We’ve been busy with our new addition – Gus the greater swiss mountain dog. I hope to update frequently about him…we’ll see how this goes.

Week 1: Age 10 weeks, 16 lbsGus_10_weeks

Training: Gus is a smart little fellow. He only whined for about 10 minutes the first night in his crate. Now, he doesn’t mind it and doesn’t whine for more than 2 minutes. He’s taken to his collar and leash. He is doing well with the few walks we’ve gone on with him. He seems to know the sit command but doesn’t hold it for very long. Pretty cool for a little pup!

Eating: He is a very overzealous eater. It’s not put down fast enough and it’s gone in microseconds. We work each day with hand feeding and petting while he eats to make sure he never becomes food aggressive. We have cut back on the amount he’s eating to a little less than ¾ of a cup 3 times a day since he was having “loose” potty instances. We give treats (which are pieces of his kibble) sometimes in the day – to entice him to get in the crate or work with him on sitting. He’s more interested in the treat than the activity. We also gave him a raw hide on the advice of the breeder that he liked them while t

here. I was watching closely as he ate the 3″x4″ piece of the cow hide. I looked up at “So you think you can dance” for a minute and an half then looked back down and it was gone. VANISHED! He was looking for it so I thought it got under something. No, he’s just a pig and devoured it practically whole. I was worried for a minute that it will have problems coming out and figured he didn’t choke on it going down so it shouldn’t be a problem.

Playing: Barking at the cats seems to be a fun activity. Especially after the kiddo has gone to bed. Chewing on things too. I found out after the fact that chewing the fur off of a tennis ball is a fun activity. We have since hid those. He likes a new nlyabone Dave got him, but he’s almost chewed that up already. He’s not into Kong toys yet and they are the ones that he shouldn’t be able to destroy. We spend a lot of time saying “off”, “down” and “no biting”.

Family: Annabella is doing better each day with the addition of Gus. She’s okay with petting him if he doesn’t look at her and she like to give him his toys (while he’s in the crate), but if he should look at her or walk towards her she screams something like “NO HURT ME”. Then she turns to me and says “Doggie hurt my shoe!” Or “Doggie hurt my baby!” It’s very hard not to laugh. Each day is better and I’m sure in no time she’ll be running WITH him.

Other: Gus’ naming ended our months long “discussion” with Dave coming up with the name. It’s a fitting name…more so than Dude, which we originally decided on. About 2 hours after he was here, I yelled DUDE, Stop! And Dave responded with “WHAT DID I DO!?!?!”

I’m not quite sure.