TRAVIS

Hi, Elizabeth,

Travis is doing really well! I bought him to the vet for an introductory visit two weeks ago, and again this week for shots. The vet says he’s in great health, and he went from a bit over 14# to a bit over 17# in that interval, so he grew about 20% in two weeks! He is sleeping in a crate in my bedroom, and is going through the night without soiling in the crate, though I will still take him out in the middle of the night if I wake up and see he’s active. We make sure he goes out frequently, so he has not had many accidents.

Travis is very social — he seems to have no fear of people, so he walks right up to strangers, and seems to enjoy the attention he gets, from both adults and kids. Just about everyone who meets him thinks he’s adorable. He also likes being with other dogs. Our next-door neighbors have two Labs, a male and a female. The female has no problem with Travis, but mostly ignores him. At first we thought the male was going to be aggressive, so we introduced Travis to him very slowly. When we finally let them play together, once Travis showed the big dog submission, Bauer, the Lab, made friends with him, to the point that he now rolls over for Travis and lets him play the dominant role. It’s really funny to see Travis wrestling, and “winning,” with a dog four times his size. Travis also gets along fine with the other dogs in the neighborhood.

We’ve had him up to the beach in York, Maine, twice so far. Travis loves the beach! At 6pm during the season, dogs are allowed on leash, so 6-7pm is like dog beach party time. Next time we go, it will be out of season, so we can have him on the beach off leash at any time.

Travis has a really pleasant personality. Though he likes being around people, he’s not very needy, and not frantic at all. When he’s tired from playing outside, he likes having quiet time on one of his dog beds. He has one room that he’s sort of made his headquarters, and he drags toys, shoes, and things he pilfers from the laundry room to his place (he especially seeks out the clothes my son Ethan wore to football practice). He eats three times a day still ( the vet says he can go down to two, but I think he’s growing fast enough that he’s hungry for three meals, and does not seem to be putting on much fat). He mostly eats puppy kibble with some wet food on top; I think his favorite flavors are lamb and chicken, and he really likes it when we give him some real chicken meat as a treat.

Thanks for the training guide. I think it’s really important to get him walking on a leash properly, and we have been starting to walk him, with varying degrees of success. I plan to start doing classes with him in a week or two. I think he’ll enjoy it, since he likes being around other dogs so much.

We all love Travis and think he’ll turn out to be a great dog. Ethan and Cindy like to spoil him, while Noah and I are more interested in doing the research about care and training, and relating to him in dog-appropriate ways. He’s a happy puppy, and having him around makes us happier, too.