Chill Annie and baby shark Annie

29 August 2026

Yesterday was day eight, which also makes it week two, day one. A big one for her, so I'm writing it up the morning after.

It started slow, with lots and lots of love and affection, and then she spent the rest of the day being a little terror, in all honesty. Running around, getting more confident, jumping up at things. She made her way up a few stairs when we gave her the chance to try, and she really enjoys launching herself at the coffee table. So the job at the moment is controlling the environment, which is easier said than done. She has the playpen now, but you can't keep her in there the whole time; she needs to be out exploring the world.

One of our challenges is spotting the moment she tips from chill Annie into baby shark Annie: overexerted, zoomies, winding herself up more and more when what she actually needs is to settle. We're trying to help her learn that settling down is a skill, and to build up our own awareness of how to steer her towards relaxing.

We did a bit of sit training, which is going well. She's prone to sitting back on her haunches anyway, so it's really just adding a cue to something she already does. No rush on that one; it's an easy win to bank slowly over the long term. "Calm" has got really good, and she can now do it under a decent level of distraction. I've built myself a little framework for grading how she's doing, a skill matrix of sorts, so I know what to focus on next. Nerding out, I guess.

The big thing: we went out to a shopping centre, the kind of place with an M&S, a Card Factory and a McDonald's. While Alisha shopped, I had Annie in her sling and we went for a little walk around. Lots of traffic. Other dogs too, which she was really interested in, though I kept her at a safe distance; there's always caution around that until she's fully vaccinated. She got to watch them from afar, felt good and safe, and took food the whole time in what was a genuinely busy environment. In the car park she was brilliant: all those people, all those cars, a completely new place, and she took it in her stride. She saw some children as well. I was very aware it was a lot of information for one small dog.

Back home she was very hyper, a bit overtired from all the stimulation, so she went in the playpen and I sat beside it while she settled down. And then a really good night: she got up at about midnight making a bit of a fuss, went out for a quick wee, and slept through the rest of it. Good girl. Though she's definitely becoming more extreme, either really chilled or really, really bitey, with less and less in between.

I've bought a book called Easy Peasy Puppy Squeezy, and Total Recall is on the way. Reading as I go, trying to pick up a few lessons of my own.