Walking Partner

When it comes to exercising, I've noticed that my motivation is sooo much higher when I have someone to do it with. Working out with someone is always better than working out alone.
This morning, my husband and I went to our local animal shelter and adopted a 4 month old black lab mix. We already have a 2 year old Beagle, but we made the decision to add a larger dog to our family as well for a few reasons, one of them being that we wanted a larger dog, and another reason being that I wanted a walking partner. Now, before you all start wondering why I couldn't just walk with the Beagle, let me answer that for you.... Our Beagle is not an average sized Beagle, he's pretty small in fact. He was born the runt of his litter, and had a ton of health problems. We spent almost the whole entire first year of his life getting him healthy. I guess its because he's small but he just doesn't have the energy to walk the long distances that I would like to walk. We've also had a recent increase in muggings in the area, and my tiny little Beagle isn't exactly a deterrent, he doesn't quite strike fear into the heart of anyone, but if I was a mugger I would think twice about approaching someone with a strange, large black dog.
We named her Harley, and she is absolutlely adorable. She does come with a set of challanges though, she needs all of her vaccinations, she needs to be spayed, and she has what I suspect is a massive worm problem. We have a vet appointment set up for her for first thing tomorrow morning, so we can get her the help she needs. Her physical problems can be taken care of, and she will be just fine. She does have other issues though, that we need to work on... she doesnt know how to walk on a leash... I mean it literally. If you put a leash on her and try to walk her she just lays down and wont budge. She is incredibly shy (and yes, I do mean shy, not skiddish), so it takes her a few minutes to warm up to you (she has gotten a lot better with me since I have been home with her today, but we'll see if she warms up to my husband when he gets home form work tonight.) She is also not potty trained, and since she never had a name before, she doesnt respond to that either.
Yes, she does have her issues, but she will be soooo worth it in the end. We all fell in love with her the moment that we saw her, and I will have to snap a picture of her so you all can see our new addition.
I'm so excited about getting Harley rehabed and going on those nice long walks with her. I really do think she will make an excellent walking partner.