Kona Kimberlee

Poor little Kona came into our family right in the middle of all the chaos. She hasn't ran away yet so I guess she plans on sticking it out with us.

We got Kona from a couple out here in San Tan Valley who just didn't have time for her. She was outside from 6-6pm everyday, even in the hot summer. As soon as I saw her sweet face I thought of Jackson. There is a striking resemblance. It took me a few days to even get the courage to message the lady and ask questions and when I finally brought it up to Josh I couldn't talk about it without crying. I felt so guilty and I didn't want Jackson to think we were trying to replace him.

We brought her over to stay the night one night before we went to Maui. We didn't have the dog door in so she went potty on our carpet a few times. I am constantly reminded that she is still a puppy (she's 10 months old) but I stressed about that the most. When we got back from Maui we went and got her and thankful she hasn't messed in the house once. She figured out the dog door right away and uses it all day long. Of course, now I get to worry about her taking stuff outside and chewing it up (shoes, girls toys etc.) and I'm trying to teach her not to jump up on people because she is so excited when she sees someone. Also my biggest pet peeve (well tied with the chewing stuff up) is her nibbling as she kisses and "plays" with the girls because both girls have gotten their ears bit. Other than all the puppy related stuff and the training she still needs she really is a sweet girl. A lot of the times she prefers to lay outside and get fresh air and she likes to sleep downstairs on her bed instead of upstairs with us at night.

I hated waking up in the morning to find muddy paw prints all over both couches so I put caution tape up and it seems to work...sometimes :/

I'm sure I'd have more patience with her if she didn't join our family at the worse possible time. Now that things have mellowed out I'm trying to spend more time working with her. She loves bones and chew toys and she loves to be outside while the girls are playing. She digs holes with them, runs around the backyard and even plays in the playhouse with them. She is very friendly and doesn't bark when someone rings the doorbell or we meet neighbors on a walk.

Since she is 10 months old and use to her name we decided we'd give her a middle name that we could choose and following the pattern in the family we decided to name her Kona Kimberlee. Oh and she is shepherd/retriever. Hopefully we all get adjusted soon because this is her forever home.

Which means she has to learn to get along with Charlotte too!