We're going to need a lot of cheese...

I had never planned to get another dog so soon after losing Fargo. But things just conspire sometimes. For one, I knew for sure that I did not want to be dealing with a new puppy and a new baby at the same time. For two, I had done lots of research and decided the breed of dog we wanted for a family with lots of little kids. (I'll post more about what I found and what the factors were.) For three, I decided even though the little puppy phase is so cute and fluffy, it is also a big pain in the rear. So, I knew we wanted an older puppy. One that I could have the training fairly underway by the time the baby came along. And all of these things fell into place...







He is a 4 1/2 month old St Bernard and a complete sweetheart. We went with a breeder who is breeding a more athletic build with the longer face. I'm not a big fan of the gigantic, over-sized, smoosh-faced St. Bernard. The only drawback has been that he has never been indoors or around steps before. Every time we try to get him to go up the stairs or past the kitchen he drops to the floor like a sack of potatoes. A very large sack of potatoes. He probably weighs 50lbs easy. We enticed him this morning up the stairs from the back yard with cheese. And finally back into his crate. Again with cheese. I can't even begin housebreaking until we can get him to walk up and down the stairs easily on his own. You know, without cheese.

and he snores.

At this point the list of names:

Hercules
Andre (the Giant)
Moses
Humphrey (means Peaceful Giant)
Ulysses