Welcoming Millie Rose

We began our quest for a dog back in the early spring when Addy adamantly decided that this years birthday theme was a puppy party and she really wanted a dog. I will admit that Bradley and I are puppy people and after not having a dog for many years we were pretty giddy at the idea. We began our search long before Addy ever found out.

 

After some internet research and searching around I decided that a smaller breed was necessary, as was light colored hair since we have a lot of light colored furniture and rugs. Cocker spaniel kept coming up in my search. Oddly enough when I mentioned it to Hannah she told me her Spanish teacher was a cocker spaniel breeder. We took that and ran!!

  Telling Addy that we decided to give her a puppy for her birthday was so fun! We patiently waited for our sweet pup's litter to be born. It was a litter of 2 girls and 2 boys. Addy was of course, set on a little girl, but she got to go pick out which girl she wanted. She had already picked the name Millie and was set on her the minute she saw her. It may have been true love...or it may have been because she had on a pink collar! :)

 We picked her up right when she was 8 weeks old. She is a full bred Cocker Spaniel and from a beautiful blood line. Her parents were on the smaller side and we were excited about that. When we took her home she was just over 3 pounds.

I must say...we have been absolutely smitten with sweet Millie! She is the most perfect pup! Jean told us that with the way the kennel is set up for them to be in and outside that most of the time they are easy to house train. That was an understatement!! She has been a dream. We open the door and she runs right out and does her business! No accidents or constant worry! 

And Millie has been an amazing sleeper! Every single puppy I ever remember getting took many nights to adjust and would cry through the night. Not this sweet pup! The first night she slept a solid 6 hours without a whimper! I will say that the second night was quite miserable...but that was the only night she seemed to struggle, needing to go out about every two hours. Other than that night, its been maybe once up at night. If only I could get my kids to sleep that well! :)

 

We are working on crate training Millie. So far as I mentioned, nighttime is a breeze. We put her in and she lets us know when she has to go to the bathroom and then goes right back in. We have only done very short trips so far with Millie in the crate. I heard that they only can be crated an hour per month old they are. We tested her today and left her for 2 hours while I ran to the doctor. She was so ecstatic to see us, but she made it without any accidents or issues! Again, she's just been perfect!

 

 

The girls have been in love!! Addy just wants to carry her everywhere and love on her all day! She is quickly learning that there is a lot of responsibility in caring for a dog, but she has been very faithful in this duty, even when she doesn't want to. Elli took a little more persuading. She is quickly becoming obsessed with Millie! She loves to get down on her level and look at her nose to nose. It cracks me up! Elli is also the Millie police! If Millie gets a hold of something she shouldn't be chewing on Elli is definitely going to be the one to notice! In fact...Elliotte's first two word phrase has been "No, No Meme." Precious!!

 

We cannot recommend the Fossil Ridge Kennel highly enough! They were so easy to work with and even super patient with me when I would fail to communicate our plans to come by! :) If you are in the North Texas area and looking for a new puppy, ask me! The Arendt's know what they are doing! I couldn't have imagine a smoother transition for us or Millie!

And I had to throw this outtake in...I laugh every time I see it! Everyone always comments on how much my kids love having their pictures taken...but they don't always!!

All three of them were D.O.N.E. at this point!!! Haha!