Up at 7 this morning, poop and pee evacuation, stomach full, short walk on another unseasonably warm day and all is good. Here are my observations after a month with the little guy, who is getting bigger everyday. Pros: –by 8 PM he turns his motor off and is very docile. Lies on the hearth with the occasional one eye open to see to we are still nearby. –in the crate by 10:30 and except for a few nights will be out till 6 AM. With the holidays we can all sleep later and he took it to 7:30 yesterday. –they say labs are smart and now I'm a believer. He knows the two rooms he can't enter unless carried and will stop just at the edge and wait. –he's improving on the basic commands: sit, stay, come, drop, stop, go (fetch), and no, as it relates to biting. Down and heel are tough. –with change in kibble brand pudding poop is history. Got a full refund. Got good info at dogfoodadvisor.com. –first bath before company arrived on Christmas eve went well. He smelled like he'd been to the spa. Nice shampoo. Cons: –how can he hold it for 8 hours then during the day can pee every 30 minutes? –lots of poop to clean up. looking forward to the once a day trip, if that every happens. –potty training not complete. No more poop inside but if I don't see his cue he'll pee but now only by the back door. –he needs to bark, scratch, or run around in circles to tell me he needs to go out. He'll sit by the door and I don't always see him, then the accident. –on leash walks are challenging. he pulls the lead. he's only a pup but this will need continued work. I need help on this one. –seems like I could feed him 10 meals a day. He gained 8 lbs (3.6 kg) in 3 weeks. Vet not concerned since she thought he was a bit underweight when we got him. –encounters with other dogs not good. Bigger and older so Ajax is intimidated. We start puppy training classes in January. There is a socialization time which is my primary reason for going. Probably more but he needs to go out. Later.
Sounds as if Ajax is doing well for the month he has been with you. Accidents indoors should still be expected he is very much a baby and I would always say an accident is not the puppy's fault but the human Owner's. You failed to spot his signals. It sounds as if Ajax is doing what many of our dogs do and going to the door when he needs to go out. The downside of this is trying to work out if he is just looking out the door, if it is glazed which is what Juno used to do, or wants to go out to play. I would still be taking him out after a sleep, food and play etc. Juno normally poops twice a day once in the morning before breakfast and again when we're out for a walk. Sometimes it's 3 times a day fitting in another poop on her second walk of the day. They are all different though but I suspect on a kibble diet fed over two meals you should probably expect a corresponding number of poops. There's lots of advice on pulling both here on the forum if you search for "pulling" and also on the main site http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-stop-your-labrador-pulling-on-the-lead/ PersonaIly , I like Turid Rugass' book "My dog pulls. What do I do?" I've found this method very easy for loose lead walking which is my norm for walking Juno (I don't do 'heel' walking). http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1929242239?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00
