Harlee

So our baby great dane has been home with us for about a week and a half. I have to tell you...the first few days were R-O-U-G-H. I honestly wondered what in the heck I had signed myself up for....as if I have NOTHING else going on in my life. She was peeing constantly....whining, crying, wailing, gnashing of teeth in her kennel...all...night...long. I had already told Daniel that I was doing ZERO night duty with that animal. That was ALL his responsibility....I told him I've done my fair share of night duty with babies and kids. (Don't you HATE it when you've been up with a baby 3 or 4 times in the night, and your husband says in the morning, "so it was a great night....the baby slept all the way thru, huh?"....no dear, just you.) But it didn't matter that I wasn't physically getting up with that dog, I was still awake most of the night listening to her. Horrible. Luckily, it only lasted about 2 or 3 nights.... We also became really mean and took out the towel we'd been keeping in her kennel (since she would just pee on it...I was washing a load of towels at least twice a day)....she HATED not having something to cuddle on....but potty training was becoming impossible. One day last week, we came home from swim lessons and she had pooped in her kennel, then splattered it around EVERYWHERE (did I mention that it was diarrhea...we finally decided to change her dog food...problem solved). It was a mess and it took me 45 minutes to get it all cleaned up...including the dog...and then the rest of the day trying to get the smell out of the house. So, do you want a puppy yet???

All the bad stuff only lasted a few days. Harlee really is a great puppy...and very smart. She hardly ever has an accident in her kennel anymore, and I think Daniel is only getting up once in the night with her (I'm LOVING being oblivious to that...it's so liberating for some reason). We are training her to only use the bathroom in the garden plot (which is now mainly just used for bon fires), then we cover up her business with the ashes from the fire pit so we don't have to endure the smell or wipe it off the bottom of our shoes. It's quite genius, actually. She has come a long way in only a short time.

Harlee LOVES Avery.... Avery has mixed feelings in return. I think Harlee loves that Avery is just her size (not for long....you can practically watch that dog grow). Harlee sometimes plays a little rough for Avery, but when Harlee is distracted by food, Avery is ALL about petting her and nuzzling her. It's quite cute. All the kids have been helpful with Harlee by taking turns taking her out to the bathroom, going on walks, and playing. I think Tristan is working on teaching her how to play soccer. In the meantime, I am just bracing myself to share my house with a small horse......

The day we came home with Harlee. The girls and I went up to get her one day after picking up Alicia from school. It was lovely...except she pooped in her kennel on the way home and Addi and Alicia really had to endure the smell until we could get home since they sit on the back bench and Harlee was in her kennel just behind them....poor girls. But then I had to clean it up, so feel MORE sorry for me....

I thought this photo was hilarious, although over exposed and out of focus.

Avery and Harlee at breakfast. This is about a week after we brought Harlee home....can you tell that she is already bigger??

Apparently great danes can't eat off the floor because if they eat too fast and swallow too much air, their stomachs can twist....killing them instantly. We will have to get more creative as she gets older and bigger....like hanging buckets from the wall at shoulder level.