Rainey

Oh and he also met his brother Alpha and had a brief play, in which he seemed very rowdy. They both growled at each other and wrestled. Maybe it was all too much for him at that stage?

Well we went to the beach with the hope that we could find a quiet spot to introduce Scud to the waves. My plan if things didn't go so well was basically to catch, distract with treats and hold, then reward after calm behavior. There were only two times where I had to scoot off after him at full sprint and I was only 5 steps behind when he caught up to the group of dogs. I basically grabbed him by the bum and let the other dogs approach him, whilst always repeating "gentle" in his ear. The other dogs lost interest and he sat in a quiet observe mode while I talked to him in a calming voice, explaining that he will be able to have more fun with the other dogs once he learns to play nice. After he was settled I slowly released my grip and rewarded, then encouraged him to chase me back over to our original spot. The Maltese experience was a much more free play one. I stayed close but they really just ran laps around myself and the other owner, bouncing and wagging tails... he didn't try to dominate them even though they were about the same size as the Jack Russell he rolled over earlier.

I take all of my photos on RAW (uncompressed) and process the photo in RAWShooter Essentials. It is an incredibly storage consuming method as each raw file is something in excess of 8mb and then you create a 4mb .jpeg from it... so thats a total of around 12mb per shot!

Well Saturday was a LOT of fun with Scud, it was his first proper socialisation experience outside of puppy preschool which he has just completed. We did a lot of running (both me and him) along the sand and splashing in the water, he was off leash whenever there were not too many other dogs nearby but he proved to be a handful when they came closer and my normally great recall was not very effective when there were other dogs to play with. To begin with, he was a pain in the bum with the other dogs IMO, very mouthy and occasionally growling, but the strangest thing he did was trying to roll over the other dogs onto their backs and then stand over them (dominance?). There was no aggression involved but the other dogs were upset by this and certainly told him off. After this I only let him interact with the dogs whos owners encouraged me to let them play together, everyone was incredibly friendly which made my day a whole lot less stressful. This one particular Jack Russell that Scud stood over started screaming at him with a high pitched bark which was a good learning curve for Scud because once again he learnt some boundaries from interaction and it put him on the back foot. Later, this nice old man came over with his two Malteses (?) and encouraged me to let Scud play with them because they are very good at telling the other dogs off.... This was a fantastic move and the man was indeed very correct as Scud played politely with them because they made it quite clear that they were not interested in any funny business. I suppose my question is in regards to the 'standing over' that my dog performed. Is this normal behaviour for an inexperienced pup? He's a Labrador btw, and a solid one at that, so he's generally stronger than a lot of the adult dogs (smaller breeds) and able to bully them if he wishes.

:D Too funny, but so true!

Oh yeah I was nervous-laughing when I opened the door to him, thinking OMG this could be a very expensive lesson. Turns out it wasn't at all! Actually regarding the shoe issues, he's pretty good when we are home... you see, he does the wrong thing and grabs a shoe, but instead of growling at him I just call out for him to bring it to me and he gives straight up. That seems to work well and he doesn't chew them he just thinks he's doing us a favour now, "thought your feet were cold, here put this on". Puppy preschool went exceptionally well. He was focusing on us more than the other dogs this time and did his routines on cue each time, the trainer was really pleased to see that we'd caught up nicely. He was doing his drops perfectly and he hadn't learnt them at all during the first lesson. I also took him for a walk to the park last night after the 'surprise golf ball party' house warming fiasco and he was brilliant. The recalls were working just nicely, apart from that he doesn't stop when he gets to me so I have to get the hell out of the way. Loose lead walking is also coming along great too! How did Mazza go last night as well? And the toilet roll trick reminds me of that TV ad. Hehehe.

He's crated from about 10:30am until 12:30pm which is the crossover time from my wife leaving for work and me returning at lunch time. He's normally pooped by 10:30 because he gets up at 7am so it is good for him to have a 2hr snooze. Then I leave him in the yard for the remainder of the day while he gets used to it out there. He's completely content in his crate but he isn't used to the backyard yet! Found the shoe, under the bed! The back door has a really bad latch, sometimes it just doesn't catch unless you slam it really hard and therefore can still be pushed open. I need to be more careful in future. I'm proud of him, but disappointed at the same time... He's a Lab, he's supposed to be more destructive than this! I can't believe the blinds werent touched, neither were any cables, cords, or large articles of clothing. He never touched any of the things in the spare room cupboard which was wide open too. All I can think is that he was completely satisfied with the golf balls that nothing else mattered in his world?

Oh and boy am I glad he's toilet trained because that would have been a nightmare!

What should have been a routine day for Scuddy has turned into something else entirely! I came home at lunch time to let Scuddy out of his crate, give him a snack and then secure him in the backyard for the final 3hrs of the day. Well did I get a surprise when I opened the front door to be greeted by a super excited, body wagging boisterous little black Labrador INSIDE the house! "Come in and see what I've done daddy!" he almost jestured... I braced myself for the worst thinking oh my god Jules is going to kill me, he'll have destroyed the whole house in 3hrs! A quick scout around after securing the monster outside (and I mean properly outside) uncovered numerous contraban scattered throughout the bedrooms, hallways and living, dining, kitchen and even bathroom. I thought to myself why why why did I not close one internal door at least! Thankfully, there was one thing that has been my saving grace... A bag of golf balls, wow what a puppy dream come true. There are golf balls and tees in every corner of our house now, some in the bathroom, some on the couch in the living room, and throughout the bedrooms... I've collected some socks, underwear, shoes and a few other little things he got his jowels around, but I still cannot find one of Jules' shoes, I've got no idea where it might be! One of my shoes was out on the lawn, soaked in puppy drool, and the other one was in his crate... I need new laces, he's pulled them apart. I think I got out of this one lightly, considering the awful feeling I got in my gut when I realised he had free run of the entire house, including our bedroom which has paint tins, drop sheets, brushes, fresh paint on the walls and masking tape/newspaper everywhere, luckily for us it does not look like this room interested him at all, except for maybe a peek inside because the door was wide open when it was pulled when I left. ...now to find the missing shoe! Before I get shot!

Crate training is a miracle, thats what it is! Toilet trained my Labrador puppy from day 1 and he also tells me when he's ready for bed by hopping in there at night and waiting for me to reward, close the door and cover him up. Give it a go!

Reward the puppy over and over for chewing the right things and doing the right actions. The rewards and attention stop when puppy is doing the wrong things. My Lab loves our attention and hates it when we ignore him, so it is easy to teach him what is unacceptable behaviour.

Beautiful photos of Bakari, what a handsome lad he is. Thank you for sharing the photos, I think he's stunning.

Hey, I'm back! Pleased to report that the biting has reduced to almost non existant. The best techniques that have worked for me were a really loud double-clap and a gruff 'no'. Then ignore. He's learn that biting is unacceptable but he still loves to lick, especially when we've just returned home, lol.

Sorry this one probably isn't up to the standard of everything else in this thread. Hehe.

Thank you! I will just monitor it for now. Didn't seem to affect him when the OH touched it.

Here is a photo: Any more thoughts?

Hmm, interesting! I've got a picture coming but I would say it is full of fluid.

I would say it is a small umbilical hernia,sometimes a bit of fat comes through the hole , usually when the pup starts to get chubby....keep an eye on it & if it worries you , you can always have it fixed when he is desexed. Does this sound like it is the problem? That does sound like it could be right. It's just very strange and I hadn't noticed it before.

It could be I suppose, but would that be white and look like it has fluid in it? There is a black thing above it which... oh I'm not sure!

Just to add a bit more info. He had his 2nd vaccination 5 days ago, the lump is just on the lower edge of his belly button, it is white and about the size of a small pea.

Hi there, we've just noticed a strange looking blister type thing on Scud's belly about 2 inches towards his ribs from his willy. It is right in the dead centre and is white, looks like it is full of fluid? Can anyone give me any clues as to what it might be? Its about the size and shape of a pea.

Interesting, I bought a bag of rawhide chews the other day (which admittedly only last about 5 minutes with Scud), but they don't seem to stay very hard for long, they soften up with his saliva. I don't actually know what Greenies are.

Scud also gets the hiccups, I'm not concerned after reading this thread, hehe.

Name: Scud (Short for Scuderia Ferrari) sex: Male Date of birth: 25th June, 2007 Age: 12 weeks old Colour: Black Breed: Labrador Hobbies: Scraping bamboo stick across wall of house, hopping in my pool and chasing the splashes, cutting everyone off. Loves: Being chased, chewing stuff, performing tricks, hi fiving, Royal Canin, chicky wings, sardines, sleeping. Hate: The time it takes to prepare meals, being left outside.

Sorry this one is really rough: