Our newest family member

On Tuesday, May 26th, we made a trip to go pick up our newest family member. We had been thinking about getting another dog for a few weeks. The main reason is that our schnauzer, Neiley, will be 14 years old next month. He is slowing down and just not doing too hot. If he makes it until the end of the year, we will be shocked. We realized that our lab Duke would need a friend to help him get over Neil's death. So, we put in an application with the DFW lab rescue and waited for someone to contact us. In the meantime, I was looking on craigslist at the pets section. We had actually found a lab mix in Mansfield that need a home but she ended up getting out and a neighbor had shot her. I know. Horrible person!! So, I just kept on looking while waiting for the lab rescue to contact me. On Tuesday, I found a listing for a 4 month old golden retriever puppy in Joshua that was free to a good home. Now, goldens hold a special place for C. He has always wanted one. I sent him the link and he told me to contact them. I did. I found out that the reason they were getting rid of the puppy was that they just did not have time for her. The husband had purchased her from a breeder across the street on a whim and the wife just didn't want the dog. They had built a pen for her outside and she had spent most of her time in there. They realized that they were not being good dog parents when they realized that their Yorkie could outrun and outlast her. She would get tuckered out in a matter of minutes. We had some pretty serious discussions, especially since my mom would be home taking care of K for the following 2 days. How fair would it be to her to add a non-housebroken puppy to the mix?? We checked and Momma was excited about having a new puppy. She has known how much we have been wanting a new family member. So, we gave our Airhogs tickets away and drove out to Joshua. When we got out of the truck, we knew that we were going to be leaving with her. She is a red golden retriever - same color as our Maddie was. We played with her for a bit and made sure that she was not aggressive towards K and then all hopped in the truck. Her name is Abbie. When we looked at her AKC papers, her birthday was in November 2008. That makes her 6 months old. She has to go through her first heat before she can be spayed but she is in otherwise perfect health. We took her to our doc and everyone in the office thought she was precious! She has been a joy. Granted, I am not enjoying the potty training, but she is doing very well. We make it our job to take her out often. She sleeps in a crate at night and is perfectly happy in there. She love to roughhouse with Duke but knows that Neiley is in no mood to play. She enjoys barking at the cats, chasing Duke, and going for walks. She is perfect on a leash. We took her to the dog park and she got tired very quickly which meant she had no energy to try to play with other dogs. She really does not know how to play with other dogs so it is something we are working on. We are also working on her commands and go to puppy class every Tuesday at our vet's office. We took K the first time and that was a mistake. One of us was busy watching him and did not get the full instructions. Momma has agreed to watch K on the days we have puppy school. Abbie is very smart and learns quickly. Granted, she is very food motivated so that helps!