Monday, November 8, 2010

Doggeriffic!

So, for those of you who have been paying attention to Niki’s Facebook, you may have guessed it, but if not, you now know.  That’s right…we got a dog! Well a puppy, it won’t be a dog for another several months.  I make that distinction because we recently discovered there is quite a difference between the two.  For example a dog generally sleeps all through the night, doesn’t whine when you leave, and doesn’t have accidents in the house.  That’s right, you all know this, puppies do all those things…well for a time anyway.  Someone at work told me that a puppy is worse than a kid.  Not having a kid or kids yet I wouldn’t be able to make that comparison.

On that note, Mom Holbrook you can stop hyperventilating, we’re NOT expecting.  Just had to put that out there because more than one person has responded to Niki’s Facebook status asking if she’s pregnant.
Here is just a little bit of what we know about Finn:
  • She’s super cute (Niki’s comment though I agree most of the time)
  • She’s asleep on Niki’s foot at the moment (Also Niki’s comment)
Ok seriously, here are the facts:
Dan, if I get any of my facts wrong, please let me know.  Thanks!
  • She’s a purebred Chesapeake Bay Retriever
  • Her mother is a practical hunter and her father is a trial dog who has champion blood lines (Finn’s Grandfather has 4 state championships and one National)
  • Born 9/17/10 (that’s right she’s only 7.5 weeks old) On a funnier note the date originally said 9/47/11. Apparently I don’t think Day Light Savings Time messes things up enough, Let’s redo the calendar!
  • She’s a bundle of energy and a pain to try and keep an eye on all the time
  • She loves both of us a lot and always wants to be near us. (She cries when she can’t be)
  • She loves to play
  • She sleeps a lot
  • She’s super smart (We’ve had her a whole 2 days and she’s already starting to get the idea of house training and most of the time will respond to “sit” and “lay down” commands)
  • She hates it when we’re both gone at the same time (though she’s going to have to get used to it)
Now for those of you who are interested in how we came to have Finn, here is the story:

In July of this year (2010), at the annual family camp, my uncle started talking about the new dog they had just gotten, who is only about 2 years old as I recall.  They expressed a desire to breed her.  At this news we expressed an interest in one of her puppies when they decided to have some.  Expecting this event to take some time, we went about our daily lives waiting, though not anxiously, for the news they had decided to breed her.  In September my Grandfather passed away and our thoughts were understandably elsewhere.  At the viewing my uncle came and, while waiting to speak with my Grandmother and my Father, spoke with us.  In the course of conversation he asks, “So you guys want a dog?”  To which my first thought was, “Tessa (their dog) is so horrible you’re trying to get rid of her already?”  But he continued before I could say anything explaining that she had already been pregnant when they received her.  He couldn’t tell me when they expected the pups or if they would be purebred or a pointer/retriever mix.

Several weeks later Niki and I received a phone call asking if we would be able and willing to dog sit for my uncle and his family while they were out of town.  When I returned his call I was informed that the pups had arrived 2 weeks prior.  After conversing with Niki we decided that it would be best if we declined for various reasons (which was a hard decision as we really wanted to be able to help out my uncle, and what better way than to also get quality time with Tessa (whom they have since renamed Jess) and the puppies).

Well that’s pretty much it, I mean the rest is obvious. At some point we went and visited them, picked one (actually 2 that we really liked, but decided we would rather have Finn) and went home to sleep on it.  Having finally decided on Finn, we started buying all the dog supplies we thought we’d need (boy did we ever underestimate).  Then on Saturday 11/6/2010 we went and picked up Finn and brought her home.

Now for the moment some of you have been waiting for… A PICTURE!!!

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And because I can’t just post one, here’s another.

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