Mako or Ironman....

We have been talking about getting a puppy for years.....but only talking.  See we rescued 2 wonderful labs- Rocky (RIP) and Zen now 8. Both are wonderful dogs but were troubled, abused, left and inherently wonderful dogs.  In fact I'm not sure there will ever be another Rocky to me.   I digress....so when we lost Rocky we vowed no more dogs, enjoy Zen, live it up etc.

Okay well the adorable picture sort of gives the story away..... I have never had a puppy, Okay, not never, but I was 8, so not really.  Face it when a beautiful purebred Labrador ends up at lab rescue it is not because he is a stellar dog... at least not at the time.  So we rescued, reformed and have had 2 wonderful dogs.  But I decided that the next time, I was starting from scratch, or close to it. And that my friends means a puppy,

Timing is everything...no possible way can we have a puppy during IM training- cannot leave the house for ore than  a few hours in the beginning,  Light bulb goes off- coach has been after me for 3 years now to take a proper off-season.  Stop training, gain weight, get out of shape....I always promise to do so and am good on that for a few weeks and then out hammering again. So really, does it take a puppy for keep me at bay?  shamefully, maybe.  Hey better than a baby (at least for me)

So once the idea culminated the discussion was what kind....I really wanted another black lab (just like Rocky) but wanted to get one from a breeder.  Okay, I know, why buy a dog when so many are homeless and need a home...blah, blah, blahs- start reading at the top- I rescued 2 dogs! And one was  train wreck....was rejected by 2 others and we saved good ol Zen. So yes, now I am selfish.  After all this dog will be left when my kids go to college -  My other selfish reason for going through a breeder is that  I want a good running dog so I need to know the genealogy.  Rocky was a great runner, logged some 18 mile runs. Zen not so much...more of a miler kind of a dog.  I want a companion in the trails.

Okay so back to the black lab....seems a "real" black lab is the English Lab  - those are the ones breeders breed, well I like the American Lab- less boxy, smaller frame and cuter (IMHO) so I was stuck....cannot find a real breeder of an American Black Lab... so I resorted to Runners World for best running dogs. Germain Short hair Pointer or Vizsla.  I looked at GSP and well...they just don't do it for me- no attraction.  But the Vizsla....now they are cute!  and rare and expensive.... classic Julie for you.

So we found our breeder based on timing...I want the pup 1 week post Kona if possible....and magically, Mako was born  8 weeks ago and ready (well sort of ) to come home this weekend.

Big family trip to Alpine to pick our baby... you get to pick your pup in the order you made your deposit. Of the 14 puppies (yes 14) there were 11 boys and we were # 9, we laughed that the fat one, the run and lame one would be left.  We were close, but big one (who was adorable but a slug- although now I'm thinking that would have been a good thinking) the Runt (Mako) and one in the middle that was wickedly wild...more than Monster (I mean Mako)

He slept like a baby in the car and it has been a massive introduction in our house....where are is 13 bothers and sisters and his Mama?  Zen pretty much ignores him except when he is eating...this runt can eat and eat.   So we are potty training- at 8 weeks they can old it 30 min to 2 hours... that is a lot of running outside with him. 

He is a bundle of energy and then passes out..... into everything and we have to watch him like  a hawk.  We take him out to pee and he comes in and if you take your eyes off him..he is in the corner going. No poops inside...he does a crazy dance and we have gotten him out each time.

So maybe 4 hours of sleep last night, lots of up and and down the stairs....we are crate training him so no papers to pee on at night.  Training.....hardly.... he is going to be my off season!