Busy First Day

After we picked up Hawk, he had no idea what a busy day he would have.  We stopped back at home long enough to pick up the Godkids' suitcases (we had a contest to see who out of the 3 kids could pack up and NOT forget something.  Lexie was the winner, as it should be since she is the oldest.  She won 2 fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies.) Hawk and Monte got to meet and play a bit.   Once of the first things Hawk did was rudely try to hump Monte--not a good sign for an 8 week old puppy, but Monte gently and sternly communicated that was impolite and intolerable behavior.  Then we were off to meet the kids' parents in Wisconsin Dells.  So Hawk got to go for a long car ride.  He just settled in on Lisa's lap and napped the whole time.  

At Culver's in Wisconsin Dells, he got to meet a lot of new friends and admirers.  He did great as we ate outside and laid quietly under the table between visitors.  

After delivering the kids to their parents, we drove to Mounds Pet Foods to get him a supply of puppy food.  Again more admirers and oh so many good smells in Mounds!  Then we stopped at Menards.  He got to don his brand new tiny "service dog in training" vest and reluctantly walked on leash into and through Menards (well, through most of it, and got carried the rest of the way).  He did pretty well all things considered.  It must have felt to him like he had walked into another universe.  We picked him up some puppy chew bones since all we had at home were larger antlers and toys for big dogs.  These will be more appropriate for his tiny puppy teeth.

Once we arrived back home again and he and Monte really got a chance to get acquainted (apparently he learned from the first encounter a bit of manners), we took a short walk down the street and around our yard.  To our surprise, he successfully made his way up our basement stairs on his own followed closely by Jeff lest there be any backward sliding. Again, a sign of a confident dog--oh boy, we have been down this road before...let the wild rumpus begin!

 We introduced him to his crate, letting him walk into and out of it, using yummy treats to make it more pleasant.  I put a cushy pad and the towel he rode home on inside the crate,  modified so that he had no room to be tempted to potty inside his sleeping area.  I also added a fuzzy little bunny one of his new puppy chew bones.  He hated the crate at first, crying as most pups do on that first night away from the litter.  He had no interest whatsoever in the toys in the crate and would throw his head back like a beagle and howl.  We laid Monte's bed next to the crate, but no surprise, Monte decided to give up his bed and sleep on the floor rather than be so close to the discomforted new foster brother.  I set the clock to go off every hour, but there was little need for the alarm.  None of us got much sleep that first night.  Mercifully, he finally fell asleep for a bit and we were able to take him out before he started his crying again.

We had some minor setbacks and made some mistakes, but within a couple nights, Hawk slowly learned that the crate was an OK place, and eureka! there were toys to play with to keep himself busy until the lazy humans got up to free him from the crate.  It is really important for a puppy to be able to self-comfort and relax themselves. Since those first weeks of training involve a lot of crate time--you want to set the pups up for success and minimize accidents inside the house while house training--it is so much more pleasant for everyone if the pup sees the crate as a cozy retreat.  I think we are at that point with Hawk-ahhh!