Day 1 -- Getting Acquainted

Zoltie's first day with us and he's just getting acquainted with everyone. He was a little nervous when he first arrived so I gave him some time to explore his new surroundings all by himself. It's important to allow him to explore at his own speed. I'm careful not to force him into anything that he might feel uncomfortable with.

Once Zoltie was feeling pretty comfortable by himself in the new environment, we invited one puppy out to meet him. This is Rosario, a 10 week old service puppy in training. She is the perfect first introduction for Zoltie because she's not overwhelming to him. He's still a little reserved at first.

But just like we did before, we did not force him into any interactions with Rosario and let him approach at his own speed. It didn't take too long before he was feeling much more confident around her.

Pretty soon they started playing. But I stay close so I can intervene if things get too rough.

So far they are a good match.

I can also use these play sessions as learning experiences. Today we are working a lot on name recognition during play. This is the very start of building a good recall (coming when called). We'll have ample opportunities to practice his recalls in pretty high distraction environments.

And now that Zoltie is feeling more comfortable with Rosario, I can start to slowly introduce the other dogs. The next one up is Hari, another service puppy in training. He's also good with nice, calm interactions with other dogs. Zoltie warms up to him more quickly and they have nice, appropriate greetings.

And it doesn't take long before he in maneuvering amongst the pack of labs. He sure stands out in this crowd. All of these interactions are an important part of his socialization. It's important for his development that he is introduced to new people, other animals, and different places when he is young so he is more willing to accept new things when he is older. Right now he's a little hesitant about new things so we will be working a lot on that over the weekend.