Day One...(a quiet moment sharing bully stick meditations..)

First of all, we survived. Trigger's crate training is excellent. No more than 5 minutes or so of whining when he's first returned to his crate. After that it's quiet chewing or sleeping until we take him out in another one or two hours. Gladys is a bit jealous as anyone who knows how much we spoiled her might expect! She is however adjusting, and getting less possessive of her people around him. She's been trying to teach him the Boston face licking ritual which he seems to be absorbing! ;-0
He's getting more playful as he relaxes with us. Today we had some good tugging and kibble chasing sessions. Michelle had taught him to ring a bell, (the type you might find on a service counter) which is something we had also taught Gladys. This afternoon they sat together on the kitchen mat and took turns ringing the bell and being hand fed bits of kibble for their efforts. I'm also doing some clicking for eye contact. I can see that his ability to stay focused is improving already. He's also doing well with the potty box. It's really all in the timing and having a box big enough for the puppy to be comfortable with. Randy went out and bought a large plastic tray for cement mixing from OSH today. He then built a little PVC stand to set it in and keep it steady. Trigger seems quite happy with his accommodations!

UPDATE: Perhaps I was a little quick on the angel pup report. Last night the honeymoon was definitely over and the pup whined and barked for about 3 or 4 hours before settling down until I awoke him at what is to be his accustomed time of 6:30am. I'm hoping that last night was an extinction burst based on how loud and determined he was, and that one day we will laugh when we look back on it!