#RiddickPup Is Ten Weeks Old

fast asleep next to my son
on my parents' couch, his
head hanging off the side!

This morning he weighed 8kg on so he's gained 1.3kg since last week! He will now be eating 100g of puppy food three times a day and I am adding a little bit of the Nutriphase Puppy to his Purina Olympic Puppy with every meal in order to get him accustomed to the new food without upsetting his tummy.

Riddick is an out-and-out snuggle pup! And I'll admit it, we are still allowing him to snuggle on the couch with us. I suppose we'll regret it when he weighs 30kg...
He can't jump up onto the couch himself yet but he asks to come up will then cuddle up to whomever may be sitting there, or spread out on the cushions and luxuriate in the softness!

squished behind me on the couch

Riddick and Volt are still the best of friends. Riddick wants to be wherever Volt is and they still sleep together and play together 

He is growing like a weed! He can now climb the inside staircase up and down, though he's still very cautious at night, and I have to watch him closely else he goes upstairs without me noticing!

 

Car travel is going so well! He quite happily settles after a few minutes and then sleeps, but he is happier if he has my handbag or a foot to snuggle up to. He loves having Volt in the front foot-well with him but Volt isn't mad about it. He has not yet been car-sick, but motion sickness has a strong visual component so I think Riddick not being able to see very well actually helps him.

When it comes to walking on the leash he's still very noisy and twitchy, and chews on the lead at every opportunity, and he doesn't really go where he's supposed to unless he's following Volt (its so cute). I think he's insecure, physically, on lead. He whines and howls a LOT and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that he is outside and so cannot see very well at all- and then has something pulling on him with no real point of reference with which to orient himself... I am working on it, and he is a LOT better, but leash training is slow going.


Things with the other animals at home are settling nicely too. The cats have decided Riddick isn't terribly threatening, and Thelma and Louise are far more chilled around a baby Riddick than they were around a baby Volt.

asleep on the couch with no less than three of our cats!

Thelma, Louise, Volt and Riddick waiting for a cookie

He is now sleeping from "last busies" at 11pm until 4am, and after a piddle he goes back to sleep until 6am. Its bearable, even though it is SO freezing cold outside at 4am!! Thankfully my hubby and I take turns for the 4am wake up call, and we're both so attuned to it now we usually hear him before he even starts whining. He is still sleeping in a box next to our bed (he very quickly worked out he could jump out of the bath) and he's almost too big for the box! As soon as he is more comfortable on the leash I will bench him at night until he is completely house trained.

We are still having the occasional accident in the house, usually because I am not watching when he wakes up, but if I see him walking off to the spot he usually pees on in the house and I call him he comes to me immediately and we head outside.

Working with and training Riddick is very different to Volt. I am using the same positive reinforcement with Riddick as I use with Volt because I have seen how well it works and having Volt around is a pleasure.