Sasha, all grown up

Remember when we first got Sasha from the animal shelter? She was so tiny and precious! Her favorite things to do were play with her green squeaky ball, cuddle in our laps, and sleep anywhere close to us. We really had no idea what we were getting into when we first got her, but I can say now that she is truly part of our family!

At her first vet checkup, we were told she would probably grow to be between 75 and 85 pounds (talk about a big dog!!). Thankfully, her growth has started to slow a bit and it looks like she will top off around 60-65 pounds. Still big, but slightly more manageable! 

Now she's about eight months old. We've learned her habits, like scarfing down her food even when there's no competition then belching loudly as if to say "man, that was good!" We've given her countless baths, taken her on walks, explored the other animals down our road, had her fixed, and watched her all but completely grow up!

She absolutely loves to be around people. In fact, she wants to be right next to us whenever possible. This is definitely part of her Australian Shepherd nature - to protect and herd. Eli and I joked that she has a theme verse/song: "Where you go, I'll go. Where you stay, I'll stay. When you move, I'll move. I will follow you." Haha! It's so true! She really is a loving dog and we just adore her!

The other part of her is most certainly all Labrador! She's in her preteen stage now, where she loves to play and be rough with Eli. She'll bring him her ball/rope/Kong/whatever she can find and wants him to either play tug-of-war or throw it for her. They also play tag around our kitchen, living room, and dining room. This is quite fun to watch, especially when they get going fast and one of them gets caught or slides into a wall!

She's really been calmer with me recently, though. I don't know if it's because I don't play as rough or if she senses something is different. I've heard that dogs can sense emotions or situations that are new and they react. Maybe she knows we have a new little one on the way and she's just looking out for her sister :)

When Sasha is not playing, she really loves to cuddle, which if you can imagine, is not easy when she's pushing 45 pounds now! She still thinks she is a baby and can fit into laps. Silly girl. 

She does have one new big-girl trick she's learned to do lately:

Yep, she thinks the deck chairs are hers! If we go out on the deck, she will immediately climb up into the chair and wait for us to come pet her or sit with her! It's so funny, but I think she loves it when we sit in the same chair right in front of her. She likes to be close.By the way, Eli took these pictures! Didn't he do a good job?!

This past 6 months has been such a fun time with Sasha in our house! I can't wait to see how she will love on, protect, and play sweetly with our baby girl.

Thanks if you made it all the way to the bottom of reading this! I didn't mean to get all mushy about our dog or anything (blame it on the pregnancy!). We just love our Sasha girl!

p.s. these pictures are the only ones I could find of her sitting still... most of the time, this is what I get when I try to take her picture! Ha! She's a mess!