Our 2 Dogs

Meet Our 2 Dogs

 My wife and I adopted 2 puppies a little over a year ago. They were both three months old when we adopted them from the local shelter  For months, every time we drove past the shelter we stopped by to see if they had the dog we wanted to adopt and make a part of our family. I saw a couple of dogs that I wanted to adopt and my wife saw a few that she wanted to adopt, but we couldn't agree on the same dog. I wanted a large dog, my wife wanted a small lap dog. My wife did not have as much experience as I did with dogs so she wanted a small dog that she knew she could handle. One day on our way home we decided to stop by again to see if there were any dogs that we had not seen yet. Luckily that day they had just got a bunch of dogs from out of state. My wife instantly fell in love with a little black and white litter of puppies. I was drawn to the larger puppies across the walkway from them. We went back and forth and talked about which one we would get. We couldn't make up our minds so we decided we would go home and think about it some more. Then one of the volunteers asked if we wanted to meet the dogs. We first met one from the litter of small dogs. My wife was in love. She didn't want to put her back. Then we met one from the other litter. I was in love. I started to think of how I could persuade my wife to get the dog I wanted instead of the little dog that she wanted. We kept talking about it and I jokingly said we should get both. We discussed it for a minute and then another volunteer walked by and asked what we thought. We said we were considering getting both. The volunteer said, "We are actually running a special right now that you could adopt both for regular price of adopting one." As soon as we heard that our minds were made up. We were going from no dogs to 2 dogs! We let the 2 dogs meet and play around to make sure that they would get along. While we were filling out the paperwork the workers kept asking us, "Do  you know what you are getting yourselves into adopting 2 puppies?" I knew what I was getting us into. I have been around dogs all my life and have raised many dogs, trained dogs, and even been lucky enough to have a couple of litters born in my house. My wife on the other hand had not been around many dogs and never thought that she would ever own a dog. She was trusting me to handle and to teach her how to handle 2 dogs. I was excited. I had been wanted a dog for a couple of years but we were living in apartments and my wife didn't want a dog. I honestly thought I would have had to wait even longer to finally convince her that getting dogs was a good decision. I was so happy to have a dog again to love and to learn from. Not only was I getting a new dog, I was getting 2 dogs!

  We have had our 2 dogs for more than a year now. We got them in April 2013. They have been so great. My wife is not a dog lover and is looking for new ways to help dogs. If my wife wasn't pregnant with our first child we would be looking into fostering more dogs and trying to find them forever homes. That is our current life plan. My wife is the money maker in this family. She makes more in one  year than I could make in three. She is the career woman. I am looking into being a stay at home dad, dog trainer, and anything else I can be that will help dogs. I feel like that is my purpose in this life. To raise a family, (I love kids and family is very important to me.) and do anything I can to help dogs in need. I hope I can establish myself and make a career (Not financially) out of helping dogs find better homes.
   Anyway, enough about our adoption process and about our life goals. Let me introduce you to our 2 dogs.

First is our "large" breed. Ginger is a "Red Heeler Mix" according to the shelter. She got her name from my wife because of the "red" hair. We honestly don't know what she is. I have had people in the dog training groups that I go to tell me that she is a Brittany, others tell me she is a bird dog. All I know is she is full blood energy! She is constantly on the move. I had to hurry and take the picture before she chased another dog. She is such a loving and affectionate dog. She is always looking for a cuddle. When she was a puppy she was the opposite. She didn't want anything to do with us. Over the last year she has grown more and more fond of being up close and personal with us. She is so athletic. She could run for hours. I have had play dates with her and greyhounds and she keeps up with them and even gets them tired. Walks seem to get her even more energized. We walk for at least two miles every day and when we come home she is ready to play and run. The only thing that I have seen that slows her down is the summer heat.

Ginger (1 year old)

    Next is my wife's spoiled little princess, Zeus. I say that she is my wife's, but in reality she is my little buddy. I can't go anywhere without her wanting to tag along. She loves to cuddle even more than Ginger. In fact, she is sitting on my lap as I type this. She is what I consider to be "clingy" but honestly, I love it. I love that she loves me so much. Even though she is the smaller of our 2 dogs, she knows how to handle herself with Ginger. She is not near as fast, but when she gets Ginger to stop, she sneaks up on her and attacks. Ginger is really good to play with her. She lets up and lets Zeus think she is the bigger dog sometimes and just lays there while Zeus bites her face and legs. Zeus got her name from the lightning bolt that goes down her back. She has the black that you can see in the picture and then a white lighting bolt that splits the two black spots in half. We also thought it was funny to have such a little dog have a name like Zeus. We have gotten mixed reviews about our naming skills. Some think its wonderful, others get mad at us for naming a girl dog Zeus. It fits her though. We love our little Zeussy girl.

Zeus (1 year old)