Suri comes home!
On December 2, I flew to Boise, ID to pick up Suri. From the first moments I got to see her in person, I knew she was the right puppy for me. We took her out to let her have a chance to go potty near the FBO and even the loud sounds of the airplanes nearby and trucks on the road didn’t seem to phase her. She happily trotted around after Robin’s toy aussie, smelling the scents and engaging with the world.
In the jet center she hung out in the Sherpa bag, except for a couple of times when I had her out in my arms so I could do Facetime with my husband, then my sister, to show them how adorable she was. Her tail was wagging a mile a minute as she had fun burrowing into my hair and checking out my ears.
Back at home in Arizona she went potty (on the artificial grass) in the back yard and ate kibble from my hand, as well as some from the floor. That was her first “training” session as I was starting to have her learn to look for kibble on the floor after I would drop it. No cue word yet, but this is from Susan Garrett’s “diving for treats” game.
I have a half-sized xpen (2’x4′) set up next to my desk and I sat in there and played with her for a while to get her familiar with the space. We did gentle puppy tug with a soft toy and also a bit of hand-paw batting play.
After several repetitions of sleep / potty / play and drink water, I put her into her night time crate. This crate is on top of a large plastic container so the door faces, and is at the same level as, my pillow area. This is the first time I’ve had a puppy crate elevated next to the bed and I think it worked really well. (That configuration also per Susan Garrett’s recommendations. **)
She is absolutely adorable and I definitely have a powerful case of puppy love! 😁💖
** I use many online resources for dog training and over the years have learned a lot from many different trainers. With Suri I have decided to incorporate some of Susan Garrett’s current coursework. I specifically enrolled in her “Home School the Dog” online course, but she also has a huge amount of free content. Check out her podcast entitled, “Shaped by Dog.” You can learn more at https://dogsthat.com/ .