dog owners

Well, this weekend we got a dog. No niece or nephew yet so I guess we needed something to do. Meet "Nobie" short for "The Noble Beast". Her shelter name was "Smiley", and our neighbor girl asked if we could get a second dog to name Nobie and call her Smiley.



She is a 3 year old chocolate lab mix, a little underweight. She will be around 50 lbs healthy. She may have some boxer-type dog in her, so we are hoping she stays sweet. We will have to be slow to introduce her to other dogs to make sure she stays calm and is nice to them too. So far we haven't heard her bark, and she has been 90% cooperative. I, on the other hand, have not been cooperative. It was basically my idea to get a dog and the instant they put the leash in my hands I was nervous, anxious, and speaking in apologetic terms. ("I'm sorry I wanted a dog, Grant".) He has been really good with the dog. Very encouraging of her and calling her a good dog. She has been outside every hour to use the bathroom if needed and will stay in a crate during the day. The crate is HUGE as they were sold out of medium ones so that will be something we change soon. So far we are using a leash to take her outside, but hope that we will be able to let her run around our backyard fairly calm.

Some interesting dog-owner tidbits already:
-It was instantly scary for me to own a dog!
-Grant already made a friend in the neighborhood who has a dog (he asked for advice since the guy's dog was well-behaved)
-Grant took her for a run
-She showed me how much I move around as she was watching and following me all afternoon around our first-floor
-We gave her a bath and brushed her
-She rode well in the car

here's to hoping she stays sweet, and we love her for a long time!