Fluffy puppy Monday! – Page 2 – Chat Forum – Singletrack World Magazine Forum

russyh · 2019-11-25T12:47:00Z

So this weekend we finally collected our new 9 week old Labrador puppy ‘Willow’ life has already been turned upside down! I had forgotten sleepless nights now my kids are older and it being 14 years since our last puppy. We lost our Boxer - Tess a few years back now, the hurt and never ending gap she has left still sees my wife and children occasionally crying. Replacing her has been a long process of research, inner questioning and aligning of the planets. Willow is from working stock and in a couple of years when she is developed and ready is going to make an excellent trail dog/running partner. She is a bundle of energy and life. But even a few days in is asking to go out to the toilet, sits to occasional command. I thought i would share in my joy, to help lift a gloomy Monday for you all...who doesn’t love a picture of a puppy

twistedpencil

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Thanks @russyh so far he has been brilliant, a lovely temperament and great around the kids and chaos that usually reigns in our house.

Posted : 01/01/2020 11:03 pm

russyh

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That’s amazing! I must say we have been lucky with Willow. She took her first walk today off the lead. Her recall has been excellent, she is sleeping through with no accidents now. So other than the constant biting, she is a dream. Understanding the poor mite is teething like mad at the moment. We start obedience classes next weekend, but seem to have already ticked off 3/4’s of the syllabus!

This Christmas has been mega with a puppy, can’t wait until willow is old enough to crack in with some distance on her walks!

Posted : 01/01/2020 11:54 pm

twistedpencil

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Brilliant, just the teething with us as well. Classes started last weekend, it was funny watching five puppies just go nuts in the same space 🙂

I think we're a little bit away from not using the lead yet, though had a great walk / run chasing my daughters on their bikes today.

Dogs are great, so are cats, just in case any of my cats are reading this...

Posted : 02/01/2020 12:08 am

raybanwomble

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hat’s amazing! I must say we have been lucky with Willow. She took her first walk today off the lead. Her recall has been excellent, she is sleeping through with no accidents now. So other than the constant biting, she is a dream. Understanding the poor mite is teething like mad at the moment. We start obedience classes next weekend, but seem to have already ticked off 3/4’s of the syllabus

The only puppy that I have ever met that wasn’t mouthy was an Akita of all things - and it still managed to give me the willies with it’s dead eyed confidence at 12 weeks old.

My 16 week old Bedlington has been quite mouthy - the thing is they do not automatically understand no - and in his case compared to my poodles and springers I had as a child it’s taken him a little longer to get it. For him, mouthing is playing - and has had almost a boyish lack of ability to read human social cues up until this week. However almost over night he has suddenly cottoned onto it and goes sheepish and gives people licks if they say no or if he has gone OTT playing.

Puppies are only bad if you get one that growls and snaps in an aggressive fashion from the outset, ones that mouth to play or mouth you because you’re checking a wound are normal - it’s the owners that turn them bad.

Socialising with other adult dogs is almost more important than training, you can almost see my puppies cogs wherring when he’s playing and learning how to act - you can actually observe him modifying his behaviour so as not to upset the other dogs. The. When you get home he will carry on using those new methods to interact with people as well.

You need to be firm with puppies and never let them think that you are scared of them - at the same time you must never, under any circumstance make them feel scared of you, otherwise you will encourage a fear response down the line. You can show them who the big boss is, without making them feel so scared that they cower or become traumatised - use a calm but firm voice if you have to put them in a naughty area away from others and always give them a treat once they are acting in a calmer fashion. They will soon cotton on.

Be attentive to their emotions basically and dangle a carrot in front of them when they are good.

Posted : 02/01/2020 4:07 am

russyh

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To be honest I’m super chuffed with our 16 week olds progress. She understands no, has a great recall and all of the basic commands as well as sleeping through with no accidents now. The mouthing is very common, especially in Labrador’s. She has, what looks like 2 new teeth coming through. Best thing we have found is Antler chews, she will sit and gnaw on those for ages. In fact if she gets nippy if you say a firm ‘No!’ Go get your chew, she disappears off to find her chew.

we have been socialising her regularly (I grew up with dogs) so she is starting to learn some manners on that front. Like I say, I’m really happy with how Willow is progressing. She has bags of personality and intelligence in spades! I do miss (and she will never replace) the absolute stupidity, comedy and compassion of our old Boxer though.

Posted : 02/01/2020 7:39 am

pocpoc

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Update on the litter - they're getting much more dog-like and chaos is begining to rein supreme!
As soon as the pen door is opened they all come pouring out, running around so excitedly, playing with each other and anything else they find.
Once I'm done clearing up 8 tiny poos and mopping up wee constantly they're great fun to sit on the floor with and play.
Feeding time is interesting - trying to get them to focus on eating when all they want to do is get out and play.
I would post videos but that involves youtube and is too complex for me. So it'll just have to be photos...