Table of Contents
Introduction
Hi! My name is Jasper. Jasper the German Shepherd dog. I’m supposed to talk about my first night in my new home with Mom. What you have to understand is Mom has two houses. A part-time house that is, well, part-time and a full-time house where we stay full time. I like the part-time house best. So does Mom but she says gotta work so we stay at the full-time house mostly. I guess humans need jobs like German Shepherds do.
Anyway, I came to the part-time house first. It’s very nice because there are woods all around it. I was having a wonderful time smelling everything! See here I am with Dad. I got to take my first poop right there on that walk with Dad! Poops are very important you know. I had already peed on Mom’s shoe, but we won’t talk about that. After all, I was still just a baby.
The Part-Time House
After my walk, we went into the house. Mom let me sniff around all I wanted. I had a very good sniffer even then. I found a few things Mom missed sweeping, but I didn’t get to keep them. Oh well.
Mom had this big bed right there on the floor. Well, I just made myself at home. That was a nice bed! Then we played a game with this thing I later learned was a kennel sometimes called a crate. Mom would throw a treat in the crate and I would go get it. then she would praise me and give me another treat. Sometimes she even rubbed my belly! I like that. It makes my back leg jiggle.
I Remember This
I was pretty tired by that time so I took a nap on that nice big bed. When I woke up Mom picked me up and whisked me outside to a place covered in grass. I remembered that smell. I knew just what to do. I took a nice long pee and Mom got all excited and told me what a good boy I was! Humans are easy to please. Sometimes.
We went back inside and played more games with the kennel. Then we played Follow the Treat. Since I have such a good nose I was very good at that! I could follow the treat into a sit and a down in no time. Of course, Mom didn’t use words. I learned those later.
Hurry Up and Wait
We also played a game called Wait at Every Doorway and when I came out of the kennel. Another version of that was Wait for the Treat. Mom would hold the treat in her hand and open it but I had to wait for her to say OK before I got the cookie. Another game we played was every time I looked at Mom she said yes and gave me a cookie! Easy-peasy! Mom said I was a very intelligent puppy. Of course, I knew that already but it was nice to hear it.
Then it was time to eat and boy was I hungry! Who knew playing games could make you that hungry? I scarfed down my food and Mom was so impressed she said wow you were hungry Jasper. Just to prove how appreciative I was I burped a great big burp. Mom laughed. It’s generally a good thing when humans laugh.
Time to Sleep, Maybe
So that’s how the day went. Mom and I played games, took naps and went for potty breaks all day. I was feeling pretty good about things but then it got dark and it was time to sleep Mom said. Now all dogs like to sleep but remember I was just a puppy and I had just left my mother and brother and sisters, well actually they all disappeared before Mom got me. That was confusing
So Mom took me out to potty, gave me a drink and put me in my crate. Then she turned out all the lights and laid down beside me on the big bed. I got a little scared and may have cried just a little bit. But since mom was right there I decided just to go to sleep. Boy was I tired.
Oh the Relief
Sometime in the night, I know it was night because it was dark, I woke up. I had to pee. Mom was there and she was making this awful noise called snoring. I could hear her heart beating so I knew she was OK but geez! I decided I better be pretty loud to get heard over that. Luckily even then as a small puppy, I had a big voice.
I woke Mom right up and being pretty smart herself she seem to know right away what I needed and whisked me out to the place I now understood was where she wanted me to pee, which I did. I also pooped for good measure. This made Mom very happy. Humans!
Then I was ready to play but alas it was not to be. Mom gave me a drink and back in the crate I went. I whimpered a little bit but she ignored me. I know she heard me because she wasn’t snoring. Pretty soon though she was snoring so I just went back to sleep. That’s pretty much how the night went, about every two hours I heard Mom tell Dad the next day.
She sounded pretty tired and told Dad it reminded her of having a baby, only with teeth! I was a baby and, of course, I have teeth. I’m a dog! Do human babies not have teeth or something? Weird. So that’s my story about my first night at home.
Conclusion
Mom says I was a pretty good sleeper because by the end of the first week. I was going for four whole hours. That seemed to impress Mom a lot. She says to tell you though two hours is more normal so don’t expect those results. After all, not all dogs are as intelligent and advanced as I am.
Well that’s all I got for now
Woof!
For more on my take on things click here.
For Mom take on the new puppy first night click here.
