It’s a good thing that I bought the largest bed…
This was a great week! It was finally warm enough to get out and do things outdoors! He really likes to jump and climb – he’s so happy to know how to get on furniture. He loves to roll on people and get right up into their faces if he can. The higher he can get, the better.
Informal training: We went on many neighborhood walks. We saw dogs, kids, more kids, construction equipment, bikes, and joggers. He is really great at walking. I don’t know how much of that is training or who he is. I will be generous with his rewards for a long time still. We also had some trips to the pet stores and walking in town. He was scared of the bully stick displays at the pet store – maybe because he is afraid of cows? He happily chews on cow hooves at home though so I’m not sure why. I’m not going to be worried about it – if he doesn’t want expensive chew items, I’m fine with that!
In class he does very well settling and then doing activities. Sometimes he wants to watch the other dogs but then he goes back to work. He will play and eat in those environments. He’s started to get his adult teeth this week so we may have to take a break with some playing – but as long as I see him happily playing with Griffin, I will expect him to play with me! Last night in puppy class we sat next to a golden retriever that was just a little smaller – that puppy was only 11 weeks old! Now I wonder if she is a really big puppy or if mine is very small!
Formal training: Staying still (standing, sitting, lying down). Settling for longer periods. Brushing (he is loosing his puppy hair!). Playing. We did finally start to get some play retrieving! As always, I feel like I should probably be doing more.
We have done a lot of sessions with him crated near the area where I teach, but mostly when no one else is around. We had someone help last night and work with him in the crate while I was teaching. He came out and did demonstrations for a class of 8 dogs and then right back into the crate. Next step will be to do enough practice so that I can do the training by myself while teaching and to do crating in the same room as me.
Other: He’s a very easy puppy in most ways. We’re now almost always on leash unless we’re far from roads – he hasn’t done anything naughty and seems to have a pretty good recall, but I don’t want him to start testing it at an unfortunate time. He’s great about chewing on his own items. He has started checking counters so I am keeping those clear and I expect this to go away within 2 weeks.