I picked Pippy up at the Humane Society of Indianapolis (HSI) this morning at 9:00 am to begin our adventures. At this point, Pippy and I had an entire history of a whole one and one half hours to get to know each other. This included our first meeting and a short photo session the following day. Of course, both these meetings included some quality training time, but mostly consisted of me watching Pippy be Pippy to see if she was a good fit for this trip or trying to get cute pictures. Eight and a half hours in the car with somebody you know well can be a challenge for people with close relationships. Put two strangers in the car and all bets are off. That the two of us had met only twice before created the potential for a horrible trip. Not only are we relative strangers, we did not even speak the same language - yet! (As far as we can tell, Pippy has never been taught anything except that she should pay attention when she hears a click and when she hears kissy noises. Oh, and she does seem to know that the horrible Ach Ach noise we humans make when annoyed means she should stop doing something.)

I wanted the trip to be pleasant for both of us and had come prepared with several small squeaky toys, treats, toilet paper tubes to fold over with treats inside, water from home, and two toys that could be stuffed with food and/or chewed on. Because Pippy and I were all but strangers, I was determined to make the trip and every interaction as positive a learning experience as possible.

I only have a short time with Pippy and my plan was to get training started the moment I picked her up. She had already demonstrated that she is one smart pooch and I knew she was going to be stuck in a kennel most of the day. I also knew that I was going to be tired and probably grouchy when we arrived at our destination. I was sure that dealing with a wild young terrier was not going to be high on my list of things to do after a long drive. Pippy might as well start thinking (and wearing herself out) early. I had already identified a list of several things I wanted Pippy to learn fairly quickly including her name, down, sit, relax, wait, the “look at that” game, and a start on a really good recall. I also wanted to at least start working on a go to place cue.

Of course, we all know what they say about the “best laid plans”. Pippy behaved beautifully in the crate in the car. After only a few minutes of whining, she settled right in and was quiet and alert when I regularly checked on her in the rear view mirror. She was lying on the towel just watching the world go by and seemed to doze off about an hour or so into the drive. Somewhere before we made our first stop in Ohio, she became sick. I did not hear a peep out of her. I had made a point to turn the radio down low so I could listen for signs of stress or in case she would notify me that she had to go potty. Either due to anxiety or carsickness (I am leaning towards anxiety at this point), Pippy threw up quite a lot of water. So I got her out, took her for a walk, cleaned up, put the now wet towel in the sun in the tail end of the car, put a clean towel in the crate, and proceeded on our trip.  

Now that she had been ill, I really wanted to avoid giving her much in the way of treats or other goodies until we arrived at the hotel and could get settled in. This is where most of my plans went out the window.

Even with an unhappy puppy tummy, the trip was much better than I ever expected. Not only did Pippy do exceedingly well in the crate, the weather was cool enough that we were able to get out and explore at each stop along the way. I learned that Pippy adores chasing locusts and crickets in the grass and we even went for a short jog at one stop where there was a mown grassy field. I also learned that Pippy LOVES to be held and carried.

We settled in at our hotel after I did a thorough check of the floors and under the flat surfaces in the room to make sure there were no dropped pills, chewing gum, or other items that Pippy might get into. In hopes of keeping her tummy happy, I placed on a few pieces of kibble at a time in a bowl for her to eat. She did very well and waited nicely while I put the food down each time. Once she seemed relatively calm, we went for a walk during which we met a lovely lady from Maine who was driving home from the races at Bristol. We then played a game with a squeaky toy where Pippy had to sit to get me to squeak and throw the toy. She then curled up quietly in my lap while i caught up on some computer work.

I brought my own food for the trip, so we worked on table manners while I ate. Pippy was surprisingly well behaved. Based on behavior I observed before the trip, I had made the assumption that she would need to be tethered while I ate and rewarded with little bits of food for calm behavior. She did try to beg once, but I only gave her tiny pieces of my tortilla when she would sit or lay down. I am now finishing my dinner while I type and she is sound asleep on the foot of the bed.

Goals achieved today: Name learned, practiced wait for food, and sits/downs during dinner. All in all, we did have a good day with bug chasing, some cuddle time, and a lot of the two of us learning about each other. I am going to go wake her up for another trip outside to potty and then we will have to work out our sleeping arrangements. Nighty, night everyone. The adventures resume less than twelve hours from now.