Burfday Present to me.

[nightflameauto]

Wife bought me a new rodent for my burfday.

She's kinda cute.

Truth is we'd been looking for a while. Then a batch of sheppard mix puppies came strolling into the humane society one day and we pounced on the only black one in the bunch. She's such a calm little thing outside of about twenty minutes or so for every four hours she sleeps. Our other pup is already in love with her. They're getting along amazingly well so far. Play times are BAST, and it's enough to keep our four year old wore out enough to want to sleep through the night for the first time since she lost her sister pup early this spring.

Our newbie, Greta, has even been caught cuddling the cats already. Funny how quick the house adjusts.

She also already figured out the potty pad we have in the entryway if we don't get to the door in time, and she's only been here a day and a half so far. Smart little critter.

Anyway, just wanted to share the joy a bit. The house feels more alive than it has for a long time. Oops, gotta go. Too many chew toys in this room!

[TurboPablo]

Cutie!

[JiveTurkey]

I love her! She's sweet! Congrats on your new addition!

[sleewell]

[JiveTurkey]

:bday:

What Slee said! Happy birthday NFA

[ajaxlepinski]

Happy B-Day and congrats on the new addition!!!!

[fretless]

[nightflameauto]

Thanks guys. Lots of activity this afternoon with her. She's either full-out, or sleeping. So fun!

[Ostinato Rubato]

Happy birthday my birthday brother!

[skybluegary]

So cute

[Beef]

Happy birthday man and congrats. That's awesome, the new pup is super cute.

Also, required reading: https://www.theoatmeal.com/comics/dog_paradox

[GuitarBilly]

Happy birthday man!!! New pup is awesome!

[nightflameauto]

Thanks guys. that Oatmeal cartoon.

She sure keeps things busy. The last couple days have been a constant stream of jumping up and running after her to see what she's in now. But then she settles down, cuddles up against you and sighs and it's all worth it.

So busy when she's up though. Puppy busy.

[VTM]

Happy new pup day!

[RyanDistortion]

OMG PUPPERS!

[nightflameauto]

Yesterday ended up fantastic with the little one. We took her on a really long walk with her sister. She does shockingly well on the leash already, only grabbing it here or there for a moment or two and I think that's more about having something to chew on than because she's wanting to pull it out of our hands. Then in the afternoon she met one of the neighbor dogs. That dog is grey hound, whippet, and rat terrier. Built for speed, but small. They ran the fence together for at least an hour and a half. Our older pup was out there most of that time running with them. By late afternoon, when they finally settled, you could just see the exhaustion. And nothing's happier than a tired pup. Our older gal seemed pretty stiff this morning. I say older, but she's just under four at this point. This is just more activity than she's had in a long time.

Everybody's getting along famously. She's already managed cuddle time with the cats, which is something we never thought we'd see with our younger cat and any dog. The older cat grew up with a dog as its momma, so that's always a given, but it happened faster than we figured with a little puppy. She's so calm when she's not playing you'd almost think she's older if not for the size.

She's a good fit for the house so far. Potty training is going almost perfectly, with only three messes in five days, most of which were contained in a toy box of dog toys which needed cleaned anyway. We think we lucked out yet again. All our dogs have been so well behaved. You'd almost think law of averages would dictate we'd get a freak-show at some point, but it hasn't happened yet.

[clipless bumper]

My co-worker from Taiwan always says 'black dogs are best' - but he's talking about how they taste.......

[IndyWS6]

Happy Birthday

and

PUPPY!!!

[nightflameauto]

My co-worker from Taiwan always says 'black dogs are best' - but he's talking about how they taste.......

Not sure Greta would be very good eatin yet. She's pretty skinny, and feels kinda gristly.

Bethany, our older one though? She's got some SERIOUS meat. And that layer of fat from her Chinese Shar Pei parts would add some good flavor and tenderizer.

Well, that went dark.



Greta's starting to get the routine now. Wake up when I get dressed, run outside, bathroom, play a bit, eat breakfast, go back to bed. Tough life for her, I tell ya.

[nightflameauto]

DNA Results:
American Staffordshire Terrier 0.375 37.5% American Staffordshire Terrier
German Shepherd Dog 0.25 25.0% German Shepherd Dog
Boxer 0.125 12.5% Boxer
Labrador Retriever 0.125 12.5% Labrador Retriever
Breed Group(s) 0.125 12.5% Breed Group(s)
37.5%American Staffordshire Terrier
25%German Shepherd Dog
12.5%Boxer
12.5%Labrador Retriever
12.5%Breed Group(s): Herding, Companion, Guard

Details:
https://dnareports.wisdompanel.com/dnar ... QxMzgifQ==

And she's only a carrier for one genetic degenerative disease, and a carrier of only one of the pairs necessary to manifest the disease later in life. Basically, she's diverse enough she won't have the hip degeneration you sometimes see in German Shepards and other breeds with that type of stance.

We're down to about one mess a day in the house, and that's only when she's overly tired and forgets to go to her pee-pad we have by the door if we don't make it in time. She's already started to curb the puppy biting problem, and she listens surprisingly well when trying to teach her something. Smart as a whip too.

She got ahold of an ice cube the other night and took it right to her little ball racetrack, tossed it on behind one of the balls, then used it to push the ball through the track. It was hilarious.

Looks like we won when playing rescue roulette yet again. She's gonna be one heck of an adult if she's this well behaved at around the three month mark.

[clipless bumper]

how much did that DNA testing cost?

our dog LOVES ice cubes - those and baby carrots are his favorite treats.

[nightflameauto]

The tests are 85 for just DNA, or 150 for DNA + Genetic Disease checks.
http://www.wisdompanel.com

They send you the kit, you swab the dogs cheek twice, send the swabs back and a couple weeks later you get that result page sent to you and you can forward it to you vet for their records.

That's a cute dog. Head shape reminds me a bit of our older dog, Bethany. She has a lot of Staffordshire Terrier in her too.

[VTM]

DNA Results:
American Staffordshire Terrier 0.375 37.5% American Staffordshire Terrier
German Shepherd Dog 0.25 25.0% German Shepherd Dog
Boxer 0.125 12.5% Boxer
Labrador Retriever 0.125 12.5% Labrador Retriever
Breed Group(s) 0.125 12.5% Breed Group(s)
37.5%American Staffordshire Terrier
25%German Shepherd Dog
12.5%Boxer
12.5%Labrador Retriever
12.5%Breed Group(s): Herding, Companion, Guard

Details:
https://dnareports.wisdompanel.com/dnar ... QxMzgifQ==

And she's only a carrier for one genetic degenerative disease, and a carrier of only one of the pairs necessary to manifest the disease later in life. Basically, she's diverse enough she won't have the hip degeneration you sometimes see in German Shepards and other breeds with that type of stance.

We're down to about one mess a day in the house, and that's only when she's overly tired and forgets to go to her pee-pad we have by the door if we don't make it in time. She's already started to curb the puppy biting problem, and she listens surprisingly well when trying to teach her something. Smart as a whip too.

She got ahold of an ice cube the other night and took it right to her little ball racetrack, tossed it on behind one of the balls, then used it to push the ball through the track. It was hilarious.

Looks like we won when playing rescue roulette yet again. She's gonna be one heck of an adult if she's this well behaved at around the three month mark.

Rescue roulette > puppy mill breeder roulette.

Great to hear how things are going! Considering your history with and all the attention you and the wife give your animals, I would be surprised if her behavior doesn't improve or at least remain consistent.