A Gentle Giant

If someone would have told me a year ago that I would be teaching a puppy the difference between speak and whisper while doing homework, I would have laughed.  To my surprise, that is exactly what I have been doing.  On June 2, 2010, a tank of a black lab puppy - now named Jack - came into our lives.

Today was one day after his fourteenth week birthday, or at least that's what we were calling it.  Nearly three weeks ago, Jack was waiting for us on one of our random trips to Gander Mountain.  On that day, the only thing on my shopping list was a turkey mount - I thought.  As you may have read in my last post, I successfully filled my spring turkey tag earlier in the year.  I wanted to buy a mount that would match the other fans on my wall, and the only store near us that had one in stock was in Flint.  Because we didn't have other obligations that evening, my girlfriend and I decided to take the 45 minute trip to pick up the mount and get out of the house.  When we pulled up in front of the store, I saw that something was waiting for us.  As we walked up, our hearts melted as there were three lab puppies sitting in a shopping cart looking for new homes - two black and one golden.  After a few moments, two of the puppies were on their way to starting a new life with two nice families.  While talking with the owner, and petting the last black pup, we were informed that there were actually two labs left.  The owner said there was another puppy in the back of his truck, and that he was giant.  We walked to the truck and discovered a handsome black lab puppy with monster paws and a big bark.  The owner's daughter pulled him from the crate and set him in the cart with his brother.  After a side-by-side comparison of the two, it was obvious that the puppy from the truck was going to be much larger than the others.

We talked for nearly an hour, getting a brief history of the owner and his dogs.  It didn't take long for us to decide that the time was right to finally get the puppy we had been wanting.  Now came the hard part - trying to pick between the two.  As we looked the puppies over, trying to get an idea of their personality and disposition, the giant from the truck proceeded to place the weight of his head in my hands and gleam up at me.  I picked him up out of the cart to take a better look, and he took it a step further by resting his head on my shoulder.  At that moment, I realized I had blindly stumbled upon the dog I had been waiting for.  It just seemed right, plain and simple.  All the fear of buying a dog seemed to vanish in the blink of an eye.  It was all down hill after that.

Three weeks and eight pounds later, and I couldn't be happier with our choice.  Jack is very well behaved and is great with other people and dogs.  We're still working on the cats - they don't seem to want to play with him as much as he does with them.  He weighed a little less than 29 pounds when we brought him home and is now topping out at nearly 37.  My girlfriend and I are having a hard time picturing what he's going to look like when fully grown.  We've narrowed it down to something roughly the size of a horse.  As for his intelligence, all the rumors are true.  He is very smart and already knows sit, stay, come, down, up, shake, bang bang, speak and will ring a bell when he needs to use the little boy's room.  I'm sure he'll have whisper down by tomorrow night - if not sooner.

If you're thinking of getting a dog, do yourself and the dog a favor by doing your research. Make sure the breed you choose is right for your lifestyle and theirs.  Take your time in deciding, and be aware that they are a lot of work.  You will need to put in a huge amount of time to help them learn what is acceptable behavior, so plan for that.  If you can provide what the puppy - or dog - needs, it will be a great experience.