Another couple of weeks pass and another update on us Dexter (and us). He is now 5 months old and weight gain over the past 2 weeks was only 0.3kg which has surprised us as he had been growing rapidly previously. Physically he is lean and muscular looking despite his 17.9kg with clear waist line and a hint of ribs showing in certain lighting. The vet pets club means we should book in to see the nurse and get weighed over the next week or so. Then we can confirm the accuracy of holding a wriggly beast in my arms on the scales versus their proper equipment and can discuss. The latest training session went better though I feel he was slightly under the weather and a bit more subdued then previously. We are now giving him a very small meal before we go and loading up on the treats whilst there and choosing our seating position as carefully as we can though sometimes cannot avoid the wind up puppies ! My daughter came back from university a week ago and everything has gone really well, snuggles up and sleeps with/next to her on the chair and now she has gone from hating this puppy 6 weeks ago (vowing not to come home and visit) to loving him now. This reflects generally his overall behaviour at home, real softy who still gets excited and plays a little roughly but is so much better. Rarely takes anything to play with other than his toys, not chewing furniture or other items but always has a bit of mischief in mind. You never put socks and shoes on in his presence - just asking for something to be stolen and he will make it so difficult. Those horrible biting, chewing times seem a long way behind us now - so you can get there too ! Dexter has been teething hard for the past couple of weeks and when you look into his mouth we can see so many new teeth coming through and we find old teeth regularly on the floor and bleeding onto his chew toys so easing off on some pull games. Walking is still a work in progress, his morning walk at 6.45am is on the lead with my OH who insists on heeling and is quite disciplined with him and he can be quite variable depending on the weather and traffic etc. I walk him around lunch time or early afternoon and we either walk down to some woods or I drive to a great location nearby and he is off the lead most of either walk. Apparently I let him "get away" with more on the lead as I am happy to walk him on a loose lead provided he does not pull, though I will stop, get him to sit or change direction etc. if necessary. Our main problem on the lead (and sometimes when loose) is he wants to greet everyone who passes and say hello which means he can lunge at times or jump up (people more interesting than dogs) and we are working on this but he can just catch you out at times. There is no doubt he is so much more distracted when we both take him for a walk as if the person on the lead wants to stop to curtail, pulling etc he dashes to the other for attention so we have to be very awake to ensure we stop at the same time and ignore him etc. Still getting new experiences we both learn from e.g. it does not help when he is loose and a couple of joggers come out of no where, go past and you have got him to ignore them, and they then decide to sprint just as they have gone by, quickly pursued by an enthusiastic puppy who thought this was a new game... Turned out ok, but highlights the unpredictable situations you can end up in. Recall is working really well (at the moment) but conscious as he grows up this could change, so careful, watch out for dogs, runners, cyclists, walkers etc, vary the routes each time in some way and praise/treat him a lot if he checks in or I recall him which I try not to do too often. I will whistle at him occasionally to gain his attention when he is heading off too far ahead, behind or the wrong direction and he looks, stops, responds and corrects. Either of us can whistle to him, he respond to name and we always carry a squeaky toy/ball when letting him off the lead. I mentioned previously a couple of bad experiences on a walk a few weeks ago and I sense/can see he can be nervous sometimes if we meet people with multiple dogs in particular and cautious on occasions when crossing paths with other dog walkers, though he always wants to greet the owners with enthusiasm. Looked at LAT articles as suggested and working through this, but it is more difficult than it would appear when out on a walk due to the variables and unpredictability of circumstances and him. Dexter had a nice swim when we went to a lakeside location, unfortunately he ran in so fast with no hesitation he quickly found himself having to swim. This does not seem to have put him off, but not the way perhaps to have your first swim, almost like throwing him into the deep end... We are having great fun and learning all the time, so important to share experiences of our solo time with him so that we both learn and understand to work together with him.
Thank you so much for your update Diablo. I have been following Dexter's progress and it has given me hope for my Bear aged 18 weeks now. He's done pretty much what Dexter has. I really thought I'd never get over the biting of my hands, arms and legs. I never truly believed it when other puppy owners told their tales of painful bites, ripped skin and clothes. Oh how wrong I was and I apologise profusely! He is better, I'm still a bit of a chew toy at times but I'm not losing so much blood now. He walks off lead and stays close most of the time although I do put his lead on near roads as he seems quite interested in cars and possibly racing after them. He loves to meet other dogs and people but again this sometimes poses a problem if the dog is not friendly and their owner insists on allowing them to terrorise our friendly boy. But he's learning fast and will come back to me to be leashed when called. The fault being laid firmly at the owners feet. He will sit, stay, lay down and come when called. Obviously we are seriously considering investing in some shares in the treats company. I mean seriously.........these things stink! Which probably explains the disgusting smell that emanates from his rear end at night. It's even shocked him at times. He sleeps until we wake in the morning, 6.30 in the week and we've manage 8.30 at the weekend. Whoop whoop! All in all I feel comforted that he is indeed making progress and it's so great to hear others experiences of 'Lab Life' on here. Thank you all who share their invaluable tips and special moments with their furbabies. I remain thankful I have access to a site that has some very knowledgeable experts, trainers and owners.
Thanks @Donnerkebab, sounds like you are following a similar path with Bear and progressing along the road as well. I will not try to write as much next time !
Paid our visit to the Vet nurse yesterday for the next 3 months of flea treatment, worming, weighing and general review. Was very difficult to get Dexter to stay on the scales as he had got over excited by all the ew people and the environment, the surface was slippy but consensus was 18.9kg which is a fair bit higher than me holding him wriggling in my arms on our household scales ! He really would not settle, wanting to see and say hello to the receptionists, the nurses etc though as we waited there was no one else waiting to distract him but the floor was being cleaned after an "accident" by a previous visitor which meant, people, mops and buckets to watch and try to interact with. Everything appears to be ok, though was difficult to do a full exam as he was not settling and more interested in the nurses and smells so heart rate and stomach exam were incomplete. I was asked if he would take the wormer tablets, however not having had tablets before that was an unknown - they were offered to him and quickly inhaled so that was ok at least. The suggestion is that I bring him in regularly for weighing to get him used to the routine and environment so that he will settle which will help if he ever needs examining for something more serious. As we are members of the Pet Club (monthly fee covers annual shots, wormer and flea treatment) this is all included and only needs a 15 minute appointment with a nurse.
Diablo, it's great that he is having positive early experiences at the vets as that's really important for the future. However, you might want to research whether he actually needs all the products involved in the Pet Club. Flea treatments, for example: I've never treated my dogs for fleas preventatively in the last 15 years. I wait until I see a flea, then I treat them all with Capstar and/or Programme. These products are powerful pesticides and long-term use can increase the risk of cancers later in life and auto-immune issues. The same goes with vaccination - just be sure that you want to give all those vaccinations, every year.... Personally, I just give puppy vaccinations and sometimes the 1st year booster - and then no more vaccinations for the life of the dog. Don't forget how vet clinics make money...
Hi Jo. I often think that we are over vaccinating our pets and would as you suggest, treat fleas when seen. The problem being that if we want to go away and put our dog in kennels, they insist on our dog being fully inoculated and will not allow them to stay without seeing their vaccination record. Not sure how we can get around this, as we do not have friends or family that could care for them while we are away. Any suggestions would be really appreciated.
I don't think that kennels ask for proof of having been treated for fleas?? At least, none that I've used have...! So that's one thing you can reduce immediately. As for vaccinations, many kennels these days accept titer tests instead of vaccinations. A titer test is a blood test which checks if your dog is immune to distemper, parvovirus and hepatitis. If the titer comes back positive, your dog is protected and does not need a vaccination. You can find vet practices offering titer testing (if you're in the UK?) on the Vaccicheck FB page map: https://www.facebook.com/vaccicheckuk There is a list of some UK kennels here which accept titers in place of vaccination (there are more https://chchealth.weebly.com/boarding-kennels---recommended.html And finally, of course you can always wait - at the very least - until you have a trip planned, before vaccinating a few weeks before. That way you should at least be able to reduce the number of vaccinations the dog has, over their life.
Wow! Never heard of the titer tests. Thanks Jo, I will be asking my vet about this. I hate having to have them vaccinated each year and it's not about cost, money is no object when it comes to our pets health. We don't have to have immunisations every year so why do our pets when they are fit and healthy. Thank you again Jo. Really helpful information. x
The reason is that the protection does not last. Some dogs have enduring protection, and the titer test will give you such inormation while with other dogs the immunisation does not result in long-term protection.
@Donerkebab if your vet doesn't offer titer testing (or it is really expensive) then look on that map on the Vaccicheck FB page - you can go to a different vet for the testing and use your regular vet for everything else. Titer testing with Vaccicheck only costs about £30. But if your vet doesn't offer Vaccicheck tests, and the blood has to be sent off to a lab for a full analysis, it can be about £80. So it's worth finding a vet that offers Vaccicheck tests.
Interesting, had not heard of this test and my mother is always telling me not to inoculate every year (she has 2 Jack Russell's) but my cats I only treat as required for fleas (still separate from the puppy and limited interaction unfortunately). We planned to do this plan for Dexter's first year and then review which now has additional things to consider.
