A Tale of Two Puppies: Part 1

Blacky and Whitey were two puppies from the same litter of seven little pups. Their breeder, Jane, was a nice lady. She kept the puppies clean and warm. She touched and petted the puppies often. The puppies frolicked between naps. Jane insisted the litter stay together until they were eight weeks old.

On pick up day, two different gentlemen came to take Blacky and Whitey to their respective new homes. Whitey's new owner, Roger, just invested in a SuiteDigs indoor canine habitat. Roger fully stocked the habitat with everything a new puppy could want, a soft bed, food and water bowls, and puppy training pads. As an extra mesure, a week earlier, Roger brought a special stuffed squeaky toy named "Fluffy" to Whitey. All the puppies loved Fluffy and everyone played with it. The breeder only left the toy with the puppies for short times during the day so it didn't get dirty. Blacky's new owner, Dodger, made all the traditional preparations like a bed, two bowls, leash, collar, some toys and so on but no Fluffy, SuiteDigs suite or training pads. Both gentlemen had the next two days off from work and dedicated their time off to acclimating their new puppies into their new homes.

Jane gave each gentleman a small bag of puppy food and said if they wanted to change to a different brand or type of food to do so gradually, mixing the new food with the old food in gradually greater proportions. She let the gentlemen know that the pups haven't eaten for a while so they won't get car sick during the ride home. "Roger,' Jain said. "Here is Fluffy the stuffed animal. I made sure It did not get near any poop or pee so it won't confuse Whitey about where he is to go potty." Jane went over all the information in the puppy packs with the gentlemen and suggested a vet visit within the next week to establish the puppies' health care routines.

When Whitey arrived at his new house he began to explore all the new sights and sounds. Roger had remembered to bring the stuffed animal from the breeder's place. Seeing and sniffing the stuffed animal made Whitey feel good. He liked to make it squeak, it reminded him of his old home. Roger put a couple of pieces of his familiar old food down in front of his new SuiteDigs suite. "Who can think of eating at a time like this?" Whitey thought. even though his tummy was growling. Soon though hunger took over and Whitey gobbled up those pieces of kibble. Roger put some more down but this time it was in the suite, just inside the door. Whitey peered inside. It was kinda dark but smelled familiar. "Have I been here before?" Whitey thought to himself. Looking around he saw his stuffed toy in the suite. "Oh that explains it!"

Whitey could just reach the food inside the suite so he took a piece, brought it out and crunch, crunch, it was gone. He reached in for another, pulled it out like the other and crunch, crunch, it was gone also. "It takes too long this way!" Whitey thought. So he stepped in the suite and started eating right there. "This is more like it!" Roger kept putting more pieces in each time in different spots. Soon Whitey was moving all around the suite picking up food and exploring his new home. "Well roger seems to approve of my being in here." Whitey thought. "I can tell he is happy from the sounds he makes and the way his eyes look."

Soon Whitey's tummy was full and he needed to go potty, as puppies do, soon after eating. Roger nudged and coaxed Whitey into a part of the suite with soft puppy training pads. Whitey sniffed around and circled around until he pooped and peed. Boy was Roger happy! Roger let Whitey know it too. He praised Whitey a lot. Soon Whitey was sleepy. Roger escorted Whitey to the part of the suite where there was a nice soft bed to sleep on. There was fluffy the stuffed animal waiting for him. He smelled like his litter mates. The suite felt safe and protective. Dogs are naturally den animals and like to be in their dens. Whitey soon fell asleep.

Whitey dreamed his little puppy dreams. When he woke, he had to remember that he was in a new home now. Roger was nearby and greeted Whitey. Roger knew that wake up time was potty time so he coaxed Whitey into that same area of the suite where there were puppy pads. Except this time there was a piece of the old pad still in there. It smelled like poop and pee. As soon as Whitey smelled that, he did his thing. Roger was again happy and praised Whitey as he took Whitey out to play. Playing, eating, drinking, sleeping, and going potty became a predictable cycle for Whitey and Roger over the next two days. Roger would purposely be absent from Whitey for short times and gradually longer periods to get Whitey used to being alone from time to time. Fluffy helped.

Blacky's first two days went much the same as Whitey's except Blacky's bed was out in the open, and so were his food and water bowls. He didn't feel secure like Whitey. There was no "Fluffy" to calm Blacky's fears when he missed his litter mates. Every time Blacky needed to go potty, Dodger took Blacky outside. When Blacky went potty, Dodger gave him lots of praise. So far both couples are doing well.

Then came Monday.