Let Puppies be Puppies

We just got home from a 5-day road trip for my cousin’s wedding to Texas and let me tell you, we are ready for a few days of R&R!

But Monday was an absolute rockstar all week. From long stints in the car, to multiple hotels, lots of new people, sights, and sounds, he took EVERYTHING in stride.

At one of the hotels we stayed at we were working on relaxing at a table while I had my breakfast (something that will definitely need continued work on) and someone asked me how I keep him from being a puppy and the answer is I don’t. Even though he is a service dog in training, my goal is to give him as much time to just be a puppy and have fun that I can, including making training fun and age appropriate. We keep outing and sessions short, we do most of our training in play, I try to strategically plan more difficult sessions to give him higher chances of success, it also means I keep my expectations appropriate for his age, I don’t expect him to act like a 2yr old fully trained dog, because he isn’t one.

Would I recommend making a 5 day, 12.5hr (one way) road trip with a 10/11-week-old puppy? Ummmm probably not to most people, but I am grateful that Monday is a fantastic puppy and made it a pretty easy trip! But also, I’m very happy to be home and to have some time to relax and rest!

Baby Monday practicing settling while I eat hotel breakfast