my man payton

kristin & i got a new pup late last night. we named him payton, after walter payton (http://www.payton34.com/). kristin is such a sport being a packer fan & all. she really understands how much payton meant to me growing up as a kid & how much i enjoy naming our dog payton.

anyway, it's been a busy 24 hours with payton. he's almost 5 months old & he is already pushing 40+ pounds. he's a rhodesian ridgeback & when fully grown will weigh between 85 & 95 pounds. the breed is amazing to read about. they were breed in south africa in the late 1800s to kill lions - the were referred to as the african lion dog or simba inja. kristin has been eyeing the breed for sometime. greg & katie, some friends of ours, have a vizsla that we are very fond of & we wanted something like the vizsla, just a little more stout/squared. we saw a rhodesian one day down at the trail & from that moment that is the breed we wanted. i grew up always wanting a great dane - i'm sure most boys did. anyway, the ridge marking on their backs is like no other is & he is sure to stand out amongst a crowd of other dogs.

(AKC blurb about the ridgeback: the ridgeback represents a strong, muscular and active dog, symmetrical and balanced in outline. a mature ridgeback is a handsome, upstanding and athletic dog, capable of great endurance with a fair (good) amount of speed. of even, dignified temperament, the ridgeback is devoted and affectionate to his master, reserved with strangers. the peculiarity of this breed is the ridge on the back. the ridge must be regarded as the characteristic feature of the breed. )

we lucked out with him big time! he's a pure breed & he is so well tempered. the original owner had him fully house & crate trained. the original owner, andy, (a cool dude from england) then ran into problems with his landlord & now needed to find him a new home. we met andy & his family last night at a starbucks in bastrop (everything takes place at a starbucks these days it seems like) & after about an hour of talking with the family - us questioning them & them questioning us - we decided we wanted him. they provided us his crate, his bed, a few toys, a food dish, etc. for almost nothing. i even asked them if they wanted more cash because i couldn't believe what we were getting for the price. (i suppose what goes around does come around because kristin & i did try the dog thing almost three years ago when we lived in round rock & 3 months into owning this pup we ended up finding it a new home & with it came all of it's toys, food, crate, bones, etc. for free.) they are a really cool family & the mother (gilly) works at the starbucks we met at & i'm definitely going to pay her a visit next time i bike at the lost pines.

the ride home was interesting to say the least. try having a 40+ pound pup on your lap for 30 miles :). when payton walked into the house last night he was amazing. we took him off his leash & besides him smelling everything in sight he didn't bother with anything. no trying to jump on the furniture, no picking anything up off the coffee table, etc. he slept like a baby too & needed it because he's been on the go since we all got up at 5:30 this morning.

kristin popped up out of bed first (i'm on vacation right now & relaxing on my ironman training until the new year) & had her coffee. she took him for a 30 minute walk in the neighborhood & then brought him home for breakfast. both prior to & after breakfast he took care of himself outside. i then took him down to the lake at about 8:30 & he got in a good 3-mile jog at a 9-minute mile pace. not bad for a first timer in my opinion. i've heard that they can run up to 35 miles; if he can maintain 20 miles i'll be more than happy. of course i'll have to keep his mileage low as he is just a pup & still growing.

when we got home from the lake he went right to his bed & passed out. it was awesome. around noon i put him in his crate & i went to the gym for a spin class. when i got home, kristin had just come home for lunch. again, payton went to the bathroom outside with no problems.

around 2:30 i walked him a block to bark n' purr & we cruised the store. man, chics really do dig guys with babies or pups. even with the mountain man beard i'm sporting i got hit on by three chics. i picked payton up a raw hide & some healthy treats & then headed back home. i promised kristin i wouldn't open the treats until she got home & so far i've been good on my promise.

around 4:30 i walked him down the street to a local dog park. we ran together in the open field; i felt like a kid for a few minutes. then a friend (adrianne) that i hadn't seen in probably 2 years came walking in with her two pit bull mixes. payton was fond of the female & he & the male (simon) played pretty rough for a good 30 minutes. we then walked back to the house & after his evening meal of organic puppy food that we got him at central market he walked straight to his bed & is currently passed out again.

i think we are going to have a very good time with him & we'll have many great stories to share. tomorrow morning we take him to the vet for his first check up - this is when we'll really find out if he's worth what we think he's worth :)