excuse me as I get a little excited about getting a dog of my very own. I'm going to guess some of you more experienced dog owners will say something along the lines of "much like boats, it is better to know someone who has pets than to actually own one yourself" but I've wanted a dog for some time, and just never felt comfortable about taking care of one til now. Actually, I'm not anymore responsible than I was before, but I think I've waited long enough, and there is no better time than now since the gf is unemployed for the foreseeable future. So, without further ado, here he is: I haven't come up with a name yet, so if you have any smashing ideas, let's hear em. Some contenders so far: Bartleby and Ollie. I let her pick the dog (pretty much... though I did like the dog a lot when I met him) so I'm going to assume I get to pick the name. Oh, and as you can see, he is a shelter dog (from Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter). Any tips or advice? He is about 1.5 yrs old, and they think he's a black Lab/Pointer mix.