Our puppy Maple turned 12 weeks old this past Friday. We had another planned vet appointment yesterday, which makes it a total of three visits since we got her. Well, four if you count the medication pick up and quick temperature check when she had diarrhea. Did I mentioned we have been talking about pet insurance? These check ups are fairly customary though. She gets her weight checked and any other vaccines needed. Yesterday she got three shots, but we have yet to get the rabies vaccine. I believe that’s coming soon. Once she does, I’ll register her for a dog license, which requires proof of that.
I heard she was super high energy and all over the place for the appointment. To be expected, but she’s definitely getting to be a bit more of a handful to handle at times. She’s now 21.5 pounds! The pen we’ve been containing her in will not be used too much longer. We are not at all sure how that is going to go. I’ve heard people say puppies grow fast, that’s true. She doesn’t fit in the little collapsible/portable crate I mentioned in my first post (listed below).
Catch up here:
Puppy Go Bag: Preparing for a puppy after losing our family dog
Puppy First Days Home: Meet Maple!
Puppy Adventures: weeks 8-9
Puppy Adventures: weeks 9-10
Puppy Adventures: weeks 10-11
Maple, 12 weeks old, fox red, female Labrador Retriever.
Puppy Kindergarten
Maple and my husband had their first puppy training class last week. They’ll have another this week. I did not attend with them, but it sounds like she did really well. She didn’t bark at the other dogs a bit, which was a super big relief. Our last dog Savannah was very reactive to other dogs. When we did classes with her we had to move to a private lesson because of that. Maple was actually chosen by the instructor to demonstrate. She did great, and it seemed to my husband like she was teacher’s favorite. That didn’t surprise me a bit. Good girl.
Gentle leader harness
We are looking for a better harness or gentle leader for her. Using just her collar and leash seems to pull her neck too much. My husband has bought two so far that are not the right fit. We’ll keep looking.
Zoomies
Maple is showing signs of speed. When she is out of her pen and has a lot of energy, we let her run around in circles between the rooms. She’ll run around the coffee table in the fireplace room. She’ll then run through the kitchen to the dining room and around that table. It’s a pretty good length of space and she loves it. We call it the “zoomies,” or “oomee zoomies.” Do you call it this too? Leave a comment below.
Dock jumping future?
In her earlier years, we tried doing a bit of dock jumping with our last dog Savy. She was okay with it, but didn’t love it. She actually was a terrible swimmer, and was hilarious to watch splash her paws rather than doggy paddle below the surface. We are curious if Maple will be exceptionally good at dock jumping. We’ve seen her jump really high and far out at times, like when she goes into the fireplace room from the kitchen. There’s a step down that she launches from nearly reaching the fireplace. She flies through the air and it seems to be really exciting and fun for her.
As much as I love to plan and prepare, Maple reminds me that each day is a new adventure. We adjust to her needs as we need to, and she adjusts to ours as we teach her how we do things. Is there a bond between us yet? Not like I had with Savannah. But I know it will take time. When she sits pretty for me when I tell her I need a picture for her blog update, she so wants to do as I ask. I think we’ll get there, and I’m glad we have her. Until next time, make it an adventure!
Join Annie’s Adventure here.