It would seem that I waste no time... only a few months ago I was getting married to a mortgage and now...
...my two daughters...
...HAVE A BIG LITTLE BROTHER!!! Dang it, I knew I should have been using birth control!!! But seriously, meet the new addition to my household: "Pepper" is a seven-month-old, sixty pound lab/German shepherd/great dane mix who came into my life on unexpectedly short notice.I had been wanting a large dog for a long time and now that I've bought a house my lifestyle no longer involves potentially inhospitable, transient living situations. Still, I was not even planning on looking for a dog until next year. The circumstances around his arrival are strangely coincidental: a couple months ago I saved a big indoor dog crate from the dumpster (it was being thrown away only because it was a bit rusty) and just last week I purchased a large, outdoor chain-link kennel in preparation for the dog I was planning to look for next year (planning ahead is my strong suit). I have maintained for the last few years that I really want a German shepherd or a mixed-breed with German shepherd in it. The day after purchasing the kennel (keep in mind that this purchase and the dog crate were not known to anyone in my family) I received a call from my mother telling me that a friend had a beautiful german shepherd mix puppy that needed a new home because his current family was moving into an apartment which does not allow dogs. I was apprehensive at first but decided that this was a sign and I should at least visit the dog to evaluate him and consider whether or not I am truly ready for such a commitment. He turned out to have a great personality and a good foundation of household manners/training already in place so I decided to take him.
He is a bit of an awkward adolescent puppy who has more growing to do, even considering his generous size at seven months old. Because of his youth and rapidly increasing size he comes off as being a bit dopey and clumsy and he is in need of some polishing on his training, especially in areas of spacial awareness, but he seems to have been raised in a good home with caring owners who gave him a lot of the basics he needed to be a good family pet. He is seemingly intelligent, great with children, gets along with other animals, knows a few commands, seems to have no aggression issues (even with food & treats) and is housebroken.
Again life smiles upon me! More proof that unexpected events are not all bad!
3 comments:
Wow, that's gonna be a big ol' dog!
I too have experienced lots of bad unexpected and am downright shocked by good unexpected. :-)
Adorable dog! I am a big dog lover, you've probably seen our lab on my blog.
About a month ago, we got a chihuahua/terrier mix to replace the lab we lost at the first of the year. Our daughter fell in love with this dog at the pound, so we got him. I've been blogging how different this small dog is from the big one. Not to talk bad about the new puppy but.....
He's not getting the potty training and intellectually, he is far below the lab. Far below. We're already bonding with him and will just deal with things as best we can, but it has reaffirmed my preference for big dogs, specifically labs because they are always so eager to please. They WANT to learn.
Cracker, I know what you mean. It takes a lot of resolve to stay present and open the the potential for good in the unexpected. And yes, I think he will be big... expecting him to top out at 80-90 pounds.
Thank you Steve, and I agree... lab mixes are great! Regarding potty training... crate training works wonders, rarely fails actually. Small-dogs aren't generally my cup of tea either but I do like dachshunds and corgis.
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