Balto

One of my last posts I tried to recap last year to the best of  my ability without being too long winded.  Of all the things we did last year I forgot one of the biggest things we decided to do!   WE expanded our family.
Introducing our newest family member. Balto.

This Picture was from his 3rd birthday in November 2012.  He was very patient and waiting very nicely for his puppy cupcakes I made for him.

He is a German Shepard /Border Collie and he has brought a lot of joy to the family.  The kids love him to pieces and he has found a way to sucker a whole lot out of Dustin with his expressive eyes.  I love to take him on walks since he listens pretty well, unless there is an unleashed dog wandering.  Lucky for me he is only about 45 lbs, cuz he would squish me if he were any bigger.  He seems to think he is a lap dog and if the whole family is sitting on the couch he thinks that he needs to sit with us too.  

                                                                  Those eyes!!!

We got Balto in July 2012.  After Kyla praying and begging and pleading for a a dog, her dad finally said we could start looking.  After scouring shelters and websites galore we knew a couple things.  We did not want a puppy. We did not want a small dog or an  ubber large dog.  We wanted a mix and we wanted to find a well behaved dog that liked kids and had some personality.  After much searching I found a re-homing site through craigslist and emailed Balto's previous family.  They lived about thirty minutes away and were willing to bring him our way to see what we thought of him.  WE knew we hit the dog jack pot with him. :)

Balto is :

• Great on a leash
• amazing with the kids
• plays and enjoys the cat
• the biggest snuggle bug
• eager to please
• good with other dogs as long as he is NOT on a leash.
• great in the van. loves rides. 
• wary of strangers(questionable ones) when I am walking alone with him. 

He is still working on:

• Mouthing( his previous family let him gnaw on their arms! and he mostly does it to me)
• Jumping on people.(this has been curbed by never letting him greet people entering the house first)
• Running around the neighborhood if someone leaves the gate open.(this one is mostly our fault, who can blame a dog for wanting to see the world if he has open access to it! and to his credit he RUNS back to us the moment we call him.)
• Barking and jumping on our picture window when other dogs pass by( hey, he is a dog and barking is how they communicate, but the jumping on the window makes me freak!)
• Balto hates it when we leave.  He will run past the kids and sits by the van begging to go with. 

            Kyla thought he might be cold outside. So she insisted he needed a scarf. 

I never thought twice about pet adoption.  There are so many animals in the world would need a loving home and we are grateful for this great dog who is now apart of ours.

Kyla and Balto "Thunder Paws"