They're finally home

Ace and Nova are now home. I say that, but for them, pretty much everything is new. New house, new baby, new routines. I think the worst part is the new noises though. They've adjusted very well to everything except all the things that are going on outside our apartment. We live on the ground floor facing the parking lot, which is convenient for when they need to go out, but not so great when two of the three windows go all the way to the ground so the doggies can see what's going on. We're also right across from the elevator, so pretty much everybody walks by our 'front door'. Unfortunately, the poor dogs don't understand that they all have a right to be there... so they bark. That's my major project for the next week or two... get them to a point where they'll tolerate as many of the noises as possible. It would be nice at some time in the near future to be able to leave them here alone and not fear eviction when I come home.

Ace loves Alexandra. We introduced the dogs to her one at a time, Nova wasn't overly excited but gave her a good sniff, then Ace gave her a big kiss on the hand. She just smiles and enjoys the kisses, she's not really big enough to do much else.

We started some clicker training today, I cut up little pieces of carrot and cheese, then added some cheerios. We did about five little sessions of just clicks and treats. I think it was about halfway through the second session that Nova really seemed to get it. I've heard people talk about that 'light bulb' moment, but it was funny to actually see it. I'll work with them some more tomorrow to get them looking at me. I'm hoping that putting one in the crate with a special treat will occupy them enough that I can train the other one, then switch it up.

It's kinda nice to have something new to do that actually seems constructive. With the crappy weather, I don't like to venture too far from home, and I can only watch so much TV before I get antsy. It'll be good for Ace and Nova too, I didn't do them any favours by slacking off on the training while I was pregnant. I wouldn't exactly say they're not well-behaved, more that they have a lot of potential I'm not making use of. I think we've got fun times ahead.