Rooney

Tonight’s post is dedicated to Rooney, our beloved puppy.

It is hard to believe that he is almost 9 months old! And that he has only been around for about 6 months. David and I both grew up with pets, so when we got married it wasn’t long before we had gotten a cat. And a cat is a great pet. However, as I think most people would agree, dogs are much better.

This past summer David and I began to look at puppies at the humane society, then online, and then came the day when we purchased a “Puppies for Dummies” book. We used this book to help us to decide if we were ready for a puppy, what kind of dog would fit our lifestyle and how to pick out the perfect puppy. We decided that we definitely wanted to rescue a pup from a humane society and that we wanted some kind of Australian Shepherd mix (they are a great, smart, eager to please breed!). One day late in July I found exactly that at a tiny humane society in the-middle-of-nowhere Kentucky. We went to the shelter one Friday evening to see if the little guy was perfect for us and of course, couldn’t resist. So we brought home this sweet, adorable guy :)

It is so crazy to me how much a pet becomes a part of your life, and so quickly! The first few weeks David and I weren’t sure what to do with him… other than the obvious: feed him, give him water, attempt to potty train him. One of our early mistakes was to try to walk him.. like for miles.. when he was about 12 weeks old. We soon found out that wasn’t going to work!

Soon Rooney had a wonderful friend named Silas! He was the puppy of one of my good friends.

As the summer progressed and Rooney got older we started taking him to dog parks, to the farmer’s market, on short, reasonable walks and for lots of rides in the car. He was so easy to potty train and in the past 6 months he has learned an impressive amount of tricks. He really is eager to please us :)

Now I really, really love this dog. I love to take walks with him, play fetch with him, and it is so great to come home to a pet that is really excited to see you. Also, it has been great for David and I to train him together and share the responsibility of having a puppy. I must admit, Rooney’s worst habit is chewing (and he doesn’t really do that a ton) and he just so happens to get a hold of a lot more when I am not around… but we are working on it!

Here is the mischievous side of Rooney…

And the sweet side :)

He has definitely grown up quickly on us…

It has been really fun to see his personality grow as he gets older. He is definitely a funny dog… very attached to us and timid around other dogs. He is scared of a lot of things, like the vacuum cleaner and hairdryer, and he absolutely hates it when you pick anything up high, like a backpack, box or a bag. He is definitely playful, but also very sweet and, of course, he terrorizes our cat (like any good dog would).

We are not sure if he is actually an Australian Shepherd… he probably has some hound or Beagle in there somewhere. But his temperament and size turned out perfectly for us.

I am not going to lie, having a dog is a big responsibility, especially with us both being in grad school. But it is very worth it!

Now you probably think I am obsessed with my dog… which may be slightly true. I just really love how big a part of our family he has become and I am very happy with our decision to get him. It has taught us a lot and has been hard at times, but Rooney is a wonderful pet and we love him!