Our Little Family

For a while now Mike and I have wanted a dog. Even before we were married we had both agreed that someday a dog would come. We’re dog people – always have been, always will be. So we got married and moved into our wonderful house in Sterling with hopes of getting that little pup kinda quickly. BUT, the thing about renting a house is that you don’t exactly get to choose whether or not you’re allowed to get a dog. So Mike called the landlady and asked what the chances were that we could get a dog. As far as I knew she said she was not comfortable with it because of previous renters. Needless to say we were pretty bummed.

Fortunately for me I have a clever husband who knew if he told me the landlady said it was a go (which she did) then I would jump on the first opportunity of a puppy. He took matters into his own hands to find the perfect puppy for us. Then one day I got a call from him. He was over at the church working on homework and he asked me what I thought about Miniature Australian Shepherds. I was confused. As far as I knew we weren’t allowed to get a dog so I kept asking about the landlady and he kept pushing it off. He then told me about a little puppy named Love. He was born on September 12th in McPherson, KS. He sent me to a website with some photos and he had just gotten off the phone with the breeders who explained to him in detail what it would take for us to bring him home.

This is Love at 4 weeks old…

Isn’t he just the cutest? Well now he is even cuter and he is safely HOME! We spent the last four weeks preparing for this little guy who we’ve decided to name Alfred. We bought a crate, food bowls, a leash, a collar, grooming tools, a clicker for training, a training book, and treats for the pup. We researched his breed over and over. I watched videos of other mini australian shepherds. We read a training book that is completely based on positive reinforcement. We pretty much geeked out over the fact that we were getting a dog. I really thought that we would just get a dog randomly at a pet store and be completely unprepared but I really loved being able to psycho prepare for him. We were able to talk about training him and how we wanted to raise him. We were able to really plan for him and it was great. But it is definitely better now that he is here. We love him so much and are so excited about our new little family.

Meet Alfred at 8 weeks!

He’s a great little pup. Like surprisingly great. We were expecting a lot of sleepless nights and a lot of accidents in the house. He doesn’t whine at night – and now he is sleeping for about 7 hours until he gets us up to go potty. He whimpers in the house when he has to go potty and has only had two accidents. We sure are blessed by this little man.

He’s timid and very cautious but we are starting to see spurts of energy. He is no longer afraid of the kitchen but has yet to go into the bathroom. It’s really precious. The first few days he wouldn’t eat, but this morning he ate all his food in one setting.

We’re learning lots and having lots of fun. Today we’re off the Wichita so Mr. Alfie can’t meet his grandparents (yep I’m that dog owner) and we’re really excited to get some time with my family.

That’s all for now. I’m hoping to post some more this week.

See you soon!
The Jaderstons