After watching a lot of Cesar Milan (The Dog Whisperer and Mastering Leadership) the past couple of days — despite some people’s objections to his techniques — there is significant improvement from both myself and Winston and a lot of reduced stress on my end. I’m starting to feel better about this decision, but I’m still concerned he might need a better home than I can provide.

Inline with Cesar’s teachings, I am working to constantly establish rules, boundaries and limitations — three things a dog needs in order to know that I am the pack leader.

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Many people have responded to my last post How Not to Adopt a Dog with a lot of reassurance, support and optimism. Thanks so much! It means the world to me. I also found out someone started a Twitter account and is posting as Winston. The posts are hilarious. And no, it’s not me.

Last night, I began watching the Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan. I took Winston’s food and water off the floor by 8 p.m. and we went for a walk and a poop around midnight. Then, I got a great amount of sleep. Thankfully. He has already learned not to come into the back hallway where the bedrooms are. The flooring back there is old-school hardwood and if he pees on them, the ammonia in the urine could ruin the finish and damage the wood. He was well-behaved and stayed in the kitchen and living room area of the apartment, even with the hallway door open and slept well. He woke me at 9 a.m. for a walk and pee. After the walk, we came back home, I fed him, gave him some water and went back to bed. I’m usually up quite late and wake up in the late morning. I slept until 1 p.m.

Today, we had a long, full day. Winston and I went for a walk from about 1:30–4 p.m. I had to go to the bank and took him with me on the errand. On the way back, I ran into my friend Ryan. He and I ordered a pizza, came back to my place, ate and then went to rehearsal for the team that he’s on and I coach, Shiva Star. We left at 6:15 p.m. I got home at 10:30 p.m. The kitchen garbage bin that is currently stocked with urine soaked paper towels was all over the floor. I was picking up the same urine twice. The contents of my kitchen table were on the floor, except for my laptop, which thankfully, was barely clinging to the edge of the table.

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Of all the items on my 100 Things Challenge list, I thought adopting a dog would be one of the least challenging tasks. I’m an idiot.

As you may have read, I adopted a dog yesterday. His name is Winston. There will undoubtedly be a period of adjustment, it’s only been a little over 24 hours, but I’ve rarely felt more stress. Worst of all, I’m starting to think I’ve made a huge mistake.

Two days ago, on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012 at 5:55 p.m., I went to Toronto Animal Services to meet a dog named Ralphie. TAS identified him as a Pembroke Welsh Corgi / Jack Russell cross, so I did some research on the breeds. The information I found online suggested that Jack Russell’s are very energetic and driven. “I can deal with that,” I thought, “it would get me out to the park, time to spend with Winston playing and having some fun.” Pembroke Welsh Corgis are described as “very affectionate” — sounds great to me! — and “tend to follow wherever their owners go” — I work from home, so no problem there.

I spent about 15 minutes with him in a 12′ x 14′ room. We took to each other instantly. He laid down beside me, put his head in my lap. This dog is great! It’s too late to do the adoption that evening, to fill out the paperwork and setup the tags, so I have to come back the next afternoon. Yesterday afternoon (Friday, Jan. 20, 2012) I went to the TAS and adopted Ralphie Winston.

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Remember the dog I mentioned that I was going to adopt? You know, the one in the picture above? He’s one year and seven months old, part Welsh Corgi (Pembroke), part Jack Russell Terrier, and completely awesome.

Well, I went to see him at Toronto Animal Services this evening and am going back tomorrow to pick him up. I’ve already picked up the food and water bowls (and food), leash and collar, poop bags, brush and some treats. I’ll have to get him a bed tomorrow but Costco has those on for super cheap.

I haven’t yet decided on a name yet but I think he deserves a right proper Welsh- or British-sounding name. I’ll decide on that tonight so that when I fill out the adoption papers tomorrow his new name will be on those.