Our New Puppy, Ember!

I’m so excited to introduce you to our new family member: Ember! She is a Sheepadoodle, a sheepdog and poodle mix. She was born on May 10, 2019 and we got her when she was 8 weeks old, when she was only 10 pounds. She will probably get up to around 70 pounds as an adult! We have many nicknames for her, just a few are Emmy, Emmy girl, and Emmy bear. I have been wanting our own dog for SO long and I can’t believe we actually have her! It seriously doesn’t seem real yet!!

When researching dogs, we knew we wanted a poodle mix. Sheepadoodles are just the most ADORABLE things, like ever. We are seriously obsessed. We were looking into a few different poodle mixes, including a Bernedoodle, but we ultimately landed on the Sheepadoodle because of the personality traits the Sheepdog brings. They have more happy, friendly personalities and while they can have more energy, they are are still more laid back dogs. Michael and I both grew up with herding dogs as well (my family had a Border Collie and his had Scotch Collies), so we liked that aspect a Sheepdog brings as well.

It’s so nice that Emmy doesn’t shed as much and we don’t have as much upkeep in that sense. It’s so amazing how she doesn’t shed, but what you don’t realize is there’s a LOT of other upkeep that comes with a doodle mix! Lots of daily brushing, and once she’s older, she’ll have to be groomed every 6 weeks or so. But we wouldn’t trade that for the world! I personally LOVE her coat, it’s so soft and beautiful!

We didn’t get to meet the litter when picking her out because she came all the way from Texas (let me know if you want her breeder info, I can send it to you!) but we seriously could NOT have gotten more lucky. We prayed for a puppy that was cuddly, calm, smart, and just a dog that would fit with us really well. She is seriously the MOST laid back, calm puppy ever. Of course, she has her spurts of energy… but after 30 minutes or so, she’s ready for a long nap. When we take her outside, the first thing she wants to do is just lay down and relax… and so far, she’s hated going on walks, so there’s that, haha. We think it might be the heat of the summer though, she’s a bit of a diva and loves the AC! She loves to lay down to eat her food, it’s so adorable. She began walking up the stairs the day we got home, but is just now starting to be able to walk back down them!

In the first 1.5 weeks of having her, she’s already learned sit, lay down, and watch me, and she’s started to pick up on “no bite” (she’s a bit nippy with that herding instinct in her, but we’re working on it!) She is VERY good with new people and dogs, she isn’t overly dominant or submissive and isn’t overly protective, at least right now. Once she’s used to be around new friends, she is very playful! One thing that really surprised me about her is when we come home or greet her, she isn’t overly excited… not because she’s not excited to see you, but she’s more like “oh hi, you’re there” instead of being crazy excited. It’s really nice we don’t have to train her out of this, though! She’s a lot worse with being separated from us, so that’s the part we have to work on!

I won’t lie, puppy training is no joke… if you’re considering getting a puppy, be prepared to spend a LOT of time, every single day, with training. Between obedience training, crate training, potty training, and socialization, there’s so much that goes into it. We chose to keep her crate next to our bed, at least for now while she adjusts and until she loves her crate more. But because she’s still so little and can’t hold it for long at night, we don’t get very many hours of sleep in a row… so that was a big adjustment, but it will quickly get better!

I feel so grateful to be running my business full time and how that allows me the flexibility to take random days off if I need to focus more on her, or to put certain projects on hold for now to spend more time training her. I can’t even imagine how hard it’d be if I had a 9-5 and couldn’t be home with her all day long!

Alright, so now for some photos of our baby! Here is the day we got her:

One of our first outdoor outings:

A few photos my sister took of us, a couple days later:

Shout out to my amazing friend, Michelle, for coming by the weekend after we got her to take these photos for us. We are going to cherish them forever as she grows up so fast! She was 8.5 weeks old in these:

And now some more from over the past week! Her personality shines through so much. You’ll get a big dose of all of her looks, naps, and even being a little naughty, like when she got into my plant below on the right! She sure is a precious girl!