Puppy Diaries: The Violin Festival
Despite our busy weekend, our dreary Sunday dawned with a renewed Robert. Rob. I meant Rob.
Full of energy and spunk he was ready to tackle the day with all the enthusiastic and joy he could muster. I...on the other hand, having stayed up until 3:00am doing homework (or at least pretending too) was not.
Unfortunately for him me, his Sunday morning activities consist of sleeping in his crate while I attend church,giving him plenty of time, to "charge his batteries" shall we say, so the Rob that burst out of his crate a couple of hours later was ...well slightly nuts.
We bounced him outside to burn off some energy, and hilarity and gaiety ensued. For him I suppose. Even my dogs were a little over his over the top'nes" at this point. But a good lap or two around the yard settled him down enough, to come back inside and eat his lunch.
Once inside, I realized we only had an hour before, my family and I were to leave and listen to Kristen and our brother Weston preform during the finale of their Orchestra Camp they were participating in.
To take, or not to take a small, 12-week-old, rambunctious, puppy to a calm, quiet, event.
Over all he did really well, the applause startled him the first couple of times, but by the the 5th time he'd look up but not move from his (very rewarding) down/stay. Through particularly boring piece (aka my siblings weren't playing in it) we did get up and give him a chance to potty and stretch his legs a bit before coming back for part two. He never slipped into slumber land during the performances, (which was ok by me) but did stay quiet and relatively calm for us. Go Rob!
(Video of Orchestra participates playing instruments include Violins, a Piano and a Cello. We cut away to show Rob sliding back into a Down after the applause startled him a bit, then he decides to check out something under another seat before he's placed back into position.)
Full of energy and spunk he was ready to tackle the day with all the enthusiastic and joy he could muster. I...on the other hand, having stayed up until 3:00am doing homework (or at least pretending too) was not.
Unfortunately for
We bounced him outside to burn off some energy, and hilarity and gaiety ensued. For him I suppose. Even my dogs were a little over his over the top'nes" at this point. But a good lap or two around the yard settled him down enough, to come back inside and eat his lunch.
Once inside, I realized we only had an hour before, my family and I were to leave and listen to Kristen and our brother Weston preform during the finale of their Orchestra Camp they were participating in.
To take, or not to take a small, 12-week-old, rambunctious, puppy to a calm, quiet, event.
- Not taking him would mean he would spend at least 5 hours hanging out in his crate, 2 while we were gone to the festival and 3 or so during our church's evening service.
- Taking him would mean that I would probably get very little out of the event.
- Taking him could mean that I might suffer the embarrassed of him squeaking along to the violins. (Not really because of the violins themselves but just because Rob is Rob.)
Ultimately I decided I needed him to be calmer after I got home from church, so I could work on homework, so might as well get him some mental stimulation socialization time in. Armed with everything I could possibly think of we set out.
Over all he did really well, the applause startled him the first couple of times, but by the the 5th time he'd look up but not move from his (very rewarding) down/stay. Through particularly boring piece (aka my siblings weren't playing in it) we did get up and give him a chance to potty and stretch his legs a bit before coming back for part two. He never slipped into slumber land during the performances, (which was ok by me) but did stay quiet and relatively calm for us. Go Rob!
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| Did I do good Mom? Huh? Did I? (Rob sits and stares intently at the camera with his hazel eyes) |
(Video of Orchestra participates playing instruments include Violins, a Piano and a Cello. We cut away to show Rob sliding back into a Down after the applause startled him a bit, then he decides to check out something under another seat before he's placed back into position.)
Comments
Change is hard.