brihop Posted August 16, 2018 Report Share Posted August 16, 2018 Hi All, Just a quick up-date. Duddley has made it to 16 weeks hooray!!. For the past two weeks we have been able to go out and meet other dogs and people. On the whole he is doing really well. If he sees another dog approaching he will sit without being asked and wait for the other dog to approach. This used to be accompanied with nervous growling but this seems to have stopped. Question. he always greets other dogs nose to nose. I tend to get a little nervous because they are both facing each other and I fear they will snap at each other. Am I making the greeting more nervous? should I let them greet whatever way the feel fit? He walks on the leash without a great deal of pulling. If he starts to pull I stop walking and he quickly realises this and stops and sits himself. The only problem I seem to have is the occasional lunge at passing cars. I am trying to stop and have him sit when I see a car coming. Praise and treat for not jumping. Is this the correct way to go? Hope I haven't gone on too much. Concerned parent syndrome haha. Oh while I remember I have my niece's dog ( very old labradour) coming to stay for 2 weeks this weekend while they are on vacation. Fingers crossed all goes well and Duddley does not pester the poor soul to death. Hope you like the pictures. One taken on his walk last night. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rush Fan Posted August 16, 2018 Report Share Posted August 16, 2018 Love the photos. He looks like quite the good boy. I've never asked a dog to sit and await to greet an approaching dog. I always let them greet as they see fit, but keep a very close eye on each of them for signs of fear or aggression. If I see either I pull back on Mancer's leash and if necessary try to get myself in front of her to provide separation. I'd be curious to see how others feel on this, but I'd be worried that making him sit makes him feel vulnerable and also that it actually makes him more vulnerable should the approaching dog decide to get aggressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NW_MONTANA_BC Posted August 16, 2018 Report Share Posted August 16, 2018 I don't have much to add here but, he sure is a beautiful puppy. He's got freckles everywhere. Your puppy is about 5 weeks older than mine, so I always watch for the answer to your questions so I know what to do when Tucker gets that age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jami74 Posted August 16, 2018 Report Share Posted August 16, 2018 He's gorgeous Mine is about 19 weeks now. It sounds you are doing much better with the lead than I am. I've pretty much given up, thinking a break from trying to do lead walking might be better than doing it and getting it wrong. My plan is to practice in a very quiet place when we have no place to go. So our walks at the moment involve a (short) car journey to somewhere we can go directly off lead. I carry the lead and clip it on if necessary but that is usually to let someone pass (bikes, on lead dogs, runners etc) as he can sit nicely on the lead, he just can't walk nicely on it yet. He greets dogs in his own way, sometimes he sits and waits for them to approach, sometimes he approaches them. As our confidence has grown we're allowing more off lead meetings, if we can we keep on walking so the meeting is fairly short, he doesn't let us get too far away before he chases after us. He's learning which dogs to be cautious with having been snarled at a couple of times and if I see a dog I don't feel comfortable about I put him on the lead. Sometimes his hackles go up, usually with younger, bouncier, more confident dogs but then he enjoys running around with them. We were also lunging at cars. If I saw a car coming I'd ask him to go down and give him a couple of treats while it went past, or we'd go and sit on the grass near a road and watch cars go by. It seems to not be too much of a problem if we're sat waiting and watching for them. I'm hoping once we've got a bit okay with lead walking I'll practice that progressively closer to a road until one day maybe he'll be able to do both (walk nicely on the lead and not lunge at cars). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brihop Posted August 16, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2018 Thanks for the replies. Much appreciated. Just back from our evening walk. Decided to go along where there are plenty of cars and buses passing. Went fairly good. Jumpy and reactive at first but I tried to just stay calm and let him know the cars were nothing to worry about. After a little while if I stopped walking he would sit and watch the cars without getting too excited. Eventually after a short time he started to lay down and watch. We did this for maybe 15 minutes and then carried on with our walk. I know at any point a new car sneaking up on him could spook him but so far so good. We met a couple of new dogs on the way home. He seems to like to sit and wait for the other dog to get closer and then he will get up and walk over to greet. One of the dogs nipped at his nose but I think it was just telling him ''I don't really like puppies so back off" No harm done and maybe he learned a lesson. will up-date again next week and thanks again for the replies, Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShellyF Posted August 19, 2018 Report Share Posted August 19, 2018 Ours is 17 weeks and for the past week we now have him lying down as cars pass. We keep our foot on the leash ‘just in case’ and praise him heavily if he doesn’t lunge. Then when the car passes we say ‘walk on’. He enjoys the structure of ‘lie down’ and ‘walk on’ in so many situations it’s been quite a turning point. However, we are in a quiet subdivision not a busy city and it’s only 10 minutes to the trail so not too many cars. When it’s snowy in the winter he may decide he doesn’t want to lie down haha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreizehn Posted August 19, 2018 Report Share Posted August 19, 2018 Aww Dudley is so cute! and such a cute name... When did you start taking him out to play in grass / meet other dogs? I was recently helping my family friends with their new golden retriever puppy, and they weren't letting him meet other dogs until he was 12 weeks and not go on grass until he had some vaccines. Im kinda worried though about not getting enough socialization in in time. I'd like to get in the most positive encounters as possible as young as possible, ykno? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brihop Posted August 20, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2018 Hi dreizehn, I didn't start taking Dudley out in public until he had finished his vaccinations. As you know it is not safe to meet other dogs or be in places where they toilet until the initial vaccinations are complete. As for people it is fine to introduce him to new people in your home environment. Just remember to manage any meetings so he does not get overwhelmed and find it all a little scary. Hope this helps you and please feel free to post any questions you have. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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