Meet the Newest Member of the Manzer-DiTommaso Clan :)

As discussed on one of our wedding blogs, Jarrod and I have been talking for some time about getting a dog.  We both grew up with dogs and both still love their company so we thought it would be the right time once we got down to Texas.  Originally we wanted a puppy to ensure that they were trained and let's be honest... CUTE!  As with many things in life we soon came to realize that perhaps our original plan would not work.  As cute as a puppy would be, it would not be practical at all.  Jarrod was leaving after a week in Texas and I was starting a week full of training.  Once I was by myself I would be at school for a long time each day and puppy walkers are expensive not to mention some one nerve racking in a new place.  Even with all these hang up however we were determined to find a furry friend.

We decided to go to BARC (Houston's pound basically) and see what they had for dogs in the 7 months to 1 year range.  We still wanted a somewhat younger pup, but perhaps one that was old enough to hold it for more than 5 minutes :)  We arrived at BARC and walked through the 5 rooms of cages they had.  We ended up with 7 dogs we liked the looks of and were fortunate enough to play with each of them in order to make our decision.  Some were a little too young and CRAZY and one was way too passive to live with our cat Roosevelt.  The 2nd to last one we played with seemed to be just right.  Some energy, but more interested in sticking close and licking my toes... kinda gross, but very helpful with how much you can wear flip flops here.  He was 9 months old so we thought he'd be a little bit better at staying at home.

While our new pup got a bath we completed the paperwork and waited for him to be brought out front.  We were so excited when he turned the corner to come into the lobby!  He was so excited with his crazy wagging tale we couldn't help but laugh and grin from ear to ear.  Here are photos of how the first day went and some fun times that ensued :)

He was really excited to leave BARC... Though he was a little uncertain about which car was his so he ran in circles for a while.

He clearly was fine once we got in the car and looks like he's pretty comfy on his first ride with us.  He did really great!

When we got him home we learned that he did not enjoy stairs (we live on the 2nd floor) or going through doors (we have a door into our apartment...)  It was very strange to see a dog not want to go through a doorway.  Though I am happy to say that he has gotten over both fears, thank goodness!

First night home and he really love our new rug from IKEA.  It took us ALLLL night to come up with a name.  We thought of every Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Gaelic god we could and yet nothing fit.  Finally one of us said Portland and we both agreed it was the best fit :)

The next weekend we took Portland to Herman park to walk and smell... and smell he did!  It was really warm so we wanted to introduce him to water....

He was not a big fan of water to say the least.  I think Jarrod got more wet than Portland did!  All in good time I suppose.

Every day he is getting better and better at riding in the car :)

Love his new bed from IKEA... maybe even more than the rug!

Of course the honeymoon period had to end some time... Pups like to chew things and he found my laptop charger... ahhh pups! :)