neb is home

well, and it's part of why i was really reluctant to take him this weekend, in addition to that i think he's too young. my brother is very hesitant about puppy-sitting, but i think if i can make it easy, i'm hoping he'll be willing.

he was eating wellness puppy kibble in the foster home....he's getting THK embark and orijen w/me. i checked his mouth and didn't see anything looking bad, and he was just at the vet for a check-up.

it seemed a bit better this morning. we need to perfect our potty routine - he's gone outside, but also in his crate - i'm kind of figuring out timing, i had a rough idea, but i'm starting to see exactly how long it takes him to have to go, so i think we'll get that down. i wondered - he need a bath after i picked him up, i wondered if maybe, b/c his foster home was so busy, his area was cleaned 2X/day, if maybe he hadn't been sneak eating some poop treats - ?????

i did some googling and that's apparently a common cause of puppy bad breath.

oh, and there are pics of him up....i only put up a few. he's hard to take pics of, he zooms around! he does cry if i'm out of the room, and since teagan was so great w/him yesterday, and actually, with both of them on lead and me holding the handle on her collar this morning, she very politely sniffed him, so i put his crate at the edge of the living room this morning (teagan is tethered to her crate on a 10ft tieout when i'm not there with her) so he'll have some doggy company.

and luc seems to have realized that neb isn't going to hurt him - he was nervous last night, which i expected. he's taken to play bowing at neb, but then 'ruff ruff ruff'ing in a deep voice, which i'm not sure how to take - he sounds very big when he does that and he normally doesn't vocalize when he play bows. but he seems very excited and has shiny happy eyes.

with neb, even the puppy kong i bought is kind of big! we play in the yard - i 'run' (walk fast) and then he bounces after me and gets me and then i pet/tickle him, and we go all around the outside of the house doing that. he also likes to tug.

i have partioned off his crate. his foster home was using the paper method of housebreaking - teaching him to go on the paper, and then eventually she was going to move the paper outside. i was going to do that, but got suggestions that was not the best way.

he's been great in the house on leash - no problems - and great last night, i stuck him in the snuggli i had from when i had my kitten w/mega-e while i rode the bike, b/c teagan was in with us, and so was luc - i don't want to change their routine, but neb was very vocal in the crate, and since i wasn't comfortable having him out and tethered to me when teagan is normally tethered to the exercise bike while i ride it, i stuck him there and he mostly just slept.

i think we'll have to work over the next couple of days so that he learns that paper isn't where he's supposed to go, it's the opposite of what he was taught before. i've been using paper rather than towels just b/c i don't want to run out of towels (especially since i have a washer, but the dryer doesn't work and environmentally i just line dry everything anyways, but it takes longer).

i was going to edit, but ran out of time:

they hadn't gotten to the point of taking the puppies out in the yard yet, so this is the first time he's been able to do this rather than going on paper, which has been the 'potty' area for all of his puppyhood until yesterday. he LOVES outside though, it's cool to watch him run around out there and check things out....him sniffing his first tree was really cute

things are going well!

luc and teagan are both behaving as i expected, which i'm actually pleased i called them that well.

luc alternates between being all 'WHEE! play bow! ruff ruff ruff (dunno about the ruffing, but he's shiny eyed and grinning)' and being 'AGH! it's coming towards me! i feel threatened!'. which i had expected, so we've been working on that and overall, things are improving. i've been doing extra training w/luc and making sure he gets lots of affection.

teagan is just being amazing - i'm so proud - i had thought she would be, but with her....well, she's teagan. but she secretly has a big mushy heart. i've been closely supervising all interactions, but she's been great. she has been so polite and positive around neb, sniffing him and laying near him, that i took them outside a few times together yesterday - luc and neb had been going out together, but teagan and neb both need to be on leashes. teagan just lay down and let neb climb up her muzzle with what i can only describe as a blissful expression on her face. when she'd had enough, she just got up and left. neb really likes her, and tries to follow her around though i make sure she has a neb-free zone that she can go to. yesterday while i was on the bike he was playing with her tail and she just laid there quietly. he's really bringing out her calm and gentle side, even if they're not together, she tends to focus on him and is noticeably calmer overall

edit: and housetraining - is going well!