New Routines, New Friends, and a Splash of Fun 🐾

9 weeks-10 weeks old
July 13-20

Hi everyone, it’s Blake! I’m back with another update on my big adventure of learning how to be the best puppy I can be. My second week in my new home has been full of exciting new experiences, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it!

First up, let’s talk about food! When I first got here, my humans let me eat whenever I wanted. They said it was to help me feel comfortable in my new home, and it worked! But now that I’m more settled in, we’ve started a new routine: three meals a day—breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I’m eating this yummy food called Hill’s Science Diet: Large Breed Puppy Lamb Meal and Brown Rice. At first, I didn’t eat a lot during mealtime, but now I’ve got the hang of it. I get about 10-15 minutes to eat, and if I don’t finish, my bowl gets picked up until the next meal. It’s a bit of a game—eat now or wait! But it’s good for me because I’m learning not to guard my food and becoming more focused when it’s time to eat. My humans say this is really important for my training. Dogs that get to eat whenever they want are often not food motivated. It’s important that I’m food motivated because it’ll make my tougher training a lot easier! Oh, and don’t worry—water is never taken away! I can drink as much as I want, which is awesome because, well, I love water (more on that in a bit)!

Speaking of love, let me tell you about Gramp-Paw! He’s the other dog in the house, a wise old black lab who’s 12 years old. We’ve been getting to know each other better this week, and I think we’re starting to be real buddies. We play in the yard, and sometimes we even wrestle! Gramp-Paw is really good at letting me know when he’s had enough of my puppy energy. He’ll give a little snap of his jaws and a bark, but he’s never mean—just firm. When he does that, I know it’s time to cool it, so I lay down and often roll over to show him I get the message. Captain and Commander say he’s teaching me exactly the way he should, and they make sure he gets a break when he needs one. They’ll bring him inside to rest, and I’ll keep myself busy until we can play again.

Now, let’s talk about all the new places I’ve been! Socialization is super important for a future service dog like me, so Captain has been taking me out every day to see new things. I’m still getting all my vaccines, so we’ve been careful not to go to places with lots of other dogs. Instead, we’ve been visiting spots like a construction site for a quick lunch break, going to friends’ houses, and even stopping by a convenience store. These outings are short—just 10-15 minutes—but they’re helping me get used to different sights, sounds, and smells. Captain says it’s all part of my training, and it’s going to help me be a confident, well-behaved service dog one day.

And now for the fun part—water! Guess what? I discovered that I absolutely LOVE playing in water! Captain keeps a big dog bowl on the porch, and since it’s hot here in Florida, there’s always plenty of water around for us to drink. But I like to do more than just drink it—I like to dig in it! Sometimes I even try to climb inside the bowl like it’s my own little pool. It’s so much fun, and it helps me cool down after running around in the sun.

I’ve also found out that I love to chew…everything! Shoes, furniture, you name it—if it’s there, I’ll try to chew it. But my humans are teaching me what’s okay to chew on and what’s not. When they catch me with something I shouldn’t have, they make a funny sound (eh-eh!) and then give me one of my chew toys instead. I’m learning that these toys are way more fun to chew on, and when I choose the right thing, I get lots of praise and attention.

So that’s my second week at home! I’m learning new things, making new friends, and having so much fun along the way. I can’t wait to see what adventures are coming up next—whatever they are, I’ll be sure to tell you all about them!

Paws and happy tail wags,
Blake 🐾