Jack has been asking for a dog for several months but with the crazy summer we had traveling and then starting the potty training with Ethan I was not ready to add more craziness to the mix.
This past October I finally commented a few weeks ago that I was ready to start looking -- thinking we could start visiting the animal pound and looking at dogs, waiting for the perfect one to find us. Well, not more than four hours after I made the comment to Jason that I was ready to start looking/talking about adding a dog to the family I think Jason had found a local dalmatian breeder and had paid for one.
Gulp - we are all in!
Meet Bandit - at the time of this photo he was 10 weeks old.
We actually drove out to the breeder to surprise the boys by showing them the new liter we would be picking from but as we drove away (they were a few weeks away from adoption age) Jack was so sad that we decided to turn around and adopt an older puppy instead. Needless to say, the boys were happy!
Dalmatians, by breed, are a very smart dog, which we've learned already. He crate trained himself within a couple of days!!
There are also a unique breed in that they stay in the puppy phase for two years. Gulp, yes that is TWO YEARS!
I can handle it as long as that doesn't mean he chews on things for two years.
Now, at almost 15 weeks he is basically potty trained, knows his name, comes when called (most of the time) and can sit on command. His biggest issue, as with all puppies, is the chewing on EVERYTHING -- his favorite thing to chew on being Wyatt.
He is a dog that is full of energy but with three boys it's not too much of a problem to wear him out.
He also likes to chew in Ethan's stuffed gorilla and when he gets to be too much for Ethan he'll shout, "No - shoo!" It's the cutest thing ever!!
I think it's safe to say he is happy here!!
Now if only I could crate train the boys.
He REALLY wants to play with Amber but she is still skeptical of this new pack member. Luckily our next-door neighbors have a little dog that loves to play with Bandit. Wonder how he will react when Bandit is three times his size?
He is such a little lover and is most content when he can lay in your lap and in the morning when he crawls in bed with Jason, he loves to nibble on his chin.
He is crazy obsessive with the dog bones we give him but super sweet and loving with everyone.
Above all he is Jack's dog. He sleeps with him at night (when he doesn't want to be in his crate) and loves to nap on Jack's clothes when he doesn't put them away after I wash and fold them. Jack has taken on a lot of the responsibility of caring for him, which has helped.
It's amazing how fast they grow - he looks so little here and it was only a couple weeks ago.
A boy and his dog - LOVE!
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