Hi Don,
Bela is wild at feeding time. From day one I’ve prepped her food, set it on counter, ate something myself first, then placed her bowl, held her at sit, tried to wait for 2 seconds of steady/quiet then let her go. If too wild, I remove food, wait for her to settle and try again until successful. Today she was so noisy and aggressive that I removed her food and kennelled her. She was extremely vocal for about 5-10 minutes (a first???). When she quieted, I removed her and followed the usual drill with success (albeit about 1 second of sit/quiet??).
Am I expecting too much too soon? Suggestions?
Also, how much physical assertion on my part is warranted at this point (ie: holding down till she stops resisting.) She can be quite resistant/aggressive. We’re spending a lot of time holding and handling her as she did not like this much in the beginning and even now resists and mouths a lot. She is coming around though.
She is doing exceptionally well aside from this. Recall is 100%, sit and even heel are shaping up well.
Thanks, Steve
Looks as though you are both doing great! I think you could accomplish your control goal by simply preparing her food and leaving it on the counter while you eat or do something else. Even though holding her now is quite easy I think she will get the desired message without so much force.
Don
I have been leaving it on the counter for her to see while she watches me eat. Should I simply let her have it from there and worry about sit/stay later as she matures? She’s only vocal about her food or if she desperately needs to duty. Strong willed as expected :)
Steve
That is what I would do. The objective is to show her who is in charge. That concept should soon become quite clear to her. I suggest you simply ignore barking at this point. Jill would like to be quite vocal also but has decided barking doesn’t gain her anything.
Don
Exactly, thanks for the help/reinforcement. It’s been a while, but things are slowly coming back. Amazing how easily we forget the hard stuff :)
I’ll be sending that sticker out tomorrow. Picking it up after work today.
I’m now well aware of Bela’s god given hunting talent. Yesterday, I had 3 wings pre-hidden on a field. I walked her on lead down-wind and within seconds she was on the scent and located them shortly thereafter. I let her take each, but took it from her immediately and gave a treat. She was very unwilling to give it up,,,,almost wild on it. Today, I was hiding one while she was off lead and distracted. However, before I could get her on lead the wind changed and she was on it. I blew her in on whistle (she’s been amazing on recall, even with other dogs around!!!) and she decided to chew away and not come. You know how it plays out after that. I know I shouldn’t really even be doing this stuff, but can’t help myself :) Her ravenous behaviour for the wing has me nervous or is this typical of a high drive lab and my puppy memory is just poor?
She is very stubborn and I worry about balancing physical control/discipline with treating her like a puppy. Clearly intelligent, I want to make clear to her early on I’m the boss, but not lose her trust. How assertive should I be at 9 weeks?
Steve
