Morgan showed up at our house a little short of two weeks ago.  The original vet’s examination said he was about 1 ½ to 2 yrs old and in good health.  He was neutered that first weekend and believe me, it never slowed him down a bit.  Morgan may be 1 ½ years old, but we believe Morgan is now living his puppy-hood for the first time. 

During his first week here, he was a wiggly guy that had a hard time staying still for longer than a few seconds at a time.  His attention span was about 8 milliseconds and he had a huge amount of energy.  He was not a housedog, so we started training with rule #1 – going outside to do you duty.  We have that rule down now.  But he is very much in a puppy state and if he is playing with our other dogs, he can forget rule #1 or any of the other 17 house rules we have been working on.  But, just dropping your voice an octave is enough to correct all infractions.  He respects our old de-clawed cat, our two year old, PJ and our grand 6 yr. old lady of the house, Paddy.  Morgan loves to run.  Morgan and PJ are like the Energizer bunny - just going and going. 

Now, after two weeks in our home, he is settling in.  He will fall asleep on the hall tile or on the kitchen floor during the afternoon naptime.  Very good dog!  The first week I was afraid he would never settle down in the house but now Morgan sleeps in his crate in our bedroom all night long.  He will spend a few minutes on the bed with us for some scratching/loving time and then one little treat and he heads for his crate and bed. 

This weekend has been a real pleasure with Morgan.  He is not hyper as he was originally.  He channels his energy for the backyard only.  He will stretch out and lay around while we watch TV, he will assist you with anything you are doing at his level.  And he is beginning to want to cuddle.  The cuddling part sometimes proves difficult, as he wants to do his cuddling in your lap.  Right now we are enjoying his first demonstrations of trust and love.  But, a 60 pound lap dog can be a bit much so are adding house rule number 18 “cuddle on the floor, not in our laps.”

We are working on SIT and he has it figured out that you have to SIT for a treat.  We are just starting to work on walking nicely on the leash.  Our first couple of time around the block were not great examples of master and obedient dog, but he learns very fast.  And a pocket full of treats is good incentive to stay by my left side. 

A good example of how fast Morgan learns is our breakfast ritual.  We always have Cheerio’s.  After I fill my bowl, I will throw 5 or 6 Cheerios at each dog.  My two can catch them in mid-air, time after time.  But, for the first 5 days, Cheerio’s would hit Morgan right between the eyes time after time.  On the 4^th day, he started opening his mouth when one flew at him.  And, on the 6^th day, it all clicked for him.  He caught three in a row with the anticipation and applause mounting each time.  Now he is an old hand at eye/mouth coordination.  Sometimes he just does not know where all his moving parts are.. like when he fell off the bed this afternoon.  When do we start working on head/butt coordination?  What a laugh.

Morgan is going to be a wonderful dog for your family.  He has the energy to keep up with an active group of kids or family of runners.  He has the mental abilities to adapt to any situation.  He has enough love and trust of people to quickly become an integral member of the family.  And, he is young enough to have not picked up any bad habits.  (Except for those he learns in the foster parents home.) 

I have him housebroken and able to snatch Cheerio’s in mid-air.  It is up to you to teach him the rest.  You will have a blast with Morgan! 

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