Winston enjoyed some sunshine on this gorgeous day. Winston is still trying to make friends with Elliott and Carly. They are tolerating him but they still are not playing very much and he had a scary encounter with Carly today. Elliott is more approachable, he so wants them to be his friends! Poor little guy. One day soon he will be big enough to kick their butts!

Little stud man!!! I took this pic for you, Andy!

Winston is quite the chow hound! I made some cookies (human) and he was going nuts smelling them. I could not even eat them in his presence, I had to leave the room! He likes treats as Mark noted in his blog update! I think he will be food motivated for sure :)
He is adjusting quite well and has started showing more signs of his independence today. Every day is a new adventure for him. It has been a ball to share his new experiences.

Did You Hear That?

I was a little worried that Winston might be suffering from hearing loss. He doesn't always come when I call him. Stupid me. I'm using English and Winston is still expecting me to talk in dog. There is nothing wrong with Winston's hearing, not at all. Yesterday he proved it.

We have a metal jar that sits on the kitchen counter and is always filled with doggie treats (thanks, mom). The lid makes a distinctive metal ring when it is removed from the jar. There is nothing else in the kitchen that makes that sound.

It was treat time yesterday and Winston was playing quietly under the kitchen table. I was out of Winston's sight when I removed the lid. Before I could reach in to grab a treat, Winston had bounded from the table to my feet and was looking up at me expectantly for his treat. Hmmm, we have a little chow hound who hears everything.

The Magic Portal

We celebrated Winston's 3rd day after adopting us. He's come a long way in only 3 days. Our breeder, Dr. Mary McDaniel, told us that she thought Winston was very bright and would be easy to train. She was right on target.

Yesterday Winston learned how to navigate the rather tricky doggie door from the screened porch to the patio. The doggie door has a clear (well, it started clear) vinyl panel the dogs can push up with their noses and the bottom edge is magnetized to hold it in place during a breeze. The reason it is tricky is because if you aren't the first dog through, you must wait for the flap to stop swinging or you will catch the rebounding door as it swings back right smack on the kisser.

Winston, being the smallest, is always the last one to the door as the bigger dogs precede him. At first, you could tell he was a little leery of the other dogs passing through what seemed to be a solid mass like magic. But heck, if they could do it, Winston could do it. He put his head down and charged after Elliott and Carly. Poor Winston hit the threshold just as the flap came swinging back and it popped him smartly on the nose. Winston jumped back in pain and surprise. What the heck happened? This experience made the little guy quite wary of this seemingly dangerous portal and he chose to wait for Kelli or me to open the door and pass through in a more conventional manner with human help.

We decided to offer Winston a little help. We coaxed him to try the doggie door again working solo. After cautiously exploring the door a few more times, Winston decided to thrust himself through the door. Success! Hey, this is a piece of cake! Suddenly Winston could navigate one of the most confounded obstacles known to the canine world, the closed door. Congratulations, Winston, on finding the key to the magic portal!

Peace, Love and Onion Breath

Another day of firsts for Winston! He helped mom with the groceries.

He had to explore inside the bag and he found a surprise...an onion! He pulled it out of the bag by the skin and then spit it out!

Of course there was a gift for him inside the bag--a new toy! How did he know?!

The best part of the day though was that Carly and Elliott finally made some peace with Winston. They both finally played with him!!!! YAY!! I am so relieved. The pics were all taken with my phone so they are not great and they are "action" shots.

Winston held his own with both of them (with major supervision.) Winston had such a great time. All he wanted was to have Carly and Elliott play with him. It was adorable to watch.

Can't wait to see what tomorrow holds!

Lunch Time

I went home for lunch today and as I entered the kitchen I saw Winston's little face looking at me through the mesh of his pen. He was looking at me forelorn with those amazing green/grey eyes, sitting quietly except for his little tail that was furiously wagging back and forth. I felt compelled to reach in and pick him up. I couldn't have done otherwise. Then it struck me that after just 3 days Winston, who is 8 weeks old, has begun successfully training the old human. All he has to do is sit quietly, look cute and the man will pick him up, coo, pet him, protect him, even feed him. It is somewhat frightening that our puppy is a better trainer than I am! Who says an old human can't learn new tricks? Winston, the human whisperer ....

Big white tails, leaves and sunshine

Winston getting some sunshine.

Winston was still whiny last night in spite of the active play day and adventures.

He loved being out in the back yard with my supervision. Carly and Elliott are still not too happy about Winston's arrival in our (THEIR!)home. Although all Winston wants is to play with them they are both still not ready. Carly is most unhappy, as expected since she is alpha, but Elliott has not warmed to him yet either. They are sooo jealous!

Winston is not scared of them and he still wants to play, below he discovered Elliott's tail!

El just ignored him! Winston did have a great time biting the leaves and chewing dried up earth worms (what we call worm jerky) There is always tomorrow!

Pooped Pooch!!!

Hope we can all get some sleep tonight!

Winston's first walk with us.

Winston accompanied us on his first "walk" tonight. He rode in the stroller and had a great time. We did not put him on the leash yet but we did let him walk/run around the "lower one" and our pond. Elliott wanted to dive bomb him for fun but he was a tad over zealous due to his larger size so we had to be careful. All and all it was a great and busy day! We are hoping he will be tired enough to sleep some tonight! :)

A Big Day!

Winston went to work with Mark and had his first day in the life of a CPA! It was tough work!



Winston met his Canine brother Elliott and sister Carly today. They were very interested and a tad overeager but overall pleasant and well behaved. Winston was a champ and not at all afraid of them. He loved having them chase him round and round the kitchen!

Day 2! Sleep Deprived Adventures!

Winston spent his first night away from his litter mates and in our home last night. Mark and I did not get much sleep! Winston was whiny most of the night and I took him out around 4 AM. Then Mark took him out around 6am. He is getting the hang of housebreaking but he isn't too happy about being on his own.

Carly and Elliott are in for a huge surprise today when they return from dogie day care to meet their new brother. I will be sure to document their reactions.

So far Winston has been trailing along behind us and investigating every new thing. He trots jauntily on his enormous paws which sometimes give way to send him flopping onto his chin.

Winston weighed in this AM at 7.5 lbs.

Winston is home!

We are home and exhausted! Winston is so amazing already! I am sure he is gearing up to cry all night though! I will make a full post in the AM about our adventure to bring our boy home and post some pics!