New Family Member

Here he is- Samson our new 18 month old yellow lab. We got him on Friday night from a family in Gilroy that didn't feel had enough room for him. We think he's going to be a really good doggie. He's great with the kids and pretty mellow for a lab. The reason I say THINK he's going to be great is that he's got separation anxiety right now- understandable since he's had a major life change. For him that means that he whines and yelps and follows Jeff around constantly. He's also shedding a ton. We're learning how to deal with these issues and it should improve soon. The other big issue is the Kitty Boo relationship. Their introduction went poorly. Kitty ran out pass him when we getting him out of the truck and Samson got really excited. Of course that scared kitty and in the next controlled introduction kitty hissed and tried to scratch. So...kitty comes home less and when he does he sleeps in our room with the door closed. We're hoping that eventually they'll be friends or at least ignore each other. As I write this, Tori is outside with Samson. She's been trying to train him and get him to play ball with her. She is very excited to have a dog. However, on the first night she started crying and said she wanted to take him back to his owner. We assumed she didn't like him. After talking with her we found out that instead she was very upset that her puppy was sad and she thought if we took him back he would be happy again. Complete empathy for her new friend. What a sweetheart.
Samson likes to lick baby Siah and that is fine by him. He thinks Samson is great.
A man and his Dog

So the deal with getting a dog is that he is Jeff's dog. I've got enough to take care of, feed, clean, deal with poop... so here's Jeff giving his woof woof a bath. He also built a great fenced in backyard and he's been getting up with him at night when he barks and whines. Jeff has wanted a dog for years but until we had our own home it wasn't a good fit for us and then with a newborn I wasn't into it. We're excited for him to be apart of our family. Jeff can't wait for him to play fetch and go on hikes... Oh, you can see our new hot tub in the background (Craig's List special). We've still got to get it hooked up.

Hugs

Tori wanted to name him Clifford but since he already had a good name we decided to keep it.

A boy and his dog