My puppy is 13 weeks now and is on Burns puppy kibble which is what the the breeder uses, all her adult dogs are fed Burns. I would like to change her to a more natural diet and looked at Lilys Kitchen puppy, but their kibble is so small, I asked them if it was suitable for larger breeds and they said it was, but at the moment I use some of The Burns kibble for training Daisy and she seems to like it, she does actually crunch it then. I couldn’t use the Lilys kitchen as it’s way too small. I just wondered if anyone could offer me some thoughts on this, I have looked on one of the dog food comparison sites but it really doesn’t give you that much information, or not the info that I am looking for and there is no review on there for Lily’s. Also being a first time Lab owner, I am still so amazed that at mealtimes, she doesn’t even crunch the kibble, she just gulps it down , is this normal? I add water to it. I have bought her a slow feeder now and a snuffle Mat to try and slow her down honestly she is like a little hoover! We used to have Great Danes and they were such delicate eaters, sharing their food with our cat! On another note, Daisy is so quick to learn and I am enjoying playing and training with her, however we had our first puppy class last Sunday a week after her second vax, and I did suffer some critism, I felt a bit dejected when I left, the main comments being because not only did I have a lab puppy but a ‘daft chocolate’. Daisy was the only lab puppy in the class. This was Daisy’s first time on the floor with other puppies and people and amongst all that distraction she still focussed on me, with some hand touches, sit and wait for treat, and her recall was perfect she ran straight to me. This was all critcised too. When I mentioned that I have been teaching her recall with a whistle that was frowned on, now I’m thinking I have Pippa’s books so maybe I can do this without having to attend these classes, the only problem is that I had to pay up front for ten classes, not sure what to do as I believed these classes would benefit Daisy’s socialisation. She is so beautiful and clever. I have a couple of questions too.. Sometimes Daisy comes to find me and touches my hand with her nose, do I reward her for coming to find me even though I haven’t asked for a hand touch? During some recall training in the garden, using whistle as signal now with every recall so far successful, for the first time, when I signalled she didn’t come, I went over to see what she was doing and she had found some cat poo and was busily eating it, she was clearly in her own zone, I went over calmly picked her up and placed her on the patio, recall sessions ended. The trainer said that was wrong I should have let her carry on eating it but then is that not letting her reward herself? I was also told that I should never pick her up. And when out and about anything that she picks up in her mouth I should just let her eat it as most things are not harmful and mostly anyway the dog will just drop it- is this good advice for a lab owner do you think? My instinct is to divert her so that she drops it and I am going to look at doing some training for this shortly.
That last paragraph staggered me ! Pups should always be taught to Leave , because every Lab I`ve owned would not drop something just because they don't like it , they would eat it for sure , so in my book, this is a rubbish piece of advice ! Yes, by all means pick her up , rather than her eat something undesirable , who shouldn't you pick her up , she is still just a baby ! I truly don't like the sound of this class and the advice you are getting , it seems that she is doing very well indeed without the need of a poor class . I would write it off as a bad experience and carry on doing what you are doing as it sounds like you are doing very well without it . Yes socialisation is important but she can get this by being out and about with you ! Re the kibble, is she is doing well on the Burns , why not keep her on it until she can transgress to a junior food , and then have a look round for a more natural regime if this is your aim . Well done to you , Daisy sounds delightful !
It sounds as if you’re doing a great job and I’m feeling really angry with your trainer -how dare they say to you (a paying customer) that you have a daft chocolate? Her advice re not using the whistle and allowing your pup to continue eating the cat poo are also wrong in my opinion. It’s a shame if you’ve already paid up-front, but I’d think about not going back to the classes. Or, if you feel you can stand up to the trainer, go back to work your pup with the distractions that the class offers, but refuse to do things you know are incorrect. As regards the nose-hand touch, if she does it voluntarily when you’re out off-lead I would reward at this stage as you want Daisy to learn that checking in with you is a good thing. With picking things up ( not poo !) if it’s harmless, like a plastic bottle, fircone etc I would sound excited and pleased and encourage her to give it to you -and then give it back, and even play with it with her. ( Molly loves plastic bottles.) Then if you build up this behaviour, when it’s something you can’t give back, she will give it to you. Molly will hand me anything including dead birds and rabbits having taken this approach.
I'm so sorry I have a 'daft chocolate too" the only daft thing I've noticed about having a chocy is that uninformed idiots like to make comments about this. You trainer sounds like they are living in the dark ages I would find a better class.The trouble with having a pup is everyone is an expert so advice is either good helpful and useful but some is outdated rubbish. You will find you develop a good BS filter before long Allaboutdogfood is a good dog food site that I use have you tried that one? Daisy is your pup and she sounds lovely and sounds very accomplished for a young girl to me. I think your instinct to distract her us good and I would work on a good strong leave it as labs eat everything and some things are very bad for them.
Sounds to me like you know a lot more then the trainer, Jacqui. You did exactly the right thing with the cat poo incident. Your recall didn’t work so you calmly walked up to her and redirected her away from the distraction. That’s perfect. I almost always try to prevent my dog from eating what he finds on the ground. Only time I don’t bother is if it’s obviously harmless and also would be a hard thing to get him to spit out (like a bit of bread). There’s no way a Labrador will volunteer to drop a food item (food very loosely defined in Labrador terms!). With the hand touch - is this a thing you want her to volunteer at any time of her choosing? If so, then reward when she does it. If not, put it on cue and only reward it if you’ve asked for it first. It’s up to you The ‘daft chocolate’ comment is just offensive. Daisy sounds like a delightful pup and it sounds to me like you’re doing an excellent job.
Thank you Kate I must admit my common sense was telling me the same, labs should be taught to leave this is just through my experience with Daisy at home , everything goes into her mouth. Re Burns, you have put in words what I was thinking whilst writing this post, that maybe I should keep her on Burns as she is doing fine on it.... if it isn’t broke.... many thanks
Thank you for your words Joy, I was feeling more upset and disillusioned rather than angry to be honest, at this stage I need advice and reassurance from the experts I am paying, I had no choice with the payments as they ask for full payment up front for ten lessons. As you say, I think I am going to attend and take from it what I need. I am teaching Daisy to leave treats, I added in Rupert my little boy chihuahua as a distraction, I ask Daisy to sit and wait, I pass a treat to Rups and Daisy just looks at me, I place Daisy’s treat on the floor or my knee, click and tell her to take it, she does. She is an absolute joy I love her so much, I find that whenever I am teaching her she stares at my face all the time and not the actual treat. She is always watching me to see what I am going to do next with her.
Oh thank you, I will take a look, and will be teaching her to leave I just need to research the method. There were two trainers in the class, both had strong views on chocs. At least next time I will be mentally prepared.
Wow, ditch that trainer straight away. And if the dogs were human these so called trainers would be classed as racist. And why on earth would you let your dog eat poo and all the rubbish from the street they will inevitably pick up? One of the best commands I use is 'leave' and 'give', especially with all the dangerous things they can swallow. No wonder you had to pay up front, they have probably had so many complaints. You sound like you really know what you are doing and should carry on as you are.
Thank you I am so glad you think that was the right thing to do, with the failed recall, I wondered if it would be viewed that well mummy is no fun and ended a good experience for Daisy and thereby diluting the recall, but i did what I believed to be correct and just wanted her to stop eating it. I didn’t find their (there were two trainers in the class) comments offensive really, a bit stupid and thoughtless maybe and a bit shocked as they are meant to be professional trainers. I just reminded myself that opinions are just someone else’s thoughts, and let their comments flow over my head but even so the first class experience for me was that I came away feeling deflated too. I’m not really sure about the hand touch, if I let her do it voluntarily and reward her might it mean that she becomes wise to this (not being a daft choc) and then does it often to get a treat? Or do I keep it on cue but will that mean I have to ask for it at the finish off of a retrieve/recall? It’s so lovely to be able to post for reassurance/advice on here from likeminded people , thank you.
Gosh this trainer sounds a bit useless. Given that you've paid up front, I think if I were you I'd attend for the experience of being around other dogs, but I'd be inclined to ignore the trainer's input. This silly view of Chocolate Labs seems widespread, you'll just have to grow a thick skin and you and Daisy can show the world the truth. It sounds like she's doing really well with your guidance.
If she's already got the hang of the hand touch, and you've put it on cue, then you only need to reward the ones you've asked for and ignore any offered at other times. If you want the touch to finish off another exercise like recall, then you could train them as a chain, so that a recall always ends with a touch.
Thanks Shaz they came highly recommended to me so I signed up, I didn’t expect to received such bad advice, I was thinking of going to the others and just taking the bits of useful stuff with me and leaving the rest, but on my next class, if I come away feeling that I’m rubbish at training then I will give it up and maybe look for somewhere else.
Ah thanks, another question I have only taught her to touch my left hand should I be mixing it up and using both hands, this was another criticism in the puppy class.
Sometimes, I really wonder who some of these trainers think they are! I have every sympathy with you over the classes, and agree with others it sounds like you are doing very well with Daisy anyway. I took me three attempts to find a class and trainer that I'm happy with, Cass was 17 months by then. It was never said but I'm sure the previous trainer thought Cassie was a "bonkers black"! Does make my blood boil when they take your money and treat you with disrespect. About the food, I changed Cassie's a few months back, (to Burns as it happens!), I think the thing is to decide why you want to change and what you wish to include or exclude. The dog food market is a minefield. Keep up the good work with the training
Thank you Selina, sorry to hear about your experience with trainers, the trouble is I think if you have some prior knowledge about puppy training having read up on it, and doing some training with your puppy beforehand, when you attend a puppy class it does make you question some of their comments/advice if only to be sure you are doing it right, that’s where a good trainer comes into their own I think. I would love to know how yours is getting on with Burns, I am now thinking about keeping her on it. I just want to be sure she is having a good healthy diet while she has lots of growing to do.
I agree that you sound to have your head screwed on and are progressing far better without those "trainers". I also have a bonkers chocolate (as well as a yellow and a black). She is bonkers, to be fair, but no more so than your average Lab of any colour. When I was out with her once when she was a puppy, I was told how chocolates are completely untrainable; meanwhile, she was sat by my side quietly waiting to be told she could say hi to the silly man. We then walked off with her in a perfect heel position. Untrainable, pffft. As for the hand touch, I would personally use both hands as sometimes it's more convenient to use one than the other. I would also not reward uncued touches, because this can become an annoying habit if your dog pesters you with her nose. I do agree with Joy that "checking in" on a walk is to be rewarded, though, so ensure you're rewarding for her choosing to be with you.
That’s exactly the right approach. Earlier this year I did 2 puppy courses - it was the first time I had attended anything like that so a whole new world opened up to me . My puppy was the most hyper of all the puppies there and initially it really stressed me out, with hindsight it probably did her too . By the time we were getting towards the end of the second one, I felt I could ignore the things I didn’t agree with and take what I felt was the most useful for me and my dog. I kept telling myself, I am paying for this and it’s my puppy - things got a lot better then. Feeding wise - sounds like your puppy is fine on what she’s eating. They don’t crunch the food as such - more like hoover it up. My older Lab seem to almost inhale her kibble and the younger one would too but I hand feed her and use quite a lot for training. The kibble I use also has a smaller one for smaller breeds - I always have a bag of that to use in the Ruffle Snuffle mat and in pots around the house for treats .
That’s similar to Daisy, in that class she was so attentive to me and while I was told that chocs are daft, Daisy was sitting politely waiting for me to treat and release her and I kept thinking this little dog is only a baby why can’t they praise her Thank you for the hand touch tip I will certainly do that, I was just a little worried that if I use hand signals in the future she might get confused with both hands doing hand touch.
