Yep, we got a new addition to the family on Monday.
Its all black with a little white spot on the front!

Check it out:








Sorry for the extreme poor quality.

He's an 18 month old black lab mix that we adopted from the local animal shelter on Monday.
They tell us he's about 18 months old and wieghs in at 75 lbs.
We named him... what else?

"DIESEL"

 

Good looking dog! and of course I approve of his name

 

Coolness. The right animal will bring you years of enjoyment if treated properly. I wouldn't trade anything in the world for my three, the pig, the moose, and the flash.

Now the name, we gotta talk about that.

(all three of mine are in my album along with the fourth one who is no longer with us)

 

Yeah,
we had another black lab that we got as a very young puppy.
Soon after bringing him home, he got Parvo. However, with several mouth-to-snout recessitations, we were able to get through that and that dog turned out to be one of the best animals Ive ever had.
We had to put him down after 14 years. He was a good dog.

Diesel is going to be more of a challenge because we dont know his history. At 18 months, he's already picked up some habbits that we're going to have to break and teach him others he's never been introduced to.

Once I get better photos, I'll place them into my photo section.

Rich.

 

That is a cool name.

 

What kind of torque you getting with it?

 

We bought a pull rope toy (The kind with a large knot on each end for the dog to play with).
I tell you, it takes both hands and a good footing to be able to hold your own when Diesel is pulling on the other end of that rope.

He loves every minute of it.

Rich

 

Nice looking dog, take good care of him. I lost my dog and best friend right before Christmas. We believe he was poisened by a neighbor. One of the toughest things I ever been through, watching that little guy die while the vet worked to save him, but they couldn't do it and I had to tell them to put him down. I sure miss that little guy

 

Love the name! I sure miss my dog too... she went plum crazy on me after having to adjust from a house dog (and being my first child) to being a corral dog and not at home with her family. After $800 in tickets and vet expenses - it was either keep the dog or stop feeding my son - Was the hardest thing I ever had to do, she was my first child... but I held her in my arms while I had her killed. I still beat myself up about it to this day...

 

Thats a pretty cool looking pup there. I have a couple of Golden retrievers Shadow and Duchess We call them the fur bearing children after raising 5 of the regular kids these are a joy. These guy's are the best therapy I have ever had. Treat your new addition with love and understanding and he will be your best friend never asking more than a little attention and some excersize.

 

Yeah, right now he's wanting all the attention and A LOT of excersze!
We need to get his schedule changed. Right now he's wanting the excersize at 5:00am!
Its a little early for me to get up, run outside at 5:00am and play in a yard thats right around 5 degrees!

We've found that he's not exactly house broken yet.
We're working on that. Not too many "leaks" but he's raised his leg a few times in the house.

Rich

 

I potty trained my Shepherd with a crate. I still use it and he's almost a year old. It's great because he sleeps in there at night, like a den. If you crate train them, they get comfortable there and they're much easier to manage in terms of being inside and transporting.

The other thing I would do right away is get the dog into an obedience class. A good thing to shoot for is the AKC Canine Good Citizen certification. I'm telling you man, having a dog that is trained makes life so much easier for you and the dog! On top of this, dogs are not dumb. They read body language quite well. All the more reason to get some good books and go to obedience class. They'll teach you how to use body language in training, and how to make the dog feel comfortable and WANT to work for you. If you don't learn it, it can be a stress to your dog. I learned some of that the hard way and once I figured it out, Jonah has been MUCH MUCH easier to deal with. I am working on his obedience but I don't want too much because he needs to range out in the field. If you train them up too much, they won't range and will want to look to you for everything. Seeing how your dog is a pet, it's not a big deal.

 

Oh, one more thing. Do NOT get mad at your dog when it goes in the house. Chock it up as a mistake and move on. Be positive in your training. find a spot outside and have the dog go in that spot all the time. I found it easiest by keeping jonah on the leash and standing there, letting him circle me until he went.

Give it a "go potty" command, and when he does, praise him lavishly. Do it so much that if your neighbor looked at you, they would think you're insane. If you use the crate, and time your feedings as well, you'll have a good potty trained dog in no time. I started Jonah at 8 weeks, and he was potty trained by 12 weeks. He hasn't had an accident in the house since, and he'll give me an indication of when he wants to go out by going to do the door and giving a bark.

 

Truck people must be automatically dog people,,,,,,,, or vice vesa,,,,,, I've scolded the wife every time she brought a dog into the household, but I end up being the one that gets just as attached to them as she does. The first was Harley D, a border-collie mix that the wife gave to me as a birthday present before we were married,,,,,,,,, couldn't be upset about that one. Then someone dropped Scooter off as a pup and we thought she looked like she was going to be a Rottwieler,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, well,,,,, until she grew up and we still ain't figured out what she is,,,, but you couldn't ask for a better dispositioned dog. The two little Mexican-Micro-Mutts jump all over her and pull on her ears and she ignores them! ,,,,,,, Oh yeah,,,,, the Micro-Mutts,,,,,, the wife was going to get a Chihuahua to replace our old one and came home with these two. One female (Roo) and her runt brother (Cockroach),,,,,, those are the names I gave them,,,, not the ones she gave them. Now the little ones go everywhere with us while the two big dogs stay home and watch the homeplace.

 

Oh no, a furry Rottweiler.
Those two faces are priceless.