The First Weekend - Saturday

We got up early as we knew that would generally be his routine during the week, plus we didn’t know how late he would sleep in. I prepared his breakfast, then we headed out and Mark pulled back the blankets and tarp to find a very happy puppy. He either woke when we came out or he was awake already playing with his toys. Mark brought him straight onto the grass and he peed straight away. I checked the crate and it was dry. Another success! I place his food outside his crate beside his water and left him to eat.

When I came back out he had only eaten a little. As soon as I went to pick it up he went straight back to eating it. I think he will eat more when I watch him almost like he has some competition for the food but I needed a new tactic, as I couldn’t do that all the time. I got in touch with the breeders giving them an overall update and some photos and asked them what was best to do. I was advised to put the food in his crate with him and take his toys away to remove any distractions and close the door. He definitely ate more this way. Another point to remember is that he was competing with 8 other pups for food and the breeders didn’t know exactly how much each puppy was eating so perhaps he was used to eating less than the others. I wasn’t worried and he was peeing and pooping like a champ so I believed everything was hunky dory.

I left Mark alone for the morning and Murphy whined all morning. Mark wasn’t too sure what to do. Who knew Mark was going to be the softie. So when I came home I took Murphy out the back and drained some energy by running around the back garden for ~10mins or less. Puppies don’t need that much exercise – remember the golden rule, if it is too much for a 2 year old toddler it’s too much for a puppy. So after a run and some more play time he was a lot quieter and obedient.

Things we worked on today, was not charging the back door when it was opened to get in and staying outside when we wanted to go in and leave him outside. He did really well on both of these. He is not there just yet but another week and I say he will have it nailed… I hope I haven’t just jinxed myself!

Dinnertime came around and I gave him some chicken carcass in his crate. He ate that like a champion! So I was happy with that outcome.