A Surprise Introduction

 I Would Like To Introduce To You

Hi everyone! I would like to introduce you to a new family member of two weeks and a couple of days! His name is "River" and he is a seven month old rescue pup from our local Humane Shelter. We were only going to "look" a couple weeks ago at the shelter and, of course, this cutie was staring between the kennel bars at us and The Mr. fell in love. I met him and agreed that he would be a good dog for us. He does have high anxiety and is on meds for that. He is also full of puppy energy and definitely keeps us on our toes!

Overall, River is a very good boy and doesn't have a mean bone in his body. He is a black lab mix and loves to hike. The Mr. took him on a hike a couple days ago and after five miles he still had energy to burn! Cassie and Garden are very cautious around him and we have baby gates up to keep him contained to areas so they can escape to dog free areas when they want to. He isn't mean to them but he does want to try to "play" with them and they want no part of that. I am surely hoping that after a few weeks everyone will decide to live together peacefully. I miss the girls coming out to be with us in the living room and other areas of the house. River sleeps and has rest times in our family room downstairs so the girls love those "quiet times" of being able to roam freely. 

We enrolled River in dog training right away and our first "class" was definitely one we will remember forever! There was no air conditioning in the room and it was blazing hot. As soon as River saw other dogs coming in he started barking like crazy and pulling on the leash to the point that the trainer immediately had us move behind a fenced area covered with a sheet so that River couldn't see the other dogs. River quickly discovered he could either pull to the side to look around the fence or simply knock it over! (He is a very smart dog!) He kept up these crazy antics all during the class and was incredibly disctracted by the other dogs and by a six year old another dog owner brought. The six year old kept running past where we were with River and our pup just wanted to join in on the running fun! We were told to bring "high value" treats to class and cheese was suggested as such a treat. So, The Mr. dutifully cut up a block of cheese to bring in our treat pouch. By the time class was over and we were in the car for the ride home the air was, you might say, quite odiferous! We learned our lesson on that one. 

My favorite moment, however, was when I took the leash from The Mr. at just the moment when the trainer was walking behind us. River got excited and ran after her yanking me out of the metal chair I was sitting in and dragging me and the metal chair toward the trainer. I was totally off balance and would have fallen flat on my face had the trainer not caught me! Needless to say, I decided it would be best if The Mr. continued the training classes on his own and he can show me the training after he gets home!

River has grown since we adopted him and loves his mealtimes and treats. He has finally gotten so tired that he is sleeping peacefully right now on our living room floor. We know nothing about the first six months of his life. Only that he was brought into the shelter as a stray. He says he is glad that he picked us out to be his mom and dad!! 

Until Next Time,

Debbie