With having owned a dog pre-Avrie and than having to endure the loss of our beloved dog, Tiki. We went back and forth [for a LONG time] on the pros & cons of getting and having another dog around again.
In the end, the list of pros won and in April we were reserved a Female German Shorthair Pointer born on Easter in Braham, MN. Aaron, Avrie and I were able to visit the litter before it was time to take our pup home. That was such a fun day for us AND Avrie. Being able to see the puppy so brand new was TOO CUTE! AND to being able to see/meet both the momma "drew" and daddy dog "ted".
Then the first weekend in June we went to pick up our new dog!! While on the drive home we all agreed on naming her Demie! The name has fit her from the start. Avrie LOVED having a cute new puppy napping beside her on the car ride home and Demie couldn't get enough of Avrie either.
Welp, fast forward now to 5 months later and Demie is 7 months old- kind of in the awkward teenage stage. Doing things that she KNOWS is naughty but doing so just to make us mad. She can be moody and gets REAL hangry at times. So in a nutshell, we know her antics pretty well at this point. Being dog owners again has it's challenges and while I say that I have to admit a couple of things. Demie is A PAIN IN MY BUTT!!
Having a busy toddler and a puppy is not exactly a walk in the park. Potty training/disciplining a puppy, caring for a toddler AND working from home is the perfect combo for a REALLY STRESSED OUT MOM! ME... That was the case for most of the summer. While we still have our moments, we are all getting better and adjusting to the additional responsibilities that come with having Demie. We have a routine established for the her. She getting the hang of knowing her role in the family. She has her spaces within the house (mainly the office and her spot in the garage) and Aaron built her a really great kennel outside. Now with winter here and the cold temps we have had to skip over night and time spent in her kennel during the day. She spends a lot of her day in and out of the office and her spot in the garage near the fire. #princesspup
Demie's worst habit at this point is the jumping... she is getting better each day (i think i let her jump on me more than she should so she still tries it on my all the time) but she learned VERY early on that jumping up to Avrie is NOT ok so she has been REALLY good about not jumping up to knock Avrie down, being crazy around her or anything like that.
For the most part, Demie is very independent. A common characteristic of the breed. While she is a working dog, during the long colder days (aka not a TON of time outside during the day) she is getting into things and eating/chewing/destroying things that are NOT OK!
Avrie LOVES her dog... most days. Once in a while she wants nothing to do with the dog, and we think that's OK. They do love to play outside together.
Demie LOVES bubbles... she will jump up biting bubbles for hours if we were to let her. Avrie even gets a little annoyed that Demie pops all the bubbles before she can get to them! LOL! We also recently found out that Demie LOVES playing in the leaves. We had a ton of fun one afternoon a couple weeks ago- we captured some great pictures and some hilarious videos. She also REALLY like playing with her hula hoop! She also loves cats and people- she's a pretty social & happy dog.
The only that we have found to not be her favorite is riding in the car. She gets a bit anxious (VERY DROOLY) and without Dramamine- she barfs. Poor thing. And also, she doesn't NOT like her sister dog, Allie (Brad & Kris's GSP) as in, they do not play well together. They are too rough with one another and can't really be left unsupervised while together.
I feel like I could go on and on about her, but basically she's been a great addition. Stressful at times, but she's a great dog that sleeps through the night and always has. Potty trained really well right from the start. It's nice that nothing ever really seems to bother her- we've heard her bark MAYBE 5 times. She sounds weird when she barks because she does it SO little.
Have you had any GSP experience? Whats your favorite trait of this breed? Do you have any questions for us about Demie. Also, if you Insta- you can find all the fun photos and videos of her under #DemieGirl
