Amber our dark chocolate girl with the golden eyes is four months old today. Talking through with OH this morning we were doing a bit of a stock take on how she had progressed over the last couple on months and concluded it really does get better. Like may others we had a run of tummy upsets back in January when we seemed to live at the vets and I seemed to be running a production line of chicken/white fish and rice. After about three weeks which seemed like an eternity at the time it did clear up and she is thriving and the legs just keep growing. Toilet training is 95% there with just the odd accident which is my fault. It suddenly clicked. She now has access to all the hard surface areas in the house and comes into the living room for a couple of hours quiet time on her bed in the evening under strict supervision. This week she has joined me a couple of mornings in the study on the understanding she lies on some vet bed and settles. We both found puppy classes stressful at first but they have finished this week and in the end she did really well. Last Saturday we went to visit my daughter in Guildford and she travelled well and behaved impeccably in a strange house. We all went to the pub for lunch where she just watched everything going on. At home we have our stairs blocked off as a no go area. At my daughters she just totally ignored the stairs. It did get me thinking when and how do you safely introduce negotiating runs of steps/stairs? One other issue we had is her understanding where she can go to the loo when out in a strange place. She will go to the loo on cue in the garden for example if we need to go in the car etc. It has taken a couple of weeks before she would go out on walks. We now have a couple of loo stops on our short walks but in a strange town environment she was totally phased. We had a night out in London last night which involved setting off early and a late train back. I had a puppy sitter come in and play with her for a couple of hours mid evening and she was fine. Biting has got much better. She still catches us when playing etc but usually now it is just a lick or gentle mouthing. Her bite inhibition has got much better. At what stage should we look to try and phase the mouthing out? So all in all we concluded it has got much better and she is a delight. https://www.dropbox.com/s/qion8e27h1v4fwk/2015-02-13 15.45.43.jpg?dl=0 Our main current issue is her trying to make friends and jumping up with everybody she meets when out. We are making progress in the house but out of the house is still very much work in progress.
Re: 4 months old today and it does get better Such a sweet girl....they do challenge us, don't they? sounds like you are right on track for 4 months old!!!
Re: 4 months old today and it does get better I think you're doing really well. There's stil a little bit of mischief behind those eyes!
Re: 4 months old today and it does get better Sounds like things are going really well When out and about I would ask people to turn around if Harley jumped up to greet them if she was off lead. If she was on lead I would get her to sit, then allow people to come and say hello. At 18 months old there are a few people she will still jump up on - all friends of ours (several people on this forum who Harley gets excited about seeing ).
Re: 4 months old today and it does get better Sounds like you're making wonderful progress! The 'stocktake' is a great idea. You can probably raise the bar and not allow any mouthing. If you don't like licking move on to include licking as the step after that. You can start to teach her to walk slowly up and down steps. Teach a wait at the top and a wait at the bottom and pauses on the way down. All at a slow walk with her in the heel position and on lead. I'd keep the stairs blocked off though, apart from training sessions. Stairs are a lesson in co-ordinating the legs, so it'll be good for her brain. Maybe start with a small set of steps if there are any in your area.
