New place. Time to adjust. Thunder was a little nervous coming into a new environment. This is not uncommon among puppies and shows how important socialization can be if you want your dog to be comfortable leaving the house. The first thing I noticed was how low she was carrying her body, like she was trying to get small. I also noticed little sweaty paw prints on my floor. Dogs feet with sweat if they are nervous. It's important that she check things out on her own time. Pushing her to go too fast when she is nervous could make the situation worse. Once she's more comfortable in the house, I start to introduce the dogs.
I'm going to introduce the dogs one at a time. It can be a little overwhelming to have several dogs coming out to check you out. But Billings, who is about the same age as Thunder, is not very threatening. He's a good one to start with (but don't get too use to him, Thunder, he goes to the correctional facility today). When it's clear she is feeling comfortable with Billings, I put him away and get another dog out. I'll do this until she's met all the dogs before I start bringing out more than one dog at a time. It might be too intense for her if I were to bring out a new dog and there were multiple dogs.
As it is, she needs to figure out how this little guy works.
Another sign that she's a little stressed is licking her lips. A little stress is not bad. It's just information to help make better decisions about how much a dog can handle.
Rosario is doing another form of body language called a play bow which basically means "I come in peace, let's play." Thunder's not so sure about the fast movement Rosario made so she's still a little uncomfortable (note the ears that she's holding back).
Not to worry, it's not long before Thunder is joining in on the fun. Getting some good exercise in will help her to be more focused in our training sessions and it serves as a good reward as well.
There is still more exploring to do as she gets adjusted to the environment. We can start to build a good recall by rewarding her when she randomly checks in with me during play. This will help her be more in tune with where her people are even when she's busy playing.
Which works great until you realize your head doesn't quite fit...
Letting her move at her own pace works well and she quickly had overcome any hesitation she had when she first arrived. Returning the play bow tells Rosario she's ready to play.
And they played and played and played...
Now time to start working on "Come!" More on that in another blog.
It was a really big first day. She met a lot of new friends, got started on her training, and played really hard. She's resting up now which is a good thing because we are going to be busy tomorrow...
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