Boris is doing awesome! He has been getting used to crate life but is doing well with it. The first night was about 20 minutes of crying before he fell asleep. He woke up about 3 times and cried a little each time but would then fall back asleep. Each of the 3 nights since then has gotten better, with just a few minutes of quite whining before falling asleep last night. I successfully trained my girlfriend NOT to respond to the crying and we've actually managed to stick to our guns. Despite the cuteness factor (which has pegged the charts!), I've managed to not let anyone put him up on a bed or the couch and he has already accepted the fact there is no reason to even try.

The bathroom breaks are becoming routine and he knows what to do, almost on command now. He mastered "sit" in about a day and shows pride everytime he "gets" to do it. Retrieving 4 or 5 times in a row before giving him a break has worked well and he is rapidly falling in love with the tennis ball. He seems perfectly happy riding in the car and going to sleep. As I type, he is actually curled up in the back of the SUV with Kaiser. Having another dog around definitely reduces Boris' stress although Kaiser is one grumpy ol' dude at this point and had to teach Boris a couple of severe lessons on not stealing food and not treating another dog's tail as a chew toy.

Compared to when Kaiser was a puppy, Boris is much more affectionate, confidant, and observant. I think most of those traits are strongly related to the wonderful environment Art provided during the first 2 months of life. I really can't thank you enough, Art.

I'll throw some pics up sometime soon.