The new addition to our family. She was born (approx.) July 5, 1998, or that's the date we're sticking with. She is English shepard, which means papers and a lot more fancy a classification of dog than what I've ever had in the past. She's our first dog as a family also. For the first year, the other pack members (my wife and kids) went through a major period of adjustment.
Her first summer, 1998. She's about three months. If we had only known what we had in store for us.... Potty training, dog-wise, was a snap for us. Or should I rather say, a crunch for her. Some dogs are play-motivated, some are food-motivated. Figuring that out for your dog is important for training. That's not to say she likes a good play, but she loves her treats. After a very few days of taking her outside and giving her a cookie after she did her doggie 'business', she made the connection, no problem. It *was* a problem for the first week or so when she came to our home. You see, small dogs have small bladders, and it's hard for them to make it through the night. There were more than a few times there for awhile I was up at 3 - 4 am, opening the back door so she could do what a dog's gotta do. And then (sleepily) praising her and giving her a cookie. {hey, wait a minute...who was training who?}
This is Molly and Erinn, when I was trying out a new video camera, sometime in the winter of 98/99.
One reason we went with this dog is we were able to meet both her parents and one of the grandparents, and watch them interact with our kids. That's the dad, Erinn, the mom, and Stephen the evening Molly came home. The grandparent is on the ground in the background behind Stephen. Molly is one of the adorable ones, somewhere in the cage behind.
Our little puppy, how fast she's grown! This is Molly at age 1 year and 2 months. Did I mention she likes truck rides?
Here's Molly now at three months shy of two years. When we're in the living room, this is her favorite spot by the garage door. I assume she likes the coolness of the tile floor, since her bed is just around the corner. Maybe she's guarding the door, not only the big one but also the small one the 'evil' cats use. <g>
She's lost a lot of her 'pup' but still likes her squeaky ball and chasing her big red ball in the backyard. She's also put on a bit too much weigh, and her and the Alpha male are taking walks every evening. Actually, a walk for warmup, the Alpha male runs for a couple of miles while she whines in at the front door, then another walk to cool down. She was doing some running, but there's concern within the family about the state of her hips. Lately at times she gets up and seems to favor and limp a little on her right back leg. It's not a continuing thing, and she seems to shake it off very quickly. Regardless, she is on a doggie diet, and we're restricting her to walking for now.
Molly at one month short of two years. She has trimmed down six pounds. She is currently being an Irish Shepard. We just came from the back yard and and playing ball. The newly mown grass turns her paws green.