Journey, taking baby steps

I haven't posted anything about Journey since we got him, mostly because there hasn't been anything much to say. I've been keeping him crated for the most part, with walks around the yard 4-5 times each day. He's been perfect in the crate, he pees each time we go out, and he poops on two of the daily walks. When we get back to the house, he immediately goes to his crate. I've been leaving the leash attached to his harness all the time so I don't have to scare him by getting too close, just close enough to reach for the leash.

So far, so good, but it's not a lot of progress. I've been leaving the crate open at times, and whenever I do he takes one of the nice dog beds in the kitchen and lays there quite contentedly. When Clay is home he makes forays down the hall and peeks into the front room but Arby chases him out.

I saw him chewing on a blanket in his crate one day, and sometimes he's chewed a bit on the leash. He was quite happy to have a hard nylabone and a couple similar chew toys. Now he has one or two in his crate and there's a couple laying around on the dog beds in the kitchen as well.

If I'm in the kitchen, invariably two or three of the girls are with me and Journey has been making overtures of play with them. No one has quite taken him up on it yet, but they are getting close. He's very submissive towards the other dogs, not the least sign of aggression from him. He really still is a puppy, although he doesn't look like one and doesn't quite know how to act like one.

And then there's us. Clay is doing better with him than I am. I yell too much, but I'm careful to never direct it at him. Still, he sees me as a monster. He's better if you sit in a chair and reach out to him. He will reach out to you and even I've gotten a nose touch. Once again, it will probably be the power of the pack, interactions with the other dogs and letting him see them interact with me, that will make a breakthrough happen. Although we aren't there yet, and he may look very serious and distrustful still, when the other dogs are around his tail is wagging like crazy. That's something.