I’ve got a show recap to write but I’m stalling in hopes that photos or video will be posted so I have some media. In the meantime there’s still plenty to talk about, including my most adorable little ball of fluff and his first week here with us.

First of all, I love him so much. Like obsessed. I mean look at him.

But aside from just being cute, so far Strax has also been a really good puppy. He would prefer to go to the bathroom outside, and has had zero accidents on my watch (has had a few on SO’s watch tho, because he doesn’t pay quite as close attention to the signals that Strax has to go out). Granted, he’s murdering my sleep patterns because he wants to go out once or twice in the middle of the night and I’m a terrible sleeper anyway, but that’s alright. Worth it. I can sleep later.

He’s a pretty social little guy too, he loves to play with Hillary’s papillon puppy Max, and has even managed to win Mina over. I figured she would tolerate him fine, she’s a pretty submissive dog, but I didn’t think she’d really LOVE him because she’s mega attached and clingy to me.

It did take a few days, but now she plays with him, looks after him, and seems to have adopted him. Strax is Mina’s puppy now. It’s really cute.

It’s also working out well for his training, because he mimics what she does. He’s already mastered “sit” and is about 80% there about coming when you call his name and whistle. The other 20% is the selective hearing he has when he’s found a particularly good stick.

He’s scared of the horses, which I’m totally happy with. He’s a herding breed after all, and I’d really like for him to keep a healthy dose of fear when it comes to them. For now I keep him away from them as much as possible until he’s a little more trained with the recall and aware of his surroundings.

Overall though, he’s a sweet and playful and happy guy, and relatively chill for a puppy. He does love his naps, and true to his breed, he is EXTREMELY food motivated. I can work with that. So far so good!