September 30, 2008

First night

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It went really well!! We kept him awake till about 12:30 which is when he wasn't going to stay awake no matter what we did. I put him in the crate in the bedroom right next to my bed and he immediately laid down. It was clear he was pretty hot (we keep our house on the warm side- Dianne would say we live in an oven :-) so I put a water bottle from the fridge in his crate with him on his belly. He seemed to really like that. He got up and flopped back down in various positions for a few minutes, but then was out for the count. Most of this was before I even got into bed!

At 6:30, I needed a potty break, so I woke him up (he was so limp I was worried! but once I turned him "feet down" he woke up) and I took him into the bathroom with me and put him in the tub. We each did our thing (he really had to go!), I rinsed the tub and we went back to bed. Yes, I'm a lazy mom and didn't want to get dressed and go out to the cool night. He whimpered and flopped for less than a minute before he was alseep again.

Around 7:30, I heard him start to flop around, but he was content to play in his crate with the towel and water bottle till 8 when I got up.

After I got dressed, I took him directly outside where he relieved himself in the gravel. Then we went back in for breakfast. He stayed around my feet as I prepared the meals and the other 4 dogs stayed in their usual positions: Bear in his open crate, and the other three waiting fairly patiently at the threshold between the kitchen and the laundry room where I do the feeding.

I tried to put Dazzle's bowl down first, but he then wanted to investigate the other dog's bowls as I put them down. So I picked him up and held him till I got all the bowls down and released the boys before I put him down by his bowl.

I gave him Nature's Variety raw chicken today with a scoop of Coconut oil on the side. At first he was timid about eating, but once he got a taste and realised the other dogs wouldn't bother him, he ate heartily. He saved the coconut oil for last, but seemed to enjoy it.

We went outside to play and he pottied, very loose, but I'm assuming that was from the stress of his first day. I'll stop by the vet and get some probiotics today. At first he stayed right under my feet, but as I cleaned up the mornings piles he venture out and tried to get the other dogs to play. None of them were very interested yet. Still not sure what to do with him and his clumsy ways. :-)

I cleaned out the baby pool and refilled it then we headed inside. Dazzle kept himself occupied pulling various toys out of the toy box in the living room while I cleaned up the mess from the hole in the bag of raw food I didn't know was there. It leaked all over the counter and fridge, so it took several minutes to clean it up. Dazzle just kept playing in the other room while I had 4 watchful dogs waiting for me to drop or spill something :-)

Right now he's playing with a pen full of toys next to me as I type. Not sure what all we will do today. We'll play it by ear. Weather is cool and drizzly at the moment.

Stay tuned!