Day 33 — Widening Our Social Circle
Now that MUNI is centrally located, she can be visited more easily. We’re happy that people want to see her because she — and all puppies — need socialization.
Today our first outside-the-pack visitors accepted an invitation to visit.
Day 33 – Carrier Sterre-Salazar meets MUNI and Mother Zenith
Click on the photograph for a larger version
A friend from church, Carrie, was MUNI’s first visitor.
I’d locked SeQueL, Paris, and Apex out of the kitchen to keep the commotion down. They were behind a dog gate in the back hall. Zenith stayed with MUNI.
When Carrie came into the house, the protective barks from all were fierce. But, I insisted that Carrie was okay, and even Zenith managed to stifle the barks and low growls that initially accompanied Carrie into the kitchen. Carrie, a dog person, was wonderful and calming, and eventually even mother Zenith allowed Carrie to hold MUNI… briefly… without exhibiting too much anxiety.
After the puppy viewing and petting, Carrie and I went into the dining room to catch up and have some coffee. Carrie came back into the kitchen for a second visit before leaving. She was a model socialization instrument!
After work, Charles gave Geoff a ride home so that Charles could also meet MUNI. They seemed to hit it off.
Day 33 – Charles and MUNI
Click on the photograph for a larger version
So, today’s highlights were two “stranger” socialization visits. Excellent.
Of course, I have always marveled that we treat puppies exactly the opposite as we treat children. We encourage puppies to be friendly to strangers and to take candy (treats) from them. If we did that to our human children, we’d be shunned for being careless and unfit parents!
The other change for the day is that Geoffrey started recording MUNI’s weight in pounds instead of just ounces. Yesterday, MUNI weighted 43.2 ounces. Today she’s 2 pounds, 12 ounces!
