It IS a Boy!

Well, we have our baby. We finally got him yesterday, after I spent the whole day cajoling, begging, threatening, and insisting that AJ get his school work done. There were times I thought maybe I was being a bit hard on him, but his attention was just elsewhere, and it took me forever to get him to buckle down and work. But finally we were able to do it. We went to the shelter and filled out the papers, paid our money and took our baby Nathan to the car. AJ was SO thrilled.






The older boys had chess club, so we dropped them off a block away at the church, and then AJ and I headed off to get puppy food, and to return the crate and collar which were broken and too small. AJ and Nathan fell asleep in the car on the way to the store.



Getting him home yesterday was intersting. I thought our Alsatian, Princess, would have some issues with him coming into her home. The truth is, our Shepherd is terrified of him. He has snarled, growled, and even snapped a little at her a couple times. It's nothing I'm worried about. I checked it out at the shelter today, and now think what they told me--that Nathan has already attached somewhat to me and is being very protective of me. I think he's also a bit jealous of attention I pay to her when he's around. So we're being very careful of their interactions, but I think with time, assurance, and training, the two dogs will be best buds. I do think Nathan might be the leader though.


Nathan also appears to be a little nervous around Josh. It's not evident all the time, just occasionally. I confirmed today with the girls who work at the shelter that he was probably mistreated or abused by a young man or teen boy. So Josh is allowed to only play with him and treat him sweetly, and has to do nothing "bad." Nathan truly loves the younger two boys. He licks Stephen on the face every time he gets around him. His cute little tail wags constantly when he is with either of the two. They have chased him, walked him, laid next to him, on him and under him, thrown toys for him, and loved on him all . . . day . . . long. Poor pup hit a point tonight where he kept moving away from anyone who'd mess with him because he just wanted to SLEEP!!! He is now zonked in his crate, and I haven't heard a peep out of him. I did have to chase Stephen off my bed early this afternoon because he smelled so "doggie."


As for the dog himself, he is on meds for hookworms and earmites or maybe a fungus. Other than that, he seems to be housebroken, bites on us a little--but only like any puppy, tries to sniff the trash (but is figuring out that he isn't allowed to do that pretty quickly), and loves to follow us around. He's a cute little thing, and I feel good about the decision to get him every time I see him, even though it is a lot of work taking care of a "baby."


So there he is--our boy--Nathan. AJ keeps thinking of new names for him. I've encouraged AJ to call him Nathan (he originally wanted to stick with the shelter name), until we really get to know him. Mostly I just wanted AJ to have some time to really decide whether he wanted to rename the pup or not. I haven't come up with anything witty yet. Oh yeah . . . the new dog owner? He's crashed too. Hopefully dreaming sweet dreams of his new best friend!