Happy Father's Day!

Dad -

Thanks for always taking me outside in the middle of the night, playing with me in the park and feeding me extra treats.

Love,

Layla

The Vet and a Medieval town? Now that's what I call a Saturday!

Ah the joys of parenting. 

Today, Nate and I took Layla to her first vet appointment. She behaved exactly as we expected. 

Sort of.

We didn't have any problems in the waiting room, which was great. Although I think it was probably because the only other animal was a cat who was snoozing in its carrier. She even got on the scale in the waiting room after some slight nudging - or being carried (details, details) - and stayed still so that we could all see that she weighs...

24 pounds.

What the heck has she been eating? It didn't help that her stomach looked a little bloated...Or the fact that later we saw a puppy four times her size (granted, it had fluffy hair) who only weighed 23 pounds. One thing is for sure, Layla is solid. Muscle, fat, whatever - she's thick.

So we get back in the room and the vet asks us all the standard questions. We were actually only there for a shot, but ended up with a toe nail trim as well. She showed us exactly where to cut, which was nice because the last thing I want to do is cut her nails to short and hurt her. 

Especially since she already doesn't like it.

Poor thing. At one point, Nate had her pinned down and then the vet had her pinned and then I had one of her legs. I think the vet mentioned something about obedience training, but I tried to tune it out. She's only 11 weeks for crying out loud!

And of course, things just got worse. The vet noted her bloated stomach - oops - but agreed that we were feeding her the right amount (although she did recommend we cut back a bit). She also suggested that Layla has worms.

Say what?!

Now, our breeder told us that she had been de-wormed before we brought her home (apparently, all puppies are born with worms), but the vet said her bloated belly was a strong indication of worms. So she recommended we give her the de-worming meds. She said it wouldn't hurt her if she'd already been de-wormed and if she hadn't, it would take care of the problem.

Being the caring parents that we are, we agreed.

Of course, the vet said oh puppies and kittens LOVE this stuff. It's got a vanilla flavor to it and she'll just suck it right from the syringe. 

Uh huh.

Right.

Our darling puppy takes one lick and starts squirming like a wild beast. She does NOT like it. So the vet says too bad, yanks her mouth open and squirts the stuff in. It's all over Layla's face and later in the afternoon she had a yellow crust around her nose. It looked like she had gotten into a cup of yogurt.

But wait, that's not all folks!

She also needed the second of three booster shots. The vet asks us to hold the front end while she pokes her in the side.

Uh huh.

Right.

Haven't we learned our lesson by now?

So she sticks her once and Layla pulls away. She sticks her twice and Layla again pulls away. She sticks her three times and AGAIN she pulls away. This time was especially bad because when the vet pulled it out, it squirted on Nate's leg. We're lucky she didn't stick Nate! Finally, she got all of the meds into Layla.

Oh and the icing on the cake?

Layla starts licking the floor where the meds spilled and the vet says, "Oh look she's licking up the vaccine off the floor - see she'll be just fine"

Needless to say, by the time we got in the car I was ready for some hand sanitizer. 

A lot of hand sanitizer.

Her next vet appointment is July 20. The vet said she hopes she's better prepared for her shots. Right, like we're going to practice sticking our dog with needles. Who is this lady?

To treat ourselves after that experience we decided to go to Rothenburg, the medieval town about an hour and a half away.

We strapped Layla into her harness. Side note: We bought her a doggy harness so she has a seatbelt in the car. HAHAHA. See below. Believe it or not, she actually likes it and stays calm while you put it on her. For a dog who doesn't like a leash, she sure loves a harness.

We get to the town and decide to walk along the main area with the shops and restaurants where all of the tourists are. Now we know that Layla is adorable. She just is. But we didn't expect the overwhelming German/American tourist love that she got.

It just goes to show you, people love dogs.

We were stopped - no joke - about every five minutes. EVERY five minutes. It would start with one person and turn into a family and then turn into a tour group. 

Everyone wanted to pet Layla. They all wanted to know how old she is. They all wanted to take pictures. Yes, that's right, there were tourists actually taking pictures of our puppy on their vacation. We're going to have our puppy in someone's European Vacation 2009 scrapbook.

Our dog has paparazzi.

Some of my favorite lines heard from people who stopped to pet her:

"Thanks for letting me pet her. You just made my holiday."

"Oh she looks just like her mom" - Okay, WHAT?! I didn't get this once - I got it TWICE. I know I was wearing brown too, but really?

"Mom, can I have a puppy?" -- Oops!

"You bought her here? How will you get her home?"

"I love you."

It's too bad I don't trust some of Nate's single friends to watch Layla for extended periods of time. They could walk her down a busy street and have dates for the next two weeks.

Now, Nate is much better at this than I am. We were there for almost three hours and by two, two and a half, my patience was wearing thin. People were constantly stopping us, she was scrounging for food on the ground (with her bloated belly!) and she would often just stop and wait for people to come up to her to give her attention - she is a ham.

She's cute and she knows it.

Lord help us all.

Side note: I now feel a little more empathy for celebrities who are constantly stopped in the street. The whole time we were there I felt like people were watching us and sure enough, they were. Young, old, male, female - it didn't matter. Even babies were hanging out of their strollers to look at Layla. Good thing I wasn't in sweat pants and a hoodie with my Starbucks - People magazine photogs may have snapped my pic! 

Eventually, we made it back to the car in one piece. We strapped Layla in and drove home. She slept the whole way home and hasn't stopped. Apparently, being the center of attention is exhausting.

Speaking of which, I'm on my last leg. Time to join the rest of the family for some much needed Zzzzz's.

Cheers,

Jen & Nate

Family Tree

Hey Nate, maybe we should look at Layla's family tree again? The breeders did say she's 100 percent lab, right?

Layla is 11 weeks old today

Today Nate and I took Layla to the park for a picnic. While we were able to withstand the blazing sun, Layla didn't fare so well. She much prefers the shade and could be found laying in Nate's shadow instead of frolicking through the grass. To help her cool off, Nate decided to get her feet wet and put her in the nearby stream. We've been trying to get her in the stream for a couple of weeks now, but she's still scared. Notice what she does after she's walked around for a few minutes...I think she must take after me...

Apparently, the sun wore Layla out because she passed out for a solid snooze when we got home. Listen to the beginning of the video and you'll hear her snoring. I think she may be louder than I am!

Cheers!

Jen and Nate

Growing up

For such a bold puppy, Layla can be a huge baby sometimes. We recently got her a travel water bottle so she can drink water from it when we're out on our walks or at the park. But for whatever reason, she wouldn't go near the water bottle. Any time she got close she would back up and run away. Even when we "nudged" her near the water bottle she would do her best to back up. After several "dipping our hands in the water and letting her lick them" she finally stuck her snout in the water. I'd say 15-20 more times of doing this and she finally caught on that the water bottle wasn't going to attack and was indeed beneficial. We'll see if this sticks the next time we go out.

Nate has been working really hard during the week to get Layla to listen to commands. One of our biggest problems was getting her food ready. She would sit outside the kitchen and bark and whine until it was ready for her to eat. Then she would nearly maul you when you took it over to her area. Fortunately, Nate has figured out a way to keep her under control. Watch the video below. Now she patiently waits behind the baby gate while we get her food ready and doesn't eat until she's told to.

Cheers,

Jen and Nate

Layla at 10 weeks

Parenting Skillz

It's official. 

Nate and I have turned into bonafide parents. The change happened virtually overnight with the arrival of Layla, but I hadn't really noticed until I had a few moments of peace to reflect on our new family. There are a couple of blaring indications that we've made the jump to parenthood - and of course, I plan on sharing just a few.

1. We now have a Diaper Genie parked next to the regular trash can in the kitchen. Any time we need to dispose of an "accident" or puppy pad, it goes into the Diaper Genie. This thing is amazing. Designed to block out the foulest dirty diaper smells possible, it successfully hides the processed dog food coming out of Layla. I'm seriously considering using the Diaper Genie for all of our trash products.

No, seriously. I wonder if I should invest in stock?

2. As most of you know, I live in Heidelberg which is a solid 2.5 hours away from Nate and Layla. I hadn't seen Layla in about four days and I kid you not, I spent a full 20 minutes ooohing and aaaahing over how much she'd grown since I'd last seen her. I couldn't get over how big her paws had gotten and how even her head seemed to be growing. I felt like pulling out a camera to document this "new" development (I did, by the way). If that doesn't scream new parent - I don't know what does.

I mean, really - everything changes when it's your "child". Sure, there are others that do cute things, but it's not OUR puppy...Clearly our puppy's growth should be documented...Did I mention we're working on a coffee table book?

3. We have baby gates on two of our doors - one to the guest bedroom and one to the kitchen - so our furry child doesn't get herself into trouble. We consider these an investment.

4. We watch all of the puppy training videos and have Ceasar Millan on DVD. Had there been a "what to expect when you're expecting" book for dogs, we would have it on book AND on iPod so we could listen to it in the car.

5. We're exhausted. All the time. We wake up in the middle of the night when Layla cries, have to soothe her back to sleep and entertain her during the day. Say what?! Apparently, she doesn't realize we need our 8 hours. Or at least 5 - geez.

6. We finally appreciate the peace and quiet that comes when she's napping. No wonder our parents always talked about "peace and quiet". Kids - furry or otherwise - are noisy. Sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a bad way.

7. Layla's needs come first. Her items are first on the grocery list. Our vacation planning revolves around her. Our nightly routine has changed to include long walks in the park. Being selfish is no longer an option. And the weird thing? We don't mind putting her first. Scary, I know.

Anyway, these are just a few things I've noticed and it's only been two weeks. Can you imagine how we'll feel when she's six months old? 

And more importanlty, does this mean I get a Mother's Day present next year?

Cheers,

Jen & Nate

Layla at 9 Weeks

Our puppy turned 9 weeks old last Saturday and weighed in at 15 pounds!