Jun 7, 2006
Mind Games
Being that Ayla is not as perfect as she could be when it comes to her behavior, I found the following “games” to play with her to help keep her in line and hopefully make us all a bit happier around the house. I’ve cut some text out since it’s rather long but kept all the “games” just in case the article disappears some day. The article also has a long introduction... read more
May 15, 2006
Frisbee for all
So I think I’ve mentioned before that we now have a Frisbee for Ayla to play with outside…and it has helped us to realize that we really enjoy throwing it back and forth to each other while she plays with something else. Of course we can’t just confiscate the dog’s toy for ourselves so we throw it for her a little but she doesn’t really know the meaning of bring or give or... read more
May 15, 2006
Why, oh why??
I don’t know who I’m more irritated with at the moment…the dog or myself. Of course when she’s laying under the dining table where I’m sitting and sleeping so nice and peacefully it’s really hard to hold a grudge. Alas, I knew I should have changed my jeans when we got home today but just figured that since she has been pretty good with my clothes (well jeans at least... read more
May 14, 2006
The First Bath
Today was Ayla’s very first bath. One would think that since Newf’s are supposed to be water loving dogs that they would also enjoy a bath in nice warm water…but apparently that is not the case. Maybe something for us to work towards? lol We got out the doggy shampoo and headed into the spare bathroom downstairs which has a stall shower. This seemed to be the easiest solution for us since... read more
May 13, 2006
A little trip to the city
This morning we took a journey to visit some friends in Holland. It’s about 3 hours ride from here and a good warm up for Ayla since she’ll be spending a lot of time in the car the last few weeks of September and beginning of October travelling from place to place. On the way up there we had to make a few pit stops for her and we were unfortunate enough to come across some of the dirtiest rest... read more
May 12, 2006
Ayla’s New Toy
So we’ve already had what must have been a very exciting day for Newfie standards since Ayla was passed out for hours since we got home again. We have pretty much given up all hope of trying to take her for a walk in the mornings. She won’t even go with the hubby although she usually behaves better for him on the leash than me. I can usually at least get her to go around the block but she... read more
May 11, 2006
New antics
One of our newest “tricks” is to launch ourselves and the bushes outside in a lame attempt to get on top of it…or to get at whatever might be on top of it. Rather humorous to watch since she basically just bounces off them. I am a bit concerned about her doing it on the patio side with brick pavers but thankfully she seems to prefer doing it on the grass side anyway. She has also grown... read more
May 10, 2006
High Energy Wednesday
Is it possibly that it’s only 8 am?? Feels like I’ve been awake all day already. At 6 am we went for our first walk since Ayla was SOOO full of energy after Stefan let her out to take care of her morning business. Playing in the yard is definitely not an option this morning since it was raining all night and to say the yard is wet is rather an understatement. Of course drying off the dog can... read more
May 9, 2006
Have a water phobia? Beware of Newfoundlands
It’s pretty common knowledge that Newfs love water and Ayla is definitely no different. She was outside today with her water bowl and instead of drinking everything in it, she decided it would be better to use her paws to get all the water out of the bowl as fast as possible. A new sort of game I guess you could say. I would have thought that she would then lay in the water too cool off or just... read more
May 7, 2006
Is this the same puppy?
So today we got to pick Ayla back up from the breeders and we almost started to think that we had brought home the wrong dog because she was on her very best behavior. I guess romping around in the back yard with mommy, sister and brother was enough excitement to wear her out for hours. But they do say that a good dog is a tired dog which was very true yesterday.They definitely seem to have been working... read more












Tiffany is an American who has been living in Germany with her husband since 2001. The two are self-proclaimed "Self-Reliant Yuppies" who are in their early-30's and bought an 1830's farmhouse several years ago, which they have been turning into a more sustainable and green dream house. Two cats, a Newfie and their 2 year old daughter enjoy the adventure with them. Tiffany enjoys cooking, rock climbing, lux-camping trying to turn her black thumbs green and taking road trips. Visit the