Danny Boy

You may recall my mentioning that we planned to get a new friend for Maggie soon...

I wasn't kidding.  

Allow me to introduce you to our new dog, Danny.

I love him.  

Maggie?  Not so much.

She is tolerant of him, finally.  He came home on Saturday (thus the lack of blogging this week.) and she immediately decided he was the  most annoying "boy" she'd ever seen and wanted absolutely nothing to do with him.
Danny?  Well, he just wanted to play.  :)

He is a two year old German Shepherd.  By German I mean German.  He was imported (for reals!) in September and has been fully trained as a companion dog.

That means he obeys, people!

He was given his name in Germany and, well, it so does NOT fit him that we decided to keep it!
I'm sure Samson or Duke or something like that would have been more fitting.  But Danny?

So the dear woman who raised and trained him comes to my house to teach me how to not undo all her work  keep him from scaring the neighbors work with him at home.
I feed him hot dog pieces as reward.
I smell like hot dogs and, well since it is 90 degrees these days, I also smell like a hot dog.
Phew.

So why, you ask, did we go from a 15 pound nuisance to a 96 pound brute?
Did I mention he is fully trained?

It is truly amazing.  He does everything I say:  Sit, down, stay, heel, drop, come, etc. (all in German, of course...I'm sure my neighbors think I am fighting a cold)  It is incredible.  Oh, and he loves me.  When my dear hubby or the kids try to boss him around get him to do his tricks, he looks over at me like, "well, should I?" and I just laugh.

Because, at last, I have one male in this house who hears me the first time I say something!


Can I get a witness?

Danny has the best temperament I've ever seen in a dog...the kids can lay all over him and he loves it.  He is not aggressive toward other dogs, but will block a stranger from coming through our gate (found that one out on Monday...sorry, mister.) by planting himself firmly in front of them and barking until I tell him to down.  We all feel safer with him here.

I love him.

I said that already, didn't I?

A well-trained dog is a whole new world for us...and it is truly a joy.  He fits right in and we are having so much fun with him!

Just look at him.  He is such a good boy.