Day 12 - Careless mistake

The day began great; a full night's sleep. Tera was a champ and did not need to go for about 10 hours! I am so proud of her.

I did not think

As part of the socialisation, I decided to take her on a car trip today, since I want to visit family this week, and they are about a half an hour drive away. What I did not think about, until I was on the highway, was that I just fed her 10 minutes before we stepped into the car. I decided on a place for a short stop, so she could calm down again, in case the car made her feel nauseous– something normal for pups, according to the breeder since their vestibular system is not fully developed yet.
There was a garden center nearby, so I thought it was a good idea to stop here, watch some cars and people for a few minutes, and carefully drive back home. When the parking spaces came into view, I heard a familiar sound from the back of the car– too late...

This made me think two things:
- Do not drive with her right after a meal, she is not ready for that.
- I need more towels.

Luckily she did not feel as miserable as the last time. It was still fully my mistake; I was careless.

Stop biting me!

A big part of today's training was for her to stop nipping and mouthing me. She often sees it as play, so my interruptions were not clear enough. I spent a few hours in total letting her explore the living room under strict observation, and very clearly and consistently let her know that biting me is unwanted. It might sound like Tera is all black and blue now from the physical interruptions, but that is not the case. The result was that I could give her belly-rubs for a good amount of time before the urge to mouth me returned. Progress is definitely being made.
A secondary goal was to tire her out to the extent that she went into the crate of her own volition, but alas, not today. I did start giving her nice snacks in the crate, to boost that value.

All in all, a day where a lot happened, but not a lot to write about, unfortunately.