This morning's conversation with the lovely D and G, is driving today's post. I think I had better clarify- Bruno has been preparing for travel since...March.
To his repertoire of Sit-Stay, Mum-Mum, Off (the dining table), Come, Let's Go, and Good Potty (outside, on grass, please), Bruno has had to learn "Inside" (enter travel bag), "Bag" (he never had one before), "Mommy pohpoh" (Mom is going to carry the bag), "Settle Down" (in the bag), "Sleep, Sleep" (in the bag), and "Out" (get out of bag). Bruno practises a combination of this, every day.
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| Bruno practising "Inside", "Sit-Stay", with The Big Dog assisting. |
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| Early days- Bruno learns that the Bag holds his dinner- he just has to walk into it! |
Bruno is also by nature a reserved dog. On a bad hair day, he veers towards timidity. So we have had to work towards building his confidence and being exposed to as many scary elements as possible.
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| Friday night at Esquina- Crowds, pulsating music, aromatic food = V Scary. |
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| After-work, mid-week at Bistro Soori- Loud chatter, strangers, busy wait-staff = V Scary |
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| Sit-stay through 1.5 hours at hair salon with some crazy billowing contraption around my head and strangers milling about = V Scary |
So the three things we practise tirelessly are- the idea of his travel bag as a safe, happy, private place, long walks to vent any anxious or hyped-up energy, and as much exposure as possible to new places, people and sounds. To make the walks more challenging for him, I have also introduced some off-lead/recall work.
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| Bruno practises crossing the river and ignoring strangers. |
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| Bruno confidently explores the river bank, without falling in. |
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| Bruno practises the re-call command, running back to me. Good job, Bruno! |
Lastly, KLM, Air France and Lufthansa all fly dogs in-cabin from Singapore to Europe. They also fly animals in cargo.
Way to go, Bruno!
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