Our Newest Furry Family Member!

So call us crazy, but Ben and I adopted a puppy!  Riley is a "big sister" to a half Australian, half German Shepherd named Penny!  We had been toying with the idea of getting a second dog for awhile now and a few weeks ago, Ben saw an ad posted on his work site about puppies that needed a home.  We talked about it and Ben emailed the guy saying we were interested.  But by the time we had emailed, all the puppies had been spoken for so we figured it wasn't meant to be at that time.  Fast forward 5 days and the owners emailed us saying that one of the puppies was up for grabs again and were we interested!  That was a Tuesday and on Wednesday, we went to meet Penny (then called Reese) and fell in love!  We brought her home that evening and Riley loved her from the start.  They love to play together and Riley has already taught Penny some things!

Penny was 8 1/2 weeks old when we got her so she is 11 weeks old now.  She's started getting her puppy shots and didn't cry once!  Her favorite things to do right now are rough house with Riley, lay on the vents when the AC is on, and stay hydrated!  She LOVES to drink water, so we try to monitor her intake so she's not constantly peeing!  If she's thirsty, she will camp out by the water bowl and give us puppy eyes until we fill it up.  She also insists on planting one or both paws in the bowl as she drinks.  Riley has taught her that if the bowl is empty, paw at it like she's digging in the dirt, and it will make a lot of noise!

We are currently working house training and crate training.  House training is coming along, still makes some mistakes every now and then.  We are teaching her to ring some bells by the door when she goes out and she is starting to get the hang of it.  Crate training is a WHOLE 'nother ball game!  Penny does not like the crate!  In fact, she has broken out twice now!  We are working on it though, through lots of positive reinforcement and peanut butter Kongs!  She's a smart girl so I have no doubt she will get the hang of it soon.

Make sure to check back to see many more pictures of Riley and Penny on their doggie adventures!