Our New Addition

This is Mitch. He is a black lab and border collie cross who is about 4 years old. He currently belongs to a family friend, but he has been living here for the last year and a half. He came to stay here with another dog named Belle, and 7 Nubian goats because his owners had to move for about a year to a location that they could not take their animals with them. Their owners will be moving back within the next month, but Mitch will not be leaving us. Randy and I are going to adopt him and take him with us to Pullman!!! He and Belle are both good dogs, but they are not the best for each other. They do not fight, but they feed off each other's energy until they are both over the top with excitement.

A little of Mitch's background- He was put in an animal shelter when he was about a year old or so. From there he was taken to a prison in Wyoming for training. He was put in one of the programs where the prisoners train dogs in order to help the dogs be more adoptable. After he finished his training he was adopted by his current owners.

Since we decided to adopt Mitch, I have been trying to take him on a walk every day to begin to build a relationship with him. He is very smart and eager to please. He did learn all kinds of tricks at the prison. He knows "bang, bang you're dead" where he lays down and rolls on his back in a very dramatic fashion. He also knows 'search". He will put his front paws on a wall and you pat him down like a cop would after arresting someone. He also knows how to "Sit Pretty" where he sits up on his hind legs and begs.

I have decided to enroll both Mitch and I in a Rally class. Rally is an obedience class but is more fun and relaxed than a traditional obedience class. I haven't done a rally class, but I am really looking forward to it and learning how to work with my new dog.

I wanted to share part of Mitch and mine's walk from today. There is a large hill on the property that lies behind the house. This first picture is a view from the top of the hill. We call this area "Lookout Point".

After we stopped to catch our breath (well it was more I needed to catch my breath) we continued across the top of the hill. We then came across these.

These are from a Whitetail Deer. Most likely from two different bucks from two different years. The one on the left has been gnawed on by squirrels or other little critters. They chew on the antlers for their mineral content.

This is where we found the antlers. It was shear luck that we stopped and I happened to look directly at them.