May 25 2008
Blaze
This morning we brought home our new puppy. We left home at 1015 for what should have been a 35 minute drive. It took me twice as long. Apparently, everyone from the Northeast is headed down to the beach in North and South Carolina and Florida for Memorial Day Weekend and they all have to drive through Stafford to get there. Once we arrived at the Breeder, we were greeted by the 3 remaining male puppies. The first two jumped on me and bit my fingers and the 3rd one came up and nuzzled my hand. Gabe then conducted his temperament testing. He had a small notebook and pencil, a set of keys, a ball, and some treats. For each task, he graded each dog with an A, C, or F. The first dog did pretty well. The second dog did not do well. The third dog would have aced the test but failed to come when called. Later, Abby conducted a retest for him to prove that he could perform the task. The third dog had a sweet and gentle personality and spent his time snuggled on Abby’s lap. When the other two puppies went back to their mom, he sat with the kids. When Gabe rolled the ball for him, he ran after it and pounced on it. We were all sold. The next decision concerned his name. We had narrowed the name choices down to 2, just like when Dale and I had named the kids. Dale wanted Blaze and I wanted Nugget. As with the breed of dog, I was outvoted by everyone. Even the Breeder took their side. So, Blaze it is. I must say this trip to the breeder went a bit better than when we picked up Sasha years ago. While we were inside signing the papers. Sasha’s aunt was digging an escape route under the fence. When we went back outside, all the adult huskies were gone. We then spent several hours driving around the countryside looking for them. You would think that would have been warning enough for us, but no. We paid our money, took her home and spent the next 8 years driving around the countryside looking for her and Czar. Blaze spent today playing in the yard, popping bubbles with his nose, tugging on his rope, and chasing the ball. The kids soon realized how much of their summer is going to be spent outside telling Blaze to “Do your business.” Blaze is currently in his crate asleep in the family room with Gabe sleeping on an air mattress next to, not in the crate.
Nothing like a new puppy to make you feel old! How much sleep did you get last night?
Who needs sleep?
I wanna puppy!
You can play with Blaze if you come visit us in Virginia!