Our Dog, Tex

We got to pick up our puppy on Tuesday. We were so excited - we wished we could have picked him up earlier, but it didn't work out. Alison and I had a rare instance where we both had to travel for work during the same week. We both flew out on Monday morning. We actually weren't going to pick him up until Friday (when we were both scheduled to be home). Unfortunately, Alison's grandfather's health deteriorated and we had to come home on Monday afternoon to say our goodbyes. Since we were both homes we decided to get our puppy. We knew we could use the joy he would bring into our lives at this sad and difficult time. 

We got our puppy from Despain's Livestock Bar D Kennel. The kennel is run by Nannette. She is an awesome breeder. We visited the ranch a few times before we picked up our puppy and we were impressed with the facilities and the operation. 

We met both the sire and dam of our puppy. The dame was Tator. She is a small, striking miniature Australian Shepard. She has really unique coloring and a great temperament. Tator comes through the original Bar D line. Nannette has kept great records about the history of each of her dogs. She is very meticulous that way. We have a copy of the family tree for Tator. 

The sire is Shot. He was an energetic, friendly dog. He also has beautiful colors and a thick coat of fur. He is also small but is very solidly built. I went to lift him off the ground and was surprised at how solid he was. We think that our puppy will take after Shot. They appear to have a very similar build.

We decided to name our puppy Tex. We spent a long time considering potential names. We wanted to find a good dog name that also referenced the Yankees. We decided Tex would be the perfect name. Our puppy is named after one of our favorite Yankees, Mark Texeira. Texeira signed with the Yankees in 2008. He went on to be their primary first baseman from 2009 to 2016. He helped lead the Yankees to a World Series Championship in 2009. He was a contributor on both sides of the ball and was a great Yankee. We also love that both he and CC Sabathia (who our cat is named after) signed in 2008 and were core members of the 2009 world series team. Texeira and CC have been two of our favorite Yankees during the early years of our marriage. It feels appropriate that we have named our pets after these two Yankees.

To prepare for Tex we read a couple of books about raising puppies. One was Super Puppy (recommended by Kristin) and another was The Art of Raising a Puppy by the Monks of New Skete. Both books complemented each other. They focused on the importance of dominance and building a good foundation for training your puppy. There were many takeaways that we took from these books and we hope the lessons we learned will help us raise our puppy more effectively. I am sure we will be rereading sections as we work our way through this process (I was actually rereading the section about the first night as I was putting Tex to bed on Tuesday night). I enjoyed The Art of Raising a Puppy more. The Monks of New Skete went into a lot more detail and extrapolated their lessons with stories illustrating the joy of having a puppy. I particularly loved the last paragraph of their book:

"For many of us, this love for creation depends on the relationship we form with our pets, particularly our dogs. By their very makeup and need, dogs draw us out of ourselves: they root us in nature, making us more conscious of the mystery of God inherent in all things. When we take the time and energy necessary to raise our puppies correctly - when we learn to truly listen to them, see them as they really are, and guide their development accordingly - a deeper part of ourselves is unlocked. We become more compassionate and less arrogant, more willing to share our lives with another life. And when that happens, we learn the real meaning of happiness."

We gathered together all of the supplies and items we thought we will need for our little pup. By the time we picked him up, we were more than ready to provide him with a safe, comfortable, and fun home.

We drove to Axtell on Tuesday afternoon. Nannette had everything ready. When we pulled up Tex ran out to greet us. We filled out a bit of paperwork and we were on the road. We braced ourselves for a long and whiny ride home, but Tex barely whined. He mostly slept and snuggled with Alison (I had one arm on the center console and he would lay his head on my arm.) It was good he was so snuggly with Alison because we found out her grandfather passed while we were on our way home. Having this little furball sure helped lighten the mood.

We took Tex with us to the care facility to meet Alison's family. Fortunately, the facility allowed animals so we could take Tex with us. He quickly became restless so I took him out on the front lawn to play with Jake, Meg, and their dog Pancho (Tex and Pancho are littermates.) Tex and Pancho quickly recognized one another and had a fantastic time playing together. We relocated to Aleene's home and Tex and Pancho played throughout the night. They were pretty adorable.

We were amazed at how well Tex did that first night. He had a couple little accidents at Aleene's, but he was good at going to the bathroom outside. He got tired as the night got late and he just fell asleep on a chair near Alison.

We took Tex home and had a plan for the first night. CC wasn't very happy. She started to get pretty worked up and we had to chase her out of our room. Tex though could care less. He wasn't bothered at all. We are going to crate train him, but we didn't want to traumatize him by shoving him in his crate on the first night. Instead, we bought a leash and we chained him to the nightstand next to our bed. We put his bed under the nightstand. He did great that first night. He didn't really whine, except to wake us up when he needed to go to the bathroom. He did need to go 3 times. I got up each time and took him out. He quickly did his business and came back to bed. When he did whine I simply told him "No, go to bed" and he would quiet down and go to sleep.

Day 2 was full of adventures and new experiences. Tex began adjusting to our house. He and CC haven't really met yet. CC knows he is around and has steered clear of him. It is going to take a while for her to adjust. Tex also learned to use his crate he napped in it all day to get comfortable with it. Tonight he is going to sleep in it. We took a few car rides. Tex has decided he likes to sit in my lap while I drive and lay his head on my arm. Being a puppy must be hard work because he also fell asleep in my arms (raising a puppy is hard work - I was kind of nodding off as well).

We spent some quality time at Blake and Debbie's. He does good with everyone in the family. He and Blu are getting along pretty well. Blu let Tex eat his food, which surprised all of us. Blu still tries to herd Tex, and Tex gets a little annoyed, but I think they are going to be good friends.

So far we have loved our little puppy dog Tex. He has been such an awesome dog. We are so excited for him to grow up. We are going to have so many adventures. We took him for a walk around the neighborhood this morning and this evening. We also took him to the pet store and the grocery store. Everywhere we go people love him. He is such an amazing dog and we are so happy that he is ours.