The first time I saw a Belgian Shepherd (also known as a Belgian Sheepdog or a Groenendael) was when I was at the vet’s office visiting Jake, one of our dogs who was there at the time. The receptionist at the vet’s office had brought in her Belgian Shepherd and I was impressed by how smart, friendly, and pretty her dog was. When we decided to get another puppy, I started looking for a Belgian Shepherd pup. I went to petfinder.com and saw some Belgian mix puppies. The two females were staying at a foster home in Angels Camp, California – about 2 to 2 ½ hours from San Jose. We drove up on a Wednesday and had a look.

We arrived at about 2 o’clock and met the puppies. I got down on my knees to get to know them; Janet stood a bit off to the side. She told me later that if she had gotten down to play with them, we would probably have ended up with two dogs going home with us. Three dogs in the house are enough for now.

Both puppies were very friendly and liked to play with me, but it soon became clear that the pup we would later call Lisa had picked me. Officially, we chose the name “Lisa” because we wanted a name that sounded distinctly different from our other two dogs - Jake and Sammi. The reality is that I named her after Lisa Simpson.

Lisa would always come back to me for more attention. When the Humane Society person was showing me how to teach the “leave it” command and Lisa got a little frightened, she hid behind me. Lisa reminded me somewhat of the dog that I had first seen in the vet’s office. Looks like we had a dog picked out, or rather a dog had picked us out.

I carried Lisa to my Pathfinder. We had set it up so that one seat in the back was down and the other up. That way she would have room to turn around, stand, and stretch if she needed to. Janet did some planning, and we covered the area (except the seat where I would sit) with a plastic tablecloth and some towels in case of “accidents.” This proved to be a good thing. I put our new puppy into the truck and sat down next to her. After getting gas and stopping by the feed store for puppy food, a dog bed, a collar, and a brush, we headed for home.

Highway 4 just outside of Angels Camp has always reminded me of a roller coaster. The first time that I drove that road on my way to Bear Valley ski resort, I would have sworn that the road had a loop-the-loop in it. We started our trip home and after about 15 or 20 minutes, Lisa threw up. Most of it landed on the towel, and a little bit ended up on the carpeted portion of the seat. Janet had also planned for a possible cleanup, and I used the paper towels to gather the mess and put it in a paper bag. Janet then handed me a “puppy pad” to put over the remainin puke on the towel. At this point Lisa didn’t seem to be too thrilled with riding to San Jose.

She soon settled down again. During the trip she would occasionally turn around, or stand, or lay her head on my lap. But during the whole trip Lisa always made sure that she was touching me. After about 2 hours, she threw up a second time. Luckily it all landed on a towel. I covered that up so she wouldn’t try to bury it, and she settled back down. We could tell she was pretty stressed because she drooled the whole trip. Then we reached home. Two pukes, no pee, no poop and some drool on my jeans. I figured that was pretty good for a 2 ½ hour trip.

Janet and I had discussed how we would introduce Lisa to her new brother and sister. Jake is a 9 year old black lab/chow mix and Sammi is a 7 year old yellow lab/chow mix. Janet opened the front door of the house and Jake and Sammi started their “intruder alert” bark. They had seen Lisa. I tried to guide Lisa through the garage and into the back yard using the leash. No good. She’s not leash trained and fought it the whole way. I picked her up and took her to the back yard to let her relax. Meanwhile, Janet had set up a baby gate between the kitchen and living room.

After she had about 15 minutes to relax in the back yard with me, Lisa followed me into the garage and to the kitchen door. More “intruder alert” barks from Sammi and Jake. Lisa ran back into the yard and I let her calm down a bit. I then took her into the kitchen and shut the door. Jake and Sammi gave an occasional bark and still weren’t too happy. I went to sit down by the baby gate near Sammi and Jake. Lisa had a choice to make – sit by the door to the garage, or come over by me where the other dogs were. She decided to come over and hide behind me. Sammi barked one more time. Lisa peaked around me and returned a bark. Sammi looked a bit startled and that was the end of hostilities. At this point the three dogs are trying to decide who is the alpha dog. Janet thinks that Sammi will claim the title, but Lisa is making a run for it.

We put Jake and Sammi into the back yard and let Lisa explore the house for a bit. About this time I left to pick up some take-out for dinner because the last thing we had eaten were some sandwiches in the car for lunch. I got back and when I opened the door, all three dogs were in the living room. Janet explained that after I had left, Lisa sat and stared at the door for a while then decided she was bored. Janet put her in the kitchen, blocked it off with the baby gate and let Jake and Sammi back in the house. She was off doing something when she heard a crash. Lisa had jumped the gate and knocked it over. So much for keeping them separated until they got used to each other.

We spent the evening relaxing and watching television. Lisa was my shadow for most of the night. If I got up to walk around, she followed me. When I sat down on the couch, she was next to me. Eventually Jake and Sammi came over to get their fair share of petting. There was an occasional growl from Lisa. I don’t know if it was a “I don’t trust you yet” or a “Don’t mess with my dad or you’ll have to deal with me” warning.

We put the dog beds into the bedroom and got ready to call it a night. Janet tried to get Lisa to lie down on her bed, but if I said something, Lisa’s head would pop up and she’d look for me. I finally went to the floor and made her lay down. After a couple of attempts to get up, she stayed down and went to sleep. I woke up several times that night and when I looked over at her, she was still on her bed. She had learned that it was her spot. After I had taken her outside to pee at about 3 A.M., I told her to lie down on her bed and pointed to where I wanted her. I stayed with her for a minute than went back to bed. She stayed where she was supposed to stay.

Next we need to take her to the vet to get her checked out, then it’s on to puppy classes.