Our Rescue Pup's First Week - Kathryn Knight

Tomorrow (Friday) will mark one week since Otis arrived (his initial story here).  Last Friday morning my husband met the transport van in a parking lot in Vermont, and Otis began the last leg of his 24+ hour ride to his forever home.  He had experienced car sickness on short trips with his foster mom, but he did remarkably well on his long journey.  After some get-acquainted play time, I gave him a bath.  Then he curled up with my husband for a rest.

We started out the first night with crate training, something I've never done before but now can't imagine why not.  He was a bit nervous at first, but I had the crate in our bedroom, and he could see my husband and myself, along with our older dog Winston.  He did really well and slept through the night.

The crate is invaluable in terms of keeping Otis (and our house) safe while we're not at home.  Now he will go right in and lie down without a sound.  Dogs do not like to make a mess in their "den" and he has had no accidents in his crate.

Potty training has been a bit of a struggle this first week, but we are getting in the grove.  He absolutely understands peeing outside (he's a mix of some smart breeds).  The other part is a little more complicated, but he's getting it. 

Winston & Otis

So far he is very attached to our senior dog Winston (another rescue, Winston came to us when he was about 2 years old and is now about 11 or 12).  Unfortunately for Winston, Otis enjoys trying to rough house with him.  But Winston is making out well for himself...more walks, extra treats, lots of attention. 

The cat is not quite ready to make friends.  But when Winston arrived 9 years ago, he chased our cat everywhere.  Another older adopted dog did the same.  And eventually our cat put them both in their place.  So I'm confident the two of them will work out a truce soon.  Right now they are about the same size - which is actually not always a good thing, as Otis can crawl under a bed or fit through a cat door!  The cat is mostly taking refuge up on beds...Otis can't jump that high.  Yet.