First Year With Zelda

If you follow me on social media or know me in real life, you know that Nicholas and I have a dog named Zelda. She just turned 1 on September 10th. She is a Great Pyrenees/Pit mix. Having a pet has been a big, but welcome adjustment because I have never had a pet before (besides two goldfish that didn’t last very long when I was eight).

With this being a new experience, I did a lot of reading and preparing, most of which, went out the window as we learned what worked and what didn’t. Potty training was hard and my patience was tested a few times with accidents but we had to remember that she was a puppy and was learning right along with us. 

Watching her grow and learn things has been such a rewarding experience. When she was small she was scared to jump off of our porch even after countless times of me doing it and hoping that she’d follow my lead, she opted for the steps most of the time.

 

Zelda survived her first night. But not quietly, she cried all night. 

 

 

Fun Fact: She came to us by way of Nicholas’ cousin Danny and his husband Abi. They have two Great Pyrenees dogs (one male/one female) and one female pit mix. The male Great Pyrenees took advantage of a weekend alone to have a little…um…fun with the two female dogs. Fast forward about 2 months with Lana Dog Rey (the female Great Pyrenees) giving birth to 9 puppies on September 8th and two days later Leia (the female Pit mix) gave birth to 8 puppies, one of them is Zelda.

Danny acted as midwive to ensure that his beloved babies gave birth to their own healthy babies.  So with 17 puppies, plus their three dogs, you can only imagine what it’s like to have 20 dogs in your house! Let’s just say an abundance of puppy potty pads were a definite must.

Danny and Abi decided to keep Grumps, one of the female Great Pyrenees puppies. The rest of beautiful puppies had to go to the SPCA, but thankfully all of them were adopted.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to have this sweet girl in our lives. I never thought that I could feel close to a pet. To have her lay with me on the couch while I watch T. V., or lick my hands and face are things that I was not used to, and they may seem small and normal, but for me, they weren’t. But now, these are things I look forward to.

 

She fit in a backpack. Six weeks old. First camping trip in Mammoth Lake, Ca. 

 

Teaching her to sit, lie down and fetch are just a few of our proud accomplishments. We’re still working on not jumping up to people when she sees them or going crazy when the mail person drops our mail, which happens every. single. day. But she’s never chewed a shoe, phone charger Xbox controller or remote (fingers crossed, she never does).

 

The day she discovered that Vader lives here too…

 

Her facial expressions and personality make us laugh everyday and although I liked animals before; I have a newfound respect for them and can’t stand to see any animal mistreated. I don’t understand how anybody could abuse a helpless animal, when all they want to do is give us love.

 

 

She loves me

But I think she loves Daddy more

Yes, her hair everywhere, but I love that she lays by the tub while I take a shower and she gets so excited to see me when I come home from work, or when we say “walk” because she’s always down for a stroll around the neighborhood.

Zelda boo is a one-of-a-kind dog. I try to imagine what she’s thinking or feeling. We had our pick from a lot of puppies and we chose her, and we couldn’t be any happier.

One year old! September 10, 2016

 

I look forward to more exciting adventures with our girl, another camping trip may be in order in the very near future.

 

Thank you for reading,