You will always miss Sam. That's fine and the way it should be. You are not replacing Sam, you are adding. Does Ella seem better? Give yourself time. Baxter may not be the best name. What about Blacky? Prince? Edward, Eddy for short?

I like Edward - and using Eddy/Eddie for short! My daughter suggested Simon - but ?

Ella does seem better While she hasn’t completely ”warmed” up to him - she does want to play fetch again - which she hasn’t been doing since Sam has been gone - and she ABSOLUTELY loves playing fetch.

She doesn’t want to lay next to him yet - but she definitely has become more interested in him - and what he’s doing. When I introduced Ella into the family, Sam absolutely wanted NOTHING to do with her! If she was on the bed, he would jump off and sleep undeneath the bed instead. They are almost exactly the same age difference between them - Ella will be 7 yrs old in 3 months - and Sam was just 4 months shy of turning 7 when I brought Ella and her brother home to foster (I hadn’t planned on keeping either of the pups - but my mom had unexpectedly passed away, and Ella was the only one who could actually make me laugh - so so, I kept her and adopted out her brother to my daughter’s friend).

This is how Ella has been sleeping during the day since Sam has been gone - this was Sam’s spot (and his pillow). She now has started hanging out on her little doggie sofa again.

Oh she is so cute. I like the Eddie spelling better than ending in y, now that I see it.

What a cute little man! And, how fortunate you are that he has taken to housebreaking so quickly. It sounds like he took to you from first meeting. Don't worry about the name. The right one will come to you.

Sometimes I have to have a critter for a while before a name comes to me and sticks. Once Late Husband and I brought a cat home from the shelter and we couldn't think of a name that we liked or suited him better than the one the shelter had given him. That was his name.

My gut still hurts a little around the anniversary of each of their passing. (There have been six). I vote, "not a whack job."

@Sherry8aNorthAL - I still do think Eddie is cute for Edward!

@jrb451 - I am still a little shocked about how well he is doing! He is really intelligent. He’s had one pee accident two nights ago - but it was my fault. I mistakenly thought that he was whining while sitting up on the sofa because he was thirsty (he had just gone outside about 10 mins earlier with my daughter and her dog).

However, when I asked my daughter if she actually saw him go to the bathroom - she said that she assumed that he had because he came back up on the patio. I explained that he probably was just following Milo (her dog) - while Milo is her dog, I am the one who house trained him - so, she apparenly didn’t realize that a puppy can get distracted and forget to go potty while outside!

Also, he squatted EXACTLY where a potty pad normally has been sitting - but had been moved while the roomba was running through the house. He only had used it twice in the past 2 -3 weeks - but I still left it out next to the door just in case he needed it.

It was funny though bc Ella was watching - and she seriously was staring at me - with the weirdest look in her eyes - then I realized what it was. She has to ”top” whenever another dog urinates outside. I think it was KILLING her bc she wanted to go ”top” where the pup just went - but knew that she wasn’t supposed to go inside the house ! 😂

c t - weird - I can’t tag you for some odd reason! Max was his name - but we had a ”Max” - he was a great carin terrier who passed away a few years ago - so, there was no way that we could keep it. I actually thought about how if I had decided to take his brother Hank home with us instead, I might have just kept that name!

We actually got Max from a family who had a two year old who wound up developing terrible allergies to him. He was about 4 1/2 months when we took him home - and his original name was ”Bob” - I just wasn’t sure that I wanted to be out in the yard calling

”Bob” - so, we decided to change his name to Max. We called him “Max Bob” for awhile, and then just dropped the ”Bob” part after a couple weeks. It was a pretty easy process actually,

My daughter was kind of pressuring me to decide on a name - which is why I went ahead with Baxster after a couple days. Later I remebered how one of my nephews was nameless for the first two days after he was born - I’m not sure why - but I do know that the nurses were all giving my sister a pretty difficult time about it.

I‘ve always been able to name a new dog right away - but I think the heartache from losing Sam was still so fresh that it just has made this more difficult. He truly is an adorable little pup!

His new favorite place to sleep is on my pillow - this is from this morning:

I was EXHAUSTED this morning! I watched my 9 month old grandson and Baxster all day yesterday - last couple weeks have been easier because Baxster wasn’t into ”exploring” nearly as much as he is now + my grandson just started crawling. He has nad ZERO interest in crawling - wants to stand and walk around the coffee table. His mom was the same way - my daughter didn’t crawl until 9 months, and then was walking at 10 months. The two of them definitely wore nana out! 🥹

The name "Baxter" is usually spelled without the S thrown in the middle.....unless you're going for something different.

Sounds like the pup is going to be a joy. There's always room in our hearts for another pet, this love won't replace the love you have for your first dog; it will simply fit right in along side of it. You just need to relax and treasure this little guy, little Baxter.

First of all, I'm so sorry for your loss

And I think naming him Baxter is a nice way to pay homage to Sam, it just takes time so you don't feel bad every time your fiance calls Baxter.Braxter.

@rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7 - I somehow missed your comment a few months ago - I have no idea why my ipad was changing ”Baxter” to ”Baxster” - you are correct - his name is actually spelled Baxter!

Just a quick update -

While I miss Sam a ton - the name “Baxter“ no longer reminds me of him.

Baxter has a unique personality - and is definitely his own little man! It appears that he is going to stay pretty small (smaller than I expected - his mom is 6.5 lbs) - today he turned 7 months old - and he’s only 2.6 lbs. However, he has a BIG personality - and is extremely lovable!

Pic from about a month ago (6 months):

Photos from a two days ago:

He really needs a haircut but I haven’t been feeling well - so, he looks a bit of a mess - especially after just coming back inside after playing w his big sister (who has FINALLY warmed up to him).

He is kind of an ”odd” pup - but in a cute way! Very smart - and was extremely easy to house train. He started using a bell to go outside when he wasn’t even three months old. I had just started to introduce the bell by shaking it a little when I said ”Let’s go outside” as I opened the door - and about three days later, he began ringing it on his own. He didn’t learn it from Ella - she’s never used a bell (she just lets me know when she needs to go out). I was a bit shocked when I was in the other room and heard it ring.

However, he tends to “overuse” the bell - especially when its nice outside (it’s 52 degrees and sunny today so quite a few trips outside) - he LOVES being outside. A few weeks ago he started ringing the bell when he wants to “steal“ something that Ella has (like a turkey tendon or a trachea - he likes them better after she’s already been chewing on them!)

Ella will drop whatever she’s chewing on and follow him outside (she also loves being outdoors) - and then he will make a quick u-turn back into the house - and grab whatever she’s dropped. When Ella comes back inside, she is very confused about her tendon/trachea/etc. mysteriously disappearing.

Anyway - I truly appreciate all the advice/support/comments from everyone. I was way more worried about it than I needed to be. I just wasn’t emotionally ready for a new pup - but I am extremely happy that I decided to go ahead and bring him home with me!

Thanks again,

Dani