__
From commentor Chris S:
So, we’ve had Jack home for five days and he’s doing well, I think. I’m a little anxious – OK a lot anxious. In preparation for getting a dog, I’ve read a bazillion and three books and articles regarding training the perfect dog. He’s a good dog to start with. We haven’t had an accident yet and he makes it through the night in his crate without whining or barking and he walks exceptionally well 75% of the time. He does whine and bark when we leave the room, or go upstairs or leave the house and he’s a jumper/hugger/kisser. So he’s doing very well for such a tumultuous little life, but we (mostly me) are not. I don’t get it other than that I have unrealistic expectations after reading a bazillion and three articles regarding the perfect dog (I know lots of friends that have very imperfect dogs), which is causing me stress. Plus I want the cats to adapt and be happy. So after less than a week, I’m fighting feelings of regret. After being an animal lover all my life, having pets (at least through my childhood) and cats for the last few years, and reading inspriing stories of man’s best friend, I feel guilty for not being ecstatic at now having a puppy as an adult. So, Tara is helping me along and with a little bit adaption on my part maybe I’ll get over myself, let him be a dog and let myself love this cute sonofagun.
asiangrrlMN
Awwwww! Jack is just adorable! Good on you for bringing him home And, give yourself and everyone time. This is a big adjustment!
valdivia
I have a fun one coming up today: will be at the press pen for the Beck hatefest. & I get to listen to Sarah Palin.
Shoot.Me.Now
asiangrrlMN
@valdivia: You must report! And, I’m outie, all. Night!
valdivia
@asiangrrlMN:
good night! will do. I’m hoping none of you have to come bail me out or something ;-)
JamesC
@valdivia:
Points for beaning them with a copy of the US Constitution.
Triple score if it’s caught on national television.
YOU WIN THE INTERNETS if you make Beck and Palin cry.
valdivia
@JamesC:
wait where do I get a copy at this hour?
remember though that Beck cries on command so I may win the internets inadvertently!
chaseyourtail
You have to give it time. You will fall in love with Jack but it won’t happen immediately. When we first adopted Mindy (our adorable chihuahua mix) I went through the same thing. She was wild. She chased my elderly cat around the house which concerned me and frankly, kind of pissed me off. I remember yelling at her and feeling really guilty about it after. I was worried that she wouldn’t blend in and that she was going to stress my cat out to no end. But now everything is great. We trained her not to mess with the cat and now she completely leaves her alone. I can’t tell you how much we love and adore Mindy. She is the light of our lives. My husband and I dote on her like a couple of love sick fools. We feel blessed to have such a wonderful creature in our midst.
Give it time. Unless Jack’s issues are really bad (which it doesn’t sound like), you will grow to love him more than you can imagine right now. He’s a beautiful dog with a very rocky past. He needs love and stability. Once he gets the nurturing he needs and begins to trust you, he will become a totally different dog – a dog who will be loyal and protective of you and your family for the rest of his days.
PurpleGirl
Valdivia — Not meaning to be snarky but I did a Google search and this site has the plainest, simplest copy of the Constitution and the Amendments.
http://constitutionus.com/
All the other sites I found, including U.S. government sites had fancy formatting or pdf files of the original handwritten version. I have no idea how many pages this prints out to be. All I wanted was a straightforward presentation of the text, no annotations, no comments, no fancy pictures. Argh!
It’s also possible that the nearest museum gift shop will have a GPO booklet for sale. The copy I have is GPO printing sponsored by Congressman Peter Rodino, that a friend who once worked for Congressman Ben Gilman gave me.
PurpleGirl
Valdivia: I use these types of comments to try different Google searches and refine my Google fu and skills. (Am having trouble editing comments.)
WereBear (itouch)
Dogs are different. If you already had cats, Jack might strike you as needy or clingy. But he’s just being a dog; they have a big need for social structure. Sounds like he wants to be a follower, at least at this point. Great! Take advantage!
Also, no one, and no dog, is perfect. Lay that burden down.
valdivia
@PurpleGirl:
thanks. if I do find one that is portable (ie not a huge thing I have to carry with me after printing it) I will definitely give it ON CAMERA to one of these people! Will post info & send pics from the event as it happens…
Off to TeaPot!
Restrung
the first photo is very sweet!
I’m up way too late and I bought too many tortillas, so I’m having tater tot tacos.
dan
I love the Brittany Spaniels.
Cat Lady
@Restrung:
Carbohydrates – u haz it!
The heat came on last night – all of a sudden it’s fall today in MA.
Jack is so handsome, and I can see from the pictures that he really wants to be a good dog. You’ll be fine Chris. When I had my first baby I’m reluctant to say, that first week I felt the same way – like, whoa, not sure how I feel about this, what did we get ourselves into, help! Two months from now Jack will be sleeping at your feet or look at you in that adoring way they have, and you’ll wonder why you were ever in doubt.
bob h
We adopted a one-year old cocker spaniel a few months ago.
My wife and I are both irritated by the dog’s habit of following us around at our feet every minute, seemingly to beg for food although it is very well fed.
Is there a nice way we can encourage the dog to stop doing this, to simply stay by itself and be a little more aloof like our Rottweiller?
magurakurin
Reading about this Glenn Beck bullshit and him proclaiming that America is a country of God, I can really see how civil wars happen. I’m just filled with the thought of ” fuck it. let’s do this. We’ve got guns, too. Bring it on you fascist assholes. Let’s do it for real, for keeps.”
It’s fucking horrible. I’m a peaceful man, so if I’m feeling this way, less peaceful people must be more so(or not?). Not that a civil war would be a good thing, it wouldn’t. But I’m really beginning to understand why they happen and why they are the most hideous and ugliest of wars.
WereBear (itouch)
@bob h: You got a cocker spaniel. That’s what they do. That’s why some people love them.
So I doubt training would be any help.
debit
OMG PUPPEH! Don’t worry about perfect. No dog is perfect. Just relax and let yourself enjoy him. It takes a bit to establish any relationship; just give it some time. Congratulations, that is a beautiful dog.
@bob h: Could it be you’re mistaking the dog’s intentions and reading begging for attention as begging for food? Some dogs, just like some people, are needier than others.
If it’s truly just nagging at you, I would ignore the dog; just turn your back and don’t react at all. Eventually it will realize it won’t get what it wants and go away. Or train it to go to a specific place and then calmly place it there every time it pesters you. Chloe can sometime be very clingy; if I’m busy or it’s just too hot to cuddle, I’ll give her a pat then send her to her chair.
geg6
Aw, Jack is adorable!
It takes time to bond with a dog, especially if you’ve been a cat person, I’m guessing. I know when I first met my John’s dogs (both rescues), I bonded immediately with Henry but Otis was harder to love at first. He is much younger than Henry, much more hyper and needy, and (we suspect) was obviously more neglected and mistreated than Henry had been. He jumps a LOT and is only truly happy if he is touching one of us. Sometimes, he literally quivers with energy and anxiety. But. I can deal with it now and he is literally my best buddy. I don’t know what I’d do without him now. I never need a leash because he never leaves my side, he is ecstatic to see me every day, and when we look into each other’s eyes, it’s pure love gazing back. I love Henry to death, but Otis is my soulmate. Poor John, he comes in third to my beautiful golden boys.
Cat Lady
@magurakurin:
I know, but let’s just talk about pets now. Repeat after me- …I’m going to think about pets, I’m going to think about pets….
Southern Beale
The easiest way we’ve trained all of our dogs to not jump on people is to just turn your back when he DOES jump on you. That is the universal dog language for “NO I AM NOT PLAYING WITH YOU.” Works like a charm and in a few days he will stop.
Our lovely little lady Chaka still whines and barks in her crate when I leave the room. I’ve done everything everyone says to do and she still does it. So …
We adopted two kittens a month ago to go along with our adult cats, or rather, they adopted us. All of our cats set the terms with the dogs. It’s funny, even the kittens have Chaka completely wrapped around their paws. She initially thought they were self-propelling chew toys but very quickly learned otherwise. Right now Ella and Chaka are playing together under the kitchen table. Ella tries to take a swipe, Chaka dodges. This is their favorite game.
All will be well, don’t worry … as long as the dog gets lots of love and lots of play they will be motivated to please you, and that in an of itself counts for worlds more than a bazillion dog training books. A motivated pup is a successful pup!
flipturn
The cats will take time, but there’s hope. When my husband and I blended our pet families (my three cats, his dog), one of the cats hid in the basement for three months. Just when we were giving up and resigning ourselves to him spending the rest of his days there, he started peeking out, and once he realized that the dog wouldn’t hurt him, it was OK. The dog and the alpha cat had little dominance tussles, but they were mostly funny. Once the cat won (we knew she would), everyone coexisted fine and the cats just ignored Dave.
As for the cat person, I never bonded with Dave the way my husband came to love the cats. I feel guilty about that. I was good to him, but I’m just not a dog person. I hope it’s different for you, though!
Linda Featheringill
@magurakurin:
Bring it on, you fascist pigs:
I understand your feelings. And no, we don’t want to really do that.
Beck is a walking fictional character. He reminds me of that old movie about the revival preacher who was a total fraud but I cannot remember the character’s name right now.
Linda Featheringill
@Linda Featheringill:
Elmer Gantry! That is who Glenn Beck reminds me of.
Linda Featheringill
To Chris about the new member of the household:
When you take in a dog, you adopt a child. Dogs are never adults [until just before they die]. And yes, they are needy.
And one day you may realize that it is rather nice to have a shadow.
:-)
gex
If it helps at all, I introduced my dog to a household with 3 cats. That was about 2 years ago. The first couple of months I was very unhappy because it seemed the cats were really upset. I loved the dog already, and I worried I wouldn’t be able to keep him because of the cat-dog situation.
Time takes care of a lot of things. The cat that had the biggest problem with him is now the one who likes him the most.
On the jumping, if it bothers you, I was able to cure my dog of jumping on me. When I got home from work he used to be all over me. I’d let him jump, but I’d completely ignore him. Once he sat down and stopped demanding my attention, I gave it to him. After a week or so, I soon had a dog that sits down or lays down when I come home, waiting for me to go greet him.
gex
Oh yeah. I forgot to mention the dog I brought home is not the dog I have now. He was very scared and unsure – of himself, the cats, the new house, and us. As he started to feel secure and loved, the real Casey personality came out. Give yourself, your dog, and your cats some time.
Athenae
Anxiety about a new pet, totally normal, no matter how much you’ve read or how many pets you’ve had. With each of the ferrets, I’ve had that moment of, “Oh, shit, this isn’t going to work out,” and it always does.
I remember when we got our Joey, and he and Fox and Stripe stayed in opposite corners of the room for about two weeks glaring and hissing at each other. I called the shelter every day Freaking. Out. about this behavior when finally the director told me look, paranoia-mommy, if they were gonna kill each other they’d have done it already, chill. Two days later, it was a fuzzy pile of love in the same pet-bed.
Animals test us like kids do: What can I get away with?
A.
General Stuck
Jack is a fine figure of a puppy. Five days is not long. It takes a while for dogs to acclimate to their new surroundings and bond without clinging. Charlie was pretty insecure at first and followed my everywhere right under my feet. He still does to a degree, but now has his spot in each room to just lay down and keep an eye on me, but not under my feet. Same with leaving alone for awhile in the truck or at home, where there was some whimpering and separation anxiety. When Jack realizes you’ll always return, that should lessen.
Sleepy head Charlie
Now I am goin” galt.
The Pale Scot
Fewer books, more time.
atlliberal
There is no such thing as the “perfect dog”. Relax. the cats will get used to another four legged creature as part of the household and everyone will settle into the new dynamic. It won’t be perfect, but that is what makes it well…perfect.
Shinobi
When we first got Vlad I started calling him Monster because he was so demanding and so needy and so hard to adjust to. Now I call him that when he is being super cute. Give it time, let your dog be himself (with manners) you will all adjust. Even the cats.
jeffreyw
Yay!! Brittany puppeh! Named Jack! Yay!
Relax, it took our Jack time to settle in. Yay! Such a good boy, who’s a good boy? You a good boy! Happy Jack! Jack is a happy boy, yes he is!
Carnacki
The older I get the more I think the key to happiness is managing self-expectations. Sometimes love takes time. Sometimes it’ll — That is such a handsome dog! Lookatthatfacelookatthatface — wait, what was I saying? Oh yes, don’t be too hard on yourself or Jack. You both need time together to learn each other. Don’t worry if you set boundaries for Jack and yourself.
Sometimes we have to train ourselves when it comes to dogs. With cats, of course, they train us.
Commish - mattt
Jack is adorable.
Re: Football. A second fantasy league is in the works. It’ll be a second conference actually, just like the AFC/NFC, and we’ll have a Balloon Juice Super Bowl at the end of the year.
Updates to follow…..league management needs to sort out a few details before posting.
bystander
Don’t underestimate the value of a 6 week obedience class in getting the relationship between you and this gorgeous pup off to a good start. With my bevy of border collies and aussies, introducing a borzoi was probably not unlike introducing Jack to your cats. The zoi kinda thought the others were cats.
You can read a bazillion and three books, but there’s no substitute for you, the dog, and a skilled trainer. I’d trained all of our other dogs myself, and they’re better behaved than most humans, but this zoi was an excursion into the exotic. I’m glad for the intro obedience that Tinker and I did. Put the whole “going forward” on a solid platform. And, the side bonus was the trainer full well understood the differences between herders and sight hounds. It was the best choice I made after adopting this pretty girl. And, Tinker now has girl friends.
Mary G
Puppies and babies are mega-cute so we won’t kill them.
I can totally relate to the “if only I’d read a bazillion and four articles” feeling, but what everyone else said. Time will help and so will training, especially ignoring him when he jumps.
Six months from now you’ll wonder how you ever got along without him.
quaint irene
Naah, it’s Lonesome Rhodes, from ‘A Face In The Crowd.’
A huckster with a tv show who played up the same ‘aw-shucks, good ol’ american values, common man’ pablum. Until he got caught on microphone saying what he really felt about his audience.
wonkie
I’m involved in dog rescue. Most of our adopters are dog people who have ahd dogs all of their lives but sometimes we get first time folks and usually they are pretty nervous. To me that’s a sign that the people are taking the adoptioon serioulsy which is good. However sometimes that nervousness takes the form of being too controlling and of over reacting to normal puppy and dog behvior. Dogs are higher maintenance than cats.
I hope yu can learn to relax and enjoy your puppy. Dogs are a lot more like children than cats. I love cats and have had many of them, but in my experience anyway the relationship between people and cats is different than the relationswhip between people and dogs. People live with cats in companionship. They take care of dogs. There’s more parenting involved. Dealing with neediness and misbehavior is part of the deal.
I’d like to write a puppy’s Bill fo Rights. It would include I have a right to be needy, I have a right to be treated with patience, I have a right to empathy, I have a right to sleep where I can hear and smell my people because they are the center of my world, I have a right to be glad to see my people and I have a right to have them be glad to see me, I have a right to be loved even though I am not perfect or well behaved, I have a right to positive training, I have the right to be a dog and do doggish things. And so on.
I hope the adoption works out for you and the puppy.
PaulW
@quaint irene:
If Glenn Beck can put on a travesty of a show in Washington DC, why can’t we get a protest for Jobs and Unemployment Relief lined up? Who the hell can we talk to about that?
Gina
@wonkie:
This is so…THIS!
Anne
Have you thought about not using the crate at night and having Jack
sleep on his own bed in your bedroom? I think it would go a long way to making him feel more secure. Also, is he getting enough exercise? If you don’t have the time it might be worth hiring a dog walker to take him on long walks.
Jack is absolutely adorable. We got our Irish setter when he was four months old. If I had known then what I know now I would have been
more in tune with his emotional needs early on. He is now ten years old and has been the most wonderful dog I could possibly imagine. Working with his sensitivities really paid off. (Side note: he is very intelligent. Had to throw that in since Irish setters have the reputation of being a bit dim. Not true!).
You Don't Say
I felt the same way when we first got our dog. I called it post-partum depression. We just hired a behaviorist to help with his separation anxiety and his evening mania and he’s better and we’re all making the adjustment. I think it’s normal, at least it’s normal for me. ;-)
CynDee
@magurakurin: Don’t let the creeps turn you into someone else. That would be the ultimate victory for them. Don’t rent them space in your head, as Gary Cox and a famous admiral recently said.
CynDee
@jeffreyw: Good Jeffrey! Good boy! Good chefffJeff! Good Good GOOOOODDDD!!!!!
BY THE WAY,
Could you please tell me what kind of grease or oil you fry your MMMMmushrooms in? ?
WANT, BIG TIME.
Pets to the pups.
Violet
What a cute puppy! It may take time, but he looks so cute and adorable. I think you’ll end up loving him and wondering how you ever got along without him. Everything takes time.
bey
Tina was a rescue and came into a house full of 5 cats.
Fortunately none of them had ever met a dog up close, so they were flabbergasted rather than pissed off.
Two things I did straight off that really helped the situation were to sign Tina and me up for basic obedience and crate her only during the day while I was at work, and only for the first couple of months. I’m not a fan of crating in general – I’ve read all the it’s-a-den-private-space-blah arguments, but it’s dog jail, period, in my book. Dogs want to be with us and *need* to be with us. Sometimes necessary, but to be avoided if possible. /soapbox
The crating gave the cats some dog-free time when I wasn’t there to supervise the action, but still allowed them to get to know her in the slow way cats like.
Basic obedience helped us bond like a house afire. It gave her an opportunity to do things that pleased me and be rewarded for same. Nothing like the combination of treats, good girls!, and time doing things together to allay her anxieties and make her feel loved, cherished and secure. Which she is – I wonder every day how I ever got along without those bright eyes in my life.
2 years later, the 2 youngest cats play happily with Tina – though they still don’t really understand one another’s games. The oldest 2 have reached a mostly amicable mutual non-aggression treaty and the middle guy (Alpha cat) and Tina hunt for mice together in the garden. Tina has taken on Cat Sheriff duties and breaks up a couple of cat arguments a week. The cats don’t seem to hold any grudges about that. Cats don’t really like to fight very much, but they hate to back down from high dudgeon even more. Tina barking and getting in their bidness allows them to break off hostilities without losing face.
All the above was only to say – Basic Obedience will really help you bond with that handsome good boy and controlled interaction with the rest of the household will set the tone for a lifetime of amicable relationships.
Plus I got to link a pic of The World’s Most Adorable Dog
bystander
@bey:
Exactly, bey. That’s the essence of obedience training, right there. And, it either cures, or prevents so many ills… not the least of which can be surrendering the dog for adoption.
@wonkie:
Amen.
bey
Oh, and I wanted to add another thing about obedience classes: Jack’s a working dog and working dogs gotta work.
If you don’t give him jobs to do he will find his own jobs…..jobs you won’t like. I promise.
I have a friend whose Britteny Spaniel systematically destroyed his belongings over the course of her 2-year puppyhood. He kept insisting a couple of walks per day was enough to keep her busy and occupied, despite the glaring evidence to the contrary.
The last time I saw him he told me she had chewed up $1000 worth of CDs. I told him I was surprised he had a thousand dollars worth of stuff left.
Ruckus
@bob h:
Bud the elder cocker, 10-12 yrs, does the same thing. It can get to be a little bit much on occasion, but mostly you just get used to it. It’s like getting married and finding out your spouse squeezes the toothpaste from the middle instead of the bottom. Or puts the tp upside down.
Whata ya gona do?
Yea, yea you should have found out those things that make you incompatible up front, but we rarely do.
jeffreyw
@CynDee: I used peanut oil. Any of the veggie oils will work, stay away from olive oils for this. Crisco would work fine.
Ruckus
@Linda Featheringill:
He is Elmer without the charm and grace of Burt
Southern Beale
We only use the crate for Chaka when we are not home. She sleeps in a regular dog bed at night. But I’ve tried to wean her from the crate, leaving her out while I take short grocery store trips, or locked in a room, and she FREAKS OUT. Chews on stuff, pees, gets distructive. So we’ve had to leave the crate up. Which I hate because it’s ugly and for aesthetic reasons alone I wish I could get rid of it.
Tips on weaning a dog off the dog crate, anyone? We have two dogs, one has never used a crate. Also a shitload of cats. But I can lock Chaka in a bathroom or other room separate from the cats if I need to. Last time I did that she peed on my bed.
Sigh.
ChrisS
Thanks so much for the encouragement. I was out all morning today and Tara stayed at home with the puppy and apparently I missed all the fun. She took him to a local hiking area that’s dog friendly and Jack was exceedingly good. He sat when he met new people (I’ve been using the gentle leader on our twice daily walks and making him sit whenever I stop), was a little skittish with joggers. When they came home the cats even made an appearance downstairs while he was asleep.
As for the crating and our bedroom, we made the upstairs a no-dog area for the cats. I feel bad, because I’m sure Jack would be happy to sleep next to us, but I don’t want the cats without a safe area to use their litter or their food & water. The upstairs was really the only place we could cordon off. I’m not a huge crate fan, but I recognize its importance – plus Jack’s a bit of a chewer. we’ve mostly puppy proofed everything, but he’s managed to jump up and grab my iphone a couple of times the second I turned my head – it has a soft rubber cover, so I’m sure he just thinks it’s another toy.
He’s a very sharp dog and I’m pretty sure it’s just my anxiety about screwing up that very sharp dog. I’ll definitely try turning my back and ignoring him when he jumps – it’s not too bad at 30lbs, but when he’s 45lbs, it might be too much. He learns quickly, but we have been thinking about taking an obedience class.
He’s currently at my feet snoring his fool head off. He’s very serious about getting his sleep. I can see this working out.
bystander
@Southern Beale:
If anyone has any ideas, maybe those techniques would work for weaning my husband off his barcalounger. I haven’t tried taking it away from him when I leave to go to the grocery store, so I don’t know if he’d pee on the bed, or not.
I think it’s kind of like Rukus observed. There are these things you wish you could know in advance, and you resign yourself to.
I imagine Chaka sees the crate as *safe*. Probably my husband sees his barcalounger as safe the same way. I decided to throw an attractive slipcover over it, and make do. Maybe a board over the crate with an attractive cover would turn Chaka’s safe place into an acceptable end table? Just a thought.
kideni
I’ve been there. I remember after my first week with Chaika wondering what the hack I’d gotten myself into, and even a couple of months later I despaired at ever having any sort of routine that worked for both of us. And the cat wasn’t happy about it at all. But now, almost three years later, we’re all doing fine. I made sure to block the dog or otherwise correct her whenever she tried to chase the cat, and she stopped going after him pretty quickly; the cat also did his own correcting every now and again with a few whaps on the snout (claws in, which I found fascinating). It also helps that the cat has a few places that the dog can never get to, so he can always escape if he wants. The dog and cat are not buddies by any means, which kind of bums me out, but they do greet each other and can be on the same piece of furniture at the same time (the dog will move if the cat wants her spot).
Books and articles are invaluable for information, but as Patricia McConnell says, dogs don’t read the manual. You have to work with your dog to figure things out because you’re both individuals. As everyone here has been saying, obedience classes are great and will do more to help the two of you bond and work together than any book could ever do.
Good luck. Jack’s a beauty!
jeffreyw
@bystander:
I’d pee on yer bed ya took mine away. That’s just how I roll.
kideni
@Southern Beale:
The best thing I can think of is that you’d need to find something that would serve Chaka’s needs as well as or better than the crate — like bystander says, she probably sees the crate as safe, and it’s a place that the other dog and the cats can’t get to. Perhaps the bathroom will do. Sometimes you can work with a dog by leaving for gradually longer and longer periods of time, starting out with really short periods (first leave for one minute, then two, then five), with lots of rewards and something to occupy her time for a bit when you leave. It sounds like Chaka’s a tough case and it could take months or years to get her to the point when you can leave her uncrated for half an hour. It may be that she’s a dog that will always need a crate. Some dogs are like that. My dog only goes into her crate at night and I almost never close her in, but she seems to like having it around; I have a lovely piece of Indonesian batik cloth over the top of it, and it’s become my nightstand.
bey
@kideni: My dad’s done the same with his dog. The door is always open and Sancho goes in and out as he pleases. It’s rather an eyesore and my dad is one of those people who’s never met a horizontal surface he couldn’t pile a metric ton of crap on, so decor-wise it’s pretty bad.
Maybe not quite as bad as a barcalounger though. Unless it’s got visible duct tape repairs, which make all the difference.
Anne Laurie
@Southern Beale:
Get a prettier crate, or build / commission an “end table” to disguise it. Weaning a dog that’s gotten so dependent on having her “safe den” is like weaning a two-year-old off her tattered security blanket because you find it socially embarrassing. Since you don’t have to worry about Chaka growing up and going off to college still dragging her ‘lovie’, it’s easier to modify the crate to match your decor than to modify her brain!
TuiMel
@WereBear (itouch):
What fine counsel – for this and so many situations.
bystander
Crates as furniture.
I readily admit that I have 5 undisguised crates in my house, but then, with 7 adopted dogs I readily admit that I live in a kennel. Like kideni and bey’s dad, the crate doors are just left open and it seems like they’re all occupied by one critter or another throughout the day.
I get no end of amusement out of watching a borzoi try to fit herself into an aussie sized crate when it’s the last one available.
Jebediah
Well I don’t have much to add that hasn’t already been said but that is such a fine looking dog that I can’t resist throwing my two cents in… in my experience, the animals that are difficult at first are the ones you end up loving more than you can believe. They won’t ever be perfectly behaved, which would be really boring anyway, but you and they adjust to each others foibles. As some folks already said, you are still in really early days, especially for a young dog.
If upstairs is a dog-free zone, I predict that you will occasionally find an excuse to fall asleep on the couch with him… I know I would. Thirty to 45 pounds is perfect share-the-couch size, in my opinion.
Good for you for taking him home – he’s abeauty and you two will make each other very happy.