The last two weeks have progressed well. Zennor becomes more confident day by day.
Behaviour
Still nipping but less frequently. He is worse with OH for some reason. She is armed with chew toys 24/7 so something is to hand to distract and/or rewarding him to “Leave it”.
Crate/toilet training
Incident free in the crate. He was getting too big for the space in the crate and the bed that was in there. We have moved the divider in the crate and put Vetbed and a couple of blankets in there. Z seems happier being able to stretch out more fully.
One accident outside of crate. We did not manage the arrival of some visitors properly. Zennor was sleeping in a space in the lounge. Our visitors walked into rear garden and were tapping on patio door to say hello. He woke up super excited, nose pressed to glass with tail manically wagging. In the excitement there was a small elimination. Entirely, our fault as we usually prepare pup for visitors and brief the visitors how to greet him. We a little annoyed at ourselves...but every day’s a school day.
Play & Training
More of the same, sit, recall, play retrieves, lead and heel work. Lead work has improved a lot. Taut lead means we don’t go anywhere or head back in the opposite direction. A few random changes of direction ensure Zennor has to concentrate on what we are doing. Sometimes we don’t get far on a walk on the street if Zennor gets distracted by all the exciting smells out in the real world.
We have a couple of short sessions booked with local gundog trainers just to make sure we are doing all we can to get Zennor ready through play for when the real training starts later on. Also, to meet the trainers and see what they are like. We already know that there are lots of different opinions out there so seeing different styles and methods can only help us to decide what suits us best.
Socialisation and other people.
Zennor is meeting more people and a few selectively chosen dogs. Also, visiting lots of new places. It’s surprising how much he likes going to different pubs.
Other people are sometimes a problem. We are very specific how we want them to interact with Zennor. Some just don’t listen. People get offended when we say “No, you can’t give our dog one of your treats”, “I told you not to pick him up. Why have you done it!” and “I’ve asked you to stop doing that three times already”. I am becoming less tolerant of badly behaved people and if I have to be, what they consider to be rude then so be it.
The Outside World
Zennor’s vacs now mean he is free to go anywhere. We are using a long training lead to condition him to learn to stay close when out in the wild. His first outing to the wild was yesterday. An open field with lots of long grass and lots of exciting new smells. He was nose down and zig zagging around for most of it. He definitely likes following scent and climbing up things.
