Well, we did it. We got a new puppy. His name is Chip and he’s somewhere between seven and ten months old but we think he’s closer to ten months. I debated whether it was too early to get another dog but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed the right thing to do.Another dog can’t replace Sparky because Sparky really was one in a million.  He was smart and super energetic.  He was always getting into trouble but that’s what I loved about him.  It’s so different to have a calm dog.  We adopted Chip at an animal shelter just outside of Helen GA so it was a bit of a hike to get there.

The folks at the shelter called our vet just to make sure we could handle an energetic dog.  They didn’t know Sparky and the vet answered in the affirmative.  The funny thing is, compared to Sparky, Chip is calm.  I don’t know what the animal shelter was thinking but Chip is a dream.  Yes, he does have energy but nothing like Sparky.

The story is, he had a family but he kept getting out of their back yard.  Finally, they let him go and I guess he was found as a bedraggled stray.  They checked his chip and the family didn’t want him so the shelter kept him.  We decided not to change his name since the chip is how they found his family.

He has had zero training so there’s that.  I don’t think he has ever walked on a leash and it shows. We hired a trainer and the first thing she started with is helping him walk on a leash.  The thing about dog training is, the person needs more training then the dog!  Now I know a little bit about   what I’m doing. 

It’s a couple of weeks until our next training session but I’m working on various commands such as “sit,” “down,” and “stay.”  I’ve done some internet searching on dog training and I also bought a couple of books which should come any day.

I really want to take Chip to nursing homes and other places where he could cheer folks up so training is imperative.  There’s a designation called the Canine Good Citizen which outlines ten things a dog needs to be able to do to make it in polite society. I want him to earn this but we still have a way to go.  At least we are starting.  

I’ll probably write more about Chip as time goes on.