Hi Kay,
Just wanted to send you an update on how our little guy is doing 🙂 I hope you got my phone message last week that the drive went well.
He is officially named Casey, and he is learning his name! He’s exactly what I hoped for temperament-wise, you did a great job picking the right pup for us! He is so laid back and when he doesn’t know what to do or what is going on, he just sits down and thinks about it 🙂 The 11 month old lab we are babysitting is so hyper, and Casey just looks at her like “why don’t you calm down?”
He has done great since day one with going potty outside on the grass, has only had one accident inside so far, which was totally my fault, I just wasn’t paying attention. He’s sleeping in his crate at night, and only cried for about 5 minutes the first night, steadily decreasing to no crying by Monday night! We actually went to New Jersey for my Air Force Reserve duty over the weekend, and he really enjoyed meeting everyone at the office! He was so good, stayed right with me and followed me everywhere, he has a standing invitation to come to work with me whenever he wants 🙂
He didn’t want to eat much the first day but since then he’s had a good appetite, I’m feeding him three times a day, we can’t do real free feeding with 3 other dogs in the house! He goes to the barn with me 4 or 5 times a day and he does great! He thinks the leash is a torture device, but he’s figuring it out. I am keeping him on the leash with me or tied in a safe spot while we do barn chores. He is doing very well with the tying, he hasn’t really figured out that the horses are able to hurt him (on accident) so I tie him up while I lead them in and out from the fields and I tie him while I ride. He’s figuring it out. He’s making friends with the cats and needs little reminders not to chase the chickens and duck, but he listens to me really well, so that’s great!
He’s doing very well with the baby, he tried a little jumping and nipping, but I shut that down so now he is pretty quiet, he licks a little but mostly just puts his head near the baby. When we are doing barn chores, he alternates between sitting in the stall with me and sitting next to the baby outside the stall 🙂 Very cool.
So, anyway, we just love him! He’s got exactly the right attitude to be a great dog for our family, he really reminds me of my Radar when he was a pup! My older dogs are still unsure about him, but he and the lab are playing with each other quite a bit, so he doesn’t harass my old guys too much yet 🙂 They will warm up to him more when the lab leaves at the end of the month.
I keep losing him in the house because he is literally right next to my feet or sleeping in a corner somewhere, such a sweetie!
Thanks for making a great match for us!
Here are a couple pics, Casey at his new house and Casey on the conference table at work, presiding over his first meeting!
Erin (and crew)
