so to stray away from the "intro" thread, i will create this one.
i was able to bring our new boy home on 10/10/14 and let me tell you he is something else. its crazy how something as little as him has brought our family closer and how much of training tool he is for our daughters, ie responsibility, thinking before acting, etc..
just to give you the run down of the last week and a half (which i took time off of work to paint the house and be with him and help him transition into our family). he was very tired from the stress of leaving his mom and dad and his other human family. however, i am absolutely certain, he knows he has it better now. the first night, he got to meet the whole family in a very calm situation (which i know for my daughters was very very very hard to do). after the initial "who are these strange people" looks from him, he because curious enough to sniff around and start seeing what this new place was all about. about an hour after that, he must have been so tired because he just crashed on the floor (new carpet, its very soft, and i have done the same thing as him, lol). we took him out, but i guess due to nerves, he never did go potty.
but during this time, the family decided, after much deliberation, that we would call him "Cooper".
the kids were up at 5am on a SATURDAY, just so they could play with Cooper, it was so funny and sad to tell them to go back to bed. i took Cooper outside to do his thing, but he never went. So every 2 hours, i took him out. he didnt eat the first night or the next day, nor did he go potty the first night or the next day. but by the 2nd "full" day, he flipped his switch and became the puppy that i saw the first time, he was just happy. no other way to explain it.
by that 2nd full day he was settled enough to start eating and going potty. he did have one accident that day, but other than that, he pretty much figured out that we want him to do his thing outside. he will now go to the gate at the stairs and whine to go outside or in his crate he will do the same thing. he doesnt whine any other time (right now). so potty training is pretty much set.
he also took to his crate instantly (i made him a pretty nice one, a table/crate, that stays in the living room). he seems to like it enough that he will go in there from time to time to relax and get away.
the kids absolutely adore him. they seem to need more training than Cooper does lol. they just want him to be around for everything, ie school drop off, day care drop off, picking up from school/daycare, trips to the store, grandmas, etc... its quite cute that they want him around for everything. they have also learned that to avoid losing their toys and stuffed play things, that they must get picked up or they will get chewed on and destroyed and it wont be Coopers fault, but their own fault. lets just say, i havent seen their rooms so clean for a week straight, ever.
i took him to the vet last tuesday, and he checked out pretty nicely. no murmur, no hip or knee cap problems, no sign of hearworm or tapeworms. but he did have a serious case of ear mites that i was not happy about along with 3 "spots"/"scars" on him that the vet wanted to be cautious about that it wasnt ringworm. so she gave me some drops for the ears and some for the spots along with his rabies vac and some other vac that i cant remember right now, and then in a couple weeks i will take him back for his distemper (spelling?) shot.
besides that, he is loving life right now (not sure about today since it is the "long day" in the crate). thankfully there is only 1 day a week it is like this, but he has shown that he can and will hold it for a long time. i just hope he was ok today.
also i finally was able to get time to upload some pictures since imageshack didnt want to play nice anymore (for free).
i was able to bring our new boy home on 10/10/14 and let me tell you he is something else. its crazy how something as little as him has brought our family closer and how much of training tool he is for our daughters, ie responsibility, thinking before acting, etc..
just to give you the run down of the last week and a half (which i took time off of work to paint the house and be with him and help him transition into our family). he was very tired from the stress of leaving his mom and dad and his other human family. however, i am absolutely certain, he knows he has it better now. the first night, he got to meet the whole family in a very calm situation (which i know for my daughters was very very very hard to do). after the initial "who are these strange people" looks from him, he because curious enough to sniff around and start seeing what this new place was all about. about an hour after that, he must have been so tired because he just crashed on the floor (new carpet, its very soft, and i have done the same thing as him, lol). we took him out, but i guess due to nerves, he never did go potty.
but during this time, the family decided, after much deliberation, that we would call him "Cooper".
the kids were up at 5am on a SATURDAY, just so they could play with Cooper, it was so funny and sad to tell them to go back to bed. i took Cooper outside to do his thing, but he never went. So every 2 hours, i took him out. he didnt eat the first night or the next day, nor did he go potty the first night or the next day. but by the 2nd "full" day, he flipped his switch and became the puppy that i saw the first time, he was just happy. no other way to explain it.
by that 2nd full day he was settled enough to start eating and going potty. he did have one accident that day, but other than that, he pretty much figured out that we want him to do his thing outside. he will now go to the gate at the stairs and whine to go outside or in his crate he will do the same thing. he doesnt whine any other time (right now). so potty training is pretty much set.
he also took to his crate instantly (i made him a pretty nice one, a table/crate, that stays in the living room). he seems to like it enough that he will go in there from time to time to relax and get away.
the kids absolutely adore him. they seem to need more training than Cooper does lol. they just want him to be around for everything, ie school drop off, day care drop off, picking up from school/daycare, trips to the store, grandmas, etc... its quite cute that they want him around for everything. they have also learned that to avoid losing their toys and stuffed play things, that they must get picked up or they will get chewed on and destroyed and it wont be Coopers fault, but their own fault. lets just say, i havent seen their rooms so clean for a week straight, ever.
i took him to the vet last tuesday, and he checked out pretty nicely. no murmur, no hip or knee cap problems, no sign of hearworm or tapeworms. but he did have a serious case of ear mites that i was not happy about along with 3 "spots"/"scars" on him that the vet wanted to be cautious about that it wasnt ringworm. so she gave me some drops for the ears and some for the spots along with his rabies vac and some other vac that i cant remember right now, and then in a couple weeks i will take him back for his distemper (spelling?) shot.
besides that, he is loving life right now (not sure about today since it is the "long day" in the crate). thankfully there is only 1 day a week it is like this, but he has shown that he can and will hold it for a long time. i just hope he was ok today.
also i finally was able to get time to upload some pictures since imageshack didnt want to play nice anymore (for free).
