March 22 - First Day

We picked up Kodo on Saturday, March 22. It was almost a 3-hour drive, and we weren't quite sure how he would react. When we picked him from the litter, he was definitely the most laid back out of all of them...that and he was very people-oriented.

The car ride home went as smooth as can be. I would have to say that Kodo was more curious than nervous. Becky drove the first half of the way, while I sat in the back seat with Kodo to comfort him. I'm not sure he needed comforting. He didn't give a single whimper, whine, or bark. It looked at first that he was excited by the car ride...sniffing everything he could get his nose on. Eventually he just got a little tired and plopped himself down on my lap or on the side of the backseat.

Excited Kodo

Tired Kodo

Kodo and Beck

When we got home, we first introduced him to his potty place in the backyard, in a hope that we would go and remember. When Kodo got inside, he immediately went into sniff mode, smelling everything he could possibly get his nose on.

Unfortunately, he did have a couple of accidents on the carpet...which was to be expected. In the books, they say if you catch your new pup in the act, to just pick him up and take him outside. haha...that doesn't quite work with a 40ish lb puppy. We did lead him quickly out the back door and repeated "Hurry Up" so that he'd start recognizing the command.

We introduced Kodo to his crate pretty quickly. Treats do work wonders! We plopped a couple of treats in there while he wasn't looking, and he eventually stumbled onto them. Funny thing is that he remembered this. So every now and then we place a few more in the crate so that he starts associated it as his happy "yummy" place.

At night, Kodo seemed a little more hesitant about going potty. He was reluctant going down a single step to the outside when we opened the door...pulling back on his leash. This is probably 'cuz he didn't have any urgency to go, and wasn't used to steps yet. We eventually coaxed him with excited "puppy puppy!" calls and eventually he went potty. It's just gonna take a while before he's used to it.

Before bedtime, we led Kodo to his crate, which he yet again "discovered" a few more bits of biscuit. We closed the crate door, and went upstairs, keeping an ear open for puppy yowls. Kodo did give a couple of small whimpers...but they stopped after like 2 minutes. I slowly went back to check on him a few minutes later, and he was fast asleep.

So far a successful day one.