Travis was ready for the world – but was the world ready for him?

We were about to find out, rather sooner than we expected as Travis said “Hello world”.

Quarantine was hard for both of us. My lively puppy was getting very frustrated at his enforced confinement and just wanted to be on his own four paws exploring the world. He outgrew his sling in a couple of days and then outgrew the basket that got increasingly difficult to carry – I still have the callouses on my hands to prove it.

My vet advised that, although we really should have waited for a week after his second primary vaccinations before going out, that he really needed to be outdoors and walking.

One of the first things that I trained was accustoming him to wearing a collar and tag. I started with a soft cat collar with a safety insert but then bought a proper collar before going out. We practiced walking together off and on lead indoors and in the garden and then we were ready to step out of the front door.

For that first week when he still wasn’t fully covered by his vaccinations, we confined walks to the end of the road and back. We watched the world go by on the main road which, until then he had only seen from inside his carrier and basket and then, at the end of the week, we ventured all the way round the block. The walk that I had taken for granted as a final daily walk for my last dog seemed like a major hurdle with a ten week old puppy, not least because, of course, everything ends up in a puppy’s mouth and the litter is atrocious – and potentially dangerous.

Crossing the main road for the first time felt like fording the Rio Grande! Suddenly the road that I had merrily jay-walked for more than forty years seemed ridiculously wide and scary on a green pedestrian light.

I needn’t have worried – nothing seemed to phase Travis. After some initial unsure barking at a passing people, he just wanted to assault the world head on.

Next week: Trains and boats and ‘planes – well almost

Meanwhile, why not check out R+Dog Training Puppy Start Right Courses and register for the new Puppy Social Walk in Chiswick House grounds starting in a few days.