Day One: A Long One

Well, picking Parker up and bringing him home was a breeze. A long breeze, yes, but it was a breeze. We left at 7:30 yesterday morning and arrived almost exactly at our scheduled 9:00. I love being punctual. We loaded the puppy into the back seat, safely positioned on towels atop Monkey's lap (in the back seat), and headed south to Lincoln. Parker took to the ride like a champ, snuggling up with his new human mother. We stopped once, just in case he needed a break, but he just flopped down in the grass beside a cornfield and looked content (with a little case of the hiccups).

Once home, we introduced Parker to Ripken out on the front sidewalk, figuring that to be neutral territory. Ripken was excited to go for a walk, and after a few cursory sniffs, he promptly ignored that new arrival. We brought both dogs into the house, hoping Ripken's presence as Parker sniffed out his new digs would help both of them adjust to each other. After a little while, Parker seemed pretty tired. He found a spot on Ripken's gigantic sun room dog bed, and nodded off. Ripken and I went for a walk. After all, he expected it.


We fed Parker his first meal at noon and then went outside for some resting. Not much happened. Back inside, we played a bit, and then, more napping. After some water a few hours later, some more resting, this time sort of productive. Then, again, more napping. After diner, and some more (serious) resting (hooray, Parker), we spent a little time examining the crate in the bedroom. Two minutes inside with the door opened was cool with Parker.

Our evening was spent in the basement, watching some TV and chilling on the new giant dog bed we bought for that area. I thought a new bed would be better than Ripken having to share more of his space, but he was having none of it. The sofa (in the basement) is his domain, and he rightly claimed it. Parker, little as he is, looked fairly comical in the middle of a 50 x 35 dog bed.

We rested before bed, and then the real fun began, as we set Parker down on the blanket where he would sleep for the first night, tethered to the bed. The tethering, suggested by some expert breeders, was a FAIL. Parker has never been on or near a leash (except that morning to meet Ripken, when he was near Ripken's), so all he wanted to do was chew on the leash or the knob of the nightstand (another thing with which he has little experience). So, after about twenty minutes of him wrestling with leash and knob, Monkey and I made executive decisions (separately, but we are of one mind): while she removed the knob, I took the leash off Parker and the bed leg.

This settled everything down for about an hour, until, 'round midnight, Parker began to whine. He whined a lot, through calming and cajoling. Monkey took him out for a midnight rest, and he took advantage of it. This quieted things for another hour or so, when Parker began whining again. Again, nothing could quell his high-pitched protest, so, Monkey took him out again. This trip took a lot longer, but he did eventually do some business.

An hour later, it was more whining, chewing of the blanket and all proffered hands. I went to get a chew bone for the puppy. When I got back upstairs, Parker had walked around to Ripken's side of the bed and lay down with his older brother. With that, Parker was calm for the night. Unfortunately, Ripken is not too much in love with our new ball of fur, so, every twenty minutes or so, Ripken would get up out of his bed and I would have to cajole him to lay back down with Parker. Ripken clearly didn't love the sleeping arrangements from about 3 am on, last night, let me tell you. I don't think anyone but Parker got more than a half an hour of solid sleep.

And this morning was a bit of a house training disaster. I am learning that two dogs, even when one is trained and settled, are a handful. Suffice it to say, for now, that Parker has had more accidents TODAY than Ripken has had in his life. But, since about ten this morning, things have been much better. Now, if we can sleep tonight, we will deal with work schedules and the rest of the potential disaster that is Monday.