Tucker is settling in really well!

[SnappinSami]

Our first few days with Tucker are behind us, and I have to say, they've been going really well. He seems to be settling into his new home very well and seems very happy here. The first day, he mostly stayed in our kitchen/family room area (probably because that's where we brought him his first night when we got home), but he's now exploring the rest of the first floor more comfortably. He's found the toy basket and all the toys that he inherited from Molly, as well as the new ones that we bought just for him. No shortage of toys!

The first night, he fussed for a few minutes when we put him in his crate (in the family room), but then conked out, no doubt exhausted from the busy day. He woke up at 12:30am and threw a LONG, LOUD fit, clearly unhappy and distressed at being alone in a new place. Jim went down to take him out, and next thing I knew, he was being plopped on our bed. I knew it was inevitable (our previous Labs also slept with us - Molly from around 11 weeks), but the FIRST NIGHT? Yikes... But Tucker was a VERY good boy! Curled up right away, and was asleep in minutes. We took him out every 4 hours or so, but he was great. Each night since then has been equally good. Last night he went from 9:30-5:30 with no problems. Yeah!

House training has been going very well, too. He hasn't had any pee accidents in the house at all, and is actually starting to indicate when he has to go out. For poop, he's had a few accidents but he also has distinct pre-poop behavior, so we're watching for that if he doesn't do his thing when we take him out. He's great about walking on the leash and is learning the difference between leash walks (for doing business) and non-leash playtime in the yard.

I work at home full-time, and Jim is home a few days a week. Today was the first day it was just Tucker and me. He's not fond of my office upstairs yet (yeck, most day's I'm not either!), so for today, I decided to work in the kitchen. He's basically spent the entire day sleeping under the table at my feet.



He won't fit under there for long!

The only area where he hasn't been perfect is with crate training. He HATES it. We haven't had to leave him in there much, with my being at home all the time, but yesterday he was in there for around 30 minutes, and made a loud fuss the whole time. It's a work in progress... I figure working at home, I'll need to have him in there for a little bit each day when I walk (until he can come with me!) or shower, and the short times will help him learn that he's not going to be abandoned. Even today, he wasn't happy when I had to leave the kitchen for a few minutes and fussed, but the last few times I left, he was quiet. So he'll learn.

Oh, almost forgot... At his vet appointment on Monday (11 weeks), Tucker weighed 23 pounds. The vet said, "Um, you realize this is going to be a BIG dog, right?" LOL! Yes, we had. Vet thinks he'll probably be at least 90 pounds.

It's unanimous - we're completely enamored of this little guy and so glad he's joined our family!

[Gibbysmom]

That's great that you can be home with him so much. i do recommend figuring out the crate thing though. There will be times when you want to go out to eat and many other things that will make using a crate very useful. I've never had a pup have an issue with it, just make it a pleasant experience. We fed Gibson in his crate for months. We would say "pup pup" and he'd jump in enthusiastically!!! Good luck.

[Maxx&Emma]

It sounds like things are going very well, that is wonderful! Feeding him in the crate and tossing high value treats or a favorite toy in to the crate every so often are great ways to teach him the crate is a good place. You can also Google crate games for some good ideas. It sounds like you are happy having him in bed with you and that is perfect if you like dogs in/on the bed, I do as well. I did find that putting the crate in the bedroom, next to my side of the bed worked really well for a new puppy that was not yet potty trained. Tucker is definitely a sweetheart, I can very easily see why you are completely in love!

[POPTOP]

He's so cute all curled up.

Do agree, work on the crate training. You will need it one day and you want him to be comfortable at the vet if he has to stay, like for observation.

Love that you are able to be home with him. Even with our seniors, I would take a week off.

[CraftHer]

He is adorable! I'm so glad his homecoming was a great one. Just a comment on sleeping in the bed, if he's going to be 90 pounds, will there be room when he's grown? It'll be much easier to teach him to sleep in his crate now Mocha is 105 pounds and I'm so glad we chose to teach him to sleep in his kennel.

One piece of advice our vet gave us was to give Mocha a couple tablespoons of yogurt at night. It helps keeps his belly feeling full with "activating his digestive system". That also helped him love his kennel. We gave him (and still give him) his little bowl of "mogurt" in his kennel at night. We remove the bowl and he curls up and goes to sleep.

[kimbersmom]

He sounds like an amazing puppy! More photos, please.

[GrandeLSM]

I found the hardest part of crate training was not taking him out to play. I also work from home a lot, but I wanted him to be comfortable in his kennel so I would leave him in there all the time the first month. Taking him out every hour or so to play and potty. Worked great. Never makes any noise in there and never really had any accidents.

[SnappinSami]

Thanks, everyone for the words of encouragement and advice. We are definitely working on the crate training. (Well, it'll mostly be me, as I'm the one at home with him. LOL!) This morning, he had to go in the crate while I went up to take a shower. I'd left him with his favorite toy and even a few little treats. I was gone for around 35 minutes, and he barked/howled/cried/made the neighborhood know he was miserable for the WHOLE time. I don't think he's ever been so happy to see me as when I came back downstairs. It'll be a work in progress. I'm just glad I can do it during the day when most of our neighbors aren't home. We'll keep it up. I'm going to read up on crate games, too, and maybe start putting his food in there (although we did that once already and he made a total mess of it). I'm sure eventually he'll realize that he's not being abandoned and will hopefully grow to put up with it, if not like it.

More pictures will come too, I promise!

[jacksonsmommy]

Tucker is adorable! He looks a lot like our baby chocolate lab. Harper was the same way with her crate - she would howl and cry like crazy. In addition to playing crate games and sometimes hand feeding her in her crate, we also give her high value treats for going into her crate or our ex-pen. We use freeze dried beef liver , which she only gets for going into the crate or pen. As soon as she sees us opening the container, she immediately runs into it. We also keep a couple of good toys specifically for the crate, that we know she can't destroy.

Can you get a small ex-pen or some baby gates for when you're upstairs? He may freak out less if he can see you.

[xracer4844]

You need to bring the crate around with you. It's a pain in the butt but it's the best way to teach crate training. If you are in your office, bring the crate in your office. If you are in the the living room, the crate should be in the living room too. Put his toys in the crate, bedding in the crate etc. Feed every meal in the crate. Every time he goes into the crate on his own, praise him immediately. If he walks into the crate to get a toy- praise him. Doesn't have to be with food - just verbal praise and pets are usually enough if you don't have treats handy. Soon the pup will realize that the crate is a good thing and he will associate it as a "den". At night, make sure the crate is next to the bed so the pup can see you. He will be there to wake you up to go to the bathroom, and you will hear him if hes sick or anything. I prefer to keep the crate in the bedroom with us at night. The pup isn't separated from us and it's usually easier on them to know you are there. Make sure there is a divider in the crate so it's sectioned off to just enough room to turn around and stretch etc.

Make sure you never ever give time outs in the crate, or put the pup in the crate out of frustration. That is not what crates are for. We crate our dog in between shows and at different competitions. It was hugely important for us to have a dog that doesn't care about being in the crate. I just say "go to bed" and he walks over to his crate gets in a lays down and looks at me like "okay where are you going? close the door".

Our working dog sleeps on the bed with us. However, we didn't start letting him sleep with us until he was around 6 months old or so. If we need to go out somewhere without the dog - he is still crated.