Introducing Parker

Since losing Reilly over two years ago husband and I have talked on and off about getting another dog. Juneau is a very high energy dog and while Roxy likes to play she’s just not of appropriate size or physical aptitude to keep up with her sister. Also, I greatly miss having a cuddly dog. Reilly was almost always right next to me on the couch. Juneau is of the variety that if you are touching her it is just so exciting she can’t contain her licker. She just recently figured out cuddling in bed in the morning when she’s still feeling sleepy. Roxy on the other hand is only interested in cuddling if there’s something in for her like rubs. Stop rubbing and she’s out.

For the last year or so I was casually looking at breeders and on petfinder. I would love to adopt but all of the rescue groups for the breeds we wanted have the most insane rules that we couldn’t qualify. Finally a couple of weeks ago a really cute terrier mix popped up and we applied. We got chosen for a home visit and really liked the dog, only to have him get snatched up by one of the foster families in the group. Meeting that dog then not getting him really got us thinking and feeling like now was the time of the year to get a puppy if we were going to do it. Otherwise with my work schedule and other plans we were looking at waiting another year. We found a Wheaten breeder and heavily considered that, but ultimately happened upon an Australian Labradoodle breeder about an hour from us. I really like how stringent the Australian Labradoodle breeders are versus a regular Labradoodle. I want to end up with a healthy and happy dog.

On Friday the husband I drove out to the breeder’s place and met with 3 different dogs. The first one was absolutely adorable and had the same energetic and happy-go-lucky attitude as Juneau. I immediately loved him. The second one was very shy with us (but not the breeder) and so we pretty quickly decided against him as he would be very overwhelmed by our dogs at home. The last puppy we met was the oldest of the three at 12 weeks. He was happy but not overly enthusiastic like the first one. He crawled into my husband’s lap immediately and flopped over onto his back for pets. At first I was a bit unsure because he didn’t seem as interested in me and wasn’t as responsive to being called over. Ultimately we met with the first puppy again and decided that the calming presence of third puppy would be the best fit.

So meet Parker!

So excited to join the family

He went to the vet for a check up yesterday and is 14.9 lbs. He’s supposed to get to the 25-35 lb range. We are hoping on the bigger end so he’s around Juneau’s size and I think his current weight bodes well for that happening.

Sophisticated

He very quickly made friends with his siblings and everyone has been having a great time running around together, especially Parker and Juneau.

Surrounded by pooches

So far he’s been a pretty quick study. Last night he went all night in his crate without needing a potty break. I’m sure at some point we will have an accident in the house but so far we haven’t. He didn’t care at all about wearing a collar and we just decided to attempt a walk on a leash and he was agreeable from the start. It took him a few days to get his appetite back but he’s now taking his cookies happily and chowing down three times a day with his sisters.

Of course he’s still a puppy so he’s occasionally part piranha and is loving grabbing the kitchen towel off the oven and running away with it gleefully.

Air conditioning vents are the best

He is still the cuddliest puppy I’ve ever met and I take advantage of it as much as possible. When I got home from work yesterday he ran right up to me then flopped over on my feet for some love. Melts my heart.

Just hanging out being cute

He’s been out to meet the horses and was completely chill even when Stampede walked up to snuffle him.

I was putting on my boots and chaps to go to the barn and I look up to see him like this. <3

Looking forward to raising this guy and getting in all the cuddles.