Our Dog Bear

Bear was adopted as a puppy from a farm in our town on Super Bowl Sunday February 2007. The owners were keeping the last female so he was the last available puppy of a very large litter born over Thanksgiving 2006. We were told he was the runt so we expected him to be about 65 pounds when full grown…ha ha ha! The Chicago Bears were playing that day so it seemed fitting that our "little" brown puppy be named Bear. We already had a male black lab mix named Bandit who was about 10 years old and weighed about 45 pounds who we were hoping would help with housebreaking Bear. Bandit was a trooper allowing Bear to follow him everywhere and helped get Bear on track. Being up there in years, Bandit was not always tolerant of Bears great abundance of puppy energy! Bandit passed away in March 2008 leaving Bear alone to fill a very large void.

Abilities and Familiar Terminology

Bear has been "the family dog" since day one, but holds a special spot in his heart for my husband. The statement "Daddy's home" sends him into a barking fit and he runs to the door to great him. Actually, he runs to the door barking to greet pretty much everyone who comes to our house. He is a VERY social dog!

Bear will fetch any ball (tennis ball, softball, football or even soccer ball – yes, his mouth is that big!) as many times as you care to throw it. Since it becomes soggy quick, he is trained to drop it at your feet and to wait for you to just kick it for him. He will chase balls until his heart gives out, so you need to be the one to call it quits for him.

Bear knows “come”, “sit”, “lay down” and “stay”, but has trouble staying for too long…especially when he is very excited about something. Saying the word “kennel” used to mean he was to go to his kennel, but when he got too big, he changed the term to mean he should go lay in his favorite easy chair! When we go to the garage to let them outside, “dog yard” means he should go to the back yard kennel rather than the actual back yard.

Tolerance to children:

My daughter was 3 and my son was 16 when Bear came into our lives. Bear does not discriminate and has never shown anything but an abundance of energetic love to everyone he has met (family member or stranger) no matter what their age. I would, however, be watchful with real little ones because they tend to pull ears (see medical note below) and stick fingers in noses, etc.....and I don't think ANY dog likes that!

Tolerance to other dogs:

Since we lost Bandit in March 2008, Bear was pretty lonely so we adopted a female teacup yorkie (Noodles) the summer of 2008 and then another female terrier/lab mix (Cocoa) in the fall of 2009. Bear has always been a great ambassador to the new members of our family; however, he does not like it when any four-legged animal even THINKS about checking out his food dish! He doesn't get physical in any way, but his low rumble of a growl let's them know he is on to them.

Tolerance to cats:

We currently have 4 female cats (one for each member of our house). Bear is Switzerland when it comes to felines…doesn't seem to like or dislike them…just as long as they stay away from his food dish!

Adoption fee is $250

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