I had an wonderful trip to Long Island where I just got to hang out with puppies and awesome breeders. The top five Labs and Goldens (agility and obedience) were bred by the breeders and co-raisers of my litter and a Golden litter born at the same time. Just great conversation and time to get to know my puppy and where he came from. I learned more about his test results and even got to watch him on a pigeon. He is fearless and loves birds. He also loves to swim and play fetch.
While visiting, we did some training with the crate and he was a pro. We drove from Long Island to Newark (2+ hours), hung out in the airport outside of the gate in a cool, quiet area (2+ hours), went through security where he walked through on his own like a little pro, waited at the gate (2+ hours), flew home (5+ hours) then got our bag and headed to my house (another hour). No accidents and he was quite the little trooper! He loved everyone, but not too much, and wasn't rattled about any of it - car, train, elevators, escalators, strangers, kids, wheelchairs, flooring, crowds, loudspeakers, etc. He did not love the crate at first and he slept through the flight, waking up ten minutes before touching down. He was fussy maybe 20 minutes total during the entire day. He was also the most popular being in the airport and posed for many photos. Don't get me wrong, traveling with a puppy is HARD, but he was a great little travel buddy.
My friend picked us up and took us home and wanted to come inside, which was a bit of a bad decision on my part. My dogs are crazy when there is company and she is someone who riles up dogs. But, I was tired and not thinking. The puppy was overwhelmed at first, but after watching them for a bit and after things settled, everyone relaxed. My older black dog loves him and they play and do well. I just have to watch for over-stimulation on the big dog's part because he forgets his size sometimes. My younger yellow dog does not like puppies and we've come to an understanding and I've already trained an "instead behavior" that when he is feeling uncomfortable, he comes to me and we get a cookie. However, I do try to keep the puppy off of him as much as possible, to be fair. He did start playing with the pup a little and when the pup turns into a dog, there won't be any issues. He is not aggressive, he just does stupid stuff like go lay by the puppy and then act all put out and surprised when the puppy touches him.
Anyway, first night was good. He fussed for about ten minutes, then cuddled next to his Snuggle Buddy and slept until 3:30AM when he had to go out and pee. Back in the crate and he fussed a little, then settled in to chew on his chewy and slept until 6:30AM. No accidents (yet). He's a typical puppy climbing the curtains and all of that fun stuff. He is fearless and wants to do the stairs by himself. He jumped on the kiddy pool which is upside down, barked and play-bowed then flung himself off before I could get to him. He crashed and then got up and jumped back on with a pinecone. Puppies are so great!
Here are a few photos for now. He's busy and I'm trying to integrate everyone so I haven't had a chance to get anything really good. I'll have better photos over the weekend, I'm sure. I also had a name change. He just did not fit the original name I thought I'd give him. I used to name my dogs after places I'd traveled and loved and got out of that with my last two. I really wanted to give him a meaningful name, so I thought of things I'd like him to be when he grows up. Fast. Smart. Fun. Confident. Then I looked them up in Italian as I wanted to commemorate my trip there a couple years ago with my mom. It was a special vacation and I really loved the place.
Introducing:
"Presto" Rhumbline's When In Rome
GCH CH Seawind Fergmar Bells and Whistles, UDX, OM1, MH
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HRCH UH Rhumbline's Grandbank's Schooner, BN, RN, PCD, CD, MH22, CC, CGC