New Family Member

[Mr442]

Well gang, after a false start with Ocura, (who is doing great with his new family BTW!) we now have adopted another family member. 

But first, lets go back and review the past few days.  As you know, Ocura would not work out with our cat, so we had to return him to the rescue.  As mentioned above, all is well with him and we are so happy for him and his new family.  We on the other hand were kind of on the fence about what to do next.  the wife and I had decided on a young female that the cat could keep in check from the start.  We had found a few on Petfinder.com that were local and had good potential.  Two GSD's and a Golden Retriever/Lab mix.  We were also considering going back to the local GSD breeder for a puppy.

Last Saturday we were discussing which way to go, but had not reached a clear decision.  Earlier in the week I was speaking with Amber from GSD Rescue Indy, and had told her what we were looking for.  Well lo and behold, while we were finishing our lunch and the dog conversation my phone goes off informing me of a message.  I saw this picture with the message, " You want?"



OK who could say no to those eyes.   We called her back and got the details.  About 4 months old, Shepherd mix, female, who was picked up in a bad part of Indy.  We met on the west side of Indy at 6 that evening to see the little girl, and ended up bringing her home for a test visit. 

She loves people, is steering clear of the cat after a close encounter, and greeted one of my sons with tongue a licking.  He will meet the other son tomorrow when he gets in.  All is going well, and she is now a member of the family.
Her name is Bella, which means beautiful in Italian.  Yeah I know, it's not a German name, but since she is not a pure bred I figured what the hell.  Besides, I think she is going to turn into a beautiful lady.  We think she is adorable now.




She is doing well with her potty training, with only a couple of accidents so far.   After the first of the year we are going to start classes together so she and I can reach our potential.

[Henry Hawk]

Awesome! and congrats!  they complete a family!   
she really is a beauty!

[me]

Almost makes me want a dog again.  She is so cute.  Congrats on the new family member Mr. 442   

[followsthewolf]

Dog rocks!!

[Sandy Eggo]

I love her! I'm so glad that she was rescued and ended up with such a great family. eventually the cat will show her the ropes and help her get settled in.

[Anne]

Congratulations, I hope you have many happy years with her.

[Locutus]

Congratulations 442!  Looks like you made a mighty fine choice indeed!

[The Troll]

Congratulations 442!  Looks like you made a mighty fine choice indeed!

  Nice dog.  She young enough to be taught by the cat, that treating the cat nice is better than getting 10 well sharpened claws.     We had an old tom cat who taught a young pup what respect was and they be came pals sleeping with each other.   

[Mr442]

She is growing like a weed and is adjusting really well.  My oldest son came home for the holidays, and they have taken to each other as I suspected/hoped they would.   We have had her outside with us yesterday, off the leash, and she is doing well with that also.  My hands however look like I have been wrestling with barb wire, as her baby teeth are sharp.  I am getting better  about keeping something to chew on (other than me) available at all times.  She saw her first snow and loves it too.  We now have a large wire crate for her night time bed, as well as when we need to leave her home alone.  I sure don't need her chewing on something she shouldn't, especially something that might harm her in any way.

[Palehorse]

She is growing like a weed and is adjusting really well.  My oldest son came home for the holidays, and they have taken to each other as I suspected/hoped they would.   We have had her outside with us yesterday, off the leash, and she is doing well with that also.  My hands however look like I have been wrestling with barb wire, as her baby teeth are sharp.  I am getting better  about keeping something to chew on (other than me) available at all times.  She saw her first snow and loves it too.  We now have a large wire crate for her night time bed, as well as when we need to leave her home alone.  I sure don't need her chewing on something she shouldn't, especially something that might harm her in any way.

Crate training is always a good idea. We used one with our pup, and today if we get it out and set it up, he'll get into it all on his own and sleep there if we let him.   

Beautiful animal you have there. Enjoy your first holiday season together! 

[Mr442]

Update time!  Here she is at 6 months of age.  Kind of hard to tell in the pic, but she is a little over twice the size she was when she arrived, and just a tick over 40 pounds.  While we first assumed she was a German Shepherd mix, after talking with the GSD rescue lady again, and doing more research, she appears to be part  Belgian Malinois.  Definitely marked like one, correct coat, etc.  We will likely do a DNA test to find out what breed/mix she is. 

[Henry Hawk]

Awesome looking puppy!