Wednesday, October 1, 2008

New Family Member!

We have a new family member!! Her name is Layla and she is an 11 month old pit bull. Yes, I said pit bull, and no she is not mean. She is actually a big cuddle bug and sweeter than Bear! Gene has really been wanting a pit, and has done a lot of research on them. He's spoken to several different breeders in our area that he found either on the internet or in the paper, but we weren't impressed by any of them. Last week he spoke to a couple in Elkins that breed dobermans but had Layla and were looking to sell her. They had bought her when she was 3 months old, but she was the runt of the litter so they weren't going to breed her and weren't able to spend much time with her because of all their other dogs. Gene went last night to see her, and fell in love! She has the best demeanor, and he said that the whole time he was there visiting with them (2 hours) she never once showed any signs of aggression and she was in the house with 4 other adult dobermans and several puppies!

He said when he opened the door to his truck she just jumped right in. She only weighs about 40 pounds or so and won't get much bigger, which is okay, because she'll be an indoor/outdoor dog. We want a big dog for outside when we're not home to keep people off our property. We've had break ins out here recently. The police car is usually a pretty good deterent but it's not here 24/7.

This picture was taken his morning at about 6:20. Gene was up getting ready for work and the boys were up getting ready for school. Our bedroom door was standing open and Layla had come downstairs with Colt so she came in our bedroom to see what was going on! I was only halfway asleep and next thing I know there's a big lump in my bed! She was so funny, she just plopped right down on my arm and put her face right in mine to say "Good morning!"

When Grace and I got home last night Gene was asleep upstairs and the boys were both in bed. Layla was no where to be seen, so I assumed she was in bed with one of the boys. Bear was in bed with Corey and Layla was in bed with Colt! We walked in and said hi to her and loved on her for just a minute, but then left them alone to go back to sleep. Grace was soooooooo excited to see a new dog!

Colt put her out in Aros's kennel after Gene left so she wouldn't use the bathroom in the house while Grace and I were still sleeping. Grace woke up just before 9 and I got her and we ate breakfast, then I went out and got Layla. She was very timid at first and shaking because 1)it's freezing cold outside and 2)she wasn't sure about me just yet! It didn't take long though, especially since I was bringing her into the warmth. As you can see, her and Grace like each other. She just stands there while Grace loves on her!

Checking each other out! Layla's ears weren't cropped when they were supposed to be so now they sit kinda funny. One sits up more than the other and sometimes they just flop all over! Gene doesn't like it, but I think it's cute!

Grace is giving Layla her baby doll! Good that she's sharing, right?! Even if it is with a dog. Ha! They're funny because Layla will come stand by me for me to pet her then she'll wonder off to see what Grace is doing. Grace will love on her then Layla will walk off and Grace will follow her. They just follow each other back and forth!

You can tell here a little better that she's a beautiful brindle color, and her coat is super soft. She needs a good bath because she's just kind of dusty from her previous home. Gene said they kept those 4 big adult dobermans and her and puppies from 2 females inside the house. Yuck! That's a lot of dogs inside, plus they had 20 dogs total.Obviously, the other 16 were outside in the "yard" which was more dirt than grass. So, as you can imagine, she could use a good bath and her nails clipped.
We're all really excited about having her, and I'm interested to see how she comes out of her shell as she gets used to us and her new surroundings. She also gets along well with Bear!
I'm off now to take her out to the bathroom, and Grace is whining.......AGAIN!!!!!!!!



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