Oh, Leila..

Leila is our sweet puppy that we adopted in July. She is the cutest, sweetest, most terrible dog. We aren't sure exactly what she is- the AHS said "Hound Mix", but she's definitely part bad. She's the worst kind of bad, too. She knows how cute she is so whenever she's in trouble, she pours on the dramatics. 

I picked out Leila, she was my birthday present that clearly became more of my husband's. She and Chazz bonded right away- I was a little more hesitant. Not because I don't love dogs (because everyone knows I do) or I didn't love her, it was just bad timing to get a puppy while planning a wedding (and sticking to budget) and Bella didn't really connect to her like I had hoped. 

Bella &Leila- First Day of "School"

Bella will be 4 next month, and let me tell you, I had completely forgotten what it was like to have a puppy. I would say, "thank God for hardwood floors!" but they don't really matter considering Leila travels to the carpeted upstairs to handle most of her business. And she is FAST. She's petrified of Chazz because he is the disciplinarian and I'm the sucker. Whenever Leila does something wrong, all Chazz has to do is stand up and say her name and she literally starts crying as if she's being beaten while running away. It's the saddest/funniest thing. I remember one day I was upstairs and I heard, "Leila!" followed by the most horrific screams/squeals that I never knew a dog could make. I was sick. I was angry. I was not going to put up with Chazz laying a finger on that, or any, dog! I ran downstairs to coddle her (she was cowering on the other side of the room), glared at Chazz and yelled, "you're a monster!" BUT... turns out he hadn't even touched her.. she's just that scared of being in trouble. Bless her heart. She was put in time out not too long ago, which is in the guest bathroom upstairs. Apparently, Chazz put her in there with the light off since she was in trouble, which made me feel bad so I crept upstairs to listen out for her. I could hear a lot of thuds coming from the bathroom, figuring she was trying to escape. I decided she was ready to come out, and opened the door, only to hit her behind with it because she was too busy in the toilet and trash can! That dog was having a ball in time out. 

Leila and Bella. She has endless energy

In addition to the many accidents, Leila loves to harass her sister, Bella. And chew wooden furniture. And chew drywall. Seriously, I think she thought she could get to the neighbors house or something because she almost dug through the drywall during our "staying out of the crate" trial. Obviously, she is back in her crate. And poor Bella, Leila is bigger than her now but doesn't know it. She sits on her, lays on her, tackles her and Bella just takes it. Don't be fooled, though. Bella will show her who's boss when needed. She ain't a killer, but don't push her. 

No drywall is safe

Cuddle Bug

Leila is learning, though. She will be 1 next month (joint birthdays!), so she is still very much a puppy. Learning to shake was one of the first tricks we taught her and when she gets really excited, which is almost always, she will run up to you while simultaneously trying to shake with both paws. It's actually so cute. And she protects me! When Chazz springs some surprise jiu-jitsu on me, she is the first one to put an end to it. And she LOVES to cuddle! I have to force Bella to cuddle with me because she likes her personal space, but you just have to look at Leila and she's in your lap. One of the things we are teaching her is to go outside without a leash. We don't have a fenced-in backyard but Bella is trained and Leila sticks to Bella so it's been going well. Unless... there are people and/or dogs outside. One of our neighbors has 2 poodles that also do not go out on a leash (they actually behave). I can't tell you how many times Leila has darted off to play with them and I have to go run and drag her home while shamefully apologizing to the neighbors for Leila harassing their dogs. I know what you're thinking, keep her on a leash. Yeah, that would make sense. But we don't... She ran into another neighbor's garage one day while he was working out. That was fun. But then she gets in trouble and she seems so sorry that I just know she won't do it again.

Well... the other day, the poodles were back. And there was no stopping Leila. She took off toward her new friends, met them in their yard- and followed them inside their house! By the time Chazz made it to their house, she was playing on their furniture. The little boy that lives there was trying with all his might to drag her out while his mom keeps saying, "what's going on??". Probably the most embarrassing thing, ever. I can't believe this damn dog not only ran out of our yard and to the neighbors house, but ran inside and took it to a whole new level by jumping all over their couch. 

That's my girl. 

I still haven't been able to make eye contact with the neighbors..