Sleepovers

In preparation for an upcoming trip for work, Steinvic and I have been trying to get Pup acclimated to spending time at my parents' house.

He's doing remarkably well, seems to be getting comfortable with car rides, and since they have visited numerous times since we got him just two weeks ago, he is comfortable with them and their home.

Saturday, we headed to Cbus to spend time with Steinvic's family for Mother's Day, and we dropped Pup off at the folks for a sleepover.

And Steinvic and I got to have a sleepover, downtown, in a lovely renovated hotel room, that he scheduled for us, and it was our first stay out late/sleep in morning since Pup arrived. How nice that was! I think I slept about nine hours, and the bed was so comfortable it has us seriously considering buying a new bed now instead of waiting until we move.

We LOVE Pup. He is a entertaining and lively and funny and exhausting. Anyone who has had a puppy knows that this stage doesn't last forever. At some point, Pup will become a dog who - while still active when inspired - won't be the same little never-ending ball of energy we've got now.

So, we've had to grow a little patience. Okay...I've had to grow a little patience.

Steinvic is the kind of guy that if he says, "No. NO!" to Pup a few times for toe/sock biting, and Pup doesn't mind him, he'll go upstairs and put shoes on. THAT is patience.

I struggle with it. And then I realize that I am trying to reason with an animal that doesn't necessarily understand what I want him to do, and that he just can't do it yet. He will be able to learn things when he gets older, and we plan to Click train him (beginning when we get back from our trip), but for the moment, there are lots of things that he just doesn't get.

My new plan is to distract Pup with an appropriate toy when he chews/bites things he's not supposed to and that if he gets really out of control, we can crate him for a while, and it's not cruel (I feel like we're hurting his feelings when we crate him!)

So...I am the one who really needs retraining right now. Especially during this teething, baby, growing, learning stage. Patience. Not my strongest trait, but I'll get there.

What has Pup learned since living with us for two weeks? He sleeps through the night. He doesn't shriek any more when we leave the house. He eats his baby carrot treats like they are the best thing in the world and understands his water dispenser (it fills if he drinks from it and I have seen him watching the air bubbles go up inside the bottle as he drinks) and food schedule completely. He will fetch (he doesn't realize that we want him to do this...even though we praise him for it. He just wants to PLAY!) his elephant and his ball over and over. He has figured out the potty situation and uses his newspaper/platform about 95% of the time now.

For a little tiny guy, he's learned a lot, super fast. And so have we!