Back at cabin

June 9, 2008

Yesterday we took Kruiser to church again and he acted like an old trooper. He mostly slept and then during the coffee time, he drew several people for pats and conversation. The developmentally disabled young woman was there again—her name is Leah—and she once again asked to pat him and asked if he was soft, all repeated several times, and then she would squat down and touch him. If his nose bumped her hand or he licked her, she squealed and stood up with a huge smile. This interaction reinforces how good he will be someday for a child with autism.

We drove up to our cabin, and Kruiser remembered everything, though he didn’t eat for a while so I think he was still uncertain about being here. The bummer is that we forgot our camera!

Today he’s been cruising around the cabin with Pat and deconstructing sticks and exploring the creek. We were leery at first and Ed stood on the bank, ready to jump in and rescue him. He dove in, but then swam across and scrambled up the bank. Today he went down to the creek on our walk and took sips of water or batted it with his foot, but didn’t try to swim unless Pat crossed as well. He did go for a dunk at the end of the walk (after we threw a stick in, trying to get both him and Pat in to wash off the mud.) It’s clear he’s learned to respect the water—either due to the current or temperature or both. It’s fun to watch him gain experience in the world and learn. He’s been great on “come” and we practice it a lot. Pat still takes it or leaves it depending on the lure of what he’s pursuing.

Last night was Kruiser’s first night out of the crate. We left the crate stacked open with his blanket inside, but he found a corner of the room under the sloping roof that suited him better. We had to dump him off the bed several times at first, but he didn’t try to get back up until morning. No problems with peeing since we got up during the night anyway and he joined Ed off the porch.

I think we’re all feeling the pleasure of having him in our family for this short while. Pat loves to play with him and is so good at enticing him into new types of play (tug-o-rope & chase me and my long stick). I’ve never seen Pat send Kruiser away when he asks to play. Pat doesn’t even actively show jealousy over Kruiser getting to go more places with us. Sometimes Pat looks sad, but then maybe he’s just relieved to have a chance to rest up from dealing with a puppy. Sleep-deprivation aside, Ed and I are getting so much out of having him, too. We love watching him and learning how to train him and snuggling with him, and most of all being able to take him virtually anywhere we go—a dog lover’s dream!