One week ago, Nate and I brought Layla home for the first time. Deciding to make her part of our family was a huge step for us - one that neither of us took lightly. One week later I can assure you that we both love our dog very much. I can also assure you that we're both sleep-deprived, slightly delirious from lack of sleep and dog-tired. Did I mention we aren't getting enough sleep? Hmmm...
In fact, the clock currently reads 12 minutes to 11 p.m. -- I am trying to launch a blog site and Nate is at the foot of the bed trying to convince Layla that it's time for her to wind down and go to sleep. Unfortunately, she would prefer to bite his hand, pounce on her stuffed quail and tug on the comforter.
Clearly, we are losing the battle.
So, I thought I would take the opportunity to start a new blog dedicated to our new puppy. Why not be productive, right? And seeing as we're at our one-week anniversary, I thought I would kick off the blog with the day we brought Layla home.
It feels like only yesterday.
Or rather, it feels like only seven days ago.
Last Saturday, Nate and I got up bright and early to go pick up Layla. The drive to our breeder's place is three hours long and they wanted all of the new families (10 families for 10 pups -- poor mama) to be there by 1100. Fortunately, Nate drives like the rest of the crazies on the Autobahn and not only were we fifteen minutes early, we had time to stop at McDonald's.
Yes, I know. We ate at McDonald's. And we live in Europe. And we went through the drive-thru. Get over it.
Anyway, so we get there and all of the puppies are playing in the yard (in a smaller fenced in area) with the next litter of puppies. Honestly, it was really strange. Our litter was 8 weeks old and the smaller litter was at 5 weeks. When we first picked out Layla she was only 5 weeks old and the difference in the two litters was amazing. It was almost like the 8 week old puppies were giant dogs ready to belly flop onto the younger set. We couldn't believe she had grown so much.
And if she grew that much in 3 weeks, how much was she going to grow in 3 more?
Yikes.
So we all sat around and watched the puppies play. Of course, we had to take care of some paperwork - including her new pet passport. I think we have to wait until she's older to take the photo, but it'll come in handy eventually. We also got instructions about how much to feed her, etc.
Feeding in and of itself is sort of complicated. First, there's the actual food. We're using a German brand called Happy Dog, which really sells itself. I mean, who is going to buy dog food called Sad Puppy or Angry Hound?
Anyway, first you put the food in the bowl. Then you dissolve carotin in a cup of warm water for 10 minutes. Next, you add a special oil to the water and mix everything together. You add this to the dog food and once a day you add another scoop of something that seriously looks like sand to the mix. It's supposedly for her joints, but who really knows. Between the two of us, Nate and I can order food and beer in German. Animal and vitamin terms are way out of our league.
Back to the story.
So we load everything into the car and then we find out the breeders want to take professional photographs with the pups. Apparently, they get pretty attached to each of their litters and they like to keep albums. We were especially popular since we're American.
I know what you're thinking - wouldn't that makes us less popular? And the answer is no. The breeders are super excited that Layla will be going back to the States in a couple of years and even blogged about us on their Web site. We've already promised to send photos.
Some of the families had to leave early so they took pictures in a nearby field. But we figured we were in for the long haul and went with the rest of the families to the lake.
At this point, we got to pick up our puppy and take her with us. This was the most interaction we'd had with her and she got a little nervous. She stayed curled in my lap on the drive over and I think she even fell asleep, which was a good sign.
At the lake, we grabbed Layla and followed everyone to a small area right off the lake. The breeders took three puppies at a time and played with them in the water and chased them around in the grass for their photos.
Layla did pretty well at first until it got to the actual water portion of the shoot. She didn't want anything to do with the water. She would get close to the edge and turn around and run away.
Eventually she got too close and the breeder reached out and grabbed her by the scruff. Poor Layla. Her little legs were going a mile a minute above the lake as if she could run through the air back to shore. But our breeder showed no mercy and plunged her into the cold water.
Fortunately her little head bobbed up above the water and she doggy-paddled her way back to dry land. And then she did what I probably would've done.
She cried.
She sat on the grass and whined like a huge baby and then ran back up the hill to the main road. That probably should've been a red flag that she was going to be a bit high maintenance...
After a few more photos (including a family shot!) we wrapped her in a huge pink and orange beach towel (much to Nate's chagrin girl colors do include pink) and went back to the car for the long drive home.
By now it was around 2 p.m. and we were both starving. However, in Germany there really isn't any fast food, except for the American stuff that we've polluted the entire planet with -- which in this case was a blessing, because as we came out of this tiny town there was a beacon of hope for our stomachs.
Yes, that's right - the golden arches.
And as much as I would like to say that we held out for bratwursts and brotchen - we definitely didn't. We ate McDonald's for the second time that day and were happy to have it.
Surprisingly enough, I ate mine on my lap (yep, Layla was there too) and Layla didn't try to eat it once. She kind of sniffed it and went back to sleep. Of course, this means one of three things. A - she was tired, B - she doesn't like people food, C - she has good taste.
Either way, I was glad she could control herself because I had no intention of sharing my lunch.
On the way back home we stopped every time she woke up from a nap. We were afraid she would wake up and pee all over Nate's car, not to mention my lap, so we pulled over...
Four times.
By the time we got home, we were all exhausted. We played for a little bit and walked around outside and I think all three of us were more than ready for bed.
We were worried Layla would cry and want to sleep on the bed, but she fell asleep on the floor and seemed content to stay there. She woke us up every two hours so we could take her outside to use the bathroom, but she usually went right back to sleep when we came back in.
I never thought I would miss getting up every two hours, but in just a week things have drastically changed. She now gets up maybe two to three times a night, BUT when she comes back she's wide awake and wants to play. And if you don't want to play or at least surrender your arm to hang over the side of the bed, she will yelp. No, not just yelp. She will release a high-pitched bark that only dogs and teenagers should be able to hear.
Seriously, it's painful.
Hence the reason Nate and I are starting to resemble zombies instead of people. We try to take turns getting up, but there's no avoiding the bark. Any REM sleep you're having is out the window for sure. And since I'm such a heavy sleeper, Nate is always sure to give me a swift elbow to the back to make sure I hear Layla too.
Zombies love company.
On that note, I think I hear heavy breathing from Layla and snores from Nate (who is currently hanging off the end of the bed to comfort Layla) and I should probably take advantage of the "quiet" until the next pee break.
Stay tuned for more Layla updates. I'm sure there will be funny stories in the near future and I'm going to try and get Nate to blog, too.
Cheers!
Jen & Nate
As we ventured from pond to pond letting Layla play in the freezing water along the way, she made a cautious discovery.
She was so nervous about this random teddy bear at the park, that the hair on her back stood straight up like a mohawk. 
