Meet Stella!

The wait is over! We finally have our new puppy! Meet Stella, our baby black labrador.

How It Happened: I had been researching different breeders around Germany before we even moved and more once we arrived but didn't have much luck. I visited the local shelters and checked the classifieds daily but still nothing. I finally got lucky when I found an ad in the Stars and Stripes (the Armed Forces daily newspaper) advertising a puppy finders service. Checked out the website and it was exactly what I needed. I contacted the lady on Thursday evening describing what we were looking for and we had pictures of potential puppies on Saturday. We slept on it and decided a lab would be perfect. Fortunatley, they were ready to be adopted immediately, all we needed was an appointment with the breeders to pick her up. So we waited and waited to hear back from the puppy finder lady...then we waited some more. It was driving me crazy so Brad and I went to the store so we would be completely ready when we brought her home. We got back from the store, still nothing. I called and emailed again.....waiting, waiting, waiting. Watching my email inbox was about as exciting as watching grass grow. THEN, at 7:00 pm I finally get the call! She said we could pick her up on Monday....but we don't have a car yet and we could only borrow our friend's car that day. Soooooo, off we went to a town we'd never even heard of that was an hour and a half away. What did people do before GPS?

After a BEAUTIFUL drive north, we finally arrived just after 9:00. The breeders lived in a gorgeous home that had the perfect little room just for the puppies. When we walked in, this little black ball of fur came running towards us so excited like she knew that we were there to take her home. She slept in my lap all the way back to Mainz, perfect little angel.

Our First Night: When we got home she wasn't so sure about "going" outside and after 20 minutes, I gave up. We were exhausted so we put her in her bed in her crate...which lasted all of about 30 seconds before the howling and whining started. Sorry neighbors. We moved her bed into our room and she did just fine. I did learn, however, patience while she's outside is much better than the alternative. I'll leave it at that. It was a long night with little sleep but we made it through. (I'll be so glad when our stuff arrives, I'm really missing my coffee pot.)

Since Then: She sleeps quite a bit but when she's not sleeping she wants to be wherever I am...unless Brad is around, in which case she wants to be with him. The great news is she slept ALL the way through last night with zero accidents. We have a long way to go between the potty training and chewing but I know it'll all be worth it. She is the perfect little addition to our family!