For Xmas of 2001, we decided to get a page-a-day calendar of bulldogs. We love their wrinkles & squishiness, and were hoping that the calendar would "tide us over" until we could get a pup of our own. We had our names on a waiting list to get a "pet quality" English Bulldog from a local breeder, so it was only a matter of time. By late 2002, we were hoping to out of our apartment & into a house, so we figured that would be a fine time to get a dog.

So, what happened? C'mon now! This is *us* we're talking about!

Geoff has this nasty habit of going on to petshelter.org and showing me all the cute puppies that he finds. Now, I know I'm a sucker. That's why I don't look at the want-ads, nor do I go to shelters or pet stores just to "look". I usually go with a purpose, such as picking up food or supplies or whatever & then get the heck outta there asap.

So anyway, back to the story... Hubby's pulling up puppies & showing them to me, gradually wearing down my will power. The kicker is when he says "We need an exercise partner to get us off our lazy bums & outside!". Suuure.. Bring up the one reason that will tip me over the edge. Darn him!

I remind him what all is involved with having a pup, especially in an apartment. Walking, playing, puppy proofing, training, buying supplies, etc. He still says he needs a puppy.

Argh.

So we start "looking" over at PAWS. There sure were some nice dogs there, but nothing that would make it under the weight limit of our apartment complex.

Next we went to Hooterville which is the shelter that we adopted Socks, our cat, from. They only had a few young pups at that location, but had a posting for their adoptable dogs which were being housed at Cascade Kennels. Off we go.

The first dog we see is Shrek. I grew up with Aussies & have always loved their temperment. And what's my favorite color? Why, the blue merle... Doh!

We walked through & took a look at all the other puppies, but the one that had really caught our attention was Shrek. When we returned to his kennel, we were offered a walk. Turn that down? I think not. Since it was raining, we ended up in a covered outdoor area where we played fetch. The pup may not know any regular commands, but definitely has talent in retrieval :)

After hemming & hawing a bit, we decided to fill out an application. We told the shelter people about our other animals, about our lifestyle and they told us about Aussie behavior (which I've already experienced first-hand). They posed the argument that having an aussie can be very difficult in an apartment. I agreed. They worried about him not getting enough attention/exercise/training, etc. to make him a happy dog. I agreed it was a concern of my own, but countered with ideas to remedy any 'problem' we might encounter along the way. After all was said & done, we walked away puppy owners :)

Depending on the month, Shrek will have one of us around all day 3-4 days per week. I know several people with dogs that we can go visit every weekend, plus there's a wonderful walking trail a short drive away. On the days that we both have to work, he gets a long walk before I leave, another before Geoff leaves and then is crated during the day. When Geoff returns, he gets yet another walk & when I return I take him for an extra long walk followed by a rowdy fetch playing session. The rest of the evening is spent doing short training sessions and taking a few shorter walks. He's usually exhausted by the end of the night, so I'm not terribly worried about the need for a dog walker during the day nor "doggie daycare".. Should he need more attention than what we're already providing him with, I will definitely look in to it.

For training, I'm looking in to the basic obedience class which is offered at Cascade Kennels. After completing that, we'll either move on to advanced or begin searching for some agility classes. My goal is to keep him happy & healthy. For him, keeping him active will be a big part of that.

I did get a few pics of our young lad.. I'm sure there will be plenty more in the future.

And now, I return you to your regularly scheduled programming.