She's just a natural. We play little retrieving games at home in very short sessions. I took it out into the big wide world to see if she'd still be interested...
A breeder I visited the other week said that it sometimes takes up to six months until the new order is fully established, when a new puppy arrives.
Super cute some people really struggle teaching pets how to retrieve so i believe you are doing well.
Tatze is the opposite - she loves the pups from day 1, but out of doors she's on edge because she worries about the pup when it wanders 'too far' - which in her mind is any further than 3 feet away from her!
I just love that puppy run! Just caught up on your blog - that lovely puppy running on her first walk
I've talked to quite a few people who have had issues with older dogs not taking to the puppy. I've not had one say it didn't work out, but they all say it takes a few months. That's fine. Willow is good with her - pretty ambivalent most of the time, pulls faces and barks at her if she invade her space, but she does that to Shadow, too! Shadow is just edgy around her and can snap with what I would call no warning, although I'm sure it's there. I'm spending lots of time with them together on the floor, having calming tummy rubs. Thanks, but it's very little to do with me, just a bit of nurturing. She has a very strong natural instinct Hehe, she does this all the time!
Not with a food reward normally. Normally it's with play and cuddles, which keep the game going. This isn't a "retrieve" as such - this is teaching her that she can run and get stuff and bring it back to me without losing it. So, whatever we're playing with, 19 time out of 20, she gets to keep hold of it when she returns it and we play tug or I just let her chew it while I stroke her. If she does drop it into my hand of her own volition, which she does a lot (and did in this video), then she gets a treat before I initiate a game with the toy again. I don't take the toy away from her at this stage - I don't want her to learn that bringing it back means she loses it. I'm going to post a video with more of the game elements when I get it edited. We just played this game in the hallway. She retrieved: This small ball. A dummy ball. Tupper the lamb. Two trainers. A boot. A shopping bag. Considering my two adults from working lines needed teaching how to retrieve, and considering they found it difficult to generalise to other objects, I think this is pretty good progress for a 15-week old The other side of the coin is, I fear I'm going to have to dial it down at some point!
