A week in a puppy's life

We have had a busy week. I went to two obedience trials with Karma, Wednesday and Sunday. Riva of course came along and had a chance to meet new dogs and people and get some training under distractions. He thought the long drives to Kuopio and Pihtipudas (~2 hours) were boring, usually he rides very nicely in his crate but now I heard a few yaps towards the end of the drive. But getting out at the trial grounds was exciting enough to make up for the drive. He is such a nice puppy, not shy or overly excited when in new situations, always polite with strange adult dogs (he gets the message when someone doesn't want to be pestered by a puppy) and happy to meet people. And even with the distractions at the trial he would play with me anytime I invited him to.

He also got his first experience at being at the kennel. My aunt runs a boarding kennel in Kuopio and when we went there for the trial I stayed overnight and Riva was kenneled with Jambi. Jambi knows the ins and outs and doesn't stress about being at the kennel and Riva didn't seem to have any problem being separated from me for one night. It was tougher on me...

Saturday we went to search training and he is really starting to get into it. When I walk him to the forest from the car I can see how he starts to seek scents and can't wait for me to unhook the leash. He has been rewarded with food so far but watching his behaviour, I think he is also rewarded very much by the find itself and the joy of meeting people. After the treats are gone, he is happy to continue hanging around with the victim for petting and praise unlike some dogs I have seen in training. However, after he grows up a bit I think we will be switching to toys as reward to get good drive. He does like food a lot but I think he is a little bit more toy/play driven than food driven.