Some of you may have heard that we are adding a puppy to our family very soon. Why, you ask, would we add a puppy when our infant son is only 10 weeks old?!? While I think that is an EXCELLENT question, I do have an answer.
It's a wedding gift. Granted, we have been married for almost 11 years (in July), but we haven't been able to collect this gift until now.
Let me explain...
Nate had a friend in college, Justin, whose family bred labrador retrievers. He spent a lot of time hunting with this family and their dog, Gunner (which, if I had my act together I would be able to find my all time favorite picture of Nate with the aforementioned dog and post it here, but alas, I have a newborn and am preparing for a new puppy - enough said). Justin knew that we wanted a dog, but also knew that we would be moving around quite a bit for Nate's training, so as a wedding gift he said "whenever you are ready for a puppy let me know" (little did he know it would be almost 11 years later).
Fast forward to November 2008 - Justin calls and said that they would be breeding their dog, Winnie (she is one generation from Gunner and had already been bred once a few years ago) one last time in February 2010 and wanted to know if we would be ready for our puppy. Nate and I were giddy with excitement as we figured this would be the perfect time as we would be moved and semi settled into our life back in Wisconsin, the girls would be old enough to help take care of her, and we would have the space and money to have a dog. We readily accepted the gift and eagerly anticipated meeting our pup - due sometime in April 2010.
Fast forward again to July 2009 and a positive pregnancy test - due April 2010.
No further explanation needed...
So, over Memorial Day weekend we were able to meet our new puppy, Nash (yes, as in Nashville, as we LOVED our 5 years spent there). Is she not the cutest thing ever (next to my children, of course)?!?!
We were excited to see that she was the most docile of the group of 5 pups. She'll fit in well with our family. :)
Seriously, how cute is she?!?!?
She has a very light coat and her ears are darker around the edges - so sweet!
So this weekend we bring Nash home. As I've never owned a dog before, I'm a little bit (OK, a lot bit) overwhelmed by this new addition. We think we have most of what she needs, but, quite honestly, have no idea. We have the chew toys, the kennel, the leash, the big yard with the invisible fence (being installed in a couple of weeks), etc. And, most importantly, she has 4 (5, once Owen is bit bigger) humans who are completely in love with her and can't wait to spoil her rotten!
Any advice for new puppy owners? Please!!!!
4 comments:
Absolutely precious, Holly! I can't wait to see pictures as the puppy and the kids grow. :-)
Love to Alex!!
Get the book: "How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With"Clarice Rutherford and David H. Neil. Amazon has it. We read it with Sonny and have recommended it for a lot of friends.
I'd also recommend a lot of patience. Sonny was a super hyper maniac dog for a long time. There were many times im Omaha that I wanted to give him back!!! It took awhile for him to become the amazing dog he is. Now he's 13 and I'd give anything for him to be hyper!! He sleeps all day..and doesn't even want to go swimming anymore. :(
Enjoy Nash...Sonny has been the best thing that happened to our family!!!!!
yay... she's precious and brings back so many wonderful memories of tucker.
can't wait to follow this journey... she's the perfect addition!
she's adorable Holly!!
My advice is plenty of exercise which shouldn't be a problem for your family.
If she will be an indoor dog (which it sounds like she may) put the ribbon with bells on it, at the door you plan to take her out of and train with the bell system. Burton trained so easily with that. And still uses it.
Owen is adorable and the girls are SO big now. Hope life with 3 is as wonderful for you as it has been for me.
Miss you!
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