Hi, furiends. It is February, and time to woof about my adventures.
My raisers are pleased that I am sleeping through the night. It didn’t take me too many sleeps to make it through, but I started getting restless during my sleep. You know the feeling – right? Just couldn’t stretch out, too many lumps in the blanket, roof too low… So when I was at the PADS campus for my routine eye exam and vaccinations, I took the opportunity to upsize to a larger kennel. It was good timing, too, because lots of new little buppies were going to their raisers and the new buppies needed small kennels.
Speaking of a growing puppy. Awoo, you should see my paws! They came in handy when I went for walks on that fluffy white stuff. My hoomans called it snow. I’m not sure what it was, but it was fun to run, roll and play in. I even have an extra coat to wear when it snows. I hope that I can do that again.
And because I am growing and have some of my shots, I can go on longer walks and explore more of my neighbourhood. Apparently, I am a good walker because I like to stay close to my hooman and look at them. When I do, I get lots of treatos. I realllly like treatos, and so I make sure to look at them. Well, most of the time, I do. Did I say I like treatos…?
I started February by helping PADS Freya celebrate her 2nd birthday. It was fun, and I got to have some puppy cake. It was my 2nd party, and February is the 2nd month, but it is also a month of 1sts for me! I went with my raisers for my 1st visit to a big building. I walked in with my raiser and sat in a small room that moved. I didn’t even notice or budge when it moved! My raiser gave me lots of kibbles for that. Then I politely walked into an even bigger room and lay quietly on the floor next to my hooman’s chair while people walked by me. I wasn’t there too long but got lots of kibbles. After we went home and woof did I sleep. Going out for appointments is tiring.
On a different day, my hoomans took me for my 1st visit to a grocery store. They called it stressful, but I call it Nirvana. It was full of really interesting smells! But there were lots of new sounds and people too. I walked across the parking lot, ignoring the rattley carts and stayed focused on my raiser. When I came to a sliding door, I stopped my raiser for a minute while I sniffed and snuffed the air. Then I walked in like a pro… We went down a long aisle, and I found a quiet spot to sit. I got to have lots of sniffs, look around and kibbles while my raiser told me how good I was. Some other hoomans stopped to look at me. One said I brought joy into the store. I don’t know who Joy is, but I think I made them happy. And after a few minutes, I calmly walked out of the store and went home for a long sleep.
A week later, I went on my 1st sleepover with PADS raiser Jessica at her house. I was an eager puppy and happy to go for my 3-day visit. They were really nice, and I settled in nicely. I watched quietly from my mat in the kitchen while dinner was being prepared. I even sat and watched while treatos were dropped into my bowl. They made a funny sound, but I kept my cool and waited until I heard the right cue to get them. I think I did OK because I have been invited back.
Finally, I rounded out my busy month with my 1st trail walk and my 1st bath. Released PADS Bonnie took me to her favourite lake and trail. I walked with my raiser and had lots of time to sniff and snuff the new smells. I even kept my cool when 2 big crows flapped over top of us, and I got to explore off-leash. And you know what? I was focused on smells when my raiser recalled me. I hesitated briefly because I had a really good sniffer going, but then I stopped, looked at them and when they called again, I ran back to them. I got lots of treatos and good words for that!
So I had a busy month, and I can’t wait to awoo about my March adventures. Until then, furiends, keep your kibbles dry.
Submitted by: Veronica & Ross Shenard
