Stella is 16 weeks old…

The Homestead has a new addition…her name is Stella. She is a 16 week old bundle of puppy goodness…with gigantic paws, and gangly legs. She is a hybrid/mutt…part this part that…just like her golden cousin, Irish. With her long legs, and her big, ol’paws, to say she looks awkward is an understatement…and of course as cute as a button. From her puppy dog eyes, down to the curly cue on her tail, she has captured the hearts of my sister’s family.

AND now mine. She is pure adorable-ness. A bit timid at first, but she warmed up, and we became buds. She is very sweet.

AND, she hates her crate. Hates going in, hates being locked up, makes my sister probably feel like a heel, every time she closes that metal door. Crate training is hard. Once she’s older they can let her roam freely while they’re away, but at 16 weeks, um, no. At that age you only come home to all your furniture eaten, every plant in the house knocked over, and pee and probably some poo…just from the anxiety.

When she’s older the irony is she’ll love her crate, but that will come with confidence and age. Irish was none to keen on her crate when we got her at 16 months, but she learned to love it, and she prefers the cave-ish sleeping quarters now.

Oh, dear Stella. Her hair collects in the corners, she sits on the couch with them, and my sister told me yesterday that she now understands what I mean about the smell of them at the back of the ears. Ah, doggy’s capture your heart. They mess up your life in the most delightful way…and help to get you back to the stuff that is really important…like family, and the unconditional love that we all desire and long for.

After a bad day, a good day, a long day, they are right there to greet you, and their doggy goodness washes all the badness away. Regardless of how alone you may be, you are never alone with a dog by your side. They comfort you, and sleep by your side. They would protect you with their dying breath, and follow you where ever you may go. They make you laugh, and they make you cry, and they teach you things about life that sometimes we all forget…like how to find happiness, and what it means to be loyal, true and humble.