Too Cold to Ride So Here's a Puppy Update

My ring is pretty well bare by now but there's an arctic blast freezing everything in sight. The temperature is -10 and with high winds the wind chill is -22. I have had to put Carmen's blanket back on.

Guinness is doing very well. Thank you for all the suggestions on crate training. The third night he got up at midnight and I took him outside. When we came back in he started to cry in his crate so I went and grabbed a blanket and covered his crate. The crying stopped immediately.  So now when he goes in he whimpers for a bit and then settles. It's like a condo in there- he has chew toys, a kong with  peanut butter and his soft blanket.

He's not enjoying the cold weather and that  is actually helping with crate training as well. Crying at night and getting rewarded with having to pee outside in the cold is not the most motivating thing. Last night he just work up once at 2 a.m. and then slept until 6:30.

he found a patch of sunlight

He sometimes needs some encouragement to come out and pee but he's learning to do his business and then get a treat. When he's done he will head back to the door of the house.  I'm being careful with the exercise- letting him toodle around outside and play as he wants. Right now he does short spurts and then naps.

With this weather the barn is handy because we can get some exercise and work while being out of the bitter wind. He's very people oriented and I'm taking advantage of that to teach him some very basic commands- just a few minutes at a time. I'm totally biased but I think he's very intelligent. 

Come? How about here? No? How's this? Is this right? 

Ed and I took him on a car ride and dropped into the vets. I wanted to drop off his records and book his booster shot. Guinness thought it was great- the nice lady behind the counter gave him treats. There was a small dog there quite interested in Guinness (in a friendly way) but Guinness started to bark at him. Once he has all his needles we will definitely start on socialization. 

The cats are getting better. Chester is still kind of freaked out but Guinness completely ignores him. He is fascinated by Martin though- he really wants to play and be friends with him. I think it's just Martin's cachet- he's a very charming cat. 

I just want to play!
Go away kid. You're not cool enough
(note d'Arcy's nose in the corner)

see Chester at the top? That's been his expression for days. 

d'Arcy is doing fairly well. He's a bit jealous of the attention the puppy might be getting but he's loving all the trips outside. While I try to get Guinness to pee or poop I throw a stick for him. He is also getting lots of attention. The only issue is that Guinness really really really wants to snuggle with him and d'Arcy is not a snuggler.

He comes to the barn with me as I do my chores. I make sure that he's safe from the horses and he runs sound the barn. Yesterday I picked him up so he could see the horses in the stall. He stared at them with wide eyes.
Me: See these guys? You are going to help me look after them when you older. 
Guinness:  Me? They are so big. I don't think I'll ever be able to do that. 
Me: We'll see. 

At breakfast and supper I give him a piece of carrot while I feed the horses. It's adorable to see him run off to hide and then chew on it. All my dogs eat raw carrots although it's making Guinness' poop interesting with orange bits.

So Guinness is a great fit for our household. Which is good because he's hit it like a mini-tornado and it's only going to get livelier. I can't wait as we do more together.

I will leave you with an adorable moment:

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