I posted this on my blog, but I thought you guys might enjoy it:
The dog and I had our first field trip today. We had Easter dinner at Mom and Dad's today (a week early, I know). Mom suggest I bring him along so I would be able to stay longer.
So, we packed up his kennel, the water bowl, the food bowl, food, a godawfulamount of treats, his harness, his tie out, every toy I could find, his mat, the rug, a Kong stuffed full of goodies... oh, and the dog. And away we went.
There's a strict no non-humans in the house policy at my parents' (it has been in place since I was little!), so I hooked his tie out around one of the support beams in the garage, and that gave him 30 foot of cable to wander about.
He did great.
When we were inside, he spent most of the time as close to the house as possible, but that's normal. He's an inside dog and isn't used to being left outside alone.
It took a little coaxing to get him to eat, which I expected. But, he finally did. He then proceeded to drop a nice smelly present about half way between the garage and the house. Thanks, dog.
After lunch, we spent quite a while outside. I kept him on leash, but gave him a bit more freedom than I do in town (my parents live in the country). My niece (who just turned five) walked around with us for a while, then I finally just turned the leash over to her and let them go where they please, while I kept an eye on them from across the yard.
They were best friends by the end of their time together. Most shocking of all, he would even sit on command for her. I've never seen him do it for anyone else but me. It tickled her pink that she was able to get him to sit down.
Towards the late afternoon, it started to blow up a pretty heavy rainstorm, complete with lightning and mild thunder. We left then. Since he's been with me, he's not been through a storm like that, and I didn't think being tied up in a tin-roofed garage that he'd not been in before that day was the best time to find out how he'd do.
He's really loving car rides. Excluding the ride home from the shelter, he'd only been on two before, and both were short "let's see how he does" trips. I was pleasantly surprised he did so well -- and actually seemed excited -- to ride in the car.
He's currently sprawled out in the living room, where he's been since shortly after we got home, resting a very contented nap.
Not too bad for out for big day out.
The dog and I had our first field trip today. We had Easter dinner at Mom and Dad's today (a week early, I know). Mom suggest I bring him along so I would be able to stay longer.
So, we packed up his kennel, the water bowl, the food bowl, food, a godawfulamount of treats, his harness, his tie out, every toy I could find, his mat, the rug, a Kong stuffed full of goodies... oh, and the dog. And away we went.
There's a strict no non-humans in the house policy at my parents' (it has been in place since I was little!), so I hooked his tie out around one of the support beams in the garage, and that gave him 30 foot of cable to wander about.
He did great.
When we were inside, he spent most of the time as close to the house as possible, but that's normal. He's an inside dog and isn't used to being left outside alone.
It took a little coaxing to get him to eat, which I expected. But, he finally did. He then proceeded to drop a nice smelly present about half way between the garage and the house. Thanks, dog.
After lunch, we spent quite a while outside. I kept him on leash, but gave him a bit more freedom than I do in town (my parents live in the country). My niece (who just turned five) walked around with us for a while, then I finally just turned the leash over to her and let them go where they please, while I kept an eye on them from across the yard.
They were best friends by the end of their time together. Most shocking of all, he would even sit on command for her. I've never seen him do it for anyone else but me. It tickled her pink that she was able to get him to sit down.
Towards the late afternoon, it started to blow up a pretty heavy rainstorm, complete with lightning and mild thunder. We left then. Since he's been with me, he's not been through a storm like that, and I didn't think being tied up in a tin-roofed garage that he'd not been in before that day was the best time to find out how he'd do.
He's really loving car rides. Excluding the ride home from the shelter, he'd only been on two before, and both were short "let's see how he does" trips. I was pleasantly surprised he did so well -- and actually seemed excited -- to ride in the car.
He's currently sprawled out in the living room, where he's been since shortly after we got home, resting a very contented nap.
Not too bad for out for big day out.
