Ripley: the first two weeks

Adjusting to life with Ripley has been so easy for us. He really is such a good dog. He is completely housetrained, loves to snuggle, and with two exceptions, hasn't chewed anything except for his toys (more on this later). :)

Ripley loves going for a walk- unless it's raining. The down side to this is that he will only go potty on a walk. Hubby thinks this is a good thing because it's keeping our yard clean. I can see his point, but he's not the one walking Ripley. We go for many treks a day, and if it's raining (which it's done more of these past two weeks than not), Ripley gets stubborn. If I weren't in such a hurry sometimes, it would be cute- his parking his little but down on the street and looking at me as if to say, "Who are you kidding? I am so done with this walk." I give the leash a gentle tug, twice, and then I end up carrying him a few paces, put him back down, and attempt to convince him to walk again. I swear my neighbors must get quick a kick out of this scenario sometimes!

Since Ripley was never crate trained, while we are away from the house, we set up and exercise pen in our kitchen for him to stay in. It keeps him safe and out of trouble- for the most part. Once when we went out for a few hours, hubby set up the pen a little too close to my bookbag. When we returned home, I found pieces of purple material all throughout the pen. Upon further inspection, I found that the bottom was missing from my bookbag. I couldn't figure out how in the heck Ripley managed that until I realized that the bookbag was butted up next to the pen, and Ripley just worked at it through the opening in the pen. So, now we make sure that nothing is close to the sides of the pen when we leave.

When we picked up Ripley from his foster home, we were told that Ripley slept in bed with them. Hubby wasn't so sure if he'd like that, but I have to say, little Rip is such a great sleeper! He snuggles up on our pillows, falls asleep, and stays in bed until I get up in the morning.

Having Ripley in my life has made me so very happy. He is such a great little dog, and I am looking forward to all the years we will spend together. :)