For the love of our Dog.

It was definitely love at first sight when we walked into the shelter and met Ellie-mae for the first time. We had talked about getting a dog for a long time and Ellie-mae was the only dog that I sent information and pictures about to Patrick that got Patrick to say "YES, lets go meet her." That was a little over 2 1/2 years ago and our love for her has continued to grow everyday. 

Day 1! Car ride home after spaying.

When we adopted Ellie we promised to take excellent care of her and vowed to give her the very best life that we could provide for her and I think that so far we have done a pretty fantastic job.

We brought her home after she had been spayed. She was still pretty doped up and I'm sure in some pain and totally confused. We had a welcome basket full of gifts and necessities for her. We wanted her to feel at home. Needless to say we spoiled her like crazy. Just look at those ears and eyes. How could you not fall madly in love with her. 

It was very clear to us that in her first 5 months of life, before she came to us, she had been abused. We wanted her to feel safe and loved. We ended up creating a bit of an issue and have ended up with a dog who is amazing the majority of the time but also has some very bad habits and emotional issues that desperately needed correction. 

The addition of the baby in the house has seemed to have caused some jealousy and Ellie-mae's behavior was becoming more of an issue every day. She definitely loves the baby and is extremely over protective of her. Now that Delilah is walking, she is also afraid of the baby when she comes charging at her swinging her arms and toys. We have never thought that Ellie would harm the baby in any way but Ellie's food aggression made us very nervous. Delilah loves to share her food with the puppy and Ellie is very gentle when taking something from her hand (which we try to avoid) but Delilah loves to share. 

When Patrick, Delilah and I were all in the house Ellie is a wonderful dog. When Patrick would leave in the morning to go to work and for the 12 hrs that he is gone I was dealing with a dog who now had complete control over me and the entire house. I became fearful of a dog that I was so much in love with. 

Taking care of me while I was 9 months pregnant.

Ellie-mae has so many amazing qualities and characteristics but she is very difficult to train. She is very stubborn and set in her ways. Her past abuse was our biggest hurdle to jump through when finding the proper method of training her. She can be very dominating but she is also extremely fearful. It breaks my heart when she shows her fear towards just a simple action of putting on her leash. 

I understood her emotional issues and her reasons for behaving the way that she did. I truly believed that with the right guidance that she could get past this and live a long happy, healthy life and no longer need to guard herself and be fearful that someone was going to hurt her. Just like humans, things happen in life that cause us to behave in a certain way. I went through many struggles in my past and I am pretty proud of the person who I am today. I was not going to give up on my dog.

We were introduced to an amazing man on Sunday who came to our home to work with us and Ellie-Mae. I wont go to deep into my spiritual beliefs but I truly believe that he was spiritually connected to Ellie. He was not just your average man. There was an amazing animal spirit to him. He worked with Ellie and worked with us. He put Ellie in my hands and guided me. I'm so absolutely thrilled to say that life at home with Ellie has completely turned around since Sunday. We once again live in a peaceful, happy home with a puppy who is well on her way to emotional freedom.