Our first week and a bit with George

May 7, 2008

Where do we start? Probably with the fact that we're absolutely and utterly knackered. This is because having been complete and utter slackers for the last 10 years we have become used to a full night's sleep. Not any more - George has to be taken out for a pee at least twice a night and it's ruining our beauty sleep. I doubt we'll get any sympathy from parents but that's not going to stop us whining. Hopefully this will get better with time as he gets older and can hold his bladder through the night.

Other than that he has been a joy. He has hardly chewed on anything but his toys (of which he has loads - our excuse is that they're cheaper than new furniture) and he is pretty much used to being put in jail (his crate) for half an hour here and there during the day and for the night. The first time we did this he whimpered and barked a lot but he has gradually given in.

Our house has gradually become dog-proof over the last week with pet gates in appropriate places and the back deck made escape proof. Due to the danger of him being eaten by coyotes or our local bobcat he is only going outside with us but we're out a lot, so he is too. He (and we) get walked three times a day and we have been working on his training quite diligently. He can now sit, lie down, get back up and stay on command (as long as he is being bribed with food). Today he got his first piece of real bone to chew on and he went at it like he'd been starved since he arrived. We've both noticed that he has become a bit lankier than he was when we met him in Washington. When we first weighed him he was about 15lbs (6.8kg) and today he weighed 22lb (10kg).

He's had a lot of experiences over the last week and a bit - driven for two days solid, introduced to serious snow, taken to the vet, bathed and met lots of new people. Our lives have been turned upside-down but we're really glad that he's with us.

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