Puppy!!!

I would not have guessed yesterday morning that I would be a dog owner but... surprise! We got a puppy! She is a Rhodesian Ridgeback/ Labrador mix. So the ridgebacks most distinguishing feature is that along their back/spine the hair grows in two different directions so they always have a Mohawk on their back. This breed of dog was originally (and still is) used for lion hunts in South Africa so they are extremely fit dogs that show extraordinary devotion to the family's that own them. The locals take them out in packs of 20 and by the time the catch up with the dogs they've cornered the lion and kept it at bay till the owner can shoot it. Not a bad herritage. And the great thing about it is that they aren't violent dogs. Very friendly and gentle in fact and then you throw a half Lab in there and we think she'll be great. Cody served in a town in Russia called Vtipsk and for some reason he always wanted to name a dog after it (go figure) so we decided to name her that and call her Tip or Tipsy or Tips (depending on how much trouble she's in at the time). So far she has barely even so much as whimpered and drum roll please... hasn't even had a accident in the house! I know! Potty trained at 3 months! Who would have guessed? She is doing great with Gage except that she doesn't know her limits with him yet. She can be a little rough and then he cries which makes her lick his face all over to make him feel better which only makes him cry more. Oh- funniest story of the week! So I took Gage and Tipsy to grab some free couches and something you need to know about Tipsy is that she is terrified of driving in the car for some reason. So I loaded up the car and walked away for a few minutes just to talk to the homeowner and when I came back I discovered that Tipsy (in her terrified state) had climbed up in Gage's car seat with him and was curled up on his lap. Now Tipsy isn't a small puppy at all! She was almost totally covering him and poor Gage was in hysterics. No doubt Tipsy was trying to calm him by attack licking his face the whole time. Oh priceless! It took me 10 minutes just to calm Gage down but it was worth the 30 minutes it took me to stop laughing. Anyway- the story behind Tipsy is that the home she came from only owned her for two weeks and decided to give her up instead of the 30 pound, 10 year old, bright orange cat. Turns out Tipsy's lion hunting instincts had taken over and she was constantly "herding" and "cornering" the cat (who, in Tipsy's defense, strongly resembles a lion). So the owner decided that their pet of 10 years deserved to stay over the dog. And the best part is that for just $25 they gave me a huge bag of food, a dog bed, tons of toys and treats and a $30 pooper scooper. What a deal! Plus when they got her from the store two weeks ago they paid $75 for her so we got a great steal! And I can already tell that she is going to be pretty easy to train. Both breeds are known for their intelligence and I can already see that in her so she should learn her lessons very quickly.Both breeds are also known for their size (75 + pounds). Yikes! Poor Gage just has to survive till then. So without further ado here are some cute pictures of her.