6 months old

Our "little" Sunny girl is six months old. It's hard to believe that she's only been in our family for only 4 months. She is humongous - a whopping 65 pounds.. and will most likely gain another 20 in the next few months. She lost all her baby teeth and has big sharp molars which look scary, but she wouldn't hurt a fly. She is the sweetest dog and has been such a fun addition to our family.

She is a lot of work, don't get me wrong. But she's a good dog and listens well. She does a handful of tricks.. my kids favorite thing to do when guests come over is shoot Sunny with their finger-gun while saying "bang! bang!" Sunny will immediately fall to the ground and put all four paws up in the air. It's a trick that is done so often that sometimes when the kids have a treat in their hand, she will play dead without even getting shot. She sits, stays, goes outside when you open the back door, fetches, sleeps well in her cage, hardly ever barks and stays right next to me when I run with her in the mornings.

She does have some faults, as all dogs do. Because she's so big, she can eat food right off our counter. Obviously, she knows it's wrong and won't attempt it unless your back is turned. Last month, I had visiting teaching treats on my island. Sunny was only inside for a minute, but she gobbled up two plates of carrot cake it's 3 seconds flat. I was so mad at her! And once in the car, I packed a chicken salad for myself on a long drive. I put the salad on the dash when I ran the kids into a friends. By the time I got back, all of the chicken was gone. She had left the tomatoes and lettuce for me, and I thought about eating it anyway, but we're not that good of friends yet.

This morning I found my favorite shoe chewed up in the back yard. It's an old sandal that probably should have been chewed up years ago, but I was still sad. I'm often getting mad at the kids because they can't find their shoes or they "leave" them outside, and they are constantly blaming it on Sunny. Now I will believe them. She honestly hasn't chewed up very much. I was expecting our furniture and all the kids' toys to be destroyed, but it's been a lot better than I had imagined. I am telling you, if your expectations are low, you are bound to be pleased.

All in all, our family wouldn't be the same without her. It's amazing how someone can come into your home and all of the sudden you don't remember what life was like before they joined. She is the first thing the kids run to when they come home and she's always the show and tell object when friends come over to play. She is a big dog and sometimes when she gets really excited she will knock kids over with her strong tail, but we are so happy she's ours.

Many of you have asked about our plan for puppies. I still want to breed her with a poodle (and I am constantly on the look-out for another dog).. but my husband will not even discuss the topic. He thinks I am crazy and try to do too much. She hasn't had her first cycle yet, but it should happen anytime. I am applying for a breeders licence and hope when it happens I can get her pregnant without my husband knowing. I will sneak her out of the house after her curfew to meet up with a boyfriend... ? Once those puppies are on their way, he won't be able to say no. But getting pregnant myself did put a little wrench in the plan. The puppy update is: we aren't sure when she'll have a litter of Goldendoodles... but she will have some, someday. and they will be cute!

***We are heading to the beach this weekend... we've been planning on bringing Sunny with us but just found out that dogs are NOT allowed on this particular beach. We are still thinking about bringing her, but wondered if there is anyone in Vegas just DYING to babysit a big dog for a long weekend. Anyone? I didn't think so.