3 days later

The puppy is 18 inches, and 28lbs.

He does a lot of zooming in the yard with the other dogs, and a lot of laying around the house.  This is, in part, because none of the other boys will actually let him *do* anything in the house.  Dixie has taken a strange liking to the beast, but no one is particularly willing to let him into their space.

He did, however, manage to worm his way into my bed instead of his crate last night.  We stayed there for 9 hours, with the massive puppy curled up at my back, and Epic against my chest.

There are no guarantees that tonight's sleep will be as easy.  Epic seems to be having some kind of back or hind-end pain that is causing him to limp occasionally, and be EXTREMELY cranky.  It forced my hand a little, and I gave him some metacam in hopes of making his night easier.  We'll try to get him to the chiropractor in the next few days.

In regard to training, Legend came to us with a decent recall, and knowing "sit".  I hadn't done a lot of training with him in the first few days, because I thought I'd let him settle in a bit.  Judging from his mischievous streak, he's settled now.  After a few 5 minutes repetitions we seem to have "down" figured out, although it of course needs some work.  We also have the makings of what could be a pretty spiffy heel!

I really hate this initial training period.  I'm lucky that Legend came from a great foster home, so his learning base is really good.  I just find myself wanting to rush through the "down" and "stay" stuff, to get to the fun tricks.  And of course, there is merit in teaching the fun tricks side by side with the boring obedience stuff, but the fun doesn't really start without the basics to build on.

I've also noticed a huge difference between the way I train Epic, and the way I need to train Legend.  Epic has always been exceptionally quick to learn, and our training sessions are rapid.  He has a great work ethic, but I need to stay calm and quiet when working with him, to keep him engaged and thinking.

Nothing about Legend is quick, although he is intelligent.  I feel like I spend a lot of time waiting for Legend.  This is fine.  He's IS getting it, and he can't really move that fast anyway, as his long noodle legs tend to betray him.  The challenge isn't the dog, but rather that it's a new set of skills for me to learn, and I have to flip the switch depending on which dog I'm working with.

The size difference between the dogs will also prove to be interesting, from a training standpoint.  I'm used to working with my compact little dog.  Legend needs a lot more room to manoeuvre.

And that's where we're at right now!  Puppy is growing, but slowing.  Epic is sore and cranky.  Dixie is in love.  Bailey is a Bailey.