…because we’ve got too much time on our hands. Benji is a Labradoodle, and we’re picking him up on Friday, if all goes according to plan.
Whatever you do, don’t go to YouTube and search ‘Labradoodle puppies’ - AAAARRGH! Teh cuteness! It Burns Us!
We are excited and terrified by turns…
Aww. Well, you don’t have to be bored ever again! Labs and Poodles can go full speed 16 hours a day.
Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! He’s adorable. I love his eyes. And I’m sure he’ll enjoy your air-conditioning… 
OMG SO CUTE!! Best of luck with your new little guy!
Harrumph. After looking at those eyes, I reckon you understand you will never be eating a whole sammich again. Same for cookies, chips, or anything else the dog likes.
Lab and poodle – excellent combo! Benji’s too cute.
Hide your shoes. And your socks. And your toes, come to think of it. 
Cleaning up the front and back yards. Cleaning up and puppy-proofing the house. Putting his crate together. Signing us all up for puppy pre-school. He is 11 weeks old tomorrow.
And the kids are just over the moon excited! Expect more photos and babbling posts.
Well, okay, you’re probably used to the babbling posts by now…
Benji looks like he’s contemplating a life of carefree mayhem.
Okay, minor setback - a '97 Ford Escort is about 2" too small to fit a 42" dog crate. I’ve tried it every which way, but it’s too big when it’s put together and it needs more room than it has to put it in and unfold it.
I feel ridiculous renting a van to pick up the dog, but I just haven’t figured out a way to make this work. Yet.
Can’t you get someone to sit in the back seat and hold the puppy? Put an old blanket and towels in case of mishaps. We brought our Saint Bernard and English Mastiff pups home that way, but that was in the olden days.
Get a dog seat belt.
ruffrider.com (one source, I’m sure there are others) Check your pet store.
Well, that is in fact what we’re now going to do. It’s about an 80 - 90 minute drive, and there’s the balance to be struck between getting home as fast as we can so Benji spends as little time in the car as possible, versus taking back roads and going through towns instead of going on the 401 to make it easier to have a pee stop if we need to.
Plus, I just assumed it was another thing that had changed over the years. Last time my Dad brought a puppy home, it just rode in the back of the open pickup truck with us kids. Seat belts were what you tied a case of whisky down with…
I just bought a 12 week old puppy for my dad and he (the puppy) just rode in the seat next to me. He was very good - no accidents and no barfing. YMMV.
ETA: It was about a 90 minute drive also.
So, let’s see - the ride home was uneventful other than the ongoing battle of wills over where Benji’s head should rest, eg. not on my right arm as I go to shift gears. However, no accidents and no barfing on the drive home.
The night was a little tricky - he got a bit of a second wind as we were about to put him to bed, so my wife stayed up with him until midnight while I took the first shift this morning. Neither of us slept much, as we weren’t entirely sure what his ‘I need to pee’ sound would be like, nor how much time it would take to get him down two flights of stairs to send him out the back door. He woke up around six, and I had been up for about 20 minutes, so it all worked out fine.
New pictures in the album here. He is gentle and very well behaved BUT he likes to chew, so he is under constant surveillance at present, solely in the hopes of catching him every time he goes to sink his teeth into something inappropriate. Puppy Pre-School starts in 2 weeks…
Oh Lord, I just died of cute!
He’s so sweet, and I love his eyes!
Fucking dugs, they melt yer heart. You’ve got a wee star there! 
Congrats! Adorable!
This reminded me of this: http://www.jennsylvania.com/jennsylvania/2010/08/a-tale-of-two-dogs.html
Awww, He’s adorable. Enjoy!
The basic rule of thumb for housetraining a puppy is: if at any moment you are comfortable, you need to get up again and take the dog out.
