Half way thru day 6 and Griffin is adapting nicely.  We’ve had some rough spots with his paw, but that is getting better too.

Today is also his first vet visit  Hopefully in a few weeks all of the base vaccines will be done so he can get out and about.

Getting Used to Things

Day 1

Scared and timid.  Carsick on the ride home from LA.

Not sure about toys or eating.

Hurt Paw.

Days 2 and 3

Toys are pretty figured out.

Eating better.

Crate is getting to be home.

Paw seems to be getting better.

A schedule is forming.

Days 3 and 4

The weekend was good.  Lots of time to see the house more.  A few rooms are figured out.

Still some accidents in house, but responding to go to the bathroom in the right spot when we take him out.

Knows his way between living room with toys/bed/food and our bedroom with the crate.  Like to go full speed to get there.  Sometimes will just go in his crate.

Eating better.

Fun with toys.

Nipping at everything with teeth.

Started to walk normally and is playing with ounces and speed.  Paw seems to be feeling better.

Did some more puppy-proofing of the yard.  We have a “big” step that scares me, so I put up a visual border so he doesn’t run over it at full speed.

We are logging his activities to help the schedule.

Day 5

Up every 2.5 hours in the night, but no accidents in the bed.

Started training “come” in the morning.  Went between me and the girls.  He is responding to his name.

Did a short bit with the leash.  Wants to mostly chew it, but when distracted from it, will walk with it.  Progress.

Still lots of nipping and biting.  Teeth might be still coming in.

Vet checkup says he looks healthy.  He got some shots and a micro chip.  Vet says the paw looks fine.  Keep limiting him a bit, but it seems to be recovering fine.

His Paw

In a moment that still makes my heart ache, Griffin took a tumble on his first day here.  He screamed and hurt his paw.  He wouldn’t put any pressure on it at all.  By midnight, he would do enough to pee.  Over the next few days, he would improve, but then he would trip or slide out on the hardwood floors and yelp again.

Yesterday he finally started to walk more normal and yelp less.  We even played in the grass for a while.

Right away I squeezed all parts of his paw.  Pain was in the “ankle” area and very sore.  By the next morning, it was not bothering him as much, but he limped.  It took about a day to learn how to hop around on three legs.  But, as I mentioned, he kept finding was to hurt it a little more each day.  Over the days, this got to be less and less.

Now he still limps, but uses it more when walking.  When playing, he doesn’t notice it.  Sometimes when he makes a big jump or falls, he will yelp a bit.  Trying to keep him calm, but he is a puppy.  It is improving for sure now.  More pressure on it when walking.

I’m glad the vet didn’t see anything wrong with his paw.  It was still a scary moment for all of us, but he is clearly recovering and there are no bad signs that the vet could find.

Potty Training

Yes, he is still having accidents.  Even some in the crate.  He can hold it 2-3 hours, but it is all new to him.  Keeping to a schedule is helping, but that schedule is hard, so we are not helping him.  The best thing is that we seem to have figured out the nights.  For the second and third night, I set the alarm and woke him up.  We went out, he did his thing and back to bed.  Now he just gives a little whimper and we go.  He isn’t doing the full cry thing now, which is great.

He seems no not want to pee near his food, but he doesn’t see the house as his house yet.  He needs constant attention.

Progress, but I think we have a ways to go still.

General Training

We started doing a little with “Griffin, come!” and he is responding.  Small nibbles of soft treat are helping.  He will go back and forth between people.  Even when he is distracted by a leaf, he will respond and come.  I’m very happy he is learning his name.

With his paw, I’ve been worried that the leash may cause him to struggle and hurt it more.  So, today was the first short time with it.  He did ok, but wants to chew it.  We managed to walk around the yard a bit without chewing, so that was a good start.