Meet Calvin!

I've been scouring the Nebraska Humane Society web site for months now searching for just the right dog. I would flag one weekly to show Tandon--he always shot me down. :)  However, when this little guy popped up last weekend we loaded into the car to go check him out.  On the way there, I got kinda worried.  I told Tandon, "You are supposed to be the strong one. I'm not sure I 'really' want a dog.  I just knew I could get excited about them and depend on you to be the rational one." I guess I learned my lesson. Haha!

Some general info: We were told that Calvin is a Parson Russell Terrier around 5-6 months old.  He weighs about 7 pounds and is cute as can be.  The vet thinks he will grow to be around 10-15 pounds. 

I should have blogged about Calvin on Saturday evening when we were still in the honeymoon phase. Sigh!

He has been an absolute angel . . . at home.  He is super cuddly, crate trained, house trained, and has a mutual agreement with the kids to ignore each other--which is perfect for our kids. :o) I went to bed on Saturday night singing the praises of his previous owners (who had him for about a month and found out they were allergic) and promising myself in the future to only get dogs that someone else had trained.

The trouble started on day two when Calvin met some neighbors.  He would NOT stop barking! And even attempted to nip at one neighbor's hand.  NOT OKAY! Then on Monday the kids and I took him to the vet.  By the time we got home my blood pressure was out the wazoo!!  Calvin barked the WHOLE time we were there.  I felt like the mother at walmart who's kid is throwing a fit and everyone's wondering why she doesn't do something about it.  I kept apologizing to the other people in the waiting room.  (Luckily my children were well behaved, so I left with at least a little dignity.  Haha!) When we finally saw the vet, my angel-of-a-dog (who was still barking, by the way) attacked the vet's hand--not just nipped this time, but attacked. Oh my--I was appalled! 

Having since researched Parson Russell Terriers a little more, I have learned that they are very protective of their family.  Luckily for Calvin, Tandon and I are 100% sure that he would never bite our kids or he would already be out.   However, we have a lot of work to do to socialize the little guy because we can't have him biting other people. 

After my little rant, I guess I should end on a positive note.  Calvin really is a cuddly sweet heart and a people pleaser. . .  at home.