Puppy!!!!

I have always wanted to have a dog. If you can’t own horses, dogs are the way to go. 😉 As much as I enjoy cats, they will never interact with me in the same way as a dog. Now, I’m a very practical person, so when we lived in our little house with our little yard, we knew we could either get a little dog or a kitty. We got really lucky and found Razzie on craigslist one day and she wagged happily into our lives seven years ago.

Razzie’s getting a little older now and we live in the country. Still the practical one, I didn’t want a puppy who would take a couple years to calm down and be safe around my still physically very small children. (That description has nothing on their personalities, however!) So, no puppies. Honestly, the best dog seemed like it’d be a senior dog… but most senior dogs are nippy and grouchy, with good reason, when kids crawl over them. I’ve been watching craigslist and some humane society sites for awhile. Some people I call are downright accusatory to me when I say it’ll be a primarily outdoor dog. Hey, if I were a dog, I’d want to be outside! Anyway, that’s neither here nor there.

We found a dog! We found our dog! We pick him up this evening.

Aaaaaaaaaaand, he’s a puppy. But he’s 11 months old, so I missed out on 11 months of chewing and digging and puppy behavior, right? So, he’ll be more work than we planned, but he is so awesome! I didn’t think I wanted a pure-breed herding dog because they may try to herd kids. But… you know what? Smoke went and herded Jordan when we first met him. And guess what, I almost thanked him!

So Smoke is half Great Pyranees (his mother is a Mt. Hood rescue dog!) and half Australian Shepherd (his father is a fancy show dog) and the two of them accidentally had an illicit affair and Smoke is the product. He’s very energetic (hence the need for training), he’s fairly large, but not huge, he’s very intelligent, and although he has a fairly intense herd drive, he has a gentle eye and I believe, a patient soul. I suppose the patient/gentle attitude may have come from his Great Pyranees side, which was bred as a livestock guardian dog. Or maybe it’s because his current owner dotes on him but also cares to teach him what manners puppies can learn. Or maybe he was just born that way. In any case, I’m really hopeful about our future with a new dog/puppy!

Hopes for the future:
A dog that Jordan can bond with and interact with naturally
A dog that can be trained to seek and find Jordan and “take Jordan for walks”
A dog that encourages deer to stay away from the garden
A dog that is calm enough to hang out indoors as well as outdoors (though he’ll be inside initially, I am not counting on him being an indoor dog, just hoping for it)
A dog that is trainable and enjoyable to be around
A dog that the neighbors like
A dog that is not territorial and welcomes visitors
A dog that announces visitors
A dog that may herd chickens instead of eating them

But… you’ll have to wait for pictures! His name is smoke for a reason, so use your imagination.