Carbón's Big Adventure (aka Labratour Part IV)

No, only show him the photos of Paul asleep - you might be able to convince him that he’s really no trouble, very relaxed and spends all day (and night) just crashed out on the back of a sofa or on a bed...

 

That's the way I sold the whole lab thing. look how lovely and intelligent they are theyre used as assistance dogs and stuff.

 

I'm very proud of my husband tonight I was upstairs wrapping his birthday pressies when shouted me to come quick. Rory had vomitted all over the sofa and his doggie bed. My oh has OCD and he didn't have a hissy fit faint puke himself and was really calm. He's finally getting lab proofed

 

Woke up this morning with one dog shoved into my backside and noises of another dog shifting around in Paul's crate. As I've been trying to turn Paul's odious hatred of his crate into true love - mainly by feeding him in there - my first thought was that a miracle had happened and Paul had voluntarily gone into his crate! My second thought was "Oh no, silly Carbon has gone looking for a midnight snack in Paul's crate and has gotten his large puppy posterior stuck in there."

My second thought was correct. You could almost hear Paul sniggering behind me, "I've got the human and the bed all to myself all because of my devious plan to leave a few pieces of food in that prison box after dinner last night." - insert evil laugh - " Bwa ha ha, ha ha!"

So I got up and helped Carbon remove his cute self from the crate, his tail thump-thump-thumping the whole time.

My poor sweet baby Carbon. He's so smart but no match for the supersonic Bodeguero brain.

 

I'm so proud of Carbon. Only a month ago at our regular beach bar conversation exchange meet ups, he was a terror with the small bar tables and all the drinks perched precariously on them. He didn't want to sit, let alone lie down, and I had to be careful of any passing dogs what might get him excited and on his feet...or even barking.

Today he went under the table, lay down and just stayed there for the most of the duration, even with other dog and kids walking past. He had a couple shifts here and there, but easily went back down when asked to. He's turning into such a superstar. I'm also proud that nearly everyone now comments on how he's such a young puppy. He's gone from overweight and no energy and 'poor old dog' comments to everyone saying what a handsome pup he is. Yay!

He still has so much to learn and certainly doesn't have the energy he should yet for his age, but it just makes me so happy that people are noticing a difference. And also despite the fact that he now lives full time with pseudo-psycho Paul, he manages to make headway in his public comportment and training. He's got a long way to go health-wise and training-wise, but he's on his way.

Just love this boy.

(and you, too, Paul, I love you too. )

 

Gosh he's made so much progress with you. Do you think he might have spent his very early puppy days with a family and received some basic training? From memory did you say he was in a shelter from around 6 months, I assume there's no background on him pre-dating that?

Alternatively you are a super duper trainer and are getting some fantastic results from him fast!
I still struggle getting Monty to settle under tables in public places despite many, many visits to the pub

 

Emily is a super star trainer

 

Yes she definitely is!

 

What a good boy - he can come and give Keir some lessons on settling in pubs!

 

Well done to you both! Carbón is a super star. And Paul is the antidote

 

Well done Emily , on your efforts ,bless you for what you do x

 

They're both very lucky to have you, Emily. Carbon is indeed a super star!

 

No, pretty sure he didn't have any training before. I'm embarrassed to say he's still not really had anything 'official'. The day just seems to get away from me, especially with Paul here. I think what happens is that he just really wants to make me happy, so with a few well-placed ''good boy Carbon"s you can get a lot from him. Doing something with Paul, however, is going to require zen-master levels of training which I do not have. I'm not holding out much hope!

Stuff Carbon's learned by osmosis, more or less:

• Four on the floor (don't jump up on me)
• "Allez up" means get into your car seat, lay down and let yourself get clipped in.
• "Let's go" means get out of the car seat once your seatbelt is unfastened, or continue walking if he's been sitting.
• Sit and wait before eating.
• "Up up up" = stand
• How to stand still for morning brushing
• Off/on for jumping on and off the bed or sofa
• No marking wees (still working on this, but he's getting it)
• "in your crate"
• Not to steal food from the coffee table or from me if I'm sitting on the sofa eating
• Lay down under bar tables
• Don't eat Emily's laptop

What Paul has learned:

• voluntarily getting in his crate in the car
• Not screaming in my ear while in said crate in the car
• Not jumping on the tables and kitchen counter and stealing.....well, whatever he wants.
• How to sneak into the kitty's room and steal poo from the litter box really fast
• How to sit on the back of the sofa and very discreetly chew on the fabric wall hanging
• To sleep tucked against my back instead of sprawled on top of my head
• To eat his meals in his crate
• How to sleep on the back of the sofa and then pounce on Carbon when he least suspects it
• Don't eat Emily's laptop...so far.

 

I love them both!!! I could have them both, right? Six dogs wouldn’t make me a crazy dog lady? But then, I’d need to have Alex, too. And if I brought him home, I couldn’t not have Negreta. And handsome Tito. Pastora! Ok, I need to win the lottery so I can have enough time (and sofas!) to have them all.

 

You said that Paul was less of a handful than Toby/Alf...really? Or maybe he just seems that way because of the solid gentle soul that is Carbon

Bahaha your landlord will be thrilled

 

What a wonderful dog Carbon is

 

Sorry, didn't answer this before. Yes, you're right - all we know is that he arrived in the kill station at about 6 months, then to the private shelter about 2 months ago. I almost wonder if he was actually younger than six months when he was first given up, because everyone seems to think that he's younger than a year now that he's lost a lot of the extra weight. Or it could be he's just always going to have a baby look about him. People always said that about Brogan, too - that he had a baby face. With Carbon, it may be his paws - they are massive compared to the rest of his relatively little body!

You can definitely have Paul. Please. Please take Paul. I'm. Begging. You.

Luckily the wall hanging is just an old carpet with frayed fringe on both ends, and Paul just sucked on a bit of the fringe before I caught on to him. He didn't hurt it in the slightest. That's one good thing about this house...everything's a bit 'lived in'. Also my landlord likes me because I pay six months in advance and always buy new things for the house (pillows, knives, dishes, candle holders, brooms, rakes, flower pots) that I leave for the rest of the year's tenants to use. So we're all good with him!

Yes, really. Toby/Alf, bless his little Bodeguero soul, was a complete disaster in a lot of ways. He had a lot of phobias which translated as aggressive barking/lunging (bicycles, men with hats, trucks, some dogs), had an incredibly high prey drive, pulled like a train on leash and for the first month scratched/bit me for attention until I was black and blue. He was seriously a tough little customer. He also had Leish so had some real health issues on arrival that luckily improved fairly quickly. On the other hand, his super power was cuddling. That dog was the best cuddler I've ever met and it was just so endearing. It kept me from murdering him on a nearly daily basis.

Paul is a pretty uncomplicated guy. No weird phobias (so far), gets along well with 99% of all the dogs we've met, likes new people, including men (fear of men is very common in shelter dogs here).

The thing that makes having Paul hard for me is that even though he and Carbon are best buddies, they have completely different energy levels. Carbon will happily have a snooze on the sofa most of the day. Paul is go, go go until he hits the coma wall. For example, today we had three hours of walks. Carbon is flopped on my leg in bed and Paul is maniacally destroying the new toy I bought for them yesterday.

If I didn't stop him, he'll just bite/grab random parts of Carbon's anatomy (tail and ears are favourite bits) and use CARBON as a chew toy. He's been doing it so long in the shelter (where there were no other toys) that Carbon just good-naturedly puts up with it, but it's exhausting. Also I can't leave him in his crate and take out Carbon by himself (or even just go shopping or whatever) because he screams the house down. We are working on that and I'm confident we'll get it sorted in a week or so, but for the moment I feel a bit like he's holding me hostage.

He's also coming into his own now that he's been here a little over a week. He was much more timid and docile when I'd bring him in for a day or two visit. Now that he thinks this is 'home' the gloves have come off. Now don't get me wrong, it's heartening to see him act like a normal young Bodeguero, but it's so much different from Carbon's zen energy that I'm really having a hard time finding a middle ground that keeps my sanity intact.

On the bright side, I was so sad when Toby left (even though he went to a great home) and I kept thinking, "Oh, some day I want my own Bodeguero". Now I'm thinking, "You know, I'm really more of a Lab person".

OK, time for bed. Even though Paul is now laying next to me and trying to clean my inner ear canal with his tiny little tongue. Sigh. He and @Beanwood 's Benson could exchange tips and techniques.

 

....and just like that, the Bodeguero coma hits and I can go to sleep too!

 

You might not have forgotten all that, but I had! It's true what they say about the rose tinted glasses

 

Don't get me wrong, I loved (and still love) that little guy to bits, but he was a pain in the posterior until he learned some manners. He got so MUCH better the second month I had him. Though I think with his mum Catriona, he still does give the occasional bicycle a good chase and bark.