Adding to the Family

With Cheyenne gone, I've had some mixed feelings. The house has been pretty quiet and we really miss having a canine companion. When Mark's out of town, I don't feel so safe. On the other hand, is it too soon to be thinking about another dog? We've been keeping our eyes on the shelters and visiting once in a while, with an "if it happens, it happens attitude". The next dog we get is Mark's pick. His requirements: it needs to be a lab and it needs to be a boy to help balance out the estrogen in the house (counting the cat, it's currently 3 to 1). Then we saw this one. He was a stray around 3 year old. We visited with him and loved his disposition. He was calm and well behaved - no jumping, no happy tail, no mouthing like other labs we had looked at. He was extremely malnourished, weighing only 40 pounds. His coat was coming off in chunks. Mark decided he was the one and with in an hour, we had a new dog.

When we got him home, it was obvious that at some point, at some time, he had been very well loved. He knows sit. On the leash he wants to walk on your left side and he doesn't pull much. With the exception of one accident (which we think was caused by over-excitement while playing fetch), he's housebroken. He doesn't pay any attention to the cat. Doesn't bark at other dogs or people. When playing fetch, he drops the ball in front of you. If it's not close enough you can say closer and he will pick it up and bring it near to you.

His only issues: He doesn't know any other commands, including lie down (not a big deal) and he constantly barks while in a car, and I mean constantly (a very big deal and a headache - literally). Not sure if something happen to him in a car or if he isn't use to riding in one and freaks out. Overall he is real gem.

So without further ado... introducing the newest member of our family - Champ.