Newest Addition

Mike and I had been talking about getting a new dog. Poor Sammie is getting up there and we thought it might be a good time to add a new dog so that it might pick up on some of Sammie's traits/ temperament. I looked and looked online for a dog from a rescue or shelter. We wanted a smaller dog and I quickly found that they go quickly. I knew what breeds we wanted to avoid and looked up ones that were good with kids. We finally found a bassador, 1/2 basset hound and 1/2 lab. Both breeds are great with kids. He was 3 years old and already housebroken. We went to meet him and he seemed very laid back and good with the kids. We decided to go for it and brought him home. He and Sammie got along great and he paid no attention to the cats. Everything was great until later that night. Landon went to pet him and he barked at him. I thought that maybe he had just had a long day and needed to have some space. The next day, Mike was home with the 3 youngest. He said he was sitting in the floor with Keaton and when he (Keaton) made a sudden movement, the dog lunged his head toward him. No growl or snap but he definitely reacted. At this point we were thinking it might not work out. He loved playing with the boys and loved to be petted but we just didn't thhink we could trust him with the little ones. Later that day, he growled while Noah was playing by him. That was it. We knew it wasn't a good fit. Luckily, the rescue gives 10 days to see if it works and if not, they take the animal back and you get a refund.
The boys were sad but when we explained we couldn't take a chance on him hurting their baby brother, they understood. I had really hoped to avoid the puppy training but the more we talked about it, we decided a puppy was the way to go. That way he/she would be used to the boys from the get go. I started looking again and found a few online at a local shelter. Unfortunately, thanks to the snow storm we got, the shelter was closed for 4 days. We finally got to go and after looking at a few young dogs/puppies, we decided on an 8 week old Carolina dog mix puppy. She was one of 4 and she was the smallest. I had done some research on the breed and they are great family dogs and very gentle with kids. They are also supposed to be very clean and smart dogs. Definite plus! They have no idea what the father was but we are hoping the mama's genes are strong! We brought her home on Wednesday and so far so good. She's a sweetheart and loves to snuggle. The boys have been really good about taking her out to potty and she's only had a few accidents. I'm really hoping the house training goes quickly! I think we made the right choice and I'm excited to watch her grow up with the boys!