Meet our addition ....

Remember my dog that I adopted from my great friend, Cristi, after she died? His name was Tony. I got him at 8 years old (when she died) and had him until he was 12. He was an Aierdale Terrier and was a smart, smart dog. We love the Aierdale Breed and have always considered another one. We loved Tony so much and miss him even more.

Here's Tony : )

We have been considering getting another dog. Our dog, Kuma, is 11 yrs old. Although she probably didn't want it - we have wanted a companion for her. And the kids want someone they can play with and toss the ball with. After some research and going through the rescue sites - we found a dog we thought would be a good fit for our family.

Since we love Airedales, we checked the Airedale Rescue, and found Sky (not sure where they got that name from). He's a 4 months old Airedale Terrier / Lakeland Terrier Mix. He was surrendered after his owner lost his job and could no longer care for him. We arranged w/his foster parents to go and meet him. The whole family, along w/Kuma loaded up to go and potentially meet the new member of our family. He seemed like a sweet dog w/a great personality. The boys loved him and Kuma seemed to tolerate him : ) However, I am not sure he is mixed with Lakeland Terrier - he looks more like an Airedale. He has a great personality. I was really worried about getting a puppy, but for a puppy, he's not really that crazy - he's pretty calm - which is fantastic.

So .................................... we adopted him!

Meet Teddy Wilke!

We got home and he has been doing really great w/Kuma and the kids. I'm actually surprised at how well he's doing. He HAS snapped at Kuma a few times, but I quickly disciplined him and Kuma looks at him like he's crazy : )

The neighbors brought their dogs (5 different neighbors and 5 different dogs) to meet Teddy. He didn't care for them so much. I really thought he would be good w/them. I am thinking maybe b/c he met Kuma on his own turf - it made her okay. Or maybe b/c he knows she's an old lady and she can't be bothered w/him : ) The neighbors dogs are all young (like him). I hope over time he'll learn to love or at least, accept them : )

After our meeting, his adoption, the drive home, settling into his new home (that includes pooping and peeing on my bedroom floor), meeting all his new neighborhood friends .... he was exhausted.
 

Andy and Teddy :)

And while I sit and update this blog about our new family member ..... he is resting at my feet : ) I had hoped he would let David or one of the kids be his "person" (as I am already Kuma's person), but it looks as though he's chosen me. So now, I have 2 dogs following me around the house : )



I hope tonight will be as easy as our first day w/him has been. He is crate trained, so we will continue the crate training. I have never crate trained a dog, so hopefully he does okay and is accepting of it. I'm also hoping potty training goes well, and Kuma continues to tolerate him :) We'll definitely be enrolling him in obedience school. He jumps a bit and although 4 months old, he can pull up to our kitchen counters. So - we must get that under control : )

With that ...... Teddy, welcome to our family! We love you already : )