I will be brief as possible beacause I want to have a rant about other people.
Behaviour
All very good on the whole. Teething has started and occasionally he seeks soothing but not on a human. If he gnaws at something we don’t want he is re-directed and given a distraction. The time we invested early on has really helped us manage this. Yakers and pizzles are still the bomb! Ice cubes and frozen carrots too.
Crate/Toilet training
Squeaky clean again...well except for “Other people” below.
Socialisation
We carry on visiting places to get him used to the real world. Pubs are very popular so are pet shops. We are also doing some “puppy classes”. These are not intended for any training benefit but to introduce Zennor to more dogs and to learn to behave when he needs to but play when the time is right. OH managed a 100m recall in a paddock full of puppies. One of the other handlers stood on his lead while she walked away. I think she was a little impressed with herself.
Play/Training
All training is association through play and encouraging the behaviour we want. The behaviour we don’t want is ignored where ever possible. We don’t see any point doing anything else for some time. I really believe there is no point rushing Zennor. Let’s create the bond, proper training can happen later.
We have had a couple of short sessions with a gundog trainer. Purely to make sure we are on the right track and not making any horrendous mistakes. Reassuring to know we are on right track. It has been very beneficial and we have stepped back with retrieves a little to make them easier so less chance of a run round or a fail. Zennor has a strong desire to hunt but retrieves he tolerates.
The trainer has suggested we introduce the stop whistle and the place board but only through association. He tentatively pulled a place board out the back of his van to guage OHs reaction. He was extremely relieved when she said, “oh, that’s okay my husband knocked one of those up last weekend.”
Other people
What is it about other people? So many seem to go deaf where pup is concerned. We ask for them to greet Zennor in a certain why and they don’t. Annoys the **** out of me. We have a neighbour who has been asked repeatedly not to pick Zennor up. Last time he was in grabbing distance the same request was given as I approached him yet he still did it. There was no way to avoid the encounter. Zennor in his excitement peed all over him. Is it bad that I thought “that will teach you”. Oddly enough he has not picked him up again.
Zennor on a play date with neighbours eight month old girl reacting to stop whistle.
