We have now been dog owners for just over a whopping two weeks and wanted to give you all an update on how life has changed around here. We feel a lot more settled and are completely smitten with sweet Charly. Chris is constantly telling me Charly is the best dog he’s ever come in contact with (he grew up with dogs) and I just nod and smile because I know I lucked out with my first dog being a pretty special, completely trained one. Â That being said, we have discovered a few things about our fair lady.
Charly snores and it is like unto a train. Â She has so much girth that it actually rumbles the floor. Â And, she sleeps a lot! It could be because when she is awake, Greta is chasing her all over or we are on a walk, but really I had no idea dogs slept so much. The very first night, Charly slept in our room on the floor and Chris and I tossed and turned and laughed about how loud her snoring was and then eventually very early in the morning 3am-ish, Chris walked her downstairs to finish her slumber so we could finally get some rest. Â Since then, we must have gotten used to it because we are both sleeping very soundly even when she is in the room. Â I discovered if I breathe in and out with the rhythm of her snoring, it’s almost hypnotic and puts me right to sleep.
A few of you have asked about all that hair. Â Fortunately, I grew up with 4 sisters so I am no stranger to massive amounts of hair around the house to clean up, although I haven’t quite adjusted to Charly’s hair. Â It’s different. Â It actually, and I hate to say this, makes me lose my appetite. Â Eeks. In her defense, I have a very weak stomach. We got her groomed and professionally Furminated last week and picked up a FURminator
ourselves, too, (thanks to your recommendations) so we can stay on top of the hair and I can continue eating. Ugh–I feel horrible about that. Speaking of eating, contrary to popular speculation, Charly doesn’t eat that much. Just a few scoops of food a day.
Charly is a lot more massive than she appears in pictures. Â Or even when she is laying down. Â She starts walking toward you and people usually blush and lose their words because they are in shock. Â She’s big! Â Before we got her a harness leash (we went with the Easy Walk harness
–amazing!) I actually sprained my wrist on her walk because her pull was so strong, even if her manner otherwise is overly gentle. Â The first week I didn’t trust that gentleness. Â I actually walked around pretty nervously because she is larger than I am and a lot larger than Greta and I worried. Â I worried that she would suddenly turn on us? I never really spent much time around dogs, so everything felt unpredictable. Â But seeing her interact with Greta and the patience Charly has with her–more patience than I have at times!–that nervousness has been replaced by a comfortable and protected feeling.
Right now, the back hallway where we made a little mudroom nook way back when is where we keep Charly’s stuff along with her food and water bowl. Â The little leather ottoman is hanging out upstairs for now and we’d love to revamp that nook so it fits Charly’s needs a little better. Â Storage for her food, toys, bones, and treats and a higher food and water bowl. Â I’m still brainstorming and planning the space but it probably won’t come to fruition until after Summer since we’re pretty booked with projects as is.
Life with Charly is good. Â Greta has a companion and I have a new shadow. ;) Â I’ll leave you with a little video illustrating what happens nearly every morning when Greta wakes up. “Where’s my dog?” she says, and then this:
Ps. Â Sorry the photos and video are with my phone. It has a life proof case on it which is great protection for you-know-who but not so great for keeping the quality up in pictures. You can see clearer photos of Charly right here.Â
The pictures and video with your little girl are the cutest! Great decision to get such a sweet cuddly dog!
She looks lovely! I always preferred smaller dogs but my boyfriend convinced me to go with a bigger one, and we ended up with a bernese mountain dog. (She’s not yet as big as Charly, since she’s only 10 months, but let me tell you, she’s still huge!) I’ve completely converted. Love a big gentle soul :)
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Brave of you to “start” with such a big dog! So glad to hear that she is fitting in with you family so well. I had a man tell me his very huge mastiffs only eat like 2 cups a food a day and explained “the better the food (less fillers) the less they eat and the less they poop! LOL
Thank you for the update. I love dogs. :)
haha I totally understand the snoring! We have an english bulldog and his snoring is ridiculous! It doesn’t bother me much, because I’m used to hubby snoring, but he thinks it’s so annoying and doesn’t get any sleep when the dog is in our room at night!
Charlie is a sweet girl!
Btw, are those gold & white polka dot sheets? If so, where did you get them?
Yup! Land of Nod. They’re gorgeous.