Day
14 - September 30th
Two
weeks he’s been with me now. Time to stop and reflect on the changes that have
happened. Lewi is obviously much more confident now and this shows in his
behaviour in a number of ways, not least is his determination at times to
“answer back” when told no for some things! If he’s chewing shoes no
doesn’t work so well, but for something less exciting, such as exploring
pulling the curtains, the effect is positive and immediate. As I’ve said
before, he is perfectly happy to be left alone for a short while. Popping round
the local shops is easy now. Pop him in his crate with the door open, in the
kitchen and he’ll happily amuse himself for half an hour. Mind you, he still
barks at new unusual objects that appear! He has definitely grown; he can reach
things now that were at a safe height. His legs are definitely longer. It will
be interesting at the end of the week to have him weighed at the vets.
The
weather has been very blustery and wet. He doesn’t notice the rain and will
happily play out in it, but the wind is a different matter entirely. The garden
is surrounded by hedges, bushes and trees. He is very cautious about going
outside when they are all waving around, he tends to wait for me to go first
(brave guard dog!), then barks at the trees.
We
had visitors again today. A neighbour, who is a dog owner herself, brought her
two grandchildren round to see Lewi. He was a bit excited at meeting them and
would keep trying to jump up at the smaller boy who was rather nervous at the
bundle of energy. The older boy was much more confident and Lewi was calmer with
him. It took a lot of effort to keep the situation “safe”. I explained to
the young lad about Lewi’s body posture and that it meant he wanted to play,
held Lewi so he could stroke him and so on. I need more help on getting Lewi to
react more calmly with young children. Still, that’s one of the topics covered
in the puppy classes – roll on!