Dog Owners...Yikes!

As of Saturday we've become dog owners.  Not just any kind of dog but and inside dog.  That is huge for me.  Growing up we had dogs and a lot of other animals but none inside.  I always thought I'd never have an inside dog and here I am.
We got a shelter dog.  She is a boxer/Australian cattle dog mix and she's about a year and a half.  I didn't want to get a puppy because I know they are a lot of work and I don't have the time.  With 4 boys I am busy enough.  We decided on a shelter dog because they have a little bit of everything.  You can find puppies, you can find old dogs, strays, and dogs who have previously lived in a home were they were already trained. 

Waiting for Ian to throw the ball.

Since this is new, and I'm not good with change, I wanted to find a dog that was pretty low maintenance as far as training is concerned.  Here was my list of requirements....
1. Must already be house trained.
2. Must be good with my kids.
3. Must already know some basic commands like sit, stay, etc. 
4. Must not be a big barker.  I know dogs bark on occasion but I didn't want one that barked often. 

This might seem like a detailed list but I knew if we kept looking at the shelter and their website we would find one eventually.  There are always good dogs given up by their owners because of a move, divorce, foreclosure, etc.  If a dog doesn't come in as a stray but is brought by their owner than they usually provide the shelter with info about the dog that is then put on a kennel card hanging in their kennel door.  So, you can go through and read info about the dogs as you look at them. 

More Fetch

She's a little skinny but we are feeding her enough food to fill her out.

Kellen has been pretty good at being soft and gentle with her.

Sadie's owners had only good things to say about her.  She was just too much energy for them.  So far she has been calm and mild with us but we do exercise her.  That makes a difference.  I wonder if her previously owners didn't have the time or maybe the energy to do so.  When that's the case the dog can seem high energy because of pent up energy. 

About Sadie(What we've observed so far.)

Sadie is quiet.  The only time I heard her bark was the first night we put her in her crate to sleep.( She does bark when people come to the door.)  We had it in the living room so she was alone in there.  She was having some separation anxiety. In her previous home she slept with her owners. I may have warmed up to an inside dog but sleeping with us is a no no.  So is getting on the couches or beds. (She is doing great with that rule by the way.  Only a few reminders here and there but she is quick to respond.) That first night we went down and laid by her crate and she would settle in and sleep.  However, we couldn't make a habit of that.  It was like having a baby again! We remedied the situation by putting her crate in Matt's room.  She's done leaps and bounds better in there(no barking or whining) because she knows someone is in the room with her. I keep her in the crate at night and when we leave so we don't have to worry about her chewing on things, etc.  So far she hasn't chewed on much but her own toys but I don't know what she would do for long periods unsupervised.  We try to make the crate a pleasant/positive experience by giving treats when she goes in and lots of praise.  Since she can't be on the couches with us we got her a comfy dog bed that she seems to like.
So far she seems housed trained...no accidents yet.  She responds to commands like sit, stay, and come.  She loves to play fetch and is good at it.  She'll even fetch the ball from Ian and bring it back.  Good thing I have 4 boys to entertain her. :)  She doesn't seem to be a runner either, meaning running away.  We took her on a walk to the park the day after we got her.  At the park Tyson wanted to take her off leash.  I was a little afraid because I didn't know if she would run off.  Tyson thought she would be fine, since she seems a little clingy to us already.  He let her off and she would run to each of our kids on the playground and come right back.
She does not like to be alone.  In the beginning she would follow Tyson and I everywhere.  You could tell she was anxious of her new surroundings.  Now she'll just lay on her bed and chill while we do our thing.
Something I love is that she doesn't beg for food while we are eating.  Even if my kids have food in their hands she's never tried to snatch it from them.  She'll barely smell it.
I am so grateful to whoever trained her before we got her.  She is great so far and easy to have around.

Initially I thought I would be driven nuts by the hair but I'm not.  I don't notice it much.  I do however, wash my hands a lot.  So much that they are starting to crack and bleed from being so dry.  I guess I need to get in the habit of using lotion regularly.

The first few days of having her home were a little stressful for me.  She was a good dog so it wasn't that.  I just have a hard time with big changes.  I've learned that about myself and can usually work through it.  I start to feel a little anxious, maybe even depressed.  It almost felt like bringing a new baby home.  The first night, when she was barking, it went on for a long time.  I sat there in bed feeling like I was going to have an anxiety attack.  I remember thinking that we had made the wrong decision, why did I want to do this, I can't handle this!  It gotten better as days went on.  I'm getting used to it and she's helping by being so easy.  I'm still a little anxious when I leave and put her in the kennel because I worry about it stressing her out.  I also worry about what we will do with her when we go on vacations and trips.  There are tons of dog owners that do it and we can too. 
My boys love her and I think having a dog will be good for them.  I know she will bring lots of fun and joy.  Just the initial change takes some getting used to.  Wish us luck! :)