Gideon

This past weekend I actually talked Ryan into letting us get another dog.  He is a dog lover, but has enjoyed leaving town when we like, no poop in the yard, and no hair in the house, or worries about what food or small chewable things we leave laying around.  But I really wanted a dog, and Andrea wants one so bad we hear about it almost every day.

So we found out Petsmart was having a big adoption day at each of their stores last weekend.  The first store we went to had a few dogs with promise, and very good descriptions of whether the dogs were house broken, good with kids, age, breed, etc.  But we thought we should check out some of the other locations.  We  did go to three other locations, and to the Human Society, but either didn't find the right dog, or things were very poorly run and couldn't talk to any of the volunteers.  We went back to the first store and noticed Gideon this time.

We were debating between Gideon and a Chihuahua named Zen.  Zen was more behaved and quiet, but not interested in us.  Gideon was very friendly, but barked at other people and dogs A LOT!  I figured the barking was something we can fix, but his love for us was definitely apparent, so we went with Gideon. We adopted him from a group called CAWS, and they are very particular with their adoptions, we had to provide a lot of past info, info about our house, our kids, our living situation. They wouldn't let us leave the store without a tag, collar and leash.  But we got an awesome book of coupons for Petsmart when we adopted that had great deals. CAWS may also pop in at any time to check on the dog.  I was very impressed actually that they put that much care into it. 

Since bringing him home his barking is manageable.  He only barks when he feels there's a threat, like people walking by, which is a little annoying in the morning when kids are walking to school.  But even then it's more of a growl than continuous barking.  Ryan's parents came over yesterday to meet him and he barked non-stop at the new visitors in our house, so we'll definitely have to work on that.  When he is not in his domain he is very friendly.  And when the windows are closed he doesn't bark at all.  He likes to do "parameter checks", as Ryan calls them, out the window.

His information sheet at the store said they weren't sure how he was with kids because he's never been exposed to them.  But he was very friendly at the store with Andrea, and their relationship since being home would make your heart melt.  The first night home Andrea was lying on the floor and Gideon went right up and laid his head on her belly.   The next morning he hopped right up and joined her on the couch while she watched TV. 

Last night we brought him home a toy, which he went nuts for! But he would keep bringing back to Andrea for her to grab, as if saying, play with me, play with me. 

Last night while reading Andrea her bedtime story Gideon decided to come listen in. 

Then in the middle of the night he left mine and Ryan's bedroom and I couldn't find him... well, he was in bed with Andrea and slept there all night.  So I think it's safe to say he's good with kids and they are becoming best buds.

It's fun to see the differences between Tessy and Gideon. Biggest difference is no shedding, that has been heavenly.  Tessy never liked toys and we have to take Gideon's away after a while for him to calm down.  Tessy wasn't a barker.  Gideon rides much better in the car, Tessy was so tense and didn't know how to distribute her weight well with the turns.  Gideon wonders all over the car, from me, to Ryan, back to Andrea.  Gideon loves to be outside, Tessy hated being outside.  And it's very tough for us to switch from saying "her" and "she" and switching to saying "him" and "he". 

As far as adjusting this dog has been great, no accidents in the house, knock on wood.  Eats, and drinks regularly, no chewing up anything. The only trouble is the kennel, he sure hates going in that kennel, but he'll learn.  Ryan likes to call him "old man" because of his gray beard, but he's actually only three years old, so hopefully we'll have lots of fun years with Gideon.