I made a strategic error when I got home last night: I was so tired myself I didn’t wake Rion and play with him for a while. He had been sleeping on Jack quietly, so I took him outside and then put him in his crate, and went to sleep myself not long after. Rion must have been tired his first night here, because last night he woke me every sixty to ninety minutes after midnight. Then I compounded the error by giving him one of his new toys, and Rion evidently decided “Wow: this place rocks at night.” On the other hand, watching him pounce and kill his little plush hippo toy was worth the price of admission.
Rion seems totally at home now. Like any properly adjusted puppy, he views everything as a potential toy. The puppy toys I brought home yesterday are nice, but nothing beats a human being. The Collie has potential too: if he could just figure out how to get her to cooperate.
We have the house set up in zones. The small puppy proof zone is the master bathroom. The associated bedroom is puppy safe: he could damage stuff, but is unlikely to get hurt doing so. The remainder of the ground floor on this side of the French doors should be puppy safe after today, except for my office. We are not even going to attempt to puppy safe the area on the other side of the French doors. He still cries when he doesn’t have Jack or me in sight, but is more apt to wander off exploring on his own for a while before realizing he can’t see us.
The biggest surprise is how cheerful Rion is about going outside. I am sure he doesn’t understand “walkies” yet, but he is enthusiastic about following me to the mudroom door. This morning he was frolicking about in 14F and seemed quite comfortable, at least for the five minutes I was willing to keep him outside. So far walkies consist of going the length of the dog run to the gate to the horse field.
He can now jump down from the bed, and is quite indignant that he can’t get back up under his own steam. I started brushing him with a puppy brush, but it wasn’t doing the job, so I’ve been using a tiny wire brush which he thinks is a game.