Are We Crazy?

Or maybe just absolutely insane? On January 10th, we added to our family. Not just one pup, but TWO!!! Since the passing of Maddy I think that Rob felt I was really missing having dogs around. I'm sure he was too. Rob grew up with dogs. I did not. Striker and Maddy were my first dogs, and they were both the most awesome dogs for 13 years! I never imagined life without them... and then I had to live it.



I would ask Rob about adopting a dog(s). I even looked into getting a full bred Labrador. That was nice and pricey! I had actually started visiting the Humane Society just around Halloween. I guess I was in need and I also knew that Maddy's time was short. I didn't want to have a house with no dogs. Well, after Maddy passed, we lasted a mere month!!!



Check out our new additions!! They are both boys and are litter mates, which we think is really cool. They are a Labrador/Border Collie mix. We know the mom is a full bred YELLOW lab (yes, yellow) and their dad is a Border Collie. We adopted them from a litter of 10. We were all so excited to bring them home!




This is Scooby. He seems a little pooped out. Guess the excitement was too much for him!

Scooby again. Scooby is the taller and leaner of the two pups. He also has the cutest markings on his feet. He looks like he is either wearing socks or boots!

This is Boudreaux (boo-dro). Rob calls him our cajun dog! Boudreaux is actually French for 'buddy.' When I was teaching in Texas one of my students had a black Lab named Boudreaux. Rob and I always hung on to that name for 'someday.' Well, 'someday' came January 10th! Boudreaux is smaller than Scooby but is more stocky. He seems like he's got more of a Border Collie look with Labrador hair. He's got white toes and a splash of white on his nose. He's a cutie but also EXTREMELY skittish!

Like I said, I guess there was too much excitement for Scooby! He couldn't keep his eyes open!

These next pictures were taken two weeks after having the dogs in the house. When we first got them, they were both pretty skittish of everything. After all, they were born and put in the shelter right away, so they hadn't really been socialized outside of that. Every little thing freaked them out, even the TV. Oh, and going up and down stairs was out of the question. Rob had to carry them down the stairs of the deck for the first weekend they were at home with us!

But they adapted pretty quickly. Soon enough they were charging up and down the stairs. Potty training wasn't hard, but it wasn't easy. Since they were 6 months old when we got them, they were pretty much crate trained... but since they hadn't spent time inside anyone's house, they were not house trained. They both did fine going outside when we took them, problem was that they didn't know how to tell us they wanted to go outside! So we had to watch them like hawks for signs of needing to go out.

I had heard about dogs ringing bells to let their owners know they needed to go out, so I did some reading on the internet. Soon enough I was ready. I hung some bells from the back door and soon enough they caught on. It was amazing how much easier it made things! I will admit that before the bells, I was getting a little tired of keeping up with two kids and two new puppies. But the bells have worked out and now Boudreaux (who prefers to be outside) rings them constantly. He rings them so much that Scooby never has to! Ha ha ha ha ha!

Boudreaux...

Scooby...
It's funny, because just like kids, these two are so very different. Scooby is our chewer, so we keep an eye on him. Boudreaux is much more sneaky and I worry about him always trying to outsmart us. He has gotten one rabbit so far.

They are both extremely mild mannered! It's unbelievable the way they act for puppies that are 8 months old! At first I didn't know what I was getting myself into. But now that we are almost 2 months into life with them, I am amazed at what they do and DON'T do. I pretty much attribute it to the fact that they have each other. So instead of looking to chew something up or bite on the girls, they just rough house with each other. They are also very sweet and VERY obedient. They have learned 'sit,' 'down,' and 'leave it' so far. 'Leave it' is nice because we can keep them away from the girls' toys. They are so well behaved it's amazing! We'll have to keep you updated on how they're doing.

Oh, and the girls just adore them! Taytum, who really never went out of her way to give Striker or Maddy the time of day, comes into our room each morning and sits with the dogs, loves on them and plays with them while I finish getting myself together for the day. Regan will love on both dogs and often goes to them for kisses. Both dogs are very gentle and are already used to the girls climbing and lying all over them.