A New Addition to Our Family

After 14 years of wanting and waiting we have finally taken the plunge into puppydom. Ever since I graduated and got a full-time school counseling gig and we got Kelly home, we have been in serious talks about getting a dog. We knew what we wanted and after weeks of just looking and waiting, we finally found the right breeder, with the right dog, at the right price, and in the right location.

So on November 1st we packed up the kids for a surprise road trip to "search for an early Christmas treasure. We meet the breeder (who amazingly cared for 11 puppies from the litter), her two kids, her mom, and two of the puppies on the IN/IL border to discover our new puppy.

Long story short...kids were stoked when the puppy exchange took place. In fact so excited that Sarah was speechless with almost a sad look because she couldn't believe this was really happening. We hung out for about an hour and got to know each other (both puppy and people) before we packed the car back up and headed home for Dayton with our new puppy...Foster (named after the Australian lager).

Foster is a very good puppy. A bit shy and timid, but that is to be expected in the environment without his brothers/sisters and with new owners. We are working on positive reinforcement to boost his confidence as we play, walk, and train. Kelly and the kids are walking him to school each and everyday and everyone loves it! He does great with new people and new dogs (he has 3 new dog friends in our cul-de-sac...they play and play and play). He loves to play in the huge pile of leave I have in the front yard.

He is doing well on potty training with just a few accidents in the first couple of days. The last couple of days I believe we are accident free. He is even going all night without getting up (we are stoked about that!). Plus he loves his kennel.

We took him to the vet who said he was healthy and had no worms so that's great. Everyone who comes in contact with him adore and who are we to disagree! They love his markings, coloring and overall look. We are grateful for such such a cool pooch!

11/21 addendum: I would be the worst son-in-law ever if I forgot to mention my favorite mom-in-law. She was a big part in tipping the scales for Kelly in favor of getting a dog when she told her how easy it would be to train and care for a dog in the fall/early winter. Thanks, Mom!

Here are a few pics from our first day together as a fam: