Two Weeks with George, the Newfie Puppy

Two weeks with George, the Newfie puppy. 
I'm exhausted.
But, looook at that face!

**apologies for the pics...it was raining and dreary..and my trackpad on my Macbook Pro decided not to work, so was difficult to edit.....like seriously difficult, so it didn't really happen. LOL




As puppies go, George is a dream. It takes so much energy just to be a growing Newf, that it doesn't take much to wear him out. But, he is still a puppy.
Albiet it, a large one!

He chews, he plays, he romps. He has accidents in the house - not often, but when he does, it's a river! He's into everything. If he's awake, he's in training. I will be the first to admit, there are times, when I think, "WHAT was I thinking?!?!?!" 

We brought him home on 6/14/14 at 7 1/2 weeks old. He went to the vet on 6/19/14, at 8 weeks and 1 day, for a wellness check. He weighted 12.4 lbs. He went again, exactly one week later, on 6/25/14, at 9 weeks and 1 day old, for shots. He weighed 15.5 lbs. So, he's right on track for the Newfie thing of roughly 3 lbs per week. We swear he grows overnight!
It's tough to gain 100 lbs in a year!





Okay, so what if he really does look like a bear when he walks through the yard?




George has taken very well to his crate for sleeping. It's right beside our bed. He generally sleeps from 10:30 pm till 6:30 am. Except when he's having a growth spurt and then it's up at 4:00 am and again at 6:30 am. He has a growth spurt every other night. 




He has taken to training like a champ! He knows sit and stay. He knows he has to sit to get his food bowl. So, he runs up to me and sits quite often. He knows he has to sit before going back in the house and does this now without being told. He responds almost every time to "George, Come!" - he gets cheese for that. He loves cheese!




He is a Newfoundland - a water rescue dog. So, he's of the "retriever" family....that means he's "mouthy". He tries to chew on eVeRyThInG. EVERYTHING! We've worked on bite inhibition from day one. He kinda sorta almost gets it with us - but, Meg, the 6 lb pomeranian is another story. He torments the tar out of her. I'm beginning to think he thinks she is one of his chew toys! Needless to say, Meg stays on the couch almost all the time. She gets to get down and relax when George is taking his afternoon nap (3 hours every afternoon in his crate....score!). He just doesn't understand his own size and plays too rough with her. He hurt her eye this morning when she fell asleep and stretched and had her head hanging over the edge of the couch. He watches for her to do this and pounces like a cat. I am convinced he does have some feline in him somewhere.  If Meg had Facebook, I'm sure he would be creeping on it obsessively to see when she let her guard down. 




Newfs respond to positive behavior. Rewarding for good behavior and ignoring bad behavior is a Newf specific training tool. It's hard to ignore his taunts at Meg though! 

One day, maybe Meg will have enough and put the little tyrant in his place.
Or maybe she's like us and takes one look at that sweet little Newfie face and falls in love :)




That face!




George also does a lot of this....I'm not sure if he's into landscaping or part cow. His next favorite thing is sticks. I woke him up and took him out last night around 10:30 pm for one last potty break and he did his business and plopped down in the yard. I called him, but he just looked at me (if you've ever had a Newf, you know the look). I didn't want to use the "George, Come!" command, because that is rewarded with a treat...and I didn't want him up in the middle of the night for a potty trip. (he was up at 4:00 am anyway...growth spurt!). I walked toward him and he jumped up and ran away. I told him to sit. He sat. I walked toward him. He ran away again. I told him to sit...again. He sat....again. Then, he started gagging. I ran to him and fished a 2" long piece of stick out of his mouth he was choking on. At times, I'm convinced that if he makes it through the puppy stage (roughly 2 1/2 years...sigh), it will be a miracle.




But, that face!




What a little love bug!


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