Kids

Meet Odin

Let me begin by saying that our daughter has always wanted a dog, always. She would bring home dog books and research every dog to see if they were hypoallergenic as my wife has some fairly bad allergies when it comes to dogs and cats. My daughter would also draw pictures of various dogs, pretty much all the time. She dreamt about them, and after a couple of years of this, my wife and I decided to do our research and give our kids, especially our daughter, a surprise she never knew coming.

Meet Odin.

Odin

It was shortly before Christmas, which was perfect timing on our part, and I had been casually searching the Wisconsin Humane Society’s website. We wanted to rescue a dog, that was our goal. We had never been through the process, so we found a dog that we liked online, and a couple of days later, I drove there after work to inquire about the dog. He was already taken. As I was a bit bummed, I learned from the staff that dogs typically go fairly quickly. That was good to know because I knew that if we were to find another one, we would have to move quickly.

There was one late afternoon, where I figured I would go online. Three terrier mix puppies were available. I quickly called my wife who was out doing some late Christmas shopping, and I said we had to go. She quickly drove home, we lied to our kids that we had to go somewhere, and we took off.

When we entered to view the dogs, we found the room, and sat there and watched, for about 25 minutes, and then we scheduled a visit with one of the staff members. We went back and continued to watch the three dogs, two of which were a bit hyper and aggressive, and then there was Odin. We was the runt of the bunch, and he was getting picked on by the other two quiet a bit. We wanted him.

odin-2

The process was quiet intensive, and the staff asked a ton of questions as to how we were going to take care of it, training, etc. I was quiet pleased with their process. After about a hour and a half of being there, we purchased a handful of items, and took off to surprise our kids.

When we arrived home, my wife entered the house to gather the kids, as I was going to go to the front door with the dog in my arms. My wife was supposed to get her video ready on the phone to capture the experience (she forgot to the flip the mode to video, and ended up with blurry images). When the door opened, I saw the look in my daughter’s eyes. She was in heaven. The jaw fully dropped and possibly a tear in her eyes. That was worth it alone. My other two boys were not that surprised, and I think one actually said something like “Really, a dog? Why?”.

odin-3

This is the same boy that loves him up and plays with him all of the time now.

Odin has been a real champ. He’s battled a couple of puppy issues with the vet already, but hopefully on his way up. My daughter baths him with no issues, and well, I have been watching endless hours of Caesar Millan’s “The Dog Whisperer”.

Needless to say, our family is now complete and my daughter’s dream has came true.

odin-4

We have a long way to go, but his last vet visit (they love him), everything was great, and he was growing just fine. Now all we wait for is Spring time where we can walk on his walking and social dog skills. He’s been cooped up in the house as it has just been too darn cold to walk him outside. Needless to say, myself and the kids throw the ball with him quiet a bit to wear him out. He’s super fast, and super smart, and he still has a lot of puppy in him.

odin-5

We just love him up. He’s got great color, big pretty eyes, and neat ears. He’s already learning to sit, and stay, however he has taken off outside three times now as my kids have not paid attention. He hasn’t gone far, probably because it is just too darn cold.

If you have any tips on training a puppy, I’m all ears!

16 Comments

  • Karen

    You are now a dog family and will remain a dog family (with at least 1 or 2 dogs) no matter how old you get. Your children will grow up and have lives of their own…..but you will always have a dog (or 2).

    You are now truly blessed!

  • Vanessa

    Congrats! Love your site! Best thing you can do with Odin is puppy training classes. Great for your kids & you. Great fun. Not only will Odin learn alot but believe it or not – you and the family will to!

  • Cait

    Sweet mother of fuzz, that’s one of the cutest little things I’ve ever seen!!! I have some pretty good* recipes for homemade doggie treats if you’re interested.

    *Quality of the finished product has been determined by the dog, not me.

  • Whitney C.

    How cute! Love the ears! I’d echo the crate training, and trying to stick to a schedule. I have a doggie cake recipe on my site, but have found a ton of treat recipes out there to make, too.

  • Michelle

    Puppy classes. As long as he’s healthy and up to date on vaccines and de-worming. Make sure to get him on heartworm preventative in early spring!!! – Licensed Vet Tech

  • Liz

    I add my vote and endorsement to crate training, puppy classes and I never thought I’d say this as I always thought it was gimmicky but I have been working with clicker training with my 9 year old rescue Karelian Bear Dog AND my now 7 month old kitten!

    Not that you can get my Montana trainer to come to Wisconsin, but her site has some great resources on the method if you are interested:

    http://dogslifetraining.net/

      • Liz

        Forgot…take a look at TAGG pet tracker. It is an inexpensive, always on the collar…GPS pet tracker and also will alert you if your dog goes out of a set boundary. The boundary is set by GPS via their website, i.e. no home installation and it will work when you travel also.

        I’ve been using it for 2 years and it keeps getting better.

        You do NOT want to have to explain to your sweet daughter (or your sons) that sweet Odin is lost. Srsly – all dogs should be trained but things happen.

        He is the sweetest and cutest – I keep coming back to look at the photos :)!

  • Peggy

    Crate training is the way to go. My dogs lay in their cages throughout the day; it’s their smaller home. If you use a crate, take him outside immediately once you get him up. Praise, praise and more praise when he does his business outside. We got our most recent family member, a 6 week oldGolden Retriever, in January 2012. It’s not fun standing outside at 5:30 a.m. with a puppy when it’s cold but it’s a necessity. We also did leash work with her in the house because of the weather. Love his name…he looks like an Odin! Also, love your site; I found the link through P’Dubs.

  • angelitakarmalita

    oh no, now I am smitten too…. that is one seriously cute puppy. I love dogs (LOVE ‘EM!), and am not currently a doggie parent, but seeing Odin makes me want to rush right out and get one! love Odin to pieces, that’s the best you can do as their ‘person’ soo cute…

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