Welcoming a New Addition to the Family
Well, Liza got her wish and she and I found a gem of a dog at the Humane Society of Plainfield today. Panda (the name given to her by her foster Mom) is a 5.5 month old Black Lab and Australian Cattle Dog mix (they believe). Her birthdate was listed as Feb 21, 2009 and she was the most amazingly calm and well-behaved puppy I've ever seen. She's exceptionally social, and just wants to be around people without really being underfoot.
This picture of Panda and Marie was taken during a 'typical' moment in the house. She's loads of fun outside with our large yard. She's fast, enjoys playing chase and fetch, but also just loves laying out in the grass and investigating her environment.
We had a 5 gal bucket on the deck filled with water for her, and she loved it. She would dunk her head, something they have said we should expect as her background is heavily into water and she's not at all afraid of it.
She's bonding well with Nina and the rest of the house. She's not having any problems with Cole, our 3 year old cat that we rescued two years ago. They seem to allow each other to exist and don't really pay much attention to one another. In the future, I'm guessing they'll be fine with each other, but it's great that now they don't fight.
Panda is a big puppy - 40 lbs, and very large paws. She's going to be a big dog, which is exactly what Liza wanted. I can understand it, she's a Farm Girl, and she misses the big, fun loving, dogs that she grew up with. She says it's for the kids, but we both know that Panda is for her. This is the little missing piece of her childhood that she wants to have back in her life.
I can't blame her, who wouldn't want a little slice of wonderful in their lives. We all need to have a few things to hold onto when the times get rough, and she certainly deserves this as much as anyone. I'm glad Panda has started out live in our house on such a great note.