At last! After 11 months of waiting, we have our new pack member. He's still unnamed as we're still trying to figure out what coat he has and what personality he has.
All I can say is thus far:
1. The breeder did an excellent job beginning house training and socialization. On night 2, he slept right through without needing to go potty or having an accident in his crate. Upon coming home he already understood he's supposed to go outside to relieve himself and cried when he needed to go. He's learned to self-soothe very quickly compared to Jack at that age. He only cries for a moment or two before burrowing under the blanket the breeder gave us and going to sleep.
2. He was raised around all of the other adult dogs and shows absolutely NO fear of anything strange or Jack. His first instinct is to bark at the thing then go look at it, and he's perfectly capable or raising his tiny lip at Jack if Jack gets too much in his face--and Jack does the same. If Jack starts acting weird because he doesn't know how to play with the puppy (I can tell he wants to, but is afraid of being too rough or doing the wrong thing) the puppy completely ignores Jack and carries on with what he's doing.
3. Because he was raised around adult dogs, he's extremely polite to Jack for such a young puppy. His bite inhibition is good for the moment, but we'll see in a month when the landshark phase hits.
4. His coat is mostly brown, though I can see the black mask and legs are already there. His puppy undercoat is slightly agouti ticked, so he might end up a very dark sable. Or he could end up all black like his dam with a heavy red-brown cast in the undercoat.
5. He's sharp as a tack and very biddable. Follows readily. Chases toys enthusiastically. Listens well and clearly wants to please us. He likes being held and doesn't struggle at all when picked up, held, or placed in a lap. He relaxes completely. Doesn't care if I mess with his mouth, paws, or look in his ears. He just takes everything in stride.
6. He's also hard nerved as he takes light corrections well and is unafraid of the loud noise "Eh-eh!" when he's chewing on something he's not supposed to. Instead, he looks up with a "huh?" look on his face--which is exactly what I want him to do so I can praise and redirect.
On Jack's part of this whole deal, he has no idea what to do with such a small, bossy, unafraid puppy. At first, he growled at him and snarled. This morning (day 3) while I was playing with puppy, he started to want to play, too. But, as I said, wasn't sure how to begin. However, I expect that sheer moxie to win Jack over as he loves dogs that aren't scared of him or nervous.
This weekend we're going to take him out into the wide world and see how he does with strangers (No Petsmart. Please God no Petsmart. People are stupid there.). We're following the Leerburg principle of limited interactions, though I do want him to learn to politely sniff a stranger. Mostly this is about introducing him to the places we like to go and letting him just be in the place.
All I can say is thus far:
1. The breeder did an excellent job beginning house training and socialization. On night 2, he slept right through without needing to go potty or having an accident in his crate. Upon coming home he already understood he's supposed to go outside to relieve himself and cried when he needed to go. He's learned to self-soothe very quickly compared to Jack at that age. He only cries for a moment or two before burrowing under the blanket the breeder gave us and going to sleep.
2. He was raised around all of the other adult dogs and shows absolutely NO fear of anything strange or Jack. His first instinct is to bark at the thing then go look at it, and he's perfectly capable or raising his tiny lip at Jack if Jack gets too much in his face--and Jack does the same. If Jack starts acting weird because he doesn't know how to play with the puppy (I can tell he wants to, but is afraid of being too rough or doing the wrong thing) the puppy completely ignores Jack and carries on with what he's doing.
3. Because he was raised around adult dogs, he's extremely polite to Jack for such a young puppy. His bite inhibition is good for the moment, but we'll see in a month when the landshark phase hits.
4. His coat is mostly brown, though I can see the black mask and legs are already there. His puppy undercoat is slightly agouti ticked, so he might end up a very dark sable. Or he could end up all black like his dam with a heavy red-brown cast in the undercoat.
5. He's sharp as a tack and very biddable. Follows readily. Chases toys enthusiastically. Listens well and clearly wants to please us. He likes being held and doesn't struggle at all when picked up, held, or placed in a lap. He relaxes completely. Doesn't care if I mess with his mouth, paws, or look in his ears. He just takes everything in stride.
6. He's also hard nerved as he takes light corrections well and is unafraid of the loud noise "Eh-eh!" when he's chewing on something he's not supposed to. Instead, he looks up with a "huh?" look on his face--which is exactly what I want him to do so I can praise and redirect.
On Jack's part of this whole deal, he has no idea what to do with such a small, bossy, unafraid puppy. At first, he growled at him and snarled. This morning (day 3) while I was playing with puppy, he started to want to play, too. But, as I said, wasn't sure how to begin. However, I expect that sheer moxie to win Jack over as he loves dogs that aren't scared of him or nervous.
This weekend we're going to take him out into the wide world and see how he does with strangers (No Petsmart. Please God no Petsmart. People are stupid there.). We're following the Leerburg principle of limited interactions, though I do want him to learn to politely sniff a stranger. Mostly this is about introducing him to the places we like to go and letting him just be in the place.
