The 5-Kilo Upgrade: Road Trips, Calcium Tablets, and The 'Giant Stick' Rule

It has been a quiet couple of weeks on the blog, but it has been anything but quiet in real life. If the first month was about survival, these last few days have been about "leveling up." We packed a month’s worth of milestones into a single week: a long-haul trip, a health scare, a significant wardrobe change, and some ambitious lumberjack work.

Day 1: The Co-Pilot on the 5-Hour Journey

The first challenge was logistic: a five-hour road trip. I wasn't sure how Zag would handle being confined in a car for that long. Five hours is a lifetime for a puppy who usually operates in 45-minute bursts of chaos followed by passing out. Luckily, I didn't have to do it alone. A friend joined us and officially took on the role of "Puppy Manager" for the trip. While I focused on the road, he kept Zag entertained, calm, and monitored. To my surprise, Zag was a champion traveler. No motion sickness, no panic. Just a calm acceptance that his house was moving at 80 kilometers per hour, as long as he had someone next to him to use as a pillow.

Day 2: Trembling Legs and The Calcium Fix

After we settled in, it was time for the vet. We decided to walk there this time, treating it as a training mission. But during the walk, I noticed something that triggered my Round Two anxiety. His legs were shaking. It wasn't the cold, and it wasn't fear—it was a subtle trembling in his hind legs. The vet check-up revealed the culprit quickly: rapid growth. Zag is growing so fast that his bones need a boost. The diagnosis came with a prescription for Calcium tablets to help strengthen those trembling legs. It was a good reminder that even when they look energetic, their little bodies are working overtime just to grow.

Speaking of growth, the scale confirmed what my tired arms already knew. The digital number hit 5 kilograms. He has more than doubled his weight since that first check-up. And with that milestone came a necessary, slightly emotional change. I looked at his neck and realized the thin, small collar he arrived in, what I’ve been calling his "baby collar", was done. I unclipped it and set it aside. We clicked on the bigger, sturdier collar (the one I laughed at a few weeks ago for being "too huge"), and suddenly, he didn't look like a fragile puppy anymore. He looked like a dog.

Day 3: The Giants, The Shepherd, and The Branch Manager

Fully equipped with his new collar and his calcium supplements, we hit the nature trails. Socialization is in full swing, and it was quickly clear that Zag needs a moment to assess his competition. The most memorable encounter was with my friend's Kangal dog. The size difference wasn't comical; it was terrifying. Zag, at his proud 5 kilograms, was next to a giant. The Kangal, for its part, was completely disinterested, only giving Zag a quick sniff. But for Zag, that quick sniff was enough. He froze solid. He literally became petrified, unable to move until the Kangal walked away.

Later, we met a local Shepherd dog. This time, the reaction was different. While the size difference was still massive—Zag looked like a squeaky toy next to this mountain of fur—he held his ground. There was a lot of sniffing, a little bit of caution, and a lot of tail wagging.

But Zag’s true personality shines when it comes to "sticks." He has developed a very specific rule for nature walks: If the branch is smaller than him, it is not a branch. He ignores the twigs and reasonable sticks. Instead, he finds the biggest, heaviest log he can physically lift, drags it proudly across the path, and creates a traffic jam for anyone walking behind us.

The baby phase is officially fading. The ambitious, 5-kilo adventure phase has begun.

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