Trying times..

Sorry for the slow updates! A lot has been going on, so we're glad to have a moment to write a quick update!

One week in and things have been..... interesting!
Sachi's doing great with the cats - Nugget has learned to growl when he pesters her for too long, and Junior is getting used to him... slowly. It's tough for Junior to have a gigantic shadow following him around all night and day!

I'm hoping that they will snuggle together soon - wouldn't that be the cutest? :) (You better believe that I'll be snapping away with my camera when that day comes!!)

So many of you know.. it has been a very trying week - our little man seems to get a bit anxious when we're away. The first time we left him alone was to go grocery shopping . We have learned that crating him is not a good idea! So lesson learned - no crating for this little pup, unless we want our curtains torn to shreds and barking up the wazoo!

After that experience, we left him uncrated to roam the apartment.. 1st day, 2 hours to himself = not good idea either. We've found all of our boxes shredded, the dog food bag hanging off the counter and just utter chaos. Picture tornado with wind speeds of 500 mph!) Each day we would come home to the apartment in pieces. Very stressful. We needed a solution and pronto!

So we did what any new parent would do: research. We knew it was a form of separation anxiety (he was PERFECT when we were around). The web taught us that more exercise, finding ways to keep him busy while home, and ignoring him when we go in and out of the apartment would make a difference. Well, after 5 full days of insanity (and a battle lost - our leather couch was pulverized) we decided to call in the pros. We called the MSPCA, friend's referrals on trainers, the vet, etc.

An animal behaviorist came in on Sunday and gave us a few ideas. A drained bank account later, we had a plan. We learned that have to outsmart him. Keep him guessing. Keep his attention going by giving him jobs while we're away (according to Marc, we're suppose to give him our taxes. Imagine little Sachi typing away for us. HA! "Grr.. parents dont know how to handle their money.. grumble grumble" :) ) So away we went!

Monday morning, we already saw a change. Don't get me wrong, it definitely was NOT an overnight change. Just less destruction. By Tuesday, he's definitely minimized his destruction. I lost a wicker basket, a few pair of socks, and a few books, but to us, that's a success!

So things are slowly getting better and he's staying busy. As long as the destruction decreases, we should be ok. We love the little guy and we just want to make sure he knows that he's finally in his forever home. :)