Days And Nights Mixed Up Like A Baby

 

Here's an update on our little newest household member, Nicholas.

If you read my last blog, you would know about how he came to be in our home.  

So we now made it through the first week and we are adjusting to "Life with Nick".

He's been under strict vet care and meds and has been on a special diet to help him regain some weight and rehydrate himself. 

If you recall, he had been in the woods and roaming the first time for 8 days, and then the second time for 15 days! All on his own --- a little 11 month old pup in the woods. Trying to figure out how to eat and drink and find a safe place to sleep.

At one point, he had been trapped by a dragging leash for about 5 or 6 days, starving and dehydrated with no ability to get food or water. Then he chewed the leash in half to free himself. This was right before we recovered him from the woods in a live trap on Christmas Eve! 

He has been adjusting really well to life in our house. He knows where his food dish is, he knows where his water dish is, and he's learning all of our signals and routines and lessons. 

We also came to realize, that his days and nights are mixed up! Just like a baby!

Because this was his second time on the loose, he became very wary of being seen during the daytime. So he must have been holed up somewhere, sleeping during the day. The only times we caught him on the Wi-Fi cameras near the live traps or the feeding stations was at night. So this little guy learned to only roam around at night to get food. 

Since coming here, he needed to be acclimated to sleeping at night. The first few nights we kept him in a dog crate just to be sure he wasn't wandering around our house or getting into mischief.

Then we advanced to buying him a "big boy bed" and letting him sleep next to Binney and her "big girl bed" at the foot of our bed in our bedroom.

That did the trick! He seemed to be so much more at ease when he wasn't in the dog crate for the night. He isn't wandering around, and he is sleeping all night.

This picture was from the first night. By the second night they decided to switch beds! Binney took his new bed, and he took her old bed.

We have been extremely careful with him around any open doors. All of our exit doors are locked, so there's no chance of accidental escape. Any time either of us wants to leave, he is double leashed and harnessed to be sure that he doesn't sneak out.

So far, he doesn't show any interest in wanting to sneak out of the doors. But we aren't going to take that chance! We don't know if he's going to continue to be an escape artist, or once he bonds to us and wants to be with us.

We are working on coming when called, name recognition, and basic obedience. We have walked him around the outside perimeter of the house multiple times on a double leash so he can get his bearings and realize that this is his home. We have gone around the block once, and then back to the house again to sit on the front porch. Yes, even in winter, I want him to know to come to the front porch if for some reason he ever got loose!

We've invited over some of the grandkids, one at a time. We are working on kid-proofing him with children to be sure that he is rock solid around them. It took Claire a little while to get him accustomed to her small size and quick movements. But he did well and soon she had him literally eating out of her hand!

They became "pack buddies"  and took their nap together... 

Next up on the list was Chelsea. She would like to be a veterinarian someday. She soon had Nick eating out of her hand too!!! She is extremely interested in Nick, because she was helping us the first time that he was caught, after his first escape. 

Now it was Clayton's turn. Nick had him figured out in no time flat. And soon they were cuddling up on the love seat and enjoying their time together.

Soon we will expose him to the rest of the grandkids, as well as more and more people. Our neighbors came over today and spent some time with him. At first he seemed a little protective and barky, but soon he was relaxed and by the time they were ready to leave, he allowed them to pet him. Slow and steady wins the race! 

Each evening, it's a barrel of laughs around here. Both dogs want to be on my lap or on Steve's lap or just taking turns. They've discovered the taste of freshly popped popcorn being tossed to them as treats. Oh joy! 

All in all, he has really fit in and Binney absolutely adores him. She has never once yet asked us "When is he going to leave???"

This morning we woke up to a wonderful surprise of some snow. Being a dog that was imported from down South, this is a whole new experience for him. 

They had a wonderful time playing in the snow... What a great way to start off the weekend. 

His housebreaking is rock solid. Not a single mistake in the house. We take him out often into the secure fenced in potty yard. 

He has differentiated between what is a toy and what are our shoes or socks.  He is comfortable with carrying toys around the house from room to room and taking them where he wants them to play with. 

Today he decided five different times that he needed to jump up on our very tall king size bed for his nap! Five times I took him back off. We will see what happens tomorrow.

We do notice that between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. seems to be his most active antsy time. He has a lot of energy now. So we figured out how to take him out in the fenced in potty yard and wear off some of his steam:

We are so happy to see him healthy and energetic. What a far cry from two weeks ago when he was this frail weak little skeleton with a thin layer of skin and fur. There was absolutely no flesh on him and he was a mere shadow of the dog he is today. Looking at his sparkling eyes and smiling face with his wagging tail, we are grateful that he is here in our home and a part of our lives. 

To wind this up, so it's not just all about the dogs, we would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year for 2024!

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Stay tuned for my next blog, because we are starting a solar installation on the roof of our cargo trailer to haul along behind the motorhome. So finally I will have a blog post about RVing!!!