Puppy Introduction :: BARLEY!

This is Barley, our new addition to the family!  We named him Barley since his daddy works in the beer business...

...and Barley is a lot more adorable than Hops, Grits, Yeast, Keg, or Microbiology Puppy. 

He is a 7-week old black lab, and we are over the moon in love with him.

So far we know he loves his rope toy, football toy, teething keys, k really all toys, and following me around the house!

He also likes whining to guilt mommy into cuddles which she is trying so hard to not go do right now!! Just have to fight the urge for a few nights until he settles in, right?

He also loves curling on the dead center of the couch between us and stretching out for a snooze.

Welcome to the family (and the blog) buddy!

Furbaby Search 2013

I mentioned on Friday that we are on a search for a little furbaby of our very own!  Obviously this is really exciting, and we're doing a lot of research.  Here's what we know for sure right now:

1.  New apt. is much more friendly for larger dogs.  Our current building allows up to 30 lbs. or something if you're on floors 2-4, and we're on 3.  Our new place itself will be larger, (woo hoo to 100 extra sq. feet!!) and the building's management company allows up to 100 lbs.  We are definitely thinking a dog in the mid-range.

2.  We would probably like a dog that I could run with (for no further than 4-5 miles at a time probably), and that would enjoy going on long walks around the park with us.  So an active breed!

3.   However, I have always wanted a pup that is large and fun, but also thinks he is a lapdog.  I hope when we have a house that we will end up with two pups-one true lap dog and one bigger dog!  But for now, we would both really like a more active dog.

4.  There are certain breeds that our building won't allow-even if the dog is half of one.  I know pit bull, rottweiler, doberman, and a few others are on their no-go list.  Not our rule, so no snark on the comments please, we love all dogs! 

Here are some of the breeds & mixes we are really into:

german shorthair pointer puppy via

lab/pointer mix-via

lab/collie puppy via

grown up pointer via

So what does everyone think?  You can probably tell we'd like a dog with some lab in it. B's mom has a 3 year old Australian Labradoodle that we surprised her with almost three years ago:

fin the day he came home--imagine walking into this puppy ambush surprise!

posing for pics after a Christmas haircut

2 years old!

We love Finley, and I think one day we would love to have one pup just like him from the same (very reputable) breeder.   

Does anyone have any breed suggestions?  Tips on adopting a dog?  We are planning to pay our pet fee and deposit to our management company before we even start looking at physical locations (& not like crazy people online), so that when we fall in love with a dog we won't have to scramble to get that all taken care of!  If you've adopted a dog in the Houston area, what shelter did you work with?