This is a really helpful article thank you! I have four months to get ready for our new arrival and I am sure I will be reading it a few more times beforehand
Very good post, i found it very interesting. It has lots of information and im sure il be refering back to it as next week i will have a new puppy in the home.
Thanks for that it was really helpful, especially the attention and bite inhibition stuff. would you be able to email a coy of it to me so that i can show my partner?! my email is: hjg8484@hotmail.co.uk
I read this before we collected Barney and soon after he was settled in I started to teach him the "leave it" command as described. He was 8 weeks old when we started and and he is now 14 weeks old.
We have got to the stage where I can place the treat on his front foot when he is in a sitting position and he will leave it alone until I pick it up and tell him to "take it". That's a good trick - but the practical side of this drill is really paying dividends now.
If he picks something up that he shouldn't, the "leave it" command results in him immediately releasing the offending article, be it a shoe or this morning, an earth worm
We have a cat, and Barney like all dogs is pre-programmed to chase it. The cat has been doing his best, sitting there, blinking his eyes to signal friendly intent until he looks like he has a nervous twitch, to no avail. He ended up being chased. However, this week we seem to have turned a corner.
Using the "leave it" command whenever the cat and dog come into close proximity, the dog has responded by sitting down and reacting calmly. The cat, in turn has been showing more confidence. For his efforts the dog gets masses of praise and reward (so does the cat - the neighbours must think we're bonkers ). Now, three times in the last two days, on sighting the cat, the dog has sat or lay down without a word from me, and allowed the cat to come close and pass in peace.
This is our third Lab and I was unaware of this technique with the previous two. It is an absolute "must" now as far as I am concerned.
Agreed, this is the best post I have read for advice. Thanks
My Charlie is 5 months old, and I have a couple of worries, nothing major, but someone may be able to help.
1. He can often be slightly docile, in that he is not as boisterous as what many other people say their pups are. Don't get me wrong, he is often manic, but just seems well behaved when I'm training him!!! I'm fairly repetative when he is being trained, and am not entirely sure whether I have him well trained already, or there is something slightly wrong.
2. The lead walking has been a pain from the moment I started. He regularly sits and refuses to move. I don't want to yank the poor lad along the street, but sometimes he needs a few tugs to get him moving again. Is this ok???? Off lead is great, he walks right beside me, and recalls already.
3. I have to admit i'm a sucker for dad cuddles with him when I see him, and get on the floor. I always ensure i'm higher than him, but he loves jumping on my lap and sitting on me. Shall I get him out of this habit?? (Or actually it's me that needs to get out of this one!!!!)
4. Why has he not chewed anything??. My furniture is intact! Granted he will destroy kitchen rolls, packs of puppy poo bags and the like when I have accidentally left them in reach but no furniture!!!
Everyone says 'Good luck, you'll need it' when I tell them what pup I got, but I seem to have inherited an angel dog.
Thanks for any advice in advance.
BTW The picture on Joanne's posts are the spitting image of Charlie!
3. I have to admit i'm a sucker for dad cuddles with him when I see him, and get on the floor. I always ensure i'm higher than him, but he loves jumping on my lap and sitting on me. Shall I get him out of this habit?? (Or actually it's me that needs to get out of this one!!!!)
Hello
If you're happy to have him sitting on your lap and the furniture, let him. My rule is that my dogs get off/squidge up to make room for me when I ask them and share the sofa/armchairs with the other dogs/us/visitors. That's all I ask of them in that regard and I love to see them snuggled up on the sofa and join them if there's room!
Don't buy into this theory about you having to be "higher" than the dog to stop him trying to take over the world - he's really not going to try to, honest
Same with having to feed them first - or even spit in their food (yes, seriously someone once told me to do that to retain "pack leadership" ) My dogs frequently get fed before me because they tend to want their breakfast before I want mine and because we tend to eat dinner quite late and I'd rather have them fed first.
Just wanted to say Cody's exactly the same as Charlie...no chewed furniture, mainly well behaved, not great on the lead and very laid back. He's fallen asleep at a couple of training classes!!
I just think we've been lucky and should make the most of it
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). Now, three times in the last two days, on sighting the cat, the dog has sat or lay down without a word from me, and allowed the cat to come close and pass in peace.
) My dogs frequently get fed before me because they tend to want their breakfast before I want mine and because we tend to eat dinner quite late and I'd rather have them fed first.
