Mason- Dixon puppy

Andrew and I decided that Hunter needed a friend. We thought Hunter was sad and lonely all day while we were at work and that he would enjoy the company. Plus we wanted a cute new fluffy puppy. 

We found a local, reputable breeder and contacted her about an upcoming litter. We emailed her just in time since she was just about to have a litter available (well, not her exactly. One of her dogs...). We got email updates and pictures from the day the litter was born (April 6, 2010) until it was time to take one home. 

Check out these little guys and girls at just a few days old

We got to "meet" the puppies when they were 6 weeks old and this was before we knew which one we were taking home. I took lots of pictures and this is one of Mason!

Anyways, so we bring our new puppy home. Hunter was super excited at first because it was a new playmate. Then we started to realize that Hunter was extremely happy being lazy and Mason just had too much energy for him. Actually, I think Mason STILL has too much energy for Hunter.
Mason was a butt head. He'd bite Hunter's paws, jump on him, pull his ears. Poor Hunter just wanted Mason to go back to where ever he came from.
Don't get me wrong though, they had lots of fun together. Mason is the one that started and still starts the trouble. Hunter will join in when he sees that it's an appropriate time.  A full bag of Chex Mix on the table? Mason pulled it down and then Hunter went to eat some too. Hunter's smart. Mason, the poor guy, not so much and we love him just the way he is...mostly ;)

We got lucky with Hunter for some reason. Hunter didn't have that typical 3-4 year "puppy" stage that most Golden Retrievers have. Mason is currently a year and a half and he is ALL puppy still. This guy is so dopey, I swear. We actually had to purchase a baby gate to put up in front of our kitchen because we could NOT keep Mason out of there. He's gotten multiple sticks of butter, a whole stuffed tilapia fillet and the entire mixer was pulled off the counter while I was making a cheesecake (pre- KitchenAid stand mixer days. But I still LOVE my handheld one too!). That dog. Now, if we don't snap the baby gate closed, there is absolutely no effort involved for him to get it open.
His new favorite, since their bag of food it in the corner in our kitchen, he will sneak in and by the time i hear the gate close he already has a mouthful of food. He comes running out of the kitchen and then drops his food on the floor so he can eat it. Oh Mason. You and your food.

He's broken our screen door to the back yard, which I really really need to get replaced because I'm sick of the GIANT mosquitoes in our house.

He can stick his entire head out now. Just this morning he pulled his rope toy in from that opening.

I came home one day from work and Mason had pulled one of my re-usable grocery bags off the door. It had it hanging around his neck and was tripping on it running to me when I walked in the door. I laughed SO hard at this. Again, my bad dog mom role. Unfortunately, I couldn't get him to sit still for 2 seconds so that I could take a good picture of him. Darn dog. Yes, he had also knocked over the entire garbage can on this day. And yes, that big orange thing underneath the fallen garbage can is a towel. The spring and fall are so wet here that just a brief period of time in the yard gets their paws all dirty. So we have an extra towel down to try and get some of the wet dirt off before running onto the carpet

But look at how cute he is when he's not getting into trouble. That face! He's such a happy dog!

So, with the baby on the way, I've decided that Mason and I are going to start private lessons with the lady I took Hunter to. Mason was never very good at listening (the whole golden retriever puppy thing!) but it got worse once Andy deployed again. I've learned that he just refuses to listen to me....unless it involves feeding him. But when I try training him with the same techniques used for Hunter, he constantly sniffs my pocket for his treats and I end up all frustrated. Now I know he won't be completely calm once the baby gets here, but I need him to respond to my commands too. Not just Andy or the men that try to teach him at the dog park. He just isn't scared of me! I yell at him for destroying something and the entire time he is cowering, his tail is still wagging a mile a minute. What the heck?!

Hopefully the lessons will help. If they do, awesome! And I really have faith that they will. This lady was amazing to work with when it came to Hunter as a teeny tiny puppy in a class full of other teeny tiny puppies so I'm thinking she will be excellent one on one. If not, well I guess we will just be out the $200 and have a permanent Matt Damon dog. Cookies mailed to the first person who can figure out why Mason's nickname is Matt Damon ;)





Up next: Finally back to human part of our family, Acorn or Hummingbird Hippopotamus and why she is "nameless"!