It's A.......

Monday was the big day when we went to meet the pups.  There were only 3 puppies in the litter we are choosing from and one is already spoken for, so that left one little boy and one little girl and one BIG decision for our family.

We drove up to the farm where the breeders live and were immediately impressed.  There was a litter of 4 week old pups in a large outdoor pen, and a litter of 6 week old pups in another large pen.  They all looked so happy and healthy and not in wall to wall crates, like I have seen at most breeders.  Even I gave an audible ahhh, because they were undeniably cute.  That is one of the reasons I chose a puppy.  I wanted to rescue a dog from a shelter but no matter how many times we visited I was grossed out by the dogs.  Sorry if that is shallow.  Babies are never gross.  You could give me a baby rhino and I would probably want to keep it so I knew that our best chance of making the whole dog thing work was to get a puppy.

I had also researched every breed and then gone on to the "hybrid" breeds in search of a dog that met all my must haves.  Two years ago I decided on a cockapoo and then started researching breeders, and have been following this particular breeder for a year and a half.  I have always been so impressed with her puppies and all the helpful info on her website.  The puppies even come home with food, treats, a 2 year health guarantee and a no shelter agreement, where she will take back any puppy if it doesn't work out.  I had high hopes and I was not disappointed.  They clearly love these pups.  They even have a barn converted in to a home for them, with heat and air conditioning, again no wall to wall kennels.  There are 2 poodle daddies and 14 Cocker Spaniel mommies and they try for 6-7 litters a year so none of the puppies are overworked.  Seth was expecting a typical breeder environment and this pleasantly surprised him as well.  While we were there they even got a call from a past puppy owner, people call for advice or just to give puppy updates.  We felt very comfortable right away.

We started out by meeting our potential puppies.  I held the girl and Seth the boy.  I had always planned on getting a girl.  Everyone told me to get a girl so it was going to be an easy decision.  The breeder told us that she usually recommends boys though for families with small children.  They are more playful, forgiving, and basically just sweeter.  She said there is a reason why the technical term "bitch" has taken on a negative meaning.  Girls are moody, less forgiving and not as friendly, BUT they are more independent and easier to train and that is what I was looking for.  We were hoping to choose one by personality but these guys were 3 weeks old so they don't do much yet.  They are just barely starting to open their eyes.

Look how tiny!  Alex said they looked like two dollars and they really weren't much longer than a dollar a piece.

After we held them for awhile we went outside to play with the older pups.

The 6 week old pups were old enough that even the kids could get in and hold them and oh my gosh, they were cute.  Some were jumpy and playful and some were sleepy and shy, and one was perfect.  A little red one who just followed us around and was happy to be picked up and played with, but not overly excited.  Sadly, this litter is ready in two weeks and mostly already sold.


The little red friend is the one laying in Alyssa's arms.

Alex is afraid of dogs but not puppies, another reason we are starting with a puppy. Chloe did not get in with the pups because she is too jumpy and I was afraid she would step on one.


Another picture of our cute little red friend.

After playing with the big pups we went back in to the babies and asked 1000 puppies for dummies questions, but still could not decide which one we wanted.  It was almost 9:00 PM and we still had a 2 hour drive to get home so they told us to sleep on it and let them know the next day.

On Tuesday we were still back and forth every 10 minutes.  Me and Chloe were voting girl, and Seth and Alex boy.  Alyssa was changing her mind every 7 seconds.  We went to Six Flags and pondered it over roller coasters and funnel cake sundaes, but still no clarity.  We talked about it and prayed about it, and slept on it for one more night, and we have finally made a decision....

It's a BOY!!!

I am so surprised, but all the most playful pups we met were boys and the red one that I really wanted was a boy.  Even though the little ones we were looking at don't do much yet, the boy kept climbing the side of the basket and letting us pet him while the girl slept.  He even opened his eyes for a quick second, and the deciding factor for the kids was the heart shaped birthmark on his forehead.  All 3 of my kids have birthmarks on their foreheads so they decided he must belong with us.

So here he is, with his eyes open even.  Yes, he still looks a little bit like a rat but scroll back up and look at what he will look like in a few weeks if you need to.

No matter which side of the basket we would go to, he would wiggle his way over and climb up the side.



I am still a bit nervous, but I am so glad the decision is made.  It was torture.  Thank goodness you don't get to pick between two human babies.  How would you ever decide?

And now, what to name him?

Our girl name was ready to go.  My brother named his dog after Joseph Smith's brother, Don Carlos, which we think is funny so we were going to copy him and name her Sophronia (JS sister), but call her Sophie.

We are having a harder time with boy names.  Seth likes garbage like Murdoch, Cartman, Griswald and Clark.  Alex likes Zack and Simon.  Chloe likes Justin (which is actually the name the breeder gave this little one).  Alyssa likes Max but has a cousin named Maxwell, and Vincent (Vinny) but that is my sister's last name.  I like Simon, Charley, Freddy, and Bernie, as in Bernie Brewer (Seth and Chloe also like Bernie).  He is not ready to come home until after August 21st, so we shall see where the name game goes from here.