Well....we didn't end up going to the shelter. My dad had our van, so we couldn't go get a new doghouse either. We're going to do that sometime this week.
But guess what...Friday evening I went to a friends house. She was throwing a party for our highschool and we had a campout in her horse pasture. Not only did I get to see a Clydesdale be born (which was
TOTALLY awsome), but....I came home with this sweet thang:
This friend was the same one that had the litter of Aussie/Collie mix puppies earlier this year. She still has six left and they are about nine weeks old. They have never been off of their farm, so they are highly skittish, but this little girl was very friendly. If you called, "Here puppies!" she was one out of two that would actually come to you with their tails wagging. The others would just sit and stare at you or run in the other direction to go hide. She is female, of course, and is probably the smallest in the litter. I was able to see the sire of the litter (the biggest mush I've ever seen, and that includes Blackie lol He had the BEST temperment, although if he is full Collie I'll eat my socks) and he was probably only about 70lbs at the most, so I'm thinking she'll mature at about 55lbs, as the dam was said to be smallish.
She had never been in a car before when I took her to a soccor game. She whined at first and kept trying to jump out of the window, but then after she explored a bit, she settled right down and was a happy puppy. She had never been on a leash, nor had she ever been off of their farm, and she was an angel on the leash, pottied as soon as I took her onto the grass, and was a happy girl to see everyone at the game, especially the kids.
I brought her home (against Daddy's wishes, but he wasn't home so it was ok) and she did wonderful. Didn't have a single accident and pottied as soon as I took her out. She didn't like it inside as she has been raised outside, so I clipped that huge honking chain on her that weighs more than she does (it was the only one we had! lol Fifty feet long and ment for dogs up to 250lbs) and she had a blast. She played around outside for a while, and then crashed underneath one of our trees.
Sadly, I wasn't able to talk to Dad about keeping her, so we had to take her back home Saturday evening before he got home.
So now I'm on a mission to have my Dad say yes to getting her.
She would be perfect for what I want: she was raised outside, so keeping her mostly outside isn't a problem (she'd have to be an outside/inside dog, as my mom doesn't want a dog in the house 24/7), she is a female, she is going to be on the small-medium side, she'll have a thickish coat to protect her from the elements but not too thick that I coudln't handle it, she is wonderful with livestock, she loves kids, while she is a bit shy she will investigate after being startled, and in the short time I was able to spend with her, she showed that she would be very trainable and with some socialization, very comfortable in social settings. She is a mix of two breeds that excells in obdience and agility, and I'd be able to take her jogging with me.
SOOoooooo, I have to talk to dad about her. I've already showed him some other pictures (can't upload them right now) and talked to him about it. He said he didn't want to, but I think he felt bad because he made me cry (I wasn't having a good past couple of days to begin with and that just iced the cake with poisen for me).
He is worried that having her would effect my schooling (if I can raise a seven week old puppy inside during highschool, then surely I can raise a ten week old puppy outside during the summer...I wouldn't want another dog if I wasn't confident that I could maintain good grades and take care of a puppy at the same time) and about financel issues (I have a job and can pay for her. Even better, if I need to work more hours, I can just bring her into work with me! I also get a break on vet bills and such, and if I ever had to have her groomed, I can have it done for free).
I'm going to talk to him again tonight (if he is in a good mood, that is). Wish me luck!
Oh! And what do you think name-wise? I was going to call her Mae (after Sadie, we called her Sadie Mae), but I didn't really like that. After I thought about it, Mae sounds like Stay which might pose a problem in training.
Then my mom wanted to call her Sugar, because that is what she wants to name the Saint Bernard she is going to get when she retires. I wasn't so sure about that.
I seem to have a liking for names that end in the -ie sound. Any suggestions?