Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Monday, June 1, 2009

New Family Member

No, I wasn't pregnant and tell anyone, and we let our foster/adoptive license slip years ago. And if you're hoping for pictures, by now you should know I am AWFUL at posting them, but will get around to it eventually...
Our newest member is a puppy. We had planned on getting one from a friend of ours (by the way Shanen, we aren't going to be able to take one from the next litter because of this...maybe once Superboy is old enough.) but then went to a birthday party Saturday at a friend's and met their little stray. He was named Jared by their daughter, but once Pony Gal saw him (and mama started falling in love with him...) he was renamed Bolt, and that was the beginning of his time with us. The family had just gotten another puppy, and really didn't have room/time for another, no matter how cute and loving, so they were holding on to him until a space at the local shelter opened up or some unsuspecting, innocent visitor heard about him, saw him and decided to steal him away (i.e. us). I had wanted a dog for Pony Gal for awhile. She loves cats. Mom is allergic to cats. So, that hadn't been working out. Plus the whole litter thing, if we decided to pursue more babies. Anyway, we were going to take an aussie/blue heeler mix from a friend once her Rosie had her pups, but the more of those mixes I met, the more I started to think they may be too aggressive for our family. Good dogs, just too much for us to handle. This little guy looks to be part lab, part shepherd, possibly part beagle or dachshund. The lab and shep I am pretty sure of. He has instantly attached to us. I think he is only 3-4 months only, but it already starting to show quite a bit of promist for training, and is responding to just simple back submission for "punishment" pretty well, as well as keeping his kennel clean for extended periods when we can't be with him. I am excited to have a dog again, and Pony Gal loves him. She is still learning she can't yell no at him constantly, but rather needs to roll him onto his back or give him something else to draw his attention. I will try to get pics up soon, and will definitely keep you posted on his progress. This will be my first foray into this sort of training method, but I was pretty educated on a lot of it from reading about it when we were going to try to train a pup my mom had dropped off at her place (he was the one who just too old to retrain-without a lot more time than I had-and had attacked a chicken. So, we are now a family of five-yay!

2 comments:

  1. I am happy to hear you still like him! I was wondering if you were questioning your sanity, but it sounds like he's going to be a great addition.

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  2. Yeah!! New puppy! Its ok that you don't get one of Rosie's. But their agression truly suprises me. ours aren't like that & neither are rhe others. Enjoy your little Bolt!

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