Nova is really starting to discover that there is a world beyond the garden gate. She has shown a keen interest in this by standing up against the gate and “talking.”
She has a soft puppy harness, which she doesn’t mind wearing. She has also started using her purple/pink checkered collar and has received her first ID tag.
We’ve been taking short walks—just back and forth at Nova’s own pace. She has seen the garbage truck arrive and greeted the sanitation workers. She has watched cars, bicycles, and other vehicles pass by, as well as people with children and dogs—some dogs were even in strollers, much like the one Nova has now!
She still gets the “zoomies” in the evening, right around the time we (the family) sit down to eat. It seems to be a trigger—a kind of anxiety stemming from the feeling that she is “starving to death,” leaving her unable to settle down anywhere.
We know that the puppies were fed together at the breeder’s, and I suspect they may have had to “compete” for food. Even though every puppy got fed, it’s possible they developed a sort of “mental hunger”—and now, when we eat, Nova feels “excluded” from the group.
Because of this, I plan to break up her food portions a bit more. That way, when we eat, she can also have a treat—some delicious frozen wet food inside a small Kong toy.
As for house training, we’re finally making real progress. Nova pretty much sleeps through the night now—today, she asked to be let out of her sleeping crate at 6:30 AM.
