Reba joined our family on November 21!  She belonged to a Fur-Fetched client who could no longer keep her.  I had been walking Reba for about 3 weeks so we had gotten to know each other and I found myself looking forward to getting her out in the fresh air every day.  Her owner was having a hard time house-breaking her, a challenge for any owner who is gone all day.

Fortunately Reba likes other dogs and fits in well with our clan.  She is very shy with people though, particularly men, so we'll be working on that.  She's already doing better with my very tall son and the housebreaking is coming along very well.  She's a good girl!

I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but anyone who is considering getting a puppy needs to be able to be aware of several things:

1. Puppies need your time.  If you are not home during the day, you will not be able to supervise your puppy and get him out to potty when he needs to go.  Crating a puppy for extended hours will teach your pup that it's ok to go in his crate. If you want a puppy and work all day, you will have to hire someone to care for your pup.  Once-a-day outings are not enough! Day care or multiple visits are the least you will need to do. This will cost money!

 2. Socialize your pup!  He needs to meet lots of friendly people of all ages, shapes, sizes, and varieties.  Same for other dogs, and other animals too if you can.

 3. Train your puppy -- go to a group class for dogs his age.  Make training part of every interaction with your dog for it's life.

4.  Have fun with your puppy.  Be silly, be goofy, play games, teach tricks. 

5. Find something fun to do with your dog -- like flyball, agility, tracking, rally -- you'll both have a great time and make wonderful friends!