Socialization

Levi has been a little bit shy lately so we are trying to work especially hard on more socialization.  I think it is mostly with other dogs that he is shy, but loud noises and barking dogs also seem to make him a little nervous.  We've been on a few outings over the past couple days.  He came with me on a couple errands yesterday and then we went to Petco so I could buy him a present for his 4-month birthday.  We then went to a nice dog park close to where we live.  We went in the middle of the day hoping that it wouldn't be very busy and it turned out to be perfect.  There were a few dogs there when we arrived and he really enjoyed playing with this one medium sized puggle (pug and beagle cross).  When that dog left he found a terrier to play chase with for a little while.  Pretty soon though all the other dogs had gone home so we decided to call it a day as well.

Today Levi and I joined dad on some errands so we could go to Home Depot and Farm Supply (both dog-friendly stores).  There were a lot of people in Home Depot that wanted to pet him.  He did really well and only tried to jump on one person.  He also got exposure to new sights and sounds there.  Outside of Farm Supply there were a couple dogs in a truck that were barking at him which made him a little nervous, but overall he did really well.

Outside of Home Depot

And a few pictures I took of him over the past week at home.

He is starting to calm down and actually lay down on his own now rather than me always having to put him in his crate to make him take a nap.

He is also doing a lot better with potty training and hasn't had a real accident in several weeks.  (That doesn't count his excited leaking when Melissa comes over.  He can't help that though, she is just so much fun!)

He also hasn't been as mischievous about trying to get into everything.  This grants him a little more freedom to wander around the house more.

It is nice to see him starting to mature personality-wise.  Even if he is cuter as a tiny puppy, I'd rather take this version of him which I can enjoy more.