I was always raised around dogs as household pets. I've always been a dog lover, yet in my 26 years of marriage (and 3 kids now teenagers) we were never allowed to have a family pet (other then a goldfish) due to one family member whose identity shall be protected.
Just didn't like animals in the house.
We could have had a strictly outside dog; but then I had issues with that because I'd really be conflicted inwardly looking out that kitchen window on those cold, blistering winter mornings and seeing that poor animal locked up in a pen outside.
Anyway - my daughter, who attends a local JVS here and will be a senior in the Animal Management program, has to do a senior project. She's a big animal lover. In her junior year her room was like a pet store with cages lined along the walls with such animals as gerbals, hamsters, rabbits, ferrets, some type of bird whose name I can't pronounce (and it would never shut up), and a rat.
My daughter is a regular Ellie Mae Clampett.
So for her senior project my daughter wanted to do the Pilot Dog program. This is where they give you a puppy for the year because they want the dog in a social atmosphere and learn to be comfortable around people (family). That is the main objective. She also has to track it's progress, send in monthly reports, take it to the vet for scheduled checkups, shots, etc., and begin to train it to accept certain commands, all in preparation for the dog then entering the service dog field to help the blind and handicapped. It's a very worthwhile cause.
So we got the pup last Friday. It's an 11 week old brindle boxer, and she named him Jack.
So far it has been a lot of fun. Of course puppies are. The first few days he was rather uneasy due to unfamiliarity with the surroundings. But he is slowly getting comfortable and making our home his home.
On the next day after we got him the family was going to a local water park. Well, you can't leave a NEW puppy home alone, so I "sacrificed" and said I'd stay home with him (I didn't want to go anyway, and Jack was my excuse). And rfs sent me up some baseball DVDs, so I laid on the couch, with Jack on the floor next to me, and we watched them.
And I took him outside frequently so as to avoid (or minimize) any accidents. And he did really well. We only had one when I saw him get up and start to wander around. When he went around the corner into the dining room I knew to follow him because I figured he was looking for a spot. Yep - there he was squatting. I yelled "NO!" and literally scared the crap right out of the dog.
When the family got home, Jack got excited and was chasing the kids down the hallway. And we all know what puppies do when they get excited. Thank God for hardwood floors. But no one noticed it at the time. That is until that family member whose name shall remain protected came walking in in bare feet and stepped in it. All I heard was "Oh Man! This is the kind of crap I can't handle!"
Me, being humorous, responded "That's pee honey, not crap".
But all is going well. Here are some pics.....
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Originally Posted by UKFlounder
