Firsts

When you get a puppy you get to enjoy all the fun of them discovering things for the first time. Everything is a new adventure and sometimes the results end up making you laugh with how the puppy reacts. This last week Zeus has been experiencing lots of firsts with us and I have been enjoying it so much! He is really making me proud.

One adventure was his first car ride solo. I decided to take Zeus to his first play date at Kelly and Steve's house and try to get him used to other dogs that I know. They have two of the cutest little Dachshunds that I've been lucky enough to get to know and I really want them to be friends with Zeus so we can go on hikes together. But before the meeting was the car ride. I wasn't sure how Zeus would react being on his own in the big back seat of my car unable to get onto my lap if nervous. I decided to hook his leash onto the car seat so he couldn't run up front while I was driving. I carefully placed him onto the seat and with a deep breath closed the door. All Zeus did was sit down and calmly look at me. Okay....so far so good. I got into the driver's seat and started the car. Again, so far so good. I told Zeus he was a good boy and we were off. He was so good the whole car ride to meet his new friends, he just sat down and waited to get to our destination. I was very excited with how well he did and thought what a great start to a big day.

Next up was his first visit at someone else's house and meeting other dogs on their territory. As we pulled up in the driveway Steve was already in his garage, so I thought that would be good to meet one person first and not overwhelm Zeus. I got him out of the back seat and said in an excited voice "Zeus, let's go say hi! Let's go visit!" My hope is that Zeus will learn the different tones of my voice and know when it's okay to go and greet someone. We walked up and as soon as Zeus spotted Steve he was pulling at the leash, he was so excited to go say hi! I was very pleased with this reaction as I want to make sure Zeus has good and positive experiences meeting people to get him well socialized. We have been working with Zeus to try and keep him from pulling on walks, but this time I let it slide. Once all the hello's were out of the way we walked up the steps to meet Kelly and the two Dachshunds named Latte and Abby. Zeus greeted Kelly with no issue (yay, another successful interaction) but when Latte and Abby saw Zeus there was a little hesitation on their part. Zeus however, being his little puppy self and not having much experience on this, walked right up to them with all his puppy excitement and got right into their faces. This caused a mild melt down and the two Dachshunds got nervous. They barked at Zeus and were a bit put off. I however was not. I had read that adult dogs can be put off by puppies because the pups have no dog manners yet and so I used this as a teaching opportunity. I watched as Zeus studied them a little and tried to go up to them again. And once again there was some barking, but this time Zeus kept some distance. Latte and Abby were showing him how to have some greeting manners. Kelly, Steve, and I decided the next best thing would be to take the dogs for a walk together. This is a good way to help the dogs feel comfortable together and try to enjoy being around each other on neutral territory. We went over to the park across the the street and they all walked together very well. Once at the park Latte and Abby were able to play some fetch while Zeus watched and ran about with some distance between them. He also learned how close he could get without getting barked at, but I was happy he was learning and not trying to attack them. He would just back off and give them the space needed to feel comfortable. With everything going well we decided to head back to their place and Kelly and Steve were kind enough to invite us in. I was a little nervous thinking Zeus might have an accident or be a bully and try and take over Latte and Abby's things. But once again Zeus proved me wrong and was a really good boy! He had no accidents I'm proud to say and tried very hard to get the two Dachshunds to play but with no luck yet. There were a couple of barks but nothing serious and all to help teach Zeus manners. I was such a proud dog mom and when the treats came out the three dogs were the very best of friends! I have hope they will relate meeting each other to positive and fun experiences. and in time with patience they will get on like best friends. For a first meeting I feel it was a great one! And I can't thank Kelly and Steve enough for letting us come over and spend some time helping us socialize Zeus.

Our next big first for Zeus was taking him up to the cottage for Thanksgiving. Being at the cottage and enjoying a turkey dinner is a tradition for my family so I knew we were going, but I had so many worries. How would Zeus deal with the long car ride there? How will he react to the rest of my family? Will it be too cold for him? Will he enjoy the beach? Will he still understand the potty training we had been doing as it's a different place we are living for a few days? How would he be at dinner, would he beg?

I am happy to say Zeus once again showed me how awesome he can be.

For our drive up he sat on my lap and basically just slept the whole way. Sometimes he would reach up and rest on Mike's shoulders or he would look back to check on Ares. I found this really cute as Ares has anxiety about being in the car. He always has, and he drools a lot and can't quite settle. Whenever Zeus looked back to him his tail would wag and he would try and lick him or just calmly look to him as if to say "It's ok, I'm here for you". Ares seemed to settle a little and I think once we have Zeus back there with Ares the two will help each other on car rides. We made it to the cottage and didn't even have to stop for a pee break, it was an excellent start to the weekend.

Once there we took the boys for a little walk together to stretch out the legs and get their barrings on the new place. We decided to try out the beach as it's not far from us. Zeus was very excited and following Ares around. Once down there Ares always walks right into the water up to his chest and drinks. Well Zeus wasn't too sure about this, he stopped where the waves were crashing onto the beach and just sniffed. He looked at Ares and really thought about it. Then the brave boy went in......to his belly anyways. Once the water hit his little belly that was it, Zeus was out! I think the Bay was just too cold for him right now so we will have to try the beach thing again next summer. He did enjoy waiting for Ares on the beach and once Ares came out he would run and jump up at him. They dug some holes in the sand together and chewed some sticks together. Ares was great at showing Zeus how much fun the beach could be, and by the end of the weekend it was the go to spot with Zeus running all over it and jumping over rocks, just having a great time there.

In the cottage Zeus did really well too. He met my Aunt Sandy and Uncle Tom, who just took to him and Zeus, I think, loved them right away too. He really enjoyed cuddles with Sandy and chewing sticks on Tom. Talk about spoiled! I was just so please to see yet another positive social interaction that I felt comfortable letting them dog sit while I took Ares outside for a bit. It really made my heart happy to see him getting on with my whole family so well, like he was part of it his whole life.

We only had one accident in the cottage and it was us human's fault. In the morning Mike had taken Zeus outside for a pee then back to bed. A few hours later I got up and decided to take the boys out for a walk but Ares was very whiny so I knew he couldn't wait and needed me outside before I tried to get Zeus' harness on. I asked my mom to watch Zeus for a moment and she was okay with that, so off I went thinking Zeus would be okay to wait a few moments. Once I was back inside I was greeted by a very unhappy Steven. Apparently my mom had put Zeus on the bed with Steven to play and he just couldn't wait any more and pooped on Steven! I felt so bad, as it was my fault making the puppy wait too long and poor Steven was so upset. Thankfully, Steven didn't stay mad for long and he understood it wasn't Zeus' fault, so those two were able to enjoy more time together, and now we can all laugh about it. Other then that one hilarious moment there were not accidents, yay!

Finally it was Zeus' first Thanksgiving and he did great. At dinner time he stayed on his couch with Ares and waited patiently for us to finish. I was so pleased with that I decided to let him try a small bit of turkey which Zeus gobbled right up! It was nice to have him be a part of the big family dinner.

And last, but not least, he was great sleeping with us without his crate. Usually up there Mike and I will try and sleep on the porch and Ares our Dane insists on sleeping with us (his pack of course). On the porch there is only futons so with a 180 lbs Dane, there is not much room for us. This weekend was no different except we had Zeus sleeping with us as well. Some how we all managed to fit on that futon and get some sleep. Zeus did great, he just snuggled right in with us and kept warm in the blankets I brought up. It was a true dog pile and I think it really brought Ares and Zeus together getting to sleep beside each other for a change. In fact Ares is getting so much better with Zeus that the two are able to sleep on top of each other now.

All of these big first moments Zeus is taking in stride and doing so well. For a 12 week old puppy he is so calm and easy going, I really hope he keeps this up for tomorrow when we have our next big first. The Vet. I worry of course but as always I'm sure Zeus will prove me wrong.

Adult dogs and puppies info:

https://www.clickertraining.com/what-to-expect-introducing-a-puppy-to-your-adult-dogs

Helping dogs bond info:

https://iheartdogs.com/how-to-help-two-dogs-form-a-friendly-bond/