Well, it's a little over a week since we picked up Sidney at the Palm Springs Airport and our lives haven't been the same since. Several (short) walks a day, puppy massages, play times, treat times, and both of us trying to be as consistent as possible. It's been a lot of fun, but it's exhausting! When people say puppies are a lot of work, they aren't kidding.
On Saturday we started puppy obedience classes and are working at reinforcing good puppy manners and basic commands, such as sit and stay (good luck). Sidney has the "sit" command down pat and to date, has had only one accident in the house, which was not his fault. We both are vigilant about taking Sid out several times a day and that has certainly helped. We also have to be on puppy watch for his constant love of, and need for, chewing everything in sight. We substitute appropriate chew options such as Kong toys made for this purpose and have taken to puppy proofing our house (e.g., no slippers or shoes left on the floor).
Sidney loves the two older labs named Lucy and Murphy (the best trained dogs we have ever seen) who live a few houses away. When we take Sid for walks he always lingers by their house hoping to catch a glimpse of them. Sid was over the moon this morning when he saw them. Lucy and Murphy wagged their tails politely, and like the elder statesdogs that they are, they tolerate his very enthusiastic tail wagging and licking for a little while before they wander back to their home.
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