Adventures of Hero!

Hero arrived 48 hours ago. It's been very very busy! I was going to write about the first 24 hours but now 48 hours have gone by!

...sounds like the start of a post that I wrote on June 21st eh?!?



Hero joined the doggie field trip adventure with the Paw In Hand gang. His dog social skills are very good. He isn't bold but he isn't fearful, he reads and reacts well to the other dogs signals and is quick to show appeasement postures. He explored but checked back in with me (and was reinforced for that of course!) His energy and stamina was good for an moderate 1 1/2 hour trail walk.

Two thunder clap yesterday while we were out on the trail with the dog group. Hero did notice the first one -- stopped and hesitated. I reacted with some jolly routine time and had a treat and happy voice party. Positive association with new stimuli.

Swimming! I didn't ask his mommy if he had been swimming before. Today we took him to the off leash dog lake and he went right in and swan to fetch a lilly pad. Relaxed swimmer! Then lots of fetching of sticks and floating Kong toys!
Another stimuli which may have been new to him was a motorbike ahead at an intersection on the trail. It was far away enough that none of the dogs got particularly arroused to again, gather round for jolly routine and treat party. Association hopefully made: new stimuli equals check in with human leader and good things happen.

Hero could quickly learn to play "keep away" with toys I think. I can see it in his eyes and when his body just slightly slows and stiffens when he has a valued possession. Trading toys instead of taking them from him will be a game we will play lots.

Wow, does he gobble his food when it is in a food dish. The kibbles were gone so fast I hardly had time to look at his body language to see if he might show any concern about any people approaching is food bowl. Regardless, it is always a good idea to do resourse guarding prevention exercises with a puppy and for that matter, with any dog throughout their lives. People coming near your food bowl are actually good news! Surprise goodies coming ... not to take your dish away silly puppy.

He may be eating most of his meals divided into training rewards, and find-it games or in busy-toys anyhow...

Crate Games. Hero only used a crate for a short while when he was a puppy. I plan to reintroduce him to it as he already resisted slightly to going into it. I didn't push him much ... a gentle nudge just to see ... then we played a few in and out games and fed him dinner in there. More crate games tomorrow. Tonight he is tethered beside my bed on his mat.

Ah yes, mat games! His owner wants him to learn appropriate dinner table manners. Is it still called begging if a dog is laying down on his mat while you are eating? Two feet away? Ten feet away? More on this later too!

Housetraining ... all good!

Two resident cats. Hero must have met a feline somewhere before and learned a prickly lesson ... he gave them a wide berth the first time he saw them!

Vehicles are good places to curl up in and settle. They take you to good places and they are good to sleep in after a fun outing too. Chewy stick instead of seat belts is not a bad idea though just in case.

Chewing ... needs to be re-directed occasionally but age appropriate and especially for a Golden Retriever which is an orally motivated breed.

Nipping and biting is a concern for his owner but I've only seen it once or twice so far. Hero quickly learned my body language -- when Maren stops and stands still with her hands in neutral position then sit in front of her and wait for further guidance. Yup! Sometimes treats, sometimes, petting loving, and sometimes a chance to play toy time!

Doorway manners ...
Come when called ...

More coming in the next few weeks!

Maren tired ... must sleep while puppy sleeps... ZZZZZzzzzz.....