Welcome Smokey!

We've had Smokey with us for just a few days and we're having lots of fun getting to know him.  He's a very sweet dog with a very calm way about him.  He's very people oriented and follows us from room to room just wanting to be near us.  He fits in so easily, and it seems like he's been with us for a long time.  He's getting along well with our two dogs and has started trying to play with them.  He runs up and gives our dogs a playful nudge, and then starts running around trying to get them to join in.  It's very cute!  Our dogs aren't quite sure what to make of Smokey yet, so they just stand by while Smokey runs circles around them!

I've crated Smokey a couple of times since he's been here.  It doesn't seem to be his favorite place to be, but he handles it fairly well.  He whines and barks a little bit, but he's definitely using his "inside voice."  I'm going to continue crating him to help him get used to it, but I have to say that I have no real reason to do so.  He's very relaxed, not aggressive at all, doesn't chew on anything, and so far hasn't had any potty accidents in the house.  He goes to sleep at night with my daughter, and then I bring him downstairs when I go to bed so that he can spend the rest of the night with our dogs.

It was interesting to me that the first couple of times we fed him he didn't seem to know what to do.  He just sat looking at the bowl of food and finally took it from our hand.  He also didn't seem to know what to do with a treat.  He was hesitant to take it from us and then just put the treat on the ground.  Once he saw our dogs eating their treats he got the idea.  He's very polite when he takes his treat and waits his turn until our dogs have gotten their treats. 

Here's a couple of pictures and videos of Smokey.  He's an amazing dog and so handsome!  He loves, loves, loves people and kids, and is handling our very high energy dogs like he's known them forever.