Well, we have expanded the John household once again. This time Jamie didn’t have to suffer through 9 months of discomfort to do it. We have added a dog to the mix much to the delight of all of my kids. Here he is, Shadow. He appears to be a Weimaraner/Labrador mix. He is a bit too dark for a Weimaraner but is distinctly gray/silver which is really unheard of for pure Labs.
Last Friday shortly after I arrived at work one of my coworkers came inside and asked if I had seen the puppies. Going out to investigate we found two puppies roughly 3-4 months old had been abandoned in our parking lot. One of the two puppies was very friendly and immediately made a connection with me. I called Jamie to let her know. She wasn’t 100% onboard until I sent the picture, then it was a done deal. A coworker took the other puppy.
To say we are happy with this dog so far is an understatement. So we have had a few accidents two days into house breaking, other than that he has been Wonderdog! He travels well just laying still the entire time in the car. He shows no aggression towards the kids at all. And with a 3-year-old pulling your tail, ears, jowls, and tormenting that dog just about every way you can think of… his mellow demeanor has been put to the test. He was friendly to visitors we had Saturday afternoon without hesitation. When Jamie came home Saturday night he barked twice when the front door opened and calmed immediately when he saw it was Jamie. He has slept in his crate with very minimal crying each night and without having an "accident". The kids are learning the value of picking up their toys, shoes, etc. if they don’t want him to carry it off. We should have tried this a while back!
I’m sure it won’t all be fun and games, we have the food and the vet bills, the housebreaking and the shoe chewing, the "what to do with him when we travel" discussion and general cleanliness of our house issues. But hey, I couldn’t ask for a better personality in a dog and at least for now the kids are gah-gah for him. And yes, I am REALLY looking forward to having a running buddy at 5 am.
