First Time at the Dog Park

Last week Hadley had a puppy play date at the dog park! We met my fried Joe and his one-year-old dog Willow. At first Hadley was nervous (so was I). She loves other dogs but she had never been around so many at once. When we stepped out of the car a couple of them were barking at her. I think that made her nervous. She isn't a barker.

Once she got inside the fence and was off-leash she started playing and had the time of her life. That was the first time she had ever been off-leash outside before and I could tell she was enjoying the freedom.

Joe's dog Willow was so cute and her and Hadley played nicely together. The other dogs there weren't as good as Willow. One was a Great Dane and he started to get a little too excited so his owner decided to go home. There was also a Pitbull mix there that was playing nicely with Hadley but then he started getting a little aggressive and Hads got scared and started yelping. His owner and him left pretty soon afterward.

After that Joe, Willow, Hadley and I had the whole dog park to ourselves. She ran around a lot and chased Willow. Joe threw a tennis ball for Hads and instead of skidding to stop like a normal dog, she stopped her front paws and her back paws went into the air and she did a hand-stand. It was so funny and so cute!

Hadley really had a great time and there will definitely be more dog park play dates with Willow!

Heres a picture of Hadley, Willow and Joe at the park.

Hadley's First Snow Experience

This morning Hads experienced her first real snow! She loved it and was jumping around, playing in it. She kept getting it on her nose and then would get frustrated when she couldn't get it off. It was adorable.

After she finished playing in the snow, I took her to the vet to get her last set of shots (FINALLY!). Right as I was putting her into the car, she started shivering and whining so I put my mittens on her front paws to warm her up. She LOVED them! It was the funniest thing and she got really upset when I took them off of her at the vet. All the front desk ladies were laughing at how funny she is. She did well with her shots and is currently taking a nap on my lap with two blankets on her that she burrowed under.

Overall, she liked the snow, but she liked wearing my mittens even more!

Hadley wearing my mittens in the car

Hadley's First Thanksgiving

For thanksgiving my family went to my Aunt and Uncle's house. They have a little Maltese named Lexi and she has never been socialized so she is afraid of other dogs. The family really wanted me to bring Hads with me, so I did. I'll take any chance I get to bring her somewhere. 

I was a little nervous she would be too excited with Lexi there because she just loves other dogs and sometimes can't contain her excitement. She is only four months old after all. My aunt and I decided to have a few pre-thanksgiving puppy play dates to get Lexi used to Hadley. She never got used to her but I brought her anyways.

Thanksgiving started out as a pretty stressful day. About 20 minutes before Hads and I were supposed to leave for my Aunt's house, she got a huge burst of energy and had a little accident on my bed. We ended up getting to my Aunt's house over an hour late after two loads of laundry and a lot of scolding. I was not too pleased with Hadley but I can't stay mad at her for very long, even if she makes me wash all of my bedding two days after I had just washed it. Aside from her accident, she was very good for the whole day.

During dinner we decided to put the dogs in their individual crates so we wouldn't have to worry about Lexi getting aggressive with Hads. Hads didn't make a peep the whole time and just quietly took a nap. Lexi barked and freaked out the whole time so I felt pretty proud that my 4 month old puppy was better behaved than the 4 year old dog. Proud mama moment!

Throughout the whole day Hads was loving up my family and everyone kept saying what a good dog she is. I feel so lucky that I got such a sweet and cuddly puppy!

Here are a couple pictures of Hadley on her first Thanksgiving:

Hads and her Nana Carrie (my mom)

She had a lot of fun playing with the carpet fringe

Hads and her new bandana from my mom

Update on Me:

Lately, I've been feeling a little down and thinking about the holidays coming up is not helping. Usually, I love Christmas and I get really excited for it but this year has been rough and I just wish the holidays would pass quickly. The only part I am excited about is seeing Hads play with all her new toys and watching her tear apart wrapping paper.

My anxiety has been pretty bad again lately which is causing me to fall behind in school. Before I got Hadley, I would have just stayed in bed and moped around instead of dealing with things and moving on with me day. Now that I have her, I have no choice but to leave my apartment to take her for walks and out to go to the bathroom, doing that helps me get out of my funk. 

Also, I think Hads can sense when I am feeling off because she will come up to me to give me kisses and snuggle. That always helps because who could be unhappy when they are getting love from a puppy?

Overall, having Hadley has helped me immensely and I'm so glad I have her. She is the sweetest little thing and she makes any bad day better. Even if I'm having a really tough day she will always do something cute or goofy to make me smile and I am so grateful for that. Now if only she could do my school work for me...

Here's a few recent pictures of my girl!

Goofball smiling for the camera