Such a perfect puppy!
🐾 Puppy Perfect
I had forgotten how much a dog enriches my life. I’m so happy to have that back.
Training
Nakina now knows her name. She will sit for about five seconds using either a hand signal or verbal cue. She will “look” with both signal and cue, and she will down reliably with a lure.
Socialization
On Saturday we took Nakina to the RV for noise work, and she handled it beautifully — so we took a short drive, which she also handled well. Then we went to PetSmart, where she happily met lots of people and reveled in being the center of attention.
On Sunday we went through the car wash and then had breakfast on the beach. She walked confidently through sand and on the boardwalk, unfazed by the different surfaces. She also met her first adult dog that wasn’t a Terv — a German Shepherd.
We visited the vet just for cookies and drove through Chick-fil-A. On Tuesday we went to Bass Pro, where her increasing comfort with adults made it clear that it’s time to focus on teenagers next. On Wednesday we returned to the RV for more sound work and then headed back to Bass Pro for photos with Santa. She didn’t care at all about Santa in costume or the elves.
On Thursday, we got on another plane and headed to Connecticut for Thanksgiving. We made a stop at another PetSmart and then went to Trevor’s house, where she happily greeted him when he got home. On Friday she discovered leaves — and fell instantly in love. She toured Trevor’s yard, delighting in the “deer candy” she found and could not get enough of playing in leaf piles. Later, she joined us at a meeting with our financial planner and was the VIP (Very Important Puppy).
What's Next
- Sit — lengthen duration, more locations, more distractions
- Look — more locations and distractions
- Down — begin removing the lure
- Attend the Thanksgiving Cluster in Springfield, MA, where she can see an agility environment and meet more dogs
- Continue socialization with teenagers
Belgians choose their person — and she seems to be choosing me. I couldn’t be happier.