Let me tell you a story bout a pup named Ted. Precious little rascal who has captured my heart. He never ceases to surprise me with what he’s going to do next. Most important he is a smart little puppy. Not just my word for it but also Angie’s, and she recognizes brilliance in this breed. He knew his name in two days. In two more days he was sitting for treats on command and now he is fast learning to sit when we stop walking. He certainly knows the word “NO”, and is fast to respond to it ….usually, that is if it suits him. His breed is known to be a bit hard headed or stubborn and it does show up on occasion. He has been ours now for 12 days and the first 8 days he was getting up to pee pee at least one time per night. He started out immediately sleeping with us on the bed, it’s a really high bed, so he wasn’t to interested in the big leap. Immediate smarts. The next 2 nights he let us sleep all through the night. Now last night was something special , he was panting , so I took him in for a drink of water and then out the front door to do his thing. After he finished he decided he did not want to follow me back inside as usual and started off down the driveway toward the street. So here I was outside in my nitie, bare footed, the drive was frozen and slippery and the lawn still had a covering of snow on it. Talk about panic, there I was slipping and sliding down the driveway after that little screwball, only I probably wasn’t referring to him as that. Thank goodness he got spooked and stopped and I caught up with him. Hopefully he will resume sleeping through the night. But I did learn my lesson, next time we need a 2 AM out it will be on the leash. Teddy has become Casey’s shadow and it’s fun to watch him learn from the big dogs. Casey doesn’t always appreciate the roll as big brother dog, but he knows how to get away from him at times. Joey will have nothing to do with him and Ruby is very patient most of the time, unless Teddy wants to sniff her ears, then she draws the line and puts him in his place and he is respectful to 
her, she’s the grandma dog. Sasha is beginning to warm up to him very gradually. The 4 cats are getting used to him and give him a wide birth. The one animal in the house that’s totally still unsure of Teddy remains Turbo the Turtle, he still cranes his neck to look down at Teddy from his aquairum and gives him the big blink. Meanwhile Teddy is chasing Casey around the house and yard and beginning to play with less trials and tribulations. Casey is beginning to share his toys now and Teddy is glad, he’s getting snapped at less. At first all the toys were Casey’s even Teddy’s, he was not used to sharing. Teddy is also learning that he has to be crated up while we are gone, and he still complains bitterly over that. When you think about it there are so very many things little puppies need to learn. Teddy is progressing right along tho, he’s a keeper. On New Years Day he will be nine weeks old, he’s growing fast and with all the ups and downs I promised Teddy that we would appreciate all of them with him, good and bad, because he would only be a puppy learning the world , for so short a time. We are with him all the way. When he’s a grown dog we will look back and laugh about all this. I will shed a tear too because you’re only a puppy once.
