The first week with Usher

Well we have had a good few days.. I have tried to keep to the same routine, just so Usher knows what is expected of him and it makes him feel secure in his new home. I have made sure that if I go into the kitchen and he is in the lounge, I call him by his name to come to me. This will help him learn his name, and he gets lots of praise when he comes. He has discovered which cupboard the food is in, and every time I go near it, Usher is there, thinking its time for another meal! I've started teaching him to 'sit' by using a treat and holding it above his head. As soon as he sits, he gets the treat. He is learning really quickly, he already knows that when I've got a treat in my hand, he has to sit before he gets it. He is doing really well on the housetraining front, there has been the odd wee indoors, but most of them are outside. I have a bell on the key in my back door which my other dog rings when he wants to go outside, last night Usher actually jumped up and rang the bell to go out. That isn't something I had taught him to do, he must have watched Alfie. It looks like I have a really bright one here!

We have been out to several places, just to get some fresh air and a change of scenery. Usher has to be in my arms as he is not fully vaccinated and he is rather heavy! We have been up to the school gates (wrapped in a blanket), a quick trip to a garden centre and a visit to the supermarket to get some milk. I'm very much guided by how the puppy reacts. Usher was not at all bothered by anything, he didn't seem startled by any of the noises in the supermarket, in fact I had to be aware that he was stretching his neck out to try and look a bit closer at the food! We got lots of attention and Usher's tail was constantly wiggling. As supermarket does not allow pet dogs, but many allow assistance dogs in training, it is safe to put Usher down on the floor on a lead. I thought I would see how Usher reacted, seeing as he was so confident with everything else (obviously if I had a really quiet, nervous puppy, you would be led by how comfortable the pup was), so I found a quiet aisle and put him on the floor. Usher was really not phased and was quite happy to take a few steps following me. I made sure that the lead was kept completely loose, and I basically let him wander around a for a couple of minutes, so that he only had a positive impression of his first visit.

Then I went with a friend to the Garden Centre, it was a bit cold to walk around outside so we went inside to look at the displays. Its a good place to go, there are lots of things at different heights, different smells and lots of bright colours. When he is a bit older, this particular garden centre has many different surfaces and colour changes in the flooring, this will be ideal for him to experience walking over. Usher was particularly interested in babies in pushchairs, he kept craning his head round in my arms to follow them as they went past.