Hettie is now 17 weeks old and her life experiences to date have included eating stolen ibuprofen (from a friends coat pocket - thankfully they paid the vet bill) and falling down a six foot deep field drain, both thankfully with no long term effects, alongside all the other puppy milestones. I take her to puppy classes at which she behaves SOOOO badly, but last week there were fewer dogs and I think I glimpsed a glimmer of hope. But her enthusiasm for meeting anyone else and all other dogs seems to get worse or is it just that she's getting stronger. So today, I took her into town in an attempt to flood her senses once again with the big wide world. I did the same thing four times when she was younger and she coped brilliantly, but today, she was all over the place, pulling and tugging on her harness. Perseverence required. I've now been told by three different strangers who have uncontrolled dogs off the lead which come dashing up to Hettie, making her all the more wild, that I should let her say hello and socialise her. Grrrrr. Is it me? I really do think if someone sees another dog on a lead, especially a puppy that the owner is quite obviously trying to train, they should keep their dog away and under control. I have had lots of dogs before and whenever I see another dog on a lead, I always put my dog on a lead until I know the situation. Rant over. Her most recent adventure was when I took her to the beach this week and introduced her to the sea for the very first time. She dodged the shallow waves that threatened to tickle her toes, but loved exploring the sand and as it was quiet, I let her off the lead. All of a sudden, she saw this wonderful flat blue expanse and just ran at it full tilt! The beach shelved very quickly at that point and almost immediately, she was swimming, heading straight out to sea! Thankfully when I called her name her head turned and her tail followed and she came back to terrafirma, looking totally shocked and bemused. At least I know she can swim! Loving her to bits, despite the challenges. L
I also think you’re right, I put my girl on lead if we’re approaching closely to another dog on lead. It’s good manners and you have no idea why the other dog is on lead so better to be safe. Also, it’s really common for lab pups to be rambunctious at training sessions. She’s still a baby and just full of the joys of life. She will calm down (one day!) and it’s so normal to take one step forward and another step back. You just have to keep going, calm and steady. You’ll get there.
Thanks for the encouragement. I took her to town again yesterday and once again she was utterly spooked, reacting by constantly lunging on her harness despite the fact that she can walk beside me in other situations. I'm hoping this is just a phase and now considering reducing the stimulation until she can cope, then slowly increasing the anti. I tried so hard to socialise her to situations a month ago as I live alone in a quiet rural area but it's now as if that didn't make any impression. It's a confusing life trying to get inside the head of a puppy - haha.
