There are few times when things like this happen that they get shared with so many others. I have a strong feeling this pup was placed in your hands for a very good reason. Kudos to you for rescuing him. He is adorable. You might want to get him set up with some clothing for the upcoming winter, that hair might never grow back. Also protect his skin from the sun when he is outside, they sell t shirts at any pet store. If you are already starting training you are ahead of the game. I would suggest getting Trader Joes canned dog food (it is high quality food at a buck a can) cant beat that. TJs also carries high quality treats. As far as what he is, he is too young to really figure it out. he does have longer ears for his head than normal and look at those paws - YETI FEET.... Will you keep poting pics as he gets settled??? I would love to follow his story. I bet you will never regret taking him home. I vote you Pet Forum hero of the month!!

I know they miss both dogs a lot as they won't even talk about them really. The dog will have a great home. Their dogs are like their kids and they are spoiled and loved a great deal. They are also well taken care of. Any dog that has them as pet parents is a lucky one.I assume they would just accept the dog even if it's personality was drastically different than their deceased dog. They aren't the type of people to dispose of animals that don't work out. They take care of them for life. Growing up I don't ever remember giving a cat away and I know we never gave a dog away. We always took in someone else's unwanted pet. Once a coworker of my dad's had a married daughter whose husband got her a cocker spaniel puppy from a mall petshop because it was so cute (puppy mill puppy) and once it got bigger she didn't want it anymore and they were going to take it to the dog pound. My dad volunteered to take it (we had one dog at the time as the other dog we adopted at 7 years old had just passed away) and my dad thought our lone dog would like company. This cocker spaniel was hated by our current dog! also he peed on the floor anytime he got excited or you just touched him for the first time (after you came home or he saw you) He never grew out of this. He also had very short term memory (he would challenge the other dogs (there ended up being 4 which included the two that just passed away) and the other dogs were more dominant and would have him on the floor on his back and he would still be growling and trying to establish dominance. He was a pain in the butt but my parents loved him and he had a very good life until he died at only age 5 from a seizure disorder. I just think it is strange they would want a look-alike because I would think there would be too many difficult memories and they would miss the original dog even more. I had a cat growing up that was light orange/tan and white. She was such a sweetheart. She lived to be about 15 years old. even though I've adopted several cats since then none of them are orange/tan white. I have black and white, gray and orange, dark brown and orange, solid black, gray and white, and tiger strip and a calico (I'm fostering some of these). This wasn't a conscious decision. I didn't deliberately avoid cats that reminded me of my childhood cat. I just had cats that find me or situations where I"ve taken unwanted cats and none have had the same coloring. I never really thought about it until now so it seems odd to me to seek out an animal that looks exactly like one you used to own. But your example about purebreds make sense so I guess it is not so strange.

Judydel- YES, you should be worried if he/she is allowed to have any split ball - especially when not in your immediate sight! My dad's most beloved canine split open a tennis ball one time and swallowed half of it. He was excited to see my dad packing for hunting, we guess, because he'd never done anything like it before. Anyway, my dad left with the dogs for hunting and Ben (the dog) had a bowel obstruction from the 1/2 ball. The country vet that operated on him wasn't able to save him. As a child, it was the first time I had ever seen my dad really cry when he carried Ben out of the back of the truck at home. Dogs really shouldn't be allowed to have tennis balls, or any other type of hollow or foam ball when not actively playing/fetching with a human. They can choke on them, get ill from ingesting or die from an obstruction. Off my soapbox now....

Brings back memories of our Brutus and Ginger now since long gone. Brutus was an only dog for 3 years when Ginger was brought on the scene. He was obviously miffed at this intruder but never hurt her. He'd smack her with his paws (huge dog with paws as big as my hand) and she tumbled and come back for more. Funniest thing was the day he came into the family room with her hanging off his tail! Yep, she latched onto his tail and he just kept walking. If he could have talked, I swear he'd have said something like "Can you please do something with her". The one shot I really love (and can't post as I'm not sure where it is) is her laying down between his paws and looking up at him. It's one of those "My hero" type things. Sure do miss those two.