- Joined
- Dec 3, 1999
- Messages
- 9,437
Well, this thread is supposed to be about joy and excitement, but it would be incomplete without a bit of sadness to start off. 
If you DON'T want the typical "Nick Wheeler novel post", here is the jist of this entire thread---
**** Long story short, we're finding Shadow a new FOREVER home, and Angi, Erin, and I are getting two Newfoundland puppies***** (please skip ahead to photos and video)
If you think I'm simply giving up on Shadow, or you give a crap at all about the details of all this.... please read on.
:foot:
Many of you know the whole story about Shadow and how he ended up here, and how he stayed here. I LOVE HIM TO PIECES. He follows me around the shop (quite fitting for his name)... he is sweet, amazingly beautiful, and he has carved a spot in my heart he will hold forever.
Unfortunately, whether I love him with my heart or not... he is simply not a good fit for me, Angi, and Erin AS A FAMILY. And us for him. There is no doubt he is loved here, and taken very good care of. But simply by the nature of his breed (turns out he IS a Malamute) he is EXTREMELY high energy and VERY predatory. Now a young family with a very large fenced area and either another Alaskan dog or similar sized dog... but NO SMALL ANIMALS (CATS!!! lap dogs, racoons, squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, etc) would be THE PERFECT HOME for him.
Unfortunately, even with me taking him on A LOT of walks (3 to 7 miles several times a week)... He is still not getting enough exercise and has been getting more and more anxious. HE NEEDS TO RUN.
It was with a very heavy heart, that we came to the decision AS A FAMILY to find him a new home where he can be the dog that he truly is. At first I wouldn't even consider letting him go, but I realized how selfish I was being... I was putting my heart and emotions ahead of HIS well being. In my BRAIN, I knew from the first week he was here that he was probably not the right fit for us... but I thought with a lot of work I could make it work and provide THE BEST HOME for him. But I was wrong. I was never intentionally trying to hurt him, but in retrospect, I have been trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
I am sort of an odd man out, in that I wear my heart on my sleeve (got that from mom) and I don't give a shit what anyone thinks of that (got that from dad!)...... It's just who I am. Me and Angi fought with, and cried over the decision to surrender Shadow for the last 4 months. It was not easy, and it was not a split second decision. But at the end of the day, it is what's best for SHADOW.
We have teamed up with Washington Malamute rescue to find him a forever home where he will be loved like he is here, but with the setting that HE NEEDS. There's more to it, but this has already gotten longer that I wanted.
------------------------------------------
So moving forward... I have wanted a Newfoundland since I was 15 (I'm 33 now)... and in amazingly coincidental form, so has Angi. A Newfie IS THE RIGHT FIT for us as a family. They are ginormous, but they are truly gentle giants. They are a working breed that likes to do draft work, and swimming/water rescue is in their genes. They can go on one of our 12 mile day hikes and be happy as a clam... or they can lay on the couch and be just as happy. They do not have an ounce of predatory blood... they are known as THE BEST DOG FOR KIDS, PERIOD. (the nana dog in Peter Pan was a landseer newfie
).
We figured we would have to wait at least a couple years because a.) they are fairly rare---there's only a small handful breeders in the Northwest and one litter every 2 years is average, b.) they are very expensive because of said rarity, c.) we are in the process of buying the new house/shop which is not something to take lightly.
And then the other day we heard about a family with a litter of puppies almost ready to be sold. Angi and I decided NOT to go look at them because we figured we'd fall in love but not be able to get one.
Then I told Angi the other day I had called and set up an appointment to meet the owners, the mom and dad, and the puppies.
:foot: 
Turns out we DID fall in love (in about 10 seconds). The crazy twist here, is that they are in THE SAME town that we are moving to. Sometimes things just sort of fall into place, even if the timing isn't perfect. We really hit it off with the owners... they are near the same age as Angi and I, and we have a ton in common. It was like we'd known one another for years. Jayson is a millwright with a very strong background in metal work, and is VERY VERY METICULOUS about everything he builds with his hands (Hmmm...
). He was very interested in my knife work and we could have spent days just discussing working with steel.
We couldn't decide on a puppy, so we agreed to bring Erin back with us and try to choose. Turns out, she was no help either.
... I jokingly asked if they were offering a quantity discount to which Jayson said, "Absolutely! We will work something out for you guys."
Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo..... We are getting 2 Newfoundland puppies!!!!!!!!! :thumbup:
:thumbup:
:thumbup: 
Are we ever so slightly freaked out about the idea of having 300 pounds of combined weight in 2 dogs in two years??? Um, hell yes. But does the positive excitement completely over rule all??? HELLZ YEA!!!
(so I know there's a good chance YOU are thinking, WTF?!?!?, he just decided to let his other dog go and now he's all giddy about new ones??? IF so, then read the novel above so that you get that crap idea out of your brain)
HERE THEY IS...

Angi holding Bentley on the first visit. 8 weeks and already about 20 pounds!!!

Here is the second boy... he's the biggest in the litter. Shannon has been calling him Chunk... but we will find a more flattering name

Here's Angi holding Bentley on the second visit. I think he gained two pounds in 1 day.

This pretty little thing with the awesome eyes is Erin, and she's hanging onto Bentley.
Here's Angi holding "Chunk" on the second visit.
They are absolute cuddle-bugs...

If you DON'T want the typical "Nick Wheeler novel post", here is the jist of this entire thread---
**** Long story short, we're finding Shadow a new FOREVER home, and Angi, Erin, and I are getting two Newfoundland puppies***** (please skip ahead to photos and video)
If you think I'm simply giving up on Shadow, or you give a crap at all about the details of all this.... please read on.


Many of you know the whole story about Shadow and how he ended up here, and how he stayed here. I LOVE HIM TO PIECES. He follows me around the shop (quite fitting for his name)... he is sweet, amazingly beautiful, and he has carved a spot in my heart he will hold forever.
Unfortunately, whether I love him with my heart or not... he is simply not a good fit for me, Angi, and Erin AS A FAMILY. And us for him. There is no doubt he is loved here, and taken very good care of. But simply by the nature of his breed (turns out he IS a Malamute) he is EXTREMELY high energy and VERY predatory. Now a young family with a very large fenced area and either another Alaskan dog or similar sized dog... but NO SMALL ANIMALS (CATS!!! lap dogs, racoons, squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, etc) would be THE PERFECT HOME for him.
Unfortunately, even with me taking him on A LOT of walks (3 to 7 miles several times a week)... He is still not getting enough exercise and has been getting more and more anxious. HE NEEDS TO RUN.
It was with a very heavy heart, that we came to the decision AS A FAMILY to find him a new home where he can be the dog that he truly is. At first I wouldn't even consider letting him go, but I realized how selfish I was being... I was putting my heart and emotions ahead of HIS well being. In my BRAIN, I knew from the first week he was here that he was probably not the right fit for us... but I thought with a lot of work I could make it work and provide THE BEST HOME for him. But I was wrong. I was never intentionally trying to hurt him, but in retrospect, I have been trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
I am sort of an odd man out, in that I wear my heart on my sleeve (got that from mom) and I don't give a shit what anyone thinks of that (got that from dad!)...... It's just who I am. Me and Angi fought with, and cried over the decision to surrender Shadow for the last 4 months. It was not easy, and it was not a split second decision. But at the end of the day, it is what's best for SHADOW.
We have teamed up with Washington Malamute rescue to find him a forever home where he will be loved like he is here, but with the setting that HE NEEDS. There's more to it, but this has already gotten longer that I wanted.
------------------------------------------
So moving forward... I have wanted a Newfoundland since I was 15 (I'm 33 now)... and in amazingly coincidental form, so has Angi. A Newfie IS THE RIGHT FIT for us as a family. They are ginormous, but they are truly gentle giants. They are a working breed that likes to do draft work, and swimming/water rescue is in their genes. They can go on one of our 12 mile day hikes and be happy as a clam... or they can lay on the couch and be just as happy. They do not have an ounce of predatory blood... they are known as THE BEST DOG FOR KIDS, PERIOD. (the nana dog in Peter Pan was a landseer newfie


We figured we would have to wait at least a couple years because a.) they are fairly rare---there's only a small handful breeders in the Northwest and one litter every 2 years is average, b.) they are very expensive because of said rarity, c.) we are in the process of buying the new house/shop which is not something to take lightly.
And then the other day we heard about a family with a litter of puppies almost ready to be sold. Angi and I decided NOT to go look at them because we figured we'd fall in love but not be able to get one.
Then I told Angi the other day I had called and set up an appointment to meet the owners, the mom and dad, and the puppies.


Turns out we DID fall in love (in about 10 seconds). The crazy twist here, is that they are in THE SAME town that we are moving to. Sometimes things just sort of fall into place, even if the timing isn't perfect. We really hit it off with the owners... they are near the same age as Angi and I, and we have a ton in common. It was like we'd known one another for years. Jayson is a millwright with a very strong background in metal work, and is VERY VERY METICULOUS about everything he builds with his hands (Hmmm...


We couldn't decide on a puppy, so we agreed to bring Erin back with us and try to choose. Turns out, she was no help either.


Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo..... We are getting 2 Newfoundland puppies!!!!!!!!! :thumbup:



Are we ever so slightly freaked out about the idea of having 300 pounds of combined weight in 2 dogs in two years??? Um, hell yes. But does the positive excitement completely over rule all??? HELLZ YEA!!!
(so I know there's a good chance YOU are thinking, WTF?!?!?, he just decided to let his other dog go and now he's all giddy about new ones??? IF so, then read the novel above so that you get that crap idea out of your brain)

HERE THEY IS...




Angi holding Bentley on the first visit. 8 weeks and already about 20 pounds!!!





Here is the second boy... he's the biggest in the litter. Shannon has been calling him Chunk... but we will find a more flattering name




Here's Angi holding Bentley on the second visit. I think he gained two pounds in 1 day.



This pretty little thing with the awesome eyes is Erin, and she's hanging onto Bentley.


Here's Angi holding "Chunk" on the second visit.

They are absolute cuddle-bugs...
