Tic Toc Tic Toc Com'on Christmas, hurry up and get here!!

Christmas is a joyous time, full of family and laughter, presents and fun. My job makes it a end goal, and it's one of the few parts I regret. But I'm learning to work past that.

So now I had my new BFF picked out, he was to be neutered (sorry bud.. it's my rule) and we'd pick him up 'sometime' after the holidays. Dec 26th, 2011 to be exact, and that's only because I'm fairly certain the breeder was not going to meet me after Christmas dinner!

We'd already met the mother, father, and other pups at the breeders so this was going to be a quick process.  We arrived and they brought Balto out to us. His name had been tic toc and only as I write this now do I realize the irony of me waiting ...and waiting, for a pup named tic toc. Balto, was a name given to me by a friend in Alaska. I'd messaged him and asked him for an authentic malamute name. He suggested I look Balto up on wikipedia. I did, and decided it was the perfect name. Good phonetics, unique, and meaningful. I had no idea there was a movie, and a cartoon named Balto. I swear!

So we pick up Balto, and get him in the minivan. It's at this moment that Pat, Katie, and I realize he's HUGE. In the yard he looked big, but when we got him someplace our last dog often was, we realized he was MUCH bigger... I giggled I think, as I had wanted a big fuzzy friend. The kids too were excited. So was Rhonda, but she was home preparing for his arrival.

One of the drawbacks to this breeder is the dogs are kept outside, all the time. They have large areas to live and play in, but potty training is never really worked upon. So when we got Balto home we took him immediately into his new back yard. We were all so excited, and he sniffed around and got love and kisses from us all. Pictures were being snapped faster than at a fashion show, and he took it all in stride. He was HOME!  We were all so excited, he was what we'd all hoped for...and more!  Potty training turned out to be a non issue, as he'd pace when he needed to go and we'd let him out. This was turning out better than expected... what could possibly go wrong??.....