We added a new family member about 3 weeks ago, so I'm going to talk about it. If not for you to enjoy reading, then for me to remember how it all went down.
We'd been thinking about adding a new family member to our lives for a little while and then when we bought our home it became something we actually could do. We really wanted to adopt rather than buy from a breeder. After browsing their websites, we visited the animal shelter and the humane society a few weeks ago on a Friday evening. We went to the animal shelter first and walked around all the kennels to see the dogs. Then we went up to the front desk and told them which ones we wanted to meet. We spent some time with a couple, but they didn't seem very interested in us. Matt asked the worker who was supervising if there was some sort of sign we should look for to know that this dog was "the one." She told us that all of them might seem a little disinterested because they're so excited to be outside, but that if we didn't feel some sort of connection we should probably keep looking. After that, we decided to make our way to the humane society.
With only 15 minutes left before they closed, we hurried and walked around the dogs at the humane society and found the ones we were interested in. There were a few, but Charlie was the first we decided to take out. From the get-go he seemed like a good boy. He leaned in for Matt to slip the leash on, he didn't pull while we walked him, and he sat immediately when Matt asked him if he knew how to sit. We took him outside for a bit and he was pretty chill, even wanted us to rub his belly. With the humane society getting ready to close, we took him back inside with the intention of coming back the next day to see the others. However, once we got home we couldn't stop thinking about him and how our meeting seemed to "click" much more than with the other dogs. So, on Saturday morning, I went to work and Matt went out to buy things needed to prepare our house for a dog and then also to pick him up. It was a quick decision!
Charlie was a pretty much perfect dog for about the first week. The only thing weird was that he seemed to be scared of his food bowl. He took to Matt very quickly, and I keep saying that Matt is his best bud. Now that he's settled in a little more, he has acted up and can get quite frustrating at times. But, we keep trying to remember that he's still, if not a puppy, then a teenager. Matt and I keep saying that he picked us and so he schmoozled (what, that's not a word?) us into bringing him home and won us over with his seemingly great manners. He does have decent manners actually, it's just whether or not he wants to show them. He seems to have separation anxiety, especially with Matt because he is gone at work all day. He has a really hard time staying calm when Matt gets home, because as I said, he's his best bud and all. But that makes it difficult for Matt to relax and not get frustrated. Sometimes it's hard to get a break, but we've been having a trainer friend come over and help us work with him. He's a very smart and determined dog, probably too smart and determined for his (or our) own good. Matt taught him to "shake" in a matter a minutes. Yet teaching him not to jump on you when he's excited seems like a much more difficult task. He is pretty cute when he's sleeping though...
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| First day home |
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| Charlie is 1 year and almost 5 months old and currently 64 pounds. The humane society told us that he was German Shepherd /Boxer mix. However, if you look up pictures for that mix, they look nothing like them. Our trainer friend thinks he is a German Shepherd/Border Collie. (Which would greatly explain his never ending energy and need for mental stimulation.) |
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| Just hangin' out while Matt works on his car. |
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Basking in the sunlight in true dog fashion.
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