dog: week one

We offered my daughter a couple options for her birthday present.
One of the ideas was to foster a pet and see if we were comfortable with pet ownership or not. (A pet would make living where we do much more worth it for her and she has begged for a pet for years AND we all enjoy animals anyway.)
If we were comfortable, then we would pursue pet adoption.
We weren’t intending on fostering this weekend, but just went into the local pet adoption center to inquire and get information.
As we did so, they told us that a certain puppy was available for overnight fostering.
The rest is history….

I knew we were in trouble as soon as we walked out with the little guy.
He proved to be very well behaved, adorable, and mostly crate trained already.
Before we returned him, him being Rolli (Raliegh), we called to inquire about adoption and were told that another family had applied and the supervisor would have to decide between the two families after interviewing us.
We when returned Rolli we were told that the other family had already owned Rolli on a three day trial and returned him, so if we wanted him, we could have him immediately.
So we now own a 3 month old black ball of love.
Rolli is 75% Border Collie, which is the most intelligent dog breed, and 25% lab, which is of course one the best behaved dogs.

This first week we are learning about what to focus on and how to approach training:
1. Crate training – he already is well along. We just need to be consistent in taking him out regularly (morning, after meals, after naps, etc.). Rewarding with LOTS of praise and treats.
2. Biting/chewing – lots of chew toys, scold, say ‘ouch’, ignore, get his energy out playing outside
3. Commands – ‘come’, ’sit’, and his name – rewarding with LOTS of praise and treats