The Newest Family Member

We have a new member to our family. He arrived on June 2nd. He is adorable, big and has bad breath. His name is Sampson and he's an Alaskan Malamute.

We did some serious scrambling last week to prepare for the new arrival. But on Saturday we had our fence finished and when Dana finished work we were on our way to Hermiston to get him. We picked him up at the shelter in Hermiston that was filled with cats, kittens, german shepherds (??), one ferret and an oppossum. He was immediately happy to have met us and played with the kids on the lawn there for a bit.

We drove home in the Tahoe with all the windows down on a 100 degree day because the AC had gone out. It was probably a good thing, though, as Sampson smelled terrible. We arrived home just before 7 p.m. Kaia and Dana bathed Sampson while Mo and I took the Tahoe back. By 8 we were at Jeff and Tammy's for dinner with kids and dog in tow. Sampson took Bear's barking at him in stride (Bear is a chihuahua/terrier mix). Chico their other dog was scared to death and hid. So we ate dinner and relaxed while the kids played and Sampson slept on the ground.

Sunday is when we learned that Sampson is an escape artist. When he knew that Dana was out front and he had been left in the back yard, he promptly climbed right over the fence. Monday night we put up an electric pet fence all the way around the yard. We walked out front to test it. We heard him get zapped once. We waited for him to try the other side. But neither of us saw him, so I walked back to the gate I was guarding, while Dana continued to watch the other side. I couldn't see Sampson anywhere. I told Dana this and he began walking toward me. That's when Sampson came waltzing out of the garage. We put him out and watched again. He was going through a gap that put him up on the neighbors retaining wall. Then climbing down, going through their yard, and back up into ours. (He had gone in the garage while I was at the gate, and Dana was watching the other gate) Dana ran more electric fence. Sampson got out. Dana ran even more electric fence at this gap. Sampson got out. We put a piece of lattice over the gap that is covered in electric fence. Sampson doesn't escape anymore!

Despite the hassle we are enjoying him. Kaia goes out to play with him every evening. With the exception of Monday when we were busy putting up the fence we've all gone for an evening walk. So life is busy, but good at our house.

On the tooth side: Mo still doesn't have his molars in, but he is sleeping at night. Thank you Lord!