Lindsay, Congrats on your new boy!!! I got Smokey a short 8 months ago and I know how exciting it is. I am a graduate student so I do most of my work from home. I was worried that Smokey would be really upset and noisy when I left and since i live in a duplex, I was worried about our neighbor. Well, somebody on the list suggested that I try giving him something he only gets when I am out (say a Kong filled with peanut butter, etc.) It worked like a charm.
I introduced it by putting him in his crate with his toy and just going out of site while he was distracted. Now it is gotten to the point where he is actually excited when I am going, and by the time I get home he is done with his treat and happy to see me. Saves me a lot of guilty feelings!! Good luck and take LOTS of pictures! Radha -------------Original Message Date: Tue, 05 Nov 2002 12:14:31 +0100 Subject: Cooper Comes Home! From: "Lindsay Cox" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Bernese Mountain Dog List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Plain Text Attachment [ Save to my Yahoo! Briefcase | Download File ] Hi everyone! Before I tell you all the details of the new addition to the family, I must say that I have been religiously reading the list now (every day) for at least a month and a half! This, of course, has given me great insight to the world of the BMD and it really is great to hear experiences from such wonderful, caring owners that you all are! I can tell you that I am sure that I will have many, many questions to ask and in addition to asking our breeders for answers, just know in advance, that I will consult all of you, too! :) Your help and advice will be greatly appreciated throughout "Cooper's" life! So, with that said...I have wonderful news! My 10 week old "bouncing baby berner" came home this Sunday! My husband and I moved to Switzerland at the end of June from Florida (BIG change!!) and we have always loved the BMD's! We decided before we moved to Switzerland permanently, that because we were finally in the heart of 'BMD land', now was a perfect opportunity to have a new addition to our little family! We did SO much research before selecting the perfect breeders! Thanks to the help of our German and English speaking friend and several trips around Switzerland, we found the most wonderful Swiss-German breeders just outside of Bern! (Luckily their daughter acted as a translator, too!) They are the best I've ever seen...so loving to their dogs, so professional and so very responsible. Their dogs were extremely well behaved, loyal and HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY!!! Once the puppies were born, hubby and I went to visit each weekend and really got to know their personalities. It was absolutely amazing at how we just kind of "picked" each other! His registered name is in German...I'm really not sure how to say it or even write it, but they nicknamed him "Yonko" (You can see why we liked Cooper better, right?) His mother and father and well, heck, his whole family, are very-well decorated and very sweet Berners but they all have tough names! Anyway, Cooper would come running out first ahead of his siblings each time we came to see him and greeted us with several kisses and tail wags that seemed to almost knock him off balance! We really bonded with him as well as his whole family! On Sunday when we took him home, he was so good. I sat in the back with him just to comfort him and he slept the whole way. Little Cooper seems to miss the company of this brothers and sisters as well as his mom and grand mom right now. He cries a little at night-time and also when he "thinks" he's alone. My husband (good man that he is) took the day off from work yesterday to help with his new "son"! We are really working hard at trying to establish a daily routine for Cooper. He is our first Berner and I truly can say he is unbelievably smart already! This is day 2 and he just walked right into the crate to take a nap. He seemed a little unsure of the crate the first day...I'm sure it was all the confusion of new surroundings and smells. Probably some separation anxiety as well. Speaking of separation anxiety, I know and understand that it is very, very early and that he is still getting used to his new home, but will this eventually subside? I will be staying home with him everyday which I know is fantastic for him. I guess my biggest fear is that he will get so used to me being here that when I go to the store or to take hubby to the airport, he will hate being alone. What is the best method of training him to be by himself for these short trips without crying. (The Swiss are VERY aware of all their neighbors and value their "quiet-time!") We are going outside to "do business" about every 2 to 3 hours so far--even at night we take turns. I have to get used to the "non-Florida" weather here! Last night I groggily got out of bed and when I opened the door, was blasted with 40 degree "wow-that-will-wake-you-up" weather! Cooper, however, LOVED it! We go on short (very short...10 minutes) walks and play ball and chase in the yard until he gets tired which is about another 10-15 minutes. Then we go inside and he sleeps for about an hour. Then we do it all over again! I can't get over how cute he is. He's crashed belly-up in his crate (with the door open) as we speak...ears flopped out and paws up to chin, twitching from time to time...probably dreaming about the next * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * MESSAGE EXCEEDED PERMITTED LENGTH * * * * message truncated * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
