A puppy named Juneau

After I got settled in my studio apartment, I thought "what's next?". Job, check, apartment, check, another job, check. Ok, I'm officially an adult. I own a crock pot for goodness sake. I have to remember to stop at the grocery store after my shift at the restaurant to grab some toilet paper or I won't be happy when I wake up in the morning and make my scheduled stop in the bathroom. Responsibility... ahh joy.

I met my boyfriend Dave at the restaurant where he worked in between jobs. (Although he won't be pleased that the puppy gets an entry before I rave about him, I will write more about him when I have hours to do so (: . ) Since the day I met him, I annoyingly complained about how my apartment was lonely and I wanted a puppy. As days and weeks went on I obsessively checked the internet for any news of puppies in our area.

It got to be Christmas time and Dave ended up telling everyone at work he was getting me a puppy for a gift! After I found out, I was soooooo excited. He ended up telling me so I could help pick out the perfect one. A few weeks after Christmas we went to the ASPCA in Charlottesville and fell in love with a puppy we named Juneau.

We took him into the adoption room and an hour and a half and a hundred fifty bucks later, we carried the little guy out of there. (Funny story: the day we adopted Juneau, we had nothing ready. No crate, no leash, nothing. What's more, the both of us had to work at the restaurant that night. We ended up calling his mom and sister on the way to their house begging for them to watch the little guy. Thankfully they were more than happy to!)

Juneau has been a huge pain in the ass and I would have it no other way. I cannot believe how intelligent he is. He was, for the most part, potty trained in a week. Of course he has his spiteful accidents when we leave him alone for more than an hour. At 3 months he can sit and shake on command. He can play fetch and bring the ball back to us.

I took the nugget to the vet for a checkup. The vet, after what seemed like hours, told me that dogs are pack animals and they need to know who the pack leader is. I took this to heart and came home to tell Dave the news. Of course, Dave took this too far. He now speaks of himself as the "pack leader". He disciplines Juneau, whereas I give in to his cute little puppy-ness.

I still can't believe I own a puppy, who will turn into a dog. I look forward to years upon years of memories with him. He is already so loyal. I love him to pieces, and although Dave gets fed up with him very easily, I know he loves him, too. It's like my own little family.

Juneau the weekend we brought him home. He is a lab/shepherd mix.