We got Bruno at 9weeks and started trying to teach his name. After a week he knew it so that was our first success. Puppy school was interesting. The first session he was not sure at all, tail between legs and using me to hide behind. However, after a couple of minutes the tail came up and he was eager to meet the rest. We graduated with some really good learning of sit, down and come which I’d been working on at home. He did leave a big poop on his graduation day unfortunately. Simply too excited to stop and let me know, he even continued playing whilst pooping. If it wasn’t so embarrassing for me I would have laughed!
I have yet to partake in any training classes with Captain because of my schedule and the hesitation of my wife to do it without me being able to guarantee i would be at every training with her. I secretly envy those who have been able to attend. As for the graduation day excitement, i think it's hilarious! I imagine the other spectators having smiles, smirks, and laughing, too. There are some funny videos you can watch about dogs in competitions that stop whatever theyre doing- or not- to handle "business". Keep coming back and letting us know how things are going with Bruno
Thanks Anthony, I did the training classes alone or with my youngest son and just passed on the information to my hubby. Bruno is now 6 months old and beginning to look like a little lab rather than a puppy. His recall is still working and we have him off lead for walks in the park now. His manners are improving too with less jumping up to greet people and even ignoring things he used to run towards. Unfortunately, the cats still don’t like him. Maybe in a year or too they might tolerate him!
I’m laughing your story so funny, our 12 week old puppy will be attending school soon however she is so energetic that I took it upon myself to do a lot of the training and well the treats make it all so easy, she has learned to sit, stay, roll over, bow, retrieves and pretty much comes when called. It has been so much work but unlike my previous lab this one has lots of energy to burn and if not mentally motivated trouble happens. All the best in this wonderful journey with your dog it is so rewarding when they finally what you teach them.
We’ve signed up for some more training classes as Bruno is still unable to focus if another dog comes into view. We’ve also been dealing with a front left leg limp. The x-rays weren’t exactly conclusive with the prognosis being possible elbow dysplasia or panosteitis. We’ve been resting him for weeks now and been told he can have a walk but he goes nuts because he’s not used to it and we seem to have gone backwards in training where he pulls on the leash. Hopefully with this new training outside and with other dogs, he will begin to focus on me and not everything else!
We started our training a couple of weeks ago now and the first session was horrendous. Bruno was just super excited and full of energy. By the end of the session he’d pulled me over once and I was exhausted with sore shoulders from trying to hold him back . We have since managed to give him more exercise which has helped but he still gets very excited when he sees the other dogs. The trainer recommended a halti for him which I got and for the past week and a half I have been trying to get him used to it but he hates it.
Bruno is now 10mths old and has decided that his kennel is an excellent chew toy. This is despite me putting toys, kongs, chews and only being away for a max of 4hrs. I’m going to take him to the vet again because I think his limp is due to a muscle or tendon rather than bone. He has visible muscle mass loss on his left side but still runs without noticeable pain or pulling up and is always stiff afterwards.
Update on the limp. The vet is sure it’s just the panosteitus(spelling?) so we have more anti inflammatory meds but no need to rest him thank goodness! We are still uncertain on whether to get him fixed or not and the article on here was very interesting. I have heard of problems when you have a male teen and entire dog in the same house so the next few moths could be he decided as my oldest son is now 13.
I ended up almost in tears after one of the sessions. The trainer was telling me I needed to change up the way I said Bruno’s name as it was the reason he wasn’t paying attention to me. I tried this until I was hoarse with no change. Frankly, I felt I was wearing out his name. Of course he listened when the trainer said it too. I didn’t learn anything else from the training despite being asked to bring a long lead and mat each time which we never used! I only did three sessions as I felt it was actually damaging my relationship with Bruno.
I commend you for identifying the importance of a relationship with Bruno. What activities were the trainers focusing on in the class? When i was looking into enrolling us into training, they all seemed about an hour long, in an open environment, and the training plans were often very vague about what is actually going to be trained. We found a training facility that uses small barriers (Captain, and most others, can see right over them, but not through them) to help the dogs focus while still having the opportunity for greater distractions. I was not happy with training for many sessions, and still am not very happy. I am not very happy, and had a tough time at the beginning, because Captain was not performing as well as i knew he was capable. Why i continue to return is because the real training is the re-learning we are doing in a new environment. We are learning how to overcome distractions while executing commands we already know, but in an environment that is hard to create. The closest reality i can think of is at a dog park, but that does not work because the other dogs are there to run around and be free so i can't control their behavior and it is not fair to Captain. I did a lot of training at home with Captain before we enrolled in training. This is one area where i think i benefit because he is not trying to learn to obey new commands while simultaneously overcoming an exciting environment. Maybe Bruno is so excited and tough during training sessions because there is an abundance of different types of stimulation. The biggest impact to Captain's performance at training is his level of energy. I play fetch with him for as long as i can on the days we have training. Fetch is a normal activity we enjoy, but on training days it is just endless fetch; i dont try to add in any extra commands except what's necessary for the game. Do not give up on Bruno. He won't give up on you. Show up, or stay a little later, on training days and ask the trainers for tips and advice. Definitely make certain to apply the training at home and elsewhere, too. As much as possible.
Thanks Anthony. We do still train at home and on our normal walks. The training was more basic than I thought it would be to start with. She wanted us to do sit, down and come as well as try to walk to heel and break away from distraction but we were in the open park with gates across the public area and lots of other things like agility training going on. Bruno is VERY smell orientated and couldn’t help himself when he found a nice smell. He knows all of those commands and more and is excellent at home waiting to be told when he can eat his food. We go on nice walks off lead and he behaves impeccably. He sees others dogs and goes to say hi then comes back to us to continue the walk. He may even completely ignore people and other dogs while we walk. I hope your training pays off!
This next post may be a bit too much info for some but my little baby is definitely a teenager now - he had a “wet dream” the other day, and he smells way more than he used to. I think we have decided now that we will have him fixed!
