Andi

August 1997 - May 8, 2007

Seven Months

Happy 7 months to Stella. March was a very busy month for Stella. She had her "girlie" operation, attended Southern Shootout, and completed Manners in Motion obedience school.

Crestwood Cookout

Sunday afternoon all the neighbors came together for a massive cookout. The day was filled with kids, dogs, food, fire, and games. What a great neighborhood. We even had a few people who do not live in the "hood" come over for the party. As you can see, Stella can now reach items on the table. She was very interested in the peanut shells and the goldfish Ben had dropped on the ground.

6 months old!

HAPPY 6 MONTHS TO STELLA

So Stella is 6 months old today. We started obedience school last week and the "click and treat" method is working. I think she finally knows her name.

Story for the month: Stella has been on antibiotics and last week she threw up. I called the vet, Stella is throwing up..should I quit the antibiotics? Yes, stop them for a few days and let us see what happens. She threw up several more times. Is she eating too fast...what is wrong with her. Several days later, I came home at lunch to take her outside and in her crate was the following: 3 socks and a baby blanket (see photo). She had eaten them and then thrown them back up. They were washed for the photo. How she got to the socks are beyond me. Stella is never not supervised even when in the home so the only answer I have is that the socks must have been in the dryer with her crate blanket and I put them in the crate with the blanket. Has she learned her lesson, no. She stalks my socks and watches me take them on and off. She is obsessed.....the fun has just begun.

Stella and Jim

So they met this month. Instant love. Stella seemed to respond to her name when Jim says it although I am still not convinced she knows her name. Stella needed a male influence in her life. As you can see she got a red collar for Valentine's Day. Stella, Jim, and I watched plenty of movies and took naps at "Camp Karen." I know she misses Jim now that he is gone. She goes into his room and looks around however, Miles the cat is very happy to have his bed back.

Happy Birthday to Stella

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STELLA
5 MONTHS OLD

FEBRUARY 1ST

Things Stella has learned:

• Sit
• Down
• Frozen carrots are yummy
• Breakfast is at 8:00 am
• Dinner is at 5:00 pm

Things Stella needs to learn:

• Come
• Here
• NO!
• The mop is not an intruder
• The cats are not play toys
• Her name -- of course her response is directly proportioned to the amount of treats in my hand
• You cannot walk through the glass door

a plastic coat hanger = favorite toy

Chili Night -- a great tradition

Chili night at Karen's---a long tradition. Sunday night was the first chili night for 2008. I make a mean bowl of chili that guarantees heart-burn for hours.
The night was filled with many friends, a baby and puppy (who are the same age) and lots of Tums.
At one point I put Stella in her crate so we could eat without her begging for food. I walked into the room to find Ben (the 2.5 year old) kicking her crate. Ben, please do not kick her crate, you will scare her; he looks up at me with his beautiful blue eyes and says "I want her out, trying to let Stella out to play" -- he had also successfully unlatched one of her locks. I foresee Ben and Stella getting into lots of trouble together.

Week three with Stella and snow

Week three with Stella, the snow, and weight gain:

Sunday marked week three with Stella. Saturday it snowed for the first time in years in Birmingham. Stella could care less about the snow but was interested in the ice. She is now at 61.1 pounds which means 6.1 pounds in three weeks.

Week two

This is Stella a week after I got her. I have had her for two weeks on Sunday.

To date, things Stella does not like:

• Washing machine
• Trash truck
• Being told "no"
• Stainless steel dog food bowls (she can see her reflection)
• the large black Great Dane puppy that lives in my floor length mirror
• motion operated doors at the dog food store

To date: items that Stella has chewed or pooped on:

• My rug (chewed and pooped)
• A quilt
• Trash can
• Socks, lots of socks

To date: things Stella does not understand:

• Stairs
• Doors open inward -- so move back when trying to exit
• TV and surround sound
• Cats (and all that implies)
• Sand box that belongs to Ben including the toys in the sandbox

Welcome to SuperPetz, can I help you?

So last Wednesday I take Stella to the SuperPetz on the recommendation of my vet--get her socialized, take her places, meet new people he says. Stella needed a new bed and bones so I thought it would be a great idea. I decide to go around 8:00 p.m. because I knew there would be fewer people there. I load her into the car and off we go.

There were some stops on the way as she refused to stay in the safe "down" position while in the car; I am still not sure who won that fight.

We get out of the car in the parking lot and spend some time sniffing around to get her adjusted to the smells. I think, this is going okay, it should be fun, I am such a great dog owner.

After my witty and so wrong thoughts, a person walked out of the store causing the motion sensored doors to open. The doors were saying "S-T-E-L-L-A" as they opened and closed and Stella refused to enter the store as long as the doors were taunting her. After pushing a 55-pound puppy through the doors we made it to the bone area. I thought this is good, distract her with the bones but she would pay no attention to the yummy treats as the doors were still saying "S-T-E-L-L-A".

So we move to the bed area, just out of eye-sight of the doors. I hold up the beds to see which one she likes the most. About this time, maybe from the stress of being harassed by the doors, she proceeds to have projectile diarrhea all over aisle 4. At that exact moment, the store manager walks by, with a bird on her shoulder, to see Stella and me going in circles, trying to avoid the poop, while it is still shooting from her rear and states, "now what's going on here."

After cleaning up aisle 4, we proceed to check-out and to my glee they had turned off the doors just for us. I thought I was home-free, what else could happen?

On the way to the car, thinking to myself, this was a big mistake, I am not smart, I am not a good dog owner and I need to stop at Arby's for dinner. The doors opened again....S-T-E-L-L-A. She stops dead, I trip over her and land on the asphalt. I think the furry bed I had bought her saved me from ending up in the emergency room with a broken wrist. When you are over 5'9, you have a long time to think about things before you hit the ground but not enough time to stop gravity. The woman who had caused the door to open comes running over, "are you okay" she says, "I am fine and Stella please get off of me" I say.

After putting Stella in the car, picking up her bones from the parking lot, and limping to the car I have decided that we will not be returning to the pet food store anytime soon....

Introduction of Stella

Today starts the blog for Stella the Great Dane. Please visit often and keep up with her progress, destruction of my items, and growth. Since this is my first attempt at a blog, you can watch my computer knowledge increase as Stella grows. This is Stella at 16 weeks two days before I got her. She weighed 55 pounds.

Karen