Beau’s First Days
When we first picked Beau up from his previous owner, he wailed and screamed in the car. He didn’t thrash around or spin - he just barked up a storm. So 5/20, we decide we are going to take him to a conformation show about 2.5 hours away. It should give us time to see his reactions and his adjustments to riding in a crate.
Well, he didn’t scream or bark, but he did PANT and sat up the entire ride up. He panted to the point that there was a puddle of drool under him. But once again, no thrashing or spinning. We turned the air conditioner up just a notch and covered his crate but kept on driving. When we got to the show, we prepped the van as we normally do by covering it with the sun shields and sun mesh blankets. Not a peep and not a sound. Asia was sound asleep next to him and he must have caught on to her quiet vibe.
We left him for about an hour and half before coming back to walk him and Asia. He wasn’t too keen on the crowds but we kept him away and he eventually calmed down. We took him back to the van for another two hours. We retrieved him to let some people see him and he was FINE!
The drive home was great. No panting although he did sit up some. He eventually laid down and even took a short nap. Good progress.
He has acclimated very well with the other dogs showing very good social skills in backing off when warned and play very vigorously but not aggressively. He has shown good play drive [tugs like a mad man] but doesn’t know very many commands. We’ll get there.