Pepper's in the house!

And doing good.

Pepper & Abby

Both sleeping right next to each other:

We got the crate today and he's doing really well in it. I want to establish that crate time = resting time. That should help me in the office as well (I am planning on crating him when I teach so that he does not get himself into trouble by chewing up my stuff or scratching the door or... whatever else comes to his mind). Thus, I can also leave the door open without worrying about what he's doing and he can see what's going on outside.

I gave him a good leash-free run in the yard when I came home today (he LOVED it!), and a good long walk in the rain tonight. Now he's happily asleep in the crate, and Abby decided to join him in her carrier. I think this will work out nicely :). 

It has been an exhausting week but we have made such amazing progress with him. I got to remind myself that we've only had him for a week (it does feel longer :)). 

And more about Pepper

Walking on the leash - A (as in awesome!).

Riding in the car - A.

Being calm in the office so that I can get some work done - B+. Huge improvement over Tuesday. I did some retrieving with him outside the office before we went in and that seemed to help. Also, I started turning on the heater (which is very noisy) when I want him to lie down and snooze. And he seems to get that too. Of course, getting some playtime (off leash) with Daisy helps as well!

Being alone in the office or his room - B+. He's usually really good with that, but he does whine a little when there is activity outside and he is not allowed to join in (no surprise there, how unfair is that?!).

Feeding time - by now A-. There was a lot of barking when Abby and George got to eat out of his bowl first. But ever since the one water spray in his face when he started to get the barking fit in my office he seems to get it. (He's so smart, a blessing and a curse!). So now we have a quadruple stack in his bowl: His food at the bottom, then George's and Abby's bowls, then something for me on top, and there was no barking at all! I think he has fully accepted that he is the lowest in rank. Awesome!

Lastly, moving around freely in the house while respecting the kitties: C+. Got to work on that. Which I guess is fair as he so far has either been with me at work or mostly in his room, so the house is still brand new and exciting. Abby is wonderful with him. She lets him sniff her and when he gets too rough for her taste (which is pretty much every time), she raises a paw or hisses. Nothing really angry, just firmly telling him what's ok and what isn't. When she does that I typically reinforce the "Leave it!" and I'm sure we'll get there in time. George is still not too confident around Pepper, but again, once Pepper calms down more I am sure George will calm down as well.

First work day after the break

Driving 40 minutes with Pepper in the back - no problem.
Calming him down in the office so that I can get some work done: About 45 minutes. I assume that'll get better once we establish this routine.
Greeting two new people: Initial excitement, calming down after about a minute, polite greeting afterward.

All in all, I am very pleased :).

More Pepper

We've already made some good progress with Pepper. He usually sits nicely (although he can hardly contain himself, the whole dog is wiggling) when he greets us, he walks (mostly) nicely on the leash (unless there are other dogs or people, then he gets really excited), does "sit", "down", and has already learned "wait" (for example when I place food in front of him - he is pretty good with that already, although every now and then the whole dog is about to explode and we have to do the exercise a few times in a row before he does it correctly). All in all, he's about to become an awesome dog! 

What we really have to work on is his mouthy-ness: What's in his mouth is hard to get out, and I don't want my hands to get too close to his jaws when he gets into his "let's just grab whatever is here, it'll sure be the toy"-mode.

Here are a few more impressions of him:

Two pics taken by my Mom via Skype:

And a few photos taken this afternoon during our walk. 

Skiing at Timberline Lodge

  

Jan went skiing on Saturday (while I was doggy-sitting :)), and here are a few of his impressions (I should also mention the text I got "Have I mentioned that this is AWESOME?!" Sounds like someone had a blast!).

Meet: Pepper

Pepper tired after a long walk

, the latest furry member of our family. We just adopted him yesterday, but he seems to be a great dog with lots of potential. Sure, we have to work on his doggie manners a little - his previous owners did not put a lot of time in his training - but he seems very responsive and submissive. So we just have to be persistent and I'm sure he'll be an awesome dog! He is already walking much more politely on the leash (hardly any pulling anymore), and the jumping up on people has become less as well (he knows that sitting is the polite thing to do!).

I love the look on their faces:
"... you have got to be kidding me..."

Cautiously approaching

Amazingly the introduction to Abby and George went much smoother than hoped: There was some puffiness when we brought Pepper in the laundry room, but after feeding the cats outside that door they quickly calmed down. We then brought them into the bedroom to give Pepper a chance to sniff around the house before bringing him to his room - our exercise room. Abby and George were very curious and wanted to check that "big black thing" out. No puffing, no hissing, no swatting. Of course they are both very cautious around him (which is good) and for the most part he ignored them (which is also great). The latter has changed a little now that he has settled down a bit, but by keeping him on the leash when he is in the house and keeping an eye on them I'm sure we can make sure that he knows that they are part of the family. We also made sure to feed the cats first while he is watching.