Our New Addition

It has been a crazy week around our house.  Not only did I go back to work (it's just a contract job, but it's work), but we celebrated two years of marital bliss, and brought home this sweet guy:

Looking a little nervous on our ride home

Our little guy is a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, or a Toller for short.  As the name implies, Tollers were bred to look like foxes that lure water fowl in for duck hunters (apparently this action is called tolling...clearly we didn't pick our pup for hunting).

Locked up in puppy jail and hating it

Due to their red coats, they are often mistaken for mini golden retrievers, but they are smaller, males topping out at about fifty pounds.  At just under ten weeks old, our pup only weighs about ten pounds currently.  

Tollers are known for being smart, energetic, and friendly, which were all things we were looking for in a family pet.  We're already working on commands and training, although this first week has been much more about getting used to a new environment and routine.

Practicing the sit command

He definitely has separation anxiety (although I might have it worse) and wants to be with us at all times.  He can be a handful, but we are already smitten with this little guy.  

Already tired of me taking his picture

We haven't committed to a name quite yet, but my suggestions of Waldo (so we could teach him to bark when we say 'Where's Waldo?'), Ferris (for Ferris Buehler, obviously), and Shane (come back Shane!) were all shot down.  If we adopted a girl, I wanted to call her Carmen Sandiego so I could sing the theme song and have her bark.  Obviously, Brian is not recognizing my brilliance at picking out dog names.

And that's been our week.  I hope to write more about our house search and pup as soon as he lets us get a decent nights sleep :)

Happy weekend!