Molly’s Diary – Week 5

What a busy week! Since our last entry, Molly has been hiking, paddling at the bottom of a waterfall, and visiting a pet-friendly winery in the North Georgia mountains.

Molly still has one round of shots to complete so we are still being cautious where we let her explore. That being said, when Mitch decided to go for a swim, it was all we could do to stop her going right in behind him. She loved the water and got to play with a little girl – all great exposure and positive experiences for Molly. On the way home, she sat with us for a quick visit to our favorite winery.

Puppy class was a lot of fun this week and Molly got a mock physical exam where she was exposed to some of the items that puppies encounter at their vet visits. Next was supervised playtime followed by a little time outdoors exploring some novel objects.

We took advantage of our time at the class to get Molly weighed on the scales. She has gained another 3lbs. This means it is time to check her food bag and increase her daily allowance. We also seem to be constantly adjusting her collar as she is growing so fast.

Training is ongoing with lots of short sessions so that Molly doesn’t lose interest. Her crate is always clean and she lets us know when she needs to go outside for a potty break. Her “sit” is good and we are working on “stay,” “leave it,” and coming to/following us.

We have been playing different sounds quietly in the background while Molly is eating her dinner or playing with a fun toy so that she is able to associate them with fun times and will not be afraid when she encounters them in real life situations.

A trip to Publix was a great opportunity for Molly to hang out in the parking lot and meet and greet many different people: tall, short, young, and old. We walked her alongside the shopping cart and past moving traffic. It was all fun and she had a great experience.

Some things Molly is discovering:

• She can jump on the sofa, much to Mitch’s disappointment.
• She has also discovered that all of her favorite hiding places are now too small for her to escape to after teasing Mitch.
• That bringing a frog in from the back yard at 10pm and dropping it on the rug so that it can disappear under our sofa is a great way to get the whole family up and moving.