TerraNik

It's good to hear that both you and Lucian are happier!!

Don't forget some Urine Off or something similar to clean little booboos!

Oh, so yours doesn't just lick it straight back up like mine? haha We would never know if Jedi (or my beagle that I had previously) had vomited... It disappears VERY quickly! YUCK!

I had a similar problem when I was looking for a club. They said the clicker would be distracting to the other dogs and if more than one handler was using a clicker the dogs would get confused about which click was for them!

Awww baby BC goodness! She is *SO* cute!!!!!!!!!

What about trying those fake grass thingies? This... http://www.bowhouse.com.au/p/393266/pup-he...dog-dunny-.html

I could help you with that if you really wanted. I know some AUSLAN (Australian sign language) and am pretty fluent in Signed English. My conversational skills suck, but I know the signs!! Jedi knows a few AUSLAN signs - 'finish' is a good one for when I have finished grooming him and he can run off!! I use it at the end of training sessions too.

Luke, do you *need* signals for all of that? Things like toilet, go to your crate, etc don't really (IMO) need hand signals. I just imagine the occasion that I would be using them and think about whether I would need a hand signal. For example, if you're telling your dog to go to their crate and you're standing right by them you can probably just give a voice command. Also, is there ever going to be an occasion that you tell your dog to toilet from a distance that he wouldn't hear your voice command? This might reduce your hand signal list!!! I only use hand signals for Jedi because I can use them from a distance (not that he can do this yet!!!). He also learns hand signals faster than voice commands. Things like going to the toilet, going to his mat or crate, giving a toy out of his mouth all only have voice commands. He does just fine. Just my thoughts on the matter.

Interesting question! I'd be interested to see the responses!

My vet told me that it was fine for dogs to socialise with other vaccinated dogs in a backyard after their first vaccination (6-8 weeks). So as long as you know that the dogs he will socialise with are vaccinated and it is in a safe area (e.g. inside your house or in the backyard) then it should be fine. Just use your discretion. If the other dog is sick, then obviously you wouldn't.

As NoodleNut mentioned, the best thing to do is just try and ignore the whining/whimpering. I know it is very, very tough, but the more you give in to it, the more he will learn that "if I whine, I get to come inside! (or similar). Only go out to him once he has quietened down. This is extremely taxing on your nerves and you just need to tell yourself that it is only in the short term! Soon he will learn that whining gets him no where and being quiet gets him what he wants. As you said, it is time to set the boundaries. What you set now are the boundaries you will want him to have as an adult dog. So if you want him sleeping in your room as an adult, by all means do it now, but if you don't, then I would agree with NoodleNut's suggestion of crating him. It has worked wonders for our Jedi (who sleeps in our room, but in his crate). He sees it as his 'bed' and will go in there whenever he wants to sleep. Some dogs take to it straight away, others require some 'encouragement'. In terms of walking him, I know that some people don't think it's necessary, but I still stick to the 'no walks or meeting other unknown dogs' until the C5 vaccination at 10-12 weeks. At his age you don't really need to walk him, but if you want to get him used to the lead you might want to just walk him in the backyard just to be safe. You never know the dogs that might be out at the same time as you that may not be very welcoming to Lucian, plus you don't know if they are vaccinated. Either way, if you're unsure have a chat with your vet. Anyway, welcome to Lucian! He is suuuuch a cutie!!!!!!! I love baby labs (adult labs too!)!!

Thank you for the lovely comments :nahnah: Here is another pic of the little terror... er.... I mean angel I absolutely LOVE her colour!!!!!!!! She's a gorgeous one!

I love the idea of doing an ET. My partner and I both cycle and run, so whether we ran or cycled with the dog it would be fine. But Jedi is way too young at the moment for that, but it is on the to-do list!

Great, thank you so much for your help!! I'll let you know how we go! In terms of attention, Jed has his moments - I try and capture them. He gets in the 'mood' for training (often comes up to me and starts showing off a trick!) so I of course join in! But you're right - attention span is what you would expect! We do a lot of playing tug in the middle of training - it seems to keep him going! Meanwhile... I think I hijacked the thread!

Thank you - I tried heeling this afternoon with him after you had posted your suggestion. He heels very well with a food lure. I am going to try and reduce that down over a little while until he is walking by my side. Would you give a command to come back or just expect him to come back on his own? Corvus -- KT doesn't NEED to do any tricks! He is cute enough without them!!!!!!!!!

I had the same problem black magic... Jedi would chew and hold onto the lead whenever I tried lead training in the backyard. As soon as we went outside of the house/backyard, he couldn't care less! Don't panic - she will get it. I also taught Jedi a "leave it" command, which also helped.

I am a strong believer of this training aid!

Yup, thank you. I think I was rushing a little with him because he has been insanely quick to pick other things up. I am going to go back to basics with him and focus on positioning. I keep forgetting that he is only 11 weeks old!!!!!!!!! Poor thing!!! Blame the handler, not the dog

TerraNik, what method do you use for your training?I saw your youtube,nice work for such a young pup.Did you follow a particular method,dvd or book? Thank you! :rolleyes: He's a smart little boyo! For the stuff on the video, I didn't follow any particular method/book/dvd (aside from C&T)... He just kinda picked stuff up and I tailored the training to how he was learning... I guess you could say "winging it" would be the right term?!! Most of it was food lures (but he does it all now with just hand signals) or just clicking the desired behaviour when he offered it (which is how I just taught him to "wave" this afternoon! SO CUTE!). In terms of heel, I have been experimenting with stuff, but nothing is really proving to be very effective! I have tried food lure in front of him, which makes him walk forward, but obviously the attention is on the treat (did not work when I held the treat to my hip). I have tried nose-hand targeting while we walk, which works but again creates the same problem. I think I will just have to teach it in 2 steps... The first being in heel position until he gets used to walking by my side and then get the attention part of it going! Suggestions?!

If you don't have a CC, but still happy to buy online, you could get it from Ebay but pay direct debit? There is at least one seller on there that accepts DD.

I'm trying to teach this to my pup too... He's alright in sitting while in the heel position, but taking steps is difficult! I find it hard to continuously treat him because I am so tall and he is so small!! We're getting there though!! But my back hurts! :rolleyes:

You could try a martingale collar? People use them on keeshonds a lot because they have small heads compared to their neck, so they slip out of their collars easily!!! http://www.absolutelygolden.com/Products/C...mier_collar.htm

I don't think I can help you Kyra! We had the OPPOSITE problem! Wouldn't walk at home, but as soon as Jedi went outside I couldn't stop him!!!! Have you tried treating her or luring her into a walk with treats? Or taking her to a park just to play with her favourite toy while her lead/harness is attached? I don't know if any of these would work?!?

Oh yum, I can just imagine... liver treats in my mouth... MMMMM! TASTY... (Sorry I couldn't resist)

Fantastic! That sounds great! They are close to us, too! Do they have 'puppy' classes at all or should I continue with my plan to take him to puppy classes and then start the trialling classes? I don't mind having to join multiple clubs!