Welcome Home, Avi!

We brought Avi home yesterday, Friday, May 9th.

The drive to Reading was near excruciating... what with the on and off rain, the numerous accidents backing up traffic, missing our exit in York, and eating some terrible food that gave us both terrible indigestion. Oh, but the butterflies were bouncing around in both of our stomaches, making the additional hour and a half in the car seem less significant to the life we'll have to share with our new Berner puppy.

Avi's mom seemed to have a difficult time letting him go. She and a second pup were upstairs with us while we were completing the paperwork with Carol and Tim. The other puppy, a girl named Swiss Kiss, was affectionately playing with us while Avi spread out on the kitchen floor in his best impression of a surfboard, front paws tucked beneath his pointed snout and back legs stretched out straight.

Aimee sat in the backseat with Avi on our drive home and enjoyed some fun one-on-one time while Avi climbed over her to check out the windows and to demonstrate how sharp his puppy teeth are.

When we arrived home we made sure we thoroughly wore him out with lots of love and playing with his new toys.

We also gave Avi a bath and showed him his bed and his kennel. He wasn't too keen on the bath or being alone in the kennel... but his has absolutely fallen for his bed.

Aimee's sister dropped by for a visit, but by that point Avi was completely tuckered out. I laid with him on his bed and ended up falling asleep myself with my hand laying on his fuzzy belly. When it was time for Aimee and I to go to bed, we lad Avi into his kennel and shut the gate, then I laid on the floor with my fingers in the crate while he cried a little then lay down. We took him out to pee before laying him down for good, but when he returned to his kennel he was full of puppy dog cries. Aimee laid with him for a while to comfort him and reassure him that she was near.

Overall, we lost a little sleep... but that was nothing for all that we gained!

- Matthew