Tucker's First 2 Weeks

What a busy time with a puppy!  The girls have fallen in love with Tucker and thankfully, my allergies have not precluded us to return the puppy!  Tucker has been adjusting to the routine and the house and the people and we are adjusting to him as well.  Yes, there have been some accidents.   But they are getting fewer and farer in between.  I am doing a better job of reading him (head down, sniffing the carpet in circles) and getting him outside.  It took Tucker a few days (Friday) to figure out how to jump on the couch...which is not allowed.

Also on Friday we took him on his first walk.  The girls and I took him just around the cul-de-sac.   He did a lot of sniffing around...but it was a good length of time.  We will work our way up to Riverside school, and back.

Tucker had his first bath on Saturday morning the 22nd.  He didn't like it too much and kept trying to get out of the tub.  TJ and the girls did a great job.  He did not like the hair dryer, so we just let him air dry.  He sure fluffed up a lot!

Sunday evening we had Grandpa Bob and Uncle Jason over to see Tucker.  They thought he was so cuddly and would be happy to dog-sit anytime.

In Tucker's second week, we heard him bark for the first time.  He saw himself in the full length mirror in the bonus room and started a deep growl with a "woof."  It was pretty funny.  Kenzie was spending the night so she and Bailey and Sydney were around to witness the bark.

It was a rainy Spring Break week so after going outside he would come in with some wet paws, mouth, and under carriage.  We would try to dry off his paws, at least a little bit.

He also escaped from the backyard this week.  He's been using his electronic doggie door quite smoothly since we got the new battery installed for the collar sensor.  I even witnessed him pooping outside in the grass while I was inside.  Yay!  One day, Bailey, Sydney and Kenzie were playing and acting "Frozen" scenes in the front room.  I was in the kitchen and Tucker was somewhere outside in the backyard.  All of a sudden, Kenzie shouts out, "Tucker's in the front yard!"  I dropped what I was doing and ran to the front door, ready to throw it open and start chasing.  But when I got to the front door, there was Tucker, standing right in front of the window, like he had just rang the doorbell and was waiting to be let in.  Whew!  I had visions of him running across the streets and making it to Parkcenter Blvd, dodging the many wheels of 5 o'clock traffic.  Tucker had gotten out by squeezing under the fence on the West side of the house.  That night, TJ put a bunch of sand under the gates on both sides of the house to temporarily deter him.  We have pavers being installed soon to fill the gap.

Tucker Arrives!!!

Tonight was the night that Tucker arrived.  He is our Schnoodle dog.  A schnauzer/poodle mix.  I found him on-line, at www.dominoschnoodles.com.  I started talking with Norma, the breeder, just after the first of the year (2014) and he arrived Tuesday March 18th at about 6:30pm.  He was just under 16 weeks old, being born on December 2, 2013.  He is brown, with gray fur coming out in some spots.  (His mom was a schnauzer; dad, the poodle).

TJ had a huge clinic but was able to meet us at the Delta Cargo building near the airport to pick up Tucker.  On the way to the airport, Bailey kept saying, "Oh my gosh!  Oh my gosh!" and covering her mouth with her hands.  She was freaking out.  The girls and I were jumping up and down in the parking lot as TJ pulled into the lot. We walked inside and he was right there in the kennel, head hunkered down and eyes blinking expectantly...."are you coming to get me?"  TJ picked up the kennel while the girls were trying to let Tucker lick their fingers and carried it to my car.  Tucker whimpered for just a few minutes in the back of the car until we got on the freeway.  I tried to take the corners gently, so as to not slide him around in the back.

It was time for doggy jail!  When we got home, TJ brought him into the laundry room and opened the kennel door.  We tried to let him come out on his own, but he wouldn't.  TJ tried to gently pull him out, but he wasn't having it!  We opened the doggy jail door and the kennel door and pushed them together.  He did some more sniffing and then went on in.  He ate, drank, peed and took a rest.  Meanwhile, the girls took a bath, got jammies on, and had a snack.  Bailey wanted to play with him so bad she started crying in the tub and got a bloody nose!

We got Tucker out for a few more minutes before bedtime for the girls.  When I sat down on the floor, he came right up to me and put his paws on my chest.  He just stared at me for about 2 minutes, unmoving.  Then I felt his belly and it was wet.  Then I felt the floor by my leg and it was wet.  Then I looked at my pant leg and it was wet.  Didn't smell like pee....just dog smell.  At any rate, he marked me!  The girls couldn't get enough of him!  Tucker this, Tucker that, Come on Tucker!  We were discussing what word to use when Tucker does something we want...."nice" or "hooray" etc.  Just as we said  "nice," Tucker jumps up on Sydney and she falls over.  And Sydney says, 'Nice!!!"  Bailey wanted to start training him to sit.  She wanted to brush his coat.  She wanted to put on his leash.  We told her there was plenty of time for all that stuff; he needed to have some time of just sniffing around.  We walked from the family room to the front room and he slipped a bit on the hardwood floors.  He was very unsure of the step down to the front room.  It took him about 15 seconds to step off.  At last it was time for bed.  The girls were on the floor and telling him good night.  Syd stuck her face close to Tucker's and he licked her face.  She said, "He ate my face!" and scrunched up her nose!