Our new addition

As some of my friends on here know, our beloved 5-year old German Shepherd/Lab mix "GG" passed away unexpectedly last September on what will be remembered as one of the worst nights of my life. My Wife and I were devastated, as we had no warning that anything was wrong. She had a stroke and collapsed, and was gone 8 hours later after being rushed to the Vet in the middle of the night. Needless to say, we've been pretty depressed ever since as that dog left a huge void in our home that our other pets just haven't been able to fill.

 

So, over the last few months we have casually been kicking around the idea of getting another dog, and have been visiting a lot of rescues in the area trying to find one we couldn't leave without. Figuring that I wouldn't have the patience for house-breaking another pet and knowing the personality/traits we wanted most in a dog, we have been specifically looking for an adult female German shepherd, lab, golden retriever, or mix.

 

This past week, we found almost exactly what we had been looking for in a 4-year old chocolate brown lab named Duke at one of the shelters. He was very sweet, trained, and (in the usual BS excuse) had been surrendered by a family that was moving out of state. We met him on Saturday, and on Sunday, I went back to the shelter with the intention of picking him up.

 

When I walked in and asked about him, the lady at the desk casually mentioned that they had just gotten in 2 litters of puppies that morning, and that I could take a look if I wanted as she thought one of the sets was a "German Shepherd mix"...

 

From the moment she put her in my arms, I was hooked. Although I felt terrible about leaving Duke there, I switched gears and on spur of the moment adopted a puppy. I just couldn't put her down.

 

Meet our 11-week old puppy (no name yet, but I am kicking around Samantha/"Sam". Although house-training her is going to be a long road, I am confident she will be worth it. (Also attached a few pics of our beloved "GG", who I still miss more than anything). Her and her siblings had been rescued that same weekend and had just arrived from South Carolina that morning. No other info on her breed/mix was available, so I'm eventually going to buy a DNA test so we can find out what else she has in her. She's very sweet and has been making herself right at home.

 

PS - For anyone that has been through it, any tips on house-training with quick results would be appreciated! We've had her less than a week right now, but are already going through a LOT of paper towels and newspaper. At 11-weeks old there's not much we can do yet as they will go whenever they want for a while (just part of the deal when you adopt a puppy), but we're hoping in the coming months she'll adjust and learn a routine quick.

Congrats. Sorry to hear about your last dog, that had to be brutal. As for the training, we got lucky as hell with our Ollie, he potty trained almost instantly. Anytime he did pee, we just stuck his nose in it, and then put him outside. Seemed to have worked pretty well. But good luck, I don't know if I could ever do the puppy thing again. Constantly chasing my mischevious little fucker around the house was exhausting. And he chewed anything he could get his teeth on. Including the wood deck at my old house. hah.

Congrats. Sorry to hear about your last dog, that had to be brutal. As for the training, we got lucky as hell with our Ollie, he potty trained almost instantly. Anytime he did pee, we just stuck his nose in it, and then put him outside. Seemed to have worked pretty well. But good luck, I don't know if I could ever do the puppy thing again. Constantly chasing my mischevious little fucker around the house was exhausting. And he chewed anything he could get his teeth on. Including the wood deck at my old house. hah.

 

Haha thanks man. The "mischevious little fuc#er" part made me laugh as that's how we feel! We were warned that she had been in a chicken coop and had NO training whatsoever before we got her, and there have been no surprises thus far. She literally lets it go whenever she feels like it, and keeps right on moving!

Oh man, that's gotta be fun to constantly clean! My wife and I have sworn off puppies. we got Ollie at 2 months old, and it was a struggle for the entire first year. He just turned 2 a couple weeks ago, and has finally mellowed (a little, but enough to make a huge difference).

Oh man, that's gotta be fun to constantly clean! My wife and I have sworn off puppies. we got Ollie at 2 months old, and it was a struggle for the entire first year. He just turned 2 a couple weeks ago, and has finally mellowed (a little, but enough to make a huge difference).

 

 

Yeah...its a PITA. I'd love to sugarcoat it but there's no other way to say it. You pick her up, she gets excited and pees. You put her down, she pees. She wakes up from a nap, comes out of her playpen/crate, etc. She doesn't even seem to notice she's doing it most times, it just happens. (fortunately our entire first floor is hardwood and tile, so it is fairly easy to clean).

 

She is only 13lbs so its very small little puddles right now, but we have to watch her constantly as it happens so fast we'll miss it (and then step in it later). Shes also been attacking anything she can get in her mouth the last few days including shoelaces, cell phone chargers, electrical cords, etc. Right now, shes still just small enough that she can't get up onto the couch or other furniture without being picked up, and still seems intimidated by stairs and will not attempt them. That should change in another month or so, and will most likely bring with it a whole new set of challenges...lol.

I bought any and every dog toy for puppies imaginable. Still didn't stop him from eating a pair of slippers, some molding on my walls, the back deck, and anything else. I avoided all soft toys as they lasted a good 3-4 minutes, then he started swallowing the threads and strings.....hah

Cute pup, congratulations!

Keep her in a penned area with weewee pads. Take her out like every 30 minutes and cut her water off an hour before you go to bed. Every time she chews something direct her to a toy instead. This is all easier said than done though. At 11 weeks with no training you have adopted a fluffy velociraptor just like your fb meme

Adorable! Congrats!

Congrats!! Losing a dog is one of the hardest things.. as Tara said... best is to keep them penned when your not around.. Im a pen guy not so much kennel. I leave the kennel in the pen wit the door open and their bed inside so its a place to escape not a place of punishment. My dog tore a hole in the drywall and pealed up the linoleum when he was little, but turned into a great dog. Now he wont even take food off the coffee table when hes home alone all day

Im a pen guy not so much kennel. I leave the kennel in the pen wit the door open and their bed inside so its a place to escape not a place of punishment.

 

Exactly!

Congrats on the new pup! It's super hard losing a dog, especially so young and unexpectedly, but a puppy sure brings a lot of happiness into the house.

Sorry to hear about GG. Noname is a very photogenic little guy. Congrats!

 

Noname is a very photogenic little guy. Congrats!

 

I shall call him. . . mini me.

Congrats and sorry for your loss. Been there, it is one of the worst things ever. We have a puppy we are trying to housebreak as well and it is driving me crazy. She is a Frenchie so they are pretty stubborn anyway but I will take her out and walk around freezing for 30 min and give up and come in and she will pee on the floor! Starting to get much better though, we keep her in a pen with pads so no running around unless she just went outside or on a pad. Totally worth the aggravation though! We lost our St.Bernard and now have three dogs. Still don't know how my wife and kids convinced me to do that.

Congrats and sorry for your loss. Been there, it is one of the worst things ever. We have a puppy we are trying to housebreak as well and it is driving me crazy. She is a Frenchie so they are pretty stubborn anyway but I will take her out and walk around freezing for 30 min and give up and come in and she will pee on the floor! Starting to get much better though, we keep her in a pen with pads so no running around unless she just went outside or on a pad. Totally worth the aggravation though! We lost our St.Bernard and now have three dogs. Still don't know how my wife and kids convinced me to do that.

 

 

Give this a listen, if i got a dog again I'd be writing a lot of stuff down.

 

http://fourhourworkweek.com/2016/11/14/susan-garrett/

 

 

 

One of the tips:

 

 

Thank you all for the kind words and condolences regarding our last dog GG! I appreciate it, as well as the house-training tips for "Noname"! She was running around the house like a nutcase last night, came skidding into the living room while my Wife and I were watching TV, promptly arched her back and dropped one, sniffed it, and then kept right on running. Those 5 seconds were the only time she stayed still for a solid 4 hours. LOL. Fun months ahead!

very nice

we just added a new member too

a little French. I think it was more for our Shiba. He seems a little lonely these days