| 951 | August | 2014-08-28 |
Since we lost our Jake in May, much of our attention has been focused on getting another dog. There has been many things to do ... deciding on the breeder, the deposit, the waiting, the choosing, the naming, etc, and then last Friday, the big day finally arrived and we picked up the puppy.
Though we had only seen him once, in a crate full of puppies who all looked exactly alike, Amy immediately saw August. I held the pup as Amy went through all of the details with the breeder. Amy pretended to be listening to the breeder's instructions as she watched us with envy.
ASAP we were outside and heading to the car. On the way, we decided to set Augie down in the yard. It was his first time outside in the grass, dirt, and fresh air. It was his first look at the real world.
In the car, Augie did not mind the long ride home and soon he was checking out the house. Everything was new and different. He sniffed and poked everywhere. One of his favorite places to lay was on the HVAC vents (or registers) under a bookshelf.
The picture above Augie is of Jake when he was a pup!
Oh, the photo was not staged.
As Augie and we adjust to life together, we found he plays hard, sleeps hard, is always exploring, and he has a big appetite. We find ourselves always asking three questions: 'where's Augie?', 'what is he doing?' and 'how can we prevent (what we deem as) improper behavior?' For example ... he has not soiled his crate, but, he will go on the dining room rug every chance he gets - so we removed the rug. We are willing to change things on a short term basis in order to let the puppy mature and to prevent him from forming bad habits.
I still have to remind myself everyday that he is still a very young puppy. I want him to swim, run, hike, and play with me, but I first need him to develop physically and mentally into a healthy pup.
We are just glad we have a new dog and he seems like he is going to be a good one. Enough puppying!
Happy Augie trails