Cooper is nearly 12 weeks old and i have open areas around me . He has started to go out on his lead and is very good , dosent pull walks close to me etc, when we go on the open bit he justs wants to be let off would you allow him off at a young age ? questions: Cooper still does the odd pee on the floor and a poop but he knows the back garden and the door is open for him, is there a reason why he would be lazy lol. i am trying to teach him fetch as well. He will run after his training dumb bell bring it back but wont drop , i have tried with a treat and it works BUT then when i throw his bell again he wont chase as he wants a treat lol. PS what great fun Labs are !! wow 1st for me. Craig
He is still very young in his toilet training, you should probably still be taking him out very often, with praise/treats when he does go. Leaving the door open is not such a good idea, Cooper will not learn the difference between outside and inside, and come the time when the door is shut, he won't know to go out. As for letting him off the lead, yes - that's great. As long as he's finished his vaccination course. Practice running away from him and calling him as he's coming towards you - which he will. With his dumb bell, you've found that one throw is his limit. I'd just leave it at that and play another game. At 12 weeks he just needs lots of short, fun games and short training sessions. Love the picture in your avatar - I take it that's the lovely Cooper. PS - hopefully some people with puppy-experience will leave some better advice - I've only had adult dogs!
Hi Craig and welcome to the forum, from me and my three Labs (Willow - black, Shadow - yellow, and Luna - chocolate). Sue has given you some great advice. Definitely let him off the lead as soon as you can. You should start working on your recall in these early weeks and months, while he still has the instinct to stay close to you. Choose your whistle or word and use with when he' moving towards you. Don't "test" him with it yet, you want to be building the association with him moving to you and the noise. I'd recommend a whistle for lots of reasons. The book Total Recall has a wonderful, step by step programme for building a really strong recall which lasts into adulthood. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone. He's not being "lazy" when it comes to toilet training. Most puppies couldn't be considered reliable until around the six months mark. They need a while to come to realise that the whole house - and then anywhere indoors - is off limits, and that going outside is rewarding, so give him loads of praise and treats when he does it right. He's not physically able to hold it long at this age, either, and concentration isn't their forte when so young, either, so it's just not surprising they have accidents, even when they do understand it's best to go outside. Exactly the same as human babies and toddlers. I'd scrap the dumbbell for now. If you want to play retrieving games, use a soft toy he likes. Just toss it a few paces away, make a fuss and ave a game of tug with it when he comes back. If he learns you're going to take away his prized possession, he's going to start playing keep-away, so at this stage, it really shouldn't be about taking it away. Just make being with you and interacting with you a really fun experience, and he'll want to come to you. I wrote a little post and put it on my blog, with a video if you're interested. https://thislittledoggy.com/2017/02/11/retrieving-games/
Thanks for the reply snowbunny, he is learning really well :0 when i throw a toy etc he brings it straight back to me so the tip on not worring about him dropping it is great . many thanks.
Yep, that will come. My girl learnt that bringing stuff to me got her a game, and that's far more important. In time, she started putting it in my hand on purpose. I never had to formally train her a delivery to hand, and I put it down to learning that my hands on her toys meant playtime, not having her toys taken away. She's now eight months old and has a brilliant delivery. I've also taught a "give" cue for stuff that I do need to take off her. I posted about it recently, and will try to dig out the thread, rather than typing it all up again!
Here: https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/6-month-old-puppy-woes-need-help.19547/#post-299534 Starting third paragraph down.
Definitely let him off the lead. Each of my dogs has gone off lead the first day they were allowed out and none were a problem to get back -puppies scamper round you.
I am amazed how well they train so intelligent ! love him took just abouit 10 treats to learn how to stay....
Heh, wait until adolescence strikes. And try to remember that proofing against distractions is the thing that takes the time. Not wanting to burst your bubble, because these dogs of ours are truly amazing, but teaching the behaviour to a puppy takes minutes. Getting those behaviours to stick past the puppy stages, and with all the exciting things in the world, takes a lifetime
Regarding the door - I differ from edzbird, I leave the front door open as much as possible, so Merlin can go out and do a pee whenever he wants. Now at 15 weeks he can hold it for quite a while, but at 12 weeks when he needed to go, he needed to go pretty fast! I thought it more important to get the idea into his head that he always goes outside for a wee, which he did whenever he could.
