Alpha Dog

As I sit here, I'm listening to a book on my iPod and trying to drown out the puppy wailing coming from the laundry room.  We are in the throws of crate training and potty training.  But look at how cute he is:

His name is Max.  He is a Cockapoo.  Mommy was a Cocker Spaniel, Daddy was a Toy Poodle.  Now I am Mommy, which sometimes he likes and sometimes he doesn't.  He is smaller than he looks... his hair is growing straight out in an afro-like manner.  He will grow to be somewhere between 15-20 pounds when he is full grown.  He is cute, playful and often a bit too aggressive.  Which is why he and I are in a constant state of battle for Alpha Dog status.  Sometimes he is meek and cuddly, other times, he's a fiery ball of you-know-what.

**(If I tend to write my sentences in this post with an old fashioned British style of speaking, it's because of the book I am currently listening to, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.  I LOVE listening to books read by British people.  LOVE their accents!)**

Ah, sweet silence coming from the laundry room.... maybe he fell asleep!

Max came from a breeder in Missouri, and the pick up from the airport, was actually pretty easy and went smoothly.  I am glad I called ahead, because I assumed I would pick him up in the baggage claim area.  When I got online a couple hours before his flight was due to land, the airline's website didn't say which terminal the plane would land at.  I did some Googling and found the number for the office that would be able to answer my question.  Turns out that live animals are delivered to a cargo office off-site from the terminals at the airport.  Bad news... it was hard to find... Good news... I could park for free right outside the front door!

When she brought him out from the back, he was bouncing around inside his crate happily and excitedly.  I expected him to be cowering, whimpering, and maybe even vomiting!  So that definitely was a pleasant surprise.  I tried so hard to get some cute pictures of him running around in my back yard, but he wouldn't let me get more than 2 feet away from him.  This is probably the best photo I was able to get of him.  He is adorable to be sure, but we definitely have our work cut out for us in training him.  I'm excited for my parent's dog, Charlie, to come and play the "big brother mentor" for a couple weeks.  Hopefully Max will develop some better manners while Charlie is here!