Spring break sabotage

Once again our spring break has been sabotaged by a canine.  You know about Hugo, our puppy we got earlier this week.  What you probably don't know is about our four year old German shepherd, Moe, that we got last spring break.  

Once we got settled in our house we told the kids we could get a dog.  It wasn't long that a friend told us about a rescue dog that was in need of a home.  He was trained, well behaved but needed a family to be with.  Todd sent out an inquiry and we were asked to bring Moe home to see if he would fit into our family.  He was really a great dog.  He minded, followed the rules, easy to command, and gentle with us.  I spent all of last spring break putting in an invisible fence to keep him in our property.  Digging up dirt and burying wire around the perimeter of our property was not how I intended to spend my break but that is what I did.

We had Moe for a month, maybe two, but we had to send him back to his rescuer.  Although he was great with us, he didn't do well with our visitors, namely men.  Once we introduced him to you he was fine for a while, but for no reason at all he would charge our guest and try to bite them.  He bit my brother in law on three separate occasions.  So, he had to go.  

Fast forward to this spring break and a dog has sabotaged it again.  Hugo is a lot of fun but for now I have to keep a constant watch on him to train him to piddle and poo outside.  Our nights are also not very restful as he wakes up crying, howling, and barking about every hour.  I have polled my fb friends to see how we should handle the night times and of course, I have opposite opinions.  So I made a decision to keep him in his crate and let him cry.  Well, not completely.  When he wakes up crying I take him outside to piddle then I put him back in his crate.  He then howls for about a half hour before he settles back down, takes a thirty to forty five minute nap before we start the process again.  It is like having a newborn with two hour feedings.  What I have been told is that he will settle down and stop the crying in about a week or two. I hope they are right.

Currently, Hugo is taking a nap in my bathroom.  I have been making him follow me around the house to do chores.  I think going up and down the stairs combined with his late night howling has tired him out.  I had him join me in the bathroom so I could shower and do some cleaning.  He promptly fell asleep, of course.