Hi I'm new and have some questions already! :)

Re: Hi I'm new and have some questions already!

Hi Laura,

I love the name Inca!

That sounds like it works so well for you all!! I love how well Inca is doing with both of you training her so well!!
It's definitely a good idea to work out what rules and which commands between both of us!!

Thank you for the whistle training recommendation!! I have a whistle on my wishlist as I've heard how great they are and it's great to keep hearing these stories!!
Brilliant that the whistle is used for other commands too!!

We certainly are!!!! Definitely, we can't wait!!! ;D

 

Re: Hi I'm new and have some questions already!

[quote author=Incastinker link=topic=9029.msg129144#msg129144 date=1418075782]
One thing that has helped us is whistle training. I think Snowbunny's breeder did the same but Inca's breeder used 3 pips of the whistle to call the puppies when they got fed. We continued with this and we then introduced it for recall. The whistle is more consistent than verbal calls and so far it has never failed to work when we have been out on walks. We have also started using it for other commands.
[/quote]

Yup, our pups learnt the whistle (three pips) from before they were weaned. When they were let out of their kennel for their mum to be fed, he blew the whistle as Ruby ran towards him, the puppies in tow. This then continued as they got older for every feeding time. So they have a very positive association with the whistle and it has never failed out in the field, even to recall away from something super exciting*. I try to make sure they always get a high-value treat and lots of praise for a whistle recall to keep it exciting for them and so get a solid response. Their verbal recall is coming along, but is nowhere near as strong as the whistle yet.

*Actually, I just remembered that's a lie. Willow once wouldn't recall away from eating a pile of vomit and I had to go collect her. She's a beaut, that one.

 

Re: Hi I'm new and have some questions already!

Following on from what Fiona has just said get a good supply of tinned sardines! We use these as a high value treat for whistle recalls away from exciting things (other dogs, people, etc) and Inca goes crazy for them! Yes they are a bit stinky but they are cheap and effective! We have a couple of friends who had been struggling with recall with their dogs, they have now started using sardines too after they saw how well they work with Inca. Yet another great tip I found on the forum!

 

Re: Hi I'm new and have some questions already!

And take plenty of wet wipes with you for your fingers

 

Re: Hi I'm new and have some questions already!

[quote author=snowbunny link=topic=9029.msg129238#msg129238 date=1418123230]
And take plenty of wet wipes with you for your fingers
[/quote]

Haha yes this was my solution too! What with the poo bags and the wet wipes my friends keep joking it looks like I've had a baby!

 

Re: Hi I'm new and have some questions already!

Thanks Snowbunny!

That's amazing!!!! I really can't wait, and I can't wait to buy Total recall very very soon!!
Hahahaha can't resist a bit of vomit :-\ Hahaha!

Incastinker, tinned sardines, thanks very much for the stinky tip!!!! I will definitely keep that in mind... I love knowing of high value treats they go crazy for!!!
That's great that the sardines worked for your friends!!!!

Hahahaa eugh!! Yes plenty of wet wipes!!!!

 

Re: Hi I'm new and have some questions already!

Welcome from me and Pongo - just one year old (birthday was on Sunday)...

I've nothing to add to the great advice from others (this forum is a complete lifesaver). Except perhaps that all pups are so very different. We've been amazed at how calm Pongo is (except when with other dogs!) - he is the most laid-back dog ever. Our family call him the surf-dude. He has never, ever tried to take any food off the coffee table (even now that he is so big he looks down on it); he knows he is not allowed upstairs and doesn't even think about coming up; he slept all the way through firework night. So he is basically a really well-behaved labrador - nothing to do with our training skills, because we are pretty rubbish at that really - I'm sure we've done everything wrong and am constantly embarrassed by him when we're out with other dogs.... people who've been walking with us know what I mean! But I love him to bits.

So, I think that you won't really know how far you need to go with child-locks and such things until you meet your bundle of joy! One thing I'm sure of is that, however well-prepared you think you are, you won't be prepared for everything... and that is part of the fun of it all.

Here are a few photos of Pongo - at 11 weeks, and then more recent. He is a big show-type dog - really solid (he's just weighed in at 39kg ) but I hope has now stopped growing (pllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaasssssssse)!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fyzgl0vamgh5lzc/IMAG0083.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hindprw19kfcsc3/exhausted 11 weeks.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yq0kr91qnf1lzep/1noble.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ap3tae7oqlfldnj/1comfy sit on terrace.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rb2vsf2ep74n36m/1fast puppy.JPG?dl=0


Looking forward to seeing you on the forum!

Rosie

 

Re: Hi I'm new and have some questions already!

Hi Rosie and Pongo - Love his name!!

Happy belated Birthday Pongo!!

Thank you for your reply, that's so amazing to hear!!! I love how different they can all be, I love that Pongo is called the surf-dude!!!! Wow slept all the way through fireworks night? Amazing!!!
Heheheee!!!

Yes that makes sense that we many not need them at all, that's good to know definitely!!! He sounds wonderful!!!
Definitely!!! ;D Eeee can't wait!!!

He is a beauty..... so handsome!!!!! Hahaha I can never get over how fast they grow and how big they get hahaa!!

Can't get enough of your photos!!! Oh the cute puppy
And I absolutely love the "comfy" one where he's sat with a beautiful backdrop behind.... what a picture!!!

He is wonderful!!! Thank you for sharing about him!!

Thank you!!

 

Re: Hi I'm new and have some questions already!

[quote author=LucyinCornwall link=topic=9029.msg129291#msg129291 date=1418141657]

And I absolutely love the "comfy" one where he's sat with a beautiful backdrop behind.... what a picture!!!


[/quote]

That's the view from the top of our garden - we are incredibly lucky! The garden drops down from there very steeply (about a 1:3 slope) to the level of the field, and Pongo has spent his life hurling himself down the slopes at breakneck speed. Such a very bad idea for a little labrador puppy, but no way to stop him! He comes to the top with us, then waits while we go down... and waits.... and waits.... and then when we are at the bottom he THROWS himself down the slope at 100 miles an hour! So funny, lovely boy...

 

Re: Hi I'm new and have some questions already!

Wow Rosie, that's amazing. What an incredible view from your garden!!!!

Hahahaha that is incredible!!! What a wonderful place to grow up!!!!

 

Re: Hi I'm new and have some questions already!

Great pictures Rosie...and Pongo is a handsome dude for sure! I too am envious of your view! Beautiful!!! ;D

 

Re: Hi I'm new and have some questions already!

It was so funny when we first brought him home (aged 10 weeks). He was just completely fascinated with being up high - I guess in his kennel home he had never seen a horizon. He would go to the very edge of the terraces in the garden and just stare and stare. And it took him a while to figure out how to judge distances - he'd leap out into thin air trying to catch a tree branch that was overhanging yards away (we managed to catch him every time, phew!) and I'm sure it is because he'd never really seen anything a long way away.

He still loves to be as high as he can possibly be and look down on us from higher up the hill!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/bvfjafyg0w6d7kr/1up in top wood.JPG?dl=0

Rosie

 

Re: Hi I'm new and have some questions already!

Oh bless him!!!
I'm so glad you managed to catch him every time bless him!!!! Yeah that makes a lot of sense!!
That's wonderful, I love that photo!!!!!

 

Re: Hi I'm new and have some questions already!

Hi Lucy and a warm welcome from me, three year old black Lab Sam and rescue girl Millie , as you can see from my username , I am also in Cornwall , dog country for sure

 

Re: Hi I'm new and have some questions already!

Hi from me and Molly, who is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever cross Lab - now 15 months old.

Here she is when we'd just got her at 8 weeks.



My last dog was a chocolate Lab and I accustomed him to chickens from the word go, as I kept a horse at DIY livery where they also had free-range chickens and he was absolutely safe with them. Perhaps partly his nature, but I'm sure it was also that he never saw them as something to chase.
Mind you I think you might have your hands full enough with a young child and a puppy not to want to add chickens too!

 

Re: Hi I'm new and have some questions already!

Hi Kateincornwall,

Thank you!!

Love it! It certainly is!!


Hi Joy,

Molly is gorgeous!! What a gorgeous pup she was!!!

That's wonderful!!! Hehehe yep I think we'll leave the chickens for a bit!!

 

Re: Hi I'm new and have some questions already!

A warm welcome Lucy from us, Hattie 7 years and our rescue boy Charlie 4 years. Good luck with getting your puppy you are obviously going to be well prepared. Helen xx

 

Re: Hi I'm new and have some questions already!

Thank you Helen!!

Thanks very much, I really hope so!
We want to be as prepared as we can be, as it will still be a shock and adventure just like parenthood is that nothing can prepare you for hahaha

Ordered The happy puppy handbook now so looking forward to the postman in the next few days!!

Lucy X x

 

Re: Hi I'm new and have some questions already!

You will love the Happy Puppy Handbook!

Some of our pups are in the photos - Pippa's Rachael, Julie's Charlie, my Poppy and Heidrun's Caddie are all in there! 8)

 

Re: Hi I'm new and have some questions already!

Cleaning up wees -

Simple solution or bio (clothes washing) stuff. Everything else smells of wee to pups.