Still too small to negotiate the stairs, SRS, so we’re carrying him down to put him out in the back yard every 20-30 minutes. He seems to have begun to know that we want him to pee and/or poo when we take him outside, but he hasn’t yet ‘got it’ that outside is the only place to pee and poo, so we’re still getting little ‘accidents’ indoors (although I think they’re fewer and further between). Still, it’s only a week, and experience with Baxter, our previous BT, taught us that teaching him would be a slow process until he’s big enough to do the stairs on his own. Patience, in this case, is definitely a virtue! ;-)

He sleeps indoors in a crate, as did Baxter for the first two years of his life. He’s a good boy overnight, needs a couple of trips outside during the night (and he lets us know when he needs to ‘go’ rather than peeing in his crate - he hasn’t peed in his crate at all since we brought him home) and sleeps until 6:30 - 7:00. Not bad for a nine-week old pup.

We also have a ‘playpen’ in our living room, a place to put him when we need to go out or do ‘stuff’ in the house without needing to keep a close eye on him. He’s not especially happy to be left, but he settles down after five minutes or so of whining, so I’m sure he’ll get used to it. Of course, once he’s reliable on the pee/poo front, and we’re satisfied he isn’t destructive around the house, he will have free run and the playpen can be dismantled and stored in the garage.

Hard work at the moment, and I’m carrying the battle scars on my hands, but he has the makings of a great dog. We’re very happy right now…