Three's Company Too

The 3rd demon-eyed dog in this picture is a newcomer to our family. His name is Tripp. We adopted him from the animal shelter last Thursday. We already have 2 big dogs (Max and Chandler- the 1st and 2nd dogs and the above pic). To most that would be more than enough animals, but not for us. I have always loved dogs, in particular big dogs, and had been wanting to adopt another for some time. I finally got Matt to agree so we went to the shelter and found Tripp. We were informed that he had faced euthanization twice. When he first came in they were going to put him down, but decided he was worthy of adoption. By the time we came along he had been in the adoption area for a little over a month and he didn't have much longer. We are so happy that we found him when we did! He has been deemed Holden's dog by Holden. Though I think he is more my dog- he follows me everywhere.

He loves to pull my clothes out into the living room. He doesn't chew them up, he just carries them out and leaves them on the floor. This morning he dragged out my *ahem* bra and I had to take a picture. I figured maybe his ears were cold with the freezing weather we've been having so I wrapped it around his head. LOL!



It wasn't easy finding a suitable name for Tripp. I never realized how hard it is to name a dog! We initially decided on Murphy while we were still at the shelter but when we got home we felt like the name just didn't fit him. Later while discussing names Matt mentioned Bristol, which made me think of Sarah Palin's daughter, which then made me think of Bristol's baby's name which is Tripp. Funny thing is right after we decided on the name I was walking up the stairs and was tripped by Tripp. Also the dog is a trip. A couple days after we got him, we were out running errands when we got a call. The dogs had gotten out- all 4 of them (our dogs and my mother-in-law's dog). We couldn't figure out how they did it. After getting the dogs from our neighbor, we pretended to leave again. Matt stood next to the gate. Not two seconds after we started pulling out of the driveway Tripp pulled the latch down with his mouth and pushed open the gate with his arms. I don't know what is with us adopting animals with amazing skills. We have Max, who can scale a 6ft. fence, and now Tripp who can open a gate. Luckily Tripp's ability is easily curbed with a lock.



Yesterday Tripp had to go to the vet to get neutered. Amazingly he acts as if nothing happened. We figured he would be a little sluggish, but he was just as spunky as always.

The other dogs are getting along pretty well with Tripp. I think he is a good fit for our family. Max and Chandler are like night and day. Max wants to be inside all of the time, only goes outside to potty. While Chandler loves to be outside. Tripp is somewhere in between the two. He likes to be inside more than Chandler, but enjoys being outside more than Max. Most of the time he will go outside and play with Chandler.



Tripp has already made himself at home. Yes *gasp* we let our dogs on the furniture. He is a typical Pointer and wants to do whatever people are doing. He takes the "part of the family" saying to heart.