I had Terra in the car during Chimera's runs in agility class, and took her out to explore in between. The property has a few sheep and horses, which both weirded her out. I let her choose whether to approach or retreat or just stand and watch. With both animals she took a few steps forward, watched, then slowly retreated.
At one point the instructor called out that we were in the line of sight of the next dog, and to move her to a different side of the field, which meant being closer to the action and to the other dogs. I had a split second of doubt but damn it, social pressure made me follow her directions. I should have moved farther away. Instead we had a major trigger stacking incident: Terra is walked into an area she had not yet explored at her own pace, other dog bangs teeter, other dog races through tunnel which is less than 10 feet away, other dog runs up and sniffs her butt, instructor greets her, second student approaches and tries to greet her. Poor Terra was frozen in place with a tucked tail. It all happened within half a minute, then I regained my senses and walked her away and back to the car.
Later I took her out again but to a different area, farther away, and she explored like she usually does.
In the afternoon we had a vet visit for her vaccinations and microchip. I let her lick from a Bark Pouch while the vet did it. She didn't react to the vaccination. She slowed down and tensed at the microchip needle but continued eating, which is very good for her. I showed the vet the dead worms that had come out after her first dose of Heartgard yesterday morning. They were roundworms, which we hadn't detected earlier but apparently can be hard to find as they only come out occasionally when still alive. We got a dose of wormer to give in two weeks, and the next Heartgard will be two weeks after that, and then she should be all clear.
She was quick to approach and lick the faces of all the staff at the clinic, even ones she had not met before. She seems to have generalized that everyone there (at least everyone wearing blue/green scrubs) is safe and friendly.
The scale showed her weight at 45, maybe 45.5. I was surprised that she had barely gained any weight in the past two weeks. Her breeder is very concerned, as her siblings are gaining normally. I believe it's due to the combination of stress, which meant not eating enough during her first couple weeks (she is now choosing to eat about triple the calories), the roundworms, and the diarrhea. Her appetite is so much better now, and I'm feeding her an extra meal for lunch, so I'm expecting her to normalize. Today she ate 4.5 cups of Honest Kitchen (dehydrated food) and 3 raw chicken drumsticks.
She is getting more and more playful. She is pulling more fiercely on tug toys, following the toy along the ground more consistently (though still slowly, in giant puppy fashion), and spending more time playing with toys on her own. She puts her mouth on my hands/arms more frequently when she's feeling playful (which I gently discourage but am happy to see). She got a good case of puppy "witching hour" and making mischief this evening. I had to separate her from the boarding dog as she was being too rough with him. We played together, then did training time (fly, mat, IYC, stand-stay, hand target), then she went into her crate and chewed on the jumbo bully stick for nearly an hour. Now she's falling asleep in her usual style: on top of her cuddle buddy, rolled onto her back, and panting from all the effort of chewing despite the ac and fans going.
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