Baxter's First Week

Baxter Griffin has been a part of our family for just over a week now and he is already settled into his place in the household. One of our biggest concerns when picking up Baxter was that Ruby would not like the competition for attention. We feared the possiblity of lots of fights or behavioral issues. However, after only a couple of days, Ruby and Baxter are now getting along really, really well. Baxter has an abundance of extra energy compared to Ruby, so he sometimes appears as a nuissance by chasing her around and cutting her off when climbing the stairs. However, Ruby takes it all very well. The only tiffs we have seen between the two of them is when Ruby refuses to relinquish a toy to Baxter or when Baxter tries to butt-in on Ruby's food while she is eating. It appears that Ruby is still trying to determine her new role in the household - she keeps going back and forth on whether she wants to be the Alpha or Beta.

I tried out our new double-leash system with them this past weekend. The leash allows me to hold just one handle and breaks off into two separate leashes for each of the dogs. While on the walk, Ruby definitely took the Alpha stance and held her end of the leash tight. Baxter took the Beta stance and stayed just a few inches behind Ruby and on her right side. Just like a husky-sled team! For the most part, Baxter matched Ruby's stride and the walk went very smooth.

The biggest change for Jeff & myself is the adjustment to having to house-train another dog. Within one week, Baxter is batting about .500 on going to the bathroom outside. However, he is getting better every day. And since he is almost full grown, his bladder is big enough to make it through the night. Whew! The trick now is to teach him to give us a sign when he wants to go out. Ruby will whine to us or sit near the front door when she needs to go out. We hope Baxter will pick up on this trick.

Here are some key observances we have had over this past week:

1.) When Ruby sleeps, she crawls up into a ball and takes up little space. When Baxter sleeps, he stretches out his arms, legs and head like he is Superman flying through the air.

2.) Ruby prefers the soft, plush toys. Baxter prefers rawhides that he can gnaw on. Both of them really enjoy rubber, toy shoes and tennis balls.

3.) Baxter gets car-sick. Need I say more?

4.) Ruby will occasionally instigate some excitement by staring at Baxter and walking very slowly towards him. The minute Baxter takes a step towards Ruby, she runs off in the other direction. In most cases, they then end up chasing each other around and around the couches in the family room until Baxter whines out of frustration. Ruby is still the faster dog.

5.) Ruby quickly taught Baxter about the great view out of the living room window. When Jeff & I return home, one or both of them are in the window looking outside. When I take one dog outside, the other one runs up to the window to watch.

6.) Jeff returned home yesterday to some gnawed on Christmas presents under the tree and small tips of the tree bitten off and spit on the ground. While I would like to blame Baxter for the bow-removal and the tree-tip biting, the presenting un-wrapping is definitely a Ruby trait. They are already partners in crime! Jeff and I now get to spend the rest of the holiday season with two gates blocking access to the tree.

We'll continue to provide updates as the weeks go on. I'm sure we'll have a very good update in two weeks when Baxter gets to meet Riley & Caley for the first time at Christmas.