Introducing Hudson

Gary and I picked up Hudson about a week and an half ago from his breeder down in Chico.  It has been a whirlwind since he arrived, and honestly it feels like he's been here for a month already.  The drive back from Chico was a very windy one, and poor Hudson got carsick twice on the way, but otherwise slept peacefully in my lap.

He has settled in well at home, and absolutely loves his great-uncle Levi and his stepbrother Paco.  I try to limit how much time they play together so he doesn't bond with the other dogs more than me.

Hudson's house training is going really well.  He was initially very barky in his xpen or crate inside, but that has improved dramatically.  He still occasionally will bark at the other dogs if they are on the other side of the xpen and he wants to play, or he'll bark sometimes if he's put in his crate and not ready to settle down.  A blanket over the top so he can't see us works magic on that barking.  He's only had two close calls for accidents, but luckily I've been able to scoop him up in time and rush him outside.  He learned his potty spot quickly, and is very good about pottying right when I take him outside.  Now we just need to learn a way to indicate that he needs to go outside.  Hudson is great at entertaining himself with toys, and it's fun to watch him climb in the toy box and search through to pick what he wants to play with next.  He also loves to come up and stand or sit between my legs.

He loves Levi's bed and will pounce onto it with his toys

Still haven't mastered the game of fetch, but we're working on it

Helping in the kitchen

He's been coming to work with me every day, and has been a great truck dog, and has been settling well at the office too.

We took a little walk earlier this week down our dirt road, and he was so funny somersaulting into the tall grass.

Today we went into Reno to run a couple errands and to socialize Hudson a little bit, and he had a great time walking around the shopping center and trying to get pets from everyone he saw. Everyone we walked past exclaimed at what a cute puppy he is (i agree but might be a little biased).

He didn't understand why these "people" wouldn't pet him, and he whined and kept going up to them

Hudson isn't as food motivated as Levi or Kobe were, so it might challenge me a little bit more with training, but so far he is very smart and is learning sit, down, stand, and come very well.  He's pretty good about sitting for attention and not jumping up, except at work were I need to train my co-workers a little better :-).  Hudson is definitely not as high-drive of a puppy as Levi was.  I knew that about his litter, and I thought that would fit well at this time in our lives considering we're hoping to start a family in the next year.  Now that I have him though, I realize that the dog trainer in me really enjoys training a higher drive dog, and he might not be as much fun to train as Levi was.  It will definitely take more work on my part to get engagement out of him, and I already realize that he can only take shorter periods of work/play.

One thing that I realize about having a puppy is that there is always some comparing to the dog that came before them.  I know that they are each individuals, and are wonderful and lovely in their own right, but it's just natural to compare them a little.  The nice thing about getting Hudson when I still have Levi, is that it doesn't make me miss Levi like Levi as a puppy did for me missing Kobe.  Instead, it just makes me appreciate things about Levi even more than I already did.

Time can slow down now so Hudson stays a cute, cuddly puppy for just a little bit longer.

Levi’s Getting a Brother!

Well technically 2 brothers!

I know I haven't posted on the blog in several years, but I really enjoyed having the memories of Levi growing up in writing and photos, and want to do the same with this new puppy.

I’ve gone back and forth for several years on the right time to get a second dog. After losing Kobe, I decided that I didn’t want to be dog-less when my next golden passed.  It finally seemed like the right time, as Levi is getting older (don't tell him that!), and I wanted time to train a puppy before we started having kids.  It's taken about a year, but finally the right litter is here and I'll be getting the new puppy in about a week.  It seems almost full circle that the puppy is from the same breeder I got Kobe from, and will be a great nephew to Levi.

Brother #1 has already arrived.  Gary has been looking for a working border collie pup for the past year or so, and he finally got his puppy a couple weeks ago.  Paco, is already very smart, and such a funny puppy.

Levi wasn't very excited about the new puppy in town, but he has warmed up to him and they play a lot now.  Paco is an outside dog :( so at least Levi has the house as his safe haven when he doesn't want to be pestered by the pup.  That will all change here when little golden puppy comes home.  It will be a bigger adjustment for Levi because not only will the puppy be inside with him, it will be taking up more of my attention than Paco does.  I've been trying to spend extra special time with Levi, and I will do that once the puppy arrives too.  I also have plenty of x-pens to make sure Levi has freedom from the new puppy inside.