Introducing Ella!

We got a puppy a couple of weeks ago, her name is Ella. She's a Great Dane so she doesn't look like a puppy but she was just over 5 months old when we got her. And she still has a lot of growing to do!

Most of you know that I am not a dog person. At all. Not just dogs, I'm not a pet person, really. So I probably surprised a lot of people when I finally agreed to get a dog! She is a really, really sweet and good dog. I'm not going to lie, as of now I would be happier without a pet, but it's not all about me. Even though she's really good she still smells (like a dog, shocker, right?) and she still tracks mud into the house right after I've cleaned the floors. I'm hoping as time goes on I won't things like that bug me anymore... I'm working on it.

She is great with the kids and listens really well. That doesn't mean she won't try to chew on any and everything if you leave her alone but she will stop when you tell her to. So far we've only lost a garden hose to her. We keep a pretty good eye on her. If we see her getting ready to chew on something she's not supposed to we direct her to one of her toys and she's happy with those. She's potty trained and crate trained, so if we have to leave the house without her she's good about going into her crate. Thankfully since I stay home now she doesn't have to go in there often. I feel bad for her when she does. At night she sleeps on her bed in mine and Dave's room and we shut the door so we know she'll stay in there. She's a good sleeper, though, so I don't think she'd go anywhere in the middle of the night but I still don't feel comfortable leaving the door open and giving her a chance to wander the house alone.

This pic shows how big she is compared to Ashlynn's table. Yep, she's going to be HUGE!

Ashlynn absolutely adores her. It's a good thing we got a big dog because Ashlynn reminds me a lot of Elmyra (remember her from Looney Tunes?) and I'm pretty sure she could love a small dog to death.

Dawson doesn't really pay much attention to her. Every now and then he'll pet her really quickly and that's it. Her size intimidates him sometimes, I think. He told me he likes having her around, though, and wouldn't want to get rid of her.

Most of the time wherever Ella is, Ashlynn is not far behind.