[ Home ]      [ Photographs ]      [ Vital Statistics ]      [ Vocabulary of a Dog ]      [ A Day in the Life ]      [ What's New? ]

First Days in Appleton

I took off a few days from work when we first got Cutter, to help him get used to his new house (and me). We started crate-training right away and it was *hard*. They tell you to let him cry himself out and never open the door until he's calm. Pure torture for us, but it worked. Twenty minutes or so, and he'd calm down and we'd free him to sleep between us. Those first few nights, we slept on a mattress on the livingroom floor and every time he woke, we scooted outside with him. During the daytime, we fed him in the crate, so he'd learn it was a good, safe place.

Cutter's first day at his new home (he looks a little unsure)

He had an early attraction to sunbeams, still one of his most favorite things—how'd you negotiate that step, Buddy?

Crate training was a struggle. At first, a compromise...

...sleeping alongside the crate

New surroundings are exhausting...

As a pup, he often sleep-nursed

Like the lion for a pillow

Love

Return to Top