I found a great breeder for Olde English Bulldogges that was 60 miles north of home. The information on their website was fantastic and the one puppy left was so adorable by the time we got to Cedar City (approx 2 1/2 hours later) I called and asked about Repunzel (the name the breeders gave her). I’m not even sure how it happened -- I told Lisa, the breeder, I’d have to call her back to schedule a day to come see her, but the more we got talking about it, the more we wanted her and decided to go that day. Honestly we wanted an adult dog, one that was potty trained and wouldn't whine through the night, but the puppy was just too cute we couldn't resist having her from the beginning and watching her grow.
We called the girls from the road and let them know we’d be home around 4:30pm and to be ready for a big Valentine’s Day surprise. Admittedly I felt a little panicked, but excited at the same time. I had missed Mia’s company a lot and knew it was time -- my family needed a dog of their own. Six + hours later we got home and hopped right back in the car with the girls. We then asked them to guess what the surprise was. Tess said it was the flat downtown with the movie theater in the basement, Bella thought it was a dog, and Megan thought it was one direction tickets, which Adam replied "if it was one direction tickets I wouldn't be this excited." After the guesses we gave them the Valentines card we made with hearts turning into paw prints. It took them a few minutes to understand what it was saying, but once they got it they sat silent in shock and then the screaming started, and the "no way", "pinch me". They simply couldn't believe the news.
With tons of anticipation we made it to the breeders home to met our new family member around 6pm. The girls knew there was no guarantee that we’d be bringing the puppy home, but we were pretty confident it would take something big to not fall in love with her. She was so sweet and soft, and just nuzzled her head into whoever was holding her -- we were hooked.
How could we not -- look at that face!
On the way home we discussed names. Adam, in his silly man way, wanted to name her Sha’niquah, Shaq for short, but the rest of us weren't having it. We talked about Charly, Dotty, Jo Jo, Boo, Mimi, Betsy (that’s what I really wanted), but we eventually settled on Lola.
We spent the rest of the evening at PetSmart buying the store out with dog stuff -- let’s just say we were not prepared to bring a puppy home. By the time we got home it was after 9pm -- Adam and I fell into bed. It had been a very long, but exciting day for everyone.
I hardly got any sleep that first night, and the several nights after, as we both began to figure each other out. The once intimidated, unsure puppy we brought home Thursday night has now turned more playful. By Sunday she was finally more comfortable with us and began to show us her true colors. Lucky for me she almost slept through the night last night. :)
Have you ever had a puppy? We have, but I am definitely out of practice. I've been looking online for help, there is so much out there it's hard to know what is best, so if any of you have any training advice or links to websites/videos that have worked for you I would be greatly appreciate. Thanks!
Happy Wednesday!!
8 comments:
Oh, how precious! Her name is Lola.. it's a beautiful fit. I have no idea how to help you darlin', LOL. Angie's b-day is next month and it's been decided that we're adopting a pup as a gift. I'll be in the same boat soon.
May she bring your family SO much Happiness!! xoxoxo
She is precious! I'm a little jealous, I want a bulldog so bad! Feel free to post as many photos of her as you'd like :)
we were in your position a year ago. crate training was our success tool, congratulations to you and your girls... how fun!
She is adorable!!! Congrats in bringing Lola home. We're getting Noah a hamster soon, our dog is almost 12 so were trying to gently, broaden Noah's animal siblings (along with fish). Not sure when a puppy will be in our lives again...
She is all kinds of cute, I'm so glad we got to meet her and hold her on one of her first days home!
I want an english bulldog! She is SO CUTE! Good luck!
OMG! LOLA! My baby's name is Lola. Seven years of joy she's brought to our home. I hope your Lola gives you as much as ours has. A puppy was the right way to go. Your heart grows with every day... Congrats and love.
Ooops, Training. I used the book written by the monks, forget the name but it was great to understand dogs from the perspective of the pack animal and their training methods are sane and gentle. My best advice would be repetition and consistency. Dogs actually crave rules and need training as much as exercise. It wears them out to go through training. It's hard for kids to grasp, but they need to hear the exact same word repeated over and over. Don't say down and off for the same act. It's one or the other. Use the same command for peeing/pooping outside every time (We used "do your business". And rewards are HUGELY important. A tiny piece of cheese EVERY SINGLE time she performs the command correctly. A simple correction with the hand and stern voice when she doesn't. It's pretty easy if you are firm and loving and consistent. It's pretty much like raising kids and you are doing a hell of a job with that! You'll be fine. Love you.
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