Rocco Rocks

It's official! Rocco is officially part of our family now. We know we have a lot of work ahead of us but we are thrilled-our new little furbaby.
I'm getting up at 6 am to walk him for an hour before work- I hope I can keep it up. It's still dark when we start out (first picture). He needs all the exercise he can get so he's calmer during the day. Hopefully I'll at least lose some weight- maybe we both will :) 
He is getting so much better with his training. Whenever we come to a street crossing he sits for me. It's almost so automatic that he doesn't even look at me when he sits (second picture). Progress!
He went for his first grooming with our regular groomer on Saturday. I was so worried that he would think we abandoned him. I warned them that he might be"grouchy".  I had visions of him biting a groomer or becoming Cujo. They said they would muzzle him if needed. I gave him a 1/2 chill pill to calm him down before he went- just in case.
When we picked him up he had a cute little green St. Patty's bandana on. He trotted over to us and wagged his little tail/ butt like crazy. They said he was a perfect gentleman-no problems at all! If anything, they said he was a little too sleepy. Imagine that...little bugger.
We got him a new toy today- a large flea. Apparently, it is the best, most magically special flea that ever existed. Rocco has carried him around all day and at the moment he is resting his head on him.  I got snarled at when I tried to move it. So for  now we are letting him have his "Supa Flea". Picking our battles...
It was really cold and it rained most of the weekend so we had to skip our beach walks but next weekend for sure. He is getting so good- he walks well on the leash, socializes with other dogs and doesn't get distracted too often. He is also getting better with the kitties. We've figured out that he just wants them to play with him. He keeps bringing them Mr. Baseball and expecting them to play. Poor guy. We'll just have to socialize him so he can go to doggie day care at some point. He was out of kennel most of the day today and he did well. We still have to watch him closely when he's out but so far he hasn't done anything bad except chase kitties and put his feet on the kitchen counters. We can't wait until he can be out longer. Baby steps-  we keep reminding ourselves it's only been 2 weeks. But he is stuck with us now and we couldn't be happier about it.