Saturday, March 9, 2013

Cora & Kolby

(Blogger is not cooperating, so the photos will remain stuck at the top of this post. Not my intended style.)

I woke at 2:45am this morning shocked that I had yet to hear Kolby in the middle of the night. I had put him to bed at 10pm, and based on how he had reacted to his kennel during the day, I thought for sure we'd hear him by midnight. I distinctly remember thinking, "Oh please, oh please don't let this thought be a jinx."

Sure enough fifteen minutes later I heard Kolby singing. Thankfully our family is on the same page and nobody got up, or complained from their rooms of the crying puppy. We all just continued to ignore (as directed by our Trainer) and eventually Kolby found a way to get himself back to his happy place.

When I woke to get him up for the day, he was still sleeping and had zero accidents in his kennel. Night One was great!

He is still pretty exhausted as his playtime moments are few and far between. He is drinking and using the bathroom outside with outstanding success, but he has little interest in eating when served. We are using his kibble to treat him for the little bits of training we are sprinkling into his awake hours to help fill in the gap of his light interest in food.

We are focusing on his Name and reinforcing Sit which he learned at Becky's. And, when he looks into our eyes on his own doing - we mark it with a Yes and give him a treat. While I would love him to devour his food at each serving, I am not worried that he is not getting enough food. I am sure he is still a little under the emotional weather from the big change to his environment.

We decided to introduce our pet Beagle, Cora, to Kolby sooner than we did with Haddie. Partly because I now know that Cora is a gem when it comes to another dog sharing her home, and partly because I was less interested this time around in going through the hoops of rotating the dog's out of their kennel and through the house.

Wow, what a difference in meeting Kolby than meeting Haddie. Each prior puppy will help us with the current puppy, so for that - thank you, Haddie, for teaching us so much!!

Kolby started off in his kennel in the kitchen while Cora had free reign of the house. At first Kolby was quiet when Cora investigated his kennel, but made noise when she walked away. Cora ignored his banter. Nice work, Cora.

When he was silent, I let him out of his kennel and the two sniffed each other and then Kolby sat down and Cora stared at him. It was actually very uneventful. I think Cora was waiting for Kolby to pounce on her like Haddie had done. I am glad that that did not happen. They both got off to the right start, it seems to be a great match in personalities.

Today Kolby's mellowness matches Cora's and they both seem happy. Cora will continue to play a key role in helping us raise Kolby for CCI and his forever family. Thanks, Cora!!

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