Nook

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  5. I thought she might be a Goldendoodle- they're hands down, the best dogs!! We love our Goldendoodle, Ranger - he's like our kid :) lol This post brings back lots of memories of getting him as a puppy! I am sure she's already brought yall so much joy!!

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    1. She's a mini golden doodle! We love her so much already!

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