I cuss, you cuss, we all cuss for Asparagus!

Ben came home with a black lab mix puppy Wednesday afternoon.  There was a "free puppies" sign on the way home from work, so he stopped and got the last of the litter.  The puppy was last because he's all black, while his siblings had more variety in their coat colors.  The mom was a yellow lab and the dad was unknown.

We made a list of possible names, mostly baby-name rejects, like Sven, Hershel, Amerigo, etc.  We decided to name him "Asparagus" and call him "Gus" for short.  It'll be easy for the kids to say, the far side comic above has been a favorite of Ben's, and my mom-in-law's dog "Yams" is named after food too.  So we thought it was a good fit for our first dog.




Ben took Gus to the vet that afternoon for puppy shots.  He's 11 pounds.  He had fleas since he came from a barn, but the vet gave him stuff for it.  We played in the yard with him some more.  He's friendly and likes to stay pretty close to us.  Joel & I ventured up to Menards where Doug helped us find all the dog supplies we needed.  Gus spent his first night in his new crate in the garage - howling from loneliness.  He's been doing a little better every night as he gets more settled in.  I have two baby gates up for when I need to close off the little front hallway for the dog & his stuff.  Otherwise the baby Joel likes to play with the dog toys and water bowl!



Ben is Gus' favorite, of course.  I'm in 2nd place.  And he likes the kids, too.  Levi "helps" by giving Gus treats when he behaves, holding the leash, and giving him his rope toy.  He gets a little flustered when Gus gets really excited and wants to jump up and give him kisses.  But we're working on having him say in a big voice "No, Gus!  Down!"  As for Joel, we spend more time keeping him from bothering Gus than keeping Gus from bothering Joel.  So far they all are getting along.

House training is going pretty well.  He wouldn't walk over the threshold at first.  Now you say "Come, Gus.  Time to go outside!" and he usually runs to you without hesitating to go out.  He's figuring out that he gets a treat after, I think.  Just make sure you don't walk in our front yard, as that's where he's decided is the best place to do his business.  Which I think is good, as that should leave the back and side yard pretty free of messes for when we play, garden, and dry clothes.

We're looking forward to having a dog for the boys to play with as they grow up.  I'm love the warmth he gives my cold feet when I sit down somewhere.  Ben likes scooping him up and petting him when gets home from work.  I wonder how long he'll be able to pick him up like that!  I've never really had a dog before, so this is all new to me.  But I'm enjoying it.  It should be much more interesting around here.