Getting to Know Lola

Lola has officially been a part of our family for a little over three days now.  We loved her unconditionally at first sight, but that doesn't mean that puppy parenthood has been without its ups and downs.

Slowly, but surely, we are getting to know one another.  With each day, Bo and I are getting a little bit better at reading Lola's signs.  For instance:

• sniffing means, "I need to poddy NOW(!);"
• 6:15 a.m. whining means, "I'm up, and you should be too(!);" and
• sitting and crying at our feet while we are on the coach means, "I want to play."

With each passing day I am sure that we will become more and more attuned to one another.  At just 8 1/2 weeks old, Lola still sleeps quite a bit during the day; and at night, she seems to have established a schedule of getting up to "poddy" every three, or so, hours.  She doesn't sleep in her crate at night (more on that in a bit).  Instead, she sleeps on the floor in her bed in our bedroom.  So far we haven't had any night-time accidents...knock on wood!

When it comes to food, she is a little piggy!  Although she eats only twice a day, I bet she would eat twice that if we allowed it.  When meal-time does arrive, she can hardly wait to put her snout into the food bowl.  As evidence, check out the picture below.  She couldn't even take her foot out of the water bowl before digging in...she was THAT hungry!

She understood the concept of her bed pretty quickly.  Now, we find her nestled inside frequently during the day, as well as all night long.  She has even started to deposit all of her toys inside when she isn't playing with them...maybe she is a little bit of a neat-freak like her mom?  Or is that just my wishful thinking talking?!

Our sleepy girl...

She also LOVES playing outside!  Every time we go outside she runs, jumps, nuzzles, rolls around, and plays in the grass.  Strangely, she also likes to eat the grass...not a behavior that we want to particularly encourage, but for now it is what it is.

I know it seems as though her eyes are always sort of droopy in the pictures, but in reality she is the perfect embodiment of the phrase "wide-eyed and bushy-tailed."  I think it is just that my camera's shutter speed is slow, so I seem to always catch her mid-blink.

This is one of my favorite pictures of her thus far.  She's such a pretty girl!

Here she is eating grass/flowers...one of her favorite past-times.  Bo and I really need to buy a lawn mower.  This yard is going to need regular grooming, and SOON!

By the way, you know you're an adult when you have to spend money/time shopping for things like lawn mowers and washing machines.  Not necessarily the most satisfying purchases, but must-haves nonetheless.

Next up - a return to vegan recipes!

I have fallen in love with another amazing oatmeal recipe that I can't wait to share with you!  Anyone heard of Biscoff spread(?!)...stay tuned!

Question of the Day:

What was the greatest challenge you encountered while training your dog (i.e. Poddy training? Crate training?  No Chewing? etc.)

Blessings,
Ally and Bo