# Nino's First Days!



## KarMar (Jan 14, 2016)

Nino is gaining confidence by the minute (not sure how great I feel about it hehe). He's found a way out of his room, so he's being confined to his crate when he's alone until we can get that figured out. He's driving me a bit crazy, but that's to be expected.

Mario is still very unsure; I think he might actually be a little scared of Nino given his demeanor, and since fear is usually what leads to aggression, they are kept mostly separate for now (even though M has never been aggressive...we don't want to risk it), together time only happening if Nino is sleepy and it's Mario's choice. We are making their experiences together only positive and slowly incorporating them into the other's life.

We are all so in love with our little guy. Though training at this point is very non-intensive, he understands simple behaviors (come, stand, kennel, off, and ouch), is walking nicely on a leash, and has yet to have an accident. He's quite attached to me, so that is something to work on (though a bond with his handler is never a bad thing).

I uploaded a couple short videos from my phone to YouTube. First link is him with his littermate (Nino is the one with more black), and the second is him showing off his Kong skills (or lack thereof...)


----------



## M&J (Mar 1, 2016)

He's adorable. Feisty little bugger too!!


----------



## Ollie"s Mom (May 23, 2014)

OMG he is just too cute. Love his markings, what a little sweetie. I can sure relate to the Mario/puppy relationship thing. I was having my doubts for a while, but things have turned a corner and I am sure they will for you too.


----------



## PaulineMi (Feb 5, 2016)

Now I really can hardly wait to get our puppy. What an adorable little guy you have there.


----------



## Laurmann2000 (Sep 12, 2015)

Wow, Nino is just too cute. I love how he hops after the kibble. He's too cute!


----------



## KarMar (Jan 14, 2016)

Laurmann2000 said:


> Wow, Nino is just too cute. I love how he hops after the kibble. He's too cute!


I think he hops more than he walks. We have already decided that agility will be coming right after he finishes his conformation championship


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Nino is just the cutest!


----------



## Raffi'sMom (Jan 25, 2016)

He is such a spunky little hopper.


----------



## KarMar (Jan 14, 2016)

We have a bit of a wild man on our hands, it seems (he's earned the nickname Naughty Nino to go with Miserly Mario). I think his adult teeth are going to start coming in soon because he got quite mouthy out of nowhere yesterday. Nino was very rowdy yesterday, and he learned a lot of new things: how to escape from his room, how to go up the stairs (we were hoping to hold off on that), and he learned that a pee pad makes a fun toy. We did get him conditioned to the clicker, but he eats his treats so slowly it will be some time before we can really get into training. He has also figured out his crate is a place for him to calm down, so it's been a very valuable tool given his newfound spunk and energy.

He had an outing to the salon yesterday, where he charmed everyone he met (one woman even called him "fabulous"). Second round of vaccines tomorrow. Wish us luck!


----------



## Ollie"s Mom (May 23, 2014)

I'm with ya, we have the same thing going on with Hershey with the little needle teeth. My one arm looks like I've been in battle. How are your sleeps. Hershey has a puppy apartment with his bed and bathroom area separated in one crate. It worked like a charm with Ollie and we were sleeping right through with him by the 3rd night. With this one, he uses the potty area perfectly, but he can't seem to settle himself down after he wakes up. We put him to bed at 11:30 and it starts by 3:30 off and on till I get him up at seven. Any advice would be appreciated.


----------



## M&J (Mar 1, 2016)

Ollie"s Mom said:


> I'm with ya, we have the same thing going on with Hershey with the little needle teeth. My one arm looks like I've been in battle. How are your sleeps. Hershey has a puppy apartment with his bed and bathroom area separated in one crate. It worked like a charm with Ollie and we were sleeping right through with him by the 3rd night. With this one, he uses the potty area perfectly, but he can't seem to settle himself down after he wakes up. We put him to bed at 11:30 and it starts by 3:30 off and on till I get him up at seven. Any advice would be appreciated.


When we got Tucker he had the xpen in the foyer and we just brought his crate to the bedroom and closed him in it for the night. He would wake us at about 2 and 4 after going to be around 10:30-11 and need to go out. I would take him out and then he was back off to sleep. He did this for about 3 or 4 nights but since that he has been sleeping all through the night until the alarm goes off at 6am.


----------



## boomana (Jul 9, 2015)

That is one cutie pie!


----------



## KarMar (Jan 14, 2016)

Ollie"s Mom said:


> I'm with ya, we have the same thing going on with Hershey with the little needle teeth. My one arm looks like I've been in battle. How are your sleeps. Hershey has a puppy apartment with his bed and bathroom area separated in one crate. It worked like a charm with Ollie and we were sleeping right through with him by the 3rd night. With this one, he uses the potty area perfectly, but he can't seem to settle himself down after he wakes up. We put him to bed at 11:30 and it starts by 3:30 off and on till I get him up at seven. Any advice would be appreciated.


Nino is pretty good about not chewing human hands too much, but he goes CRAZY everything else. Phones in our hands, leaves, his kennel...you name it. He is getting the hang of the "drop it" command, but we have a way to go. If you don't already have them, I would recommend the chews from Petstages that are the color and transparency of blue gel ice packs.

Sleeps are actually ok. However (and a big one at that), because we have had gate issues, we can't leave him alone in his room at night, so we have had someone sleeping right outside the gate. I am moving to the couch tonight (we finally have a gate with holes too small for him to get through), and I'm hoping the transition goes well. He sleeps either hanging out of his crate or on one of his blankets, gets himself up to go potty, then returns to his sleeping space. Most nights, though, he sleeps through (I'm not waking up to anything new on the pad). Hershey is a few weeks younger so his bladder probably can't last that long, but I would make sure you guys are really tiring him out before bed so, even if he does wake up, he will have trouble staying up. Make sure his space at night is as unengaging as possible. I'm not sure whether Hershey gets playful or cries, but if Nino comes to the gate to play, I pick him up and put him in his crate. Eventually he gets discouraged. If he cries, do your best to ignore it. If you get him sufficiently exhausted before bed, he shouldn't have energy to carry on for too long. Before we put Nino to bed, he gets a walk or a romp in the yard and about 20 minutes of play time.

Hope some of this can help. With Mario, we broke down and let him sleep in the bed after a couple days, so this is relatively new to us...just sharing what works with Nino! And sorry for any typos; I wrote this quickly on my phone.


----------



## KarMar (Jan 14, 2016)

Thanks to everyone for the kind words. We are quite find of our little guy and are so excited to have him in our lives. He's a little stinker, but his smarts and good looks make up for it


----------



## KarMar (Jan 14, 2016)

Nino got to experience snow for the first time yesterday. It was gone within a couple hours, and he seemed very confused about where his new plaything had disappeared to. I have a video currently uploading to YouTube Today, he is going to a puppy play group for National Puppy Day, which will be good as it has been a week since he's been with multiple puppies (wow...we've had him for a week!) He did get to meet our neighbor's 10 year old Westie mix, which was great for him. His vet appointment was wonderful, and he got to meet one of the tech's puppy (a Brittany mix).

We did get a bit of sad news the other day. One of our breeders two Goldens who helped raise Nino passed away rather unexpectedly. She was such a doll, and my heart is broken for Sheila. She lost her other Golden just over a year ago, and for this to happen while all of the pups are going home is really quite rotten.


----------



## Ollie"s Mom (May 23, 2014)

Nino sounds like he is fitting in wonderfully and you are totally smitten. So happy for you. Hershey has finally stopped the middle of the night wake ups. He sleeps till 7/7:30 so that is much better. I am so sorry about your breeders golden. Very, very sad, just heartbreaking. The loss of a pet is always so devastating and there are never any words to help. I hope she has good family to help her cope.


----------

