Meet Izzy!

This handsome fellow is our new pup "Itzak".    Like Elijah he is named after my grandmother, who's married name was Elijah and who's maiden name was Isaacs.  Isaac was also the first name of hubby's great grandfather.

Izzy was born Nov. 9th, and is a purebred American Pit Bull Terrier.  He is a very friendly and people oriented pup, who seems to be a quick learner.

I took him with me to do chores yesterday, and as expected the goats where less than thrilled to see him.  Allie head butted him and knocked him off his feet.  While it may seem hard hearted to let that happen, it is exactly the lesson that he needed to learn.   "Stay away from the goats".    The chickens fascinate him, but after the reception he got from Allie he kept his distance from them.  

He has sniffed noses with our cat Sophie, and was tried to play with her.  But his play bow and bark sent her running and the chase was on.    I was really hoping she would have stood up to him.   He hasn't really come nose to nose with our other tom cat Meeko yet, although they been in the same room a few times.  Meeko is bigger than Sophie and more likely to stand his ground.   

As soon as possible I will be teaching Izzy the commands "sit, stay" and "leave it!".    Those commands are some of the most important for any dog to know, and will make them much better members of the family.    Teaching those commands to Cindy, who is obsessed with cats, is VERY important, but doing so is taking a lot of time and patience.

And speaking of Cindy, Izzy and Cindy played through the fence ok, but when I allowed them together yesterday afternoon, she was a bit too aggressive with him.   She got along fine with Elijah, but he was older and a lot bigger than she, so she didn't stand a chance of dominating him.    We will continue to slowly introduce them to each other.

We had been looking for an adult dog to join the family and help with the coyote problem, but we were having trouble finding one that was cat friendly.  Then we had a friend offer his coyote hunting skills, which means this pup will have a chance to grow into his duties.   We don't want the dogs fighting the yotes - just barking at them.   Which unfortunately Cindy won't do.  

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