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  1. #1
    Puppy MysticFallout's Avatar
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    Walks fun but exhausting

    I love my walks with Ashe. We go first thing in the morning, once in the afternoon and one in the evening, 2.5 miles in today alone. We've not stoppe his chewing things inside but it's under-somewhat-control. These walks, though are exhausting with the random things I've had to pry out of his trex mouth. I let the leaves go but it's the small twigs. God knows how many bits he's swallowed. I do everything I can to intervene. So today I bought a harness instead of just using the collar to avoid hurting his throat to keep him in place to get to it. PLEASE tell me this phase is short lived lol.

  2. #2
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    Depends on the dog. One of mine had a decomposing mouse in his mouth when I reached in to see what he had. Ewww......

    I recommend that you immediately start teaching him "leave it" "drop it" and "give". "Leave it" is quite versatile...I use it for ignoring lots of things, not just stuff on the ground.

  3. #3
    Puppy MysticFallout's Avatar
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    Leave it right now is 2 out of 10
    Drop it ask 30 times in a row get it maybe 4 or 5

    I'm thinking stay and come are going on the back burner for now ("No cat!" is staying, poor Wynter lol) and working on leave it, drop it and as you said give. I got him as a pet AND a fishing and squirrel hunting buddy and I can't have that behavior out in the timber or by the lake or river. Not worried so much the timber but so many people leave hooks and line and dead fish on the shores, now THOSE are bad.

    I'm glad it's not just Ashe, but I just can't figure out his obsession with them little sticks/leaves and dead weeds/grass. I tell everyone I bought a Chocolate Angus Lab lol. But I still love the "bonding" time we have I got an app yesterday to monitor our walks, today we got 6212 steps and 2.5 miles in 2 walks.

  4. #4
    Senior Dog
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    "Leave it...leave kitty!" (reinforce your "leave")

  5. #5
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    i'd probably use a combination of things:
    - do they like to carry toys? have them carry something
    - increase mental stitmulation at home (if you are on facebook there is a group called Canine Enrichment that covers a uge number of ways to increase mental stimulation). meals should be "worked for" via toys and such.
    - be more interactive on walks. change directions, ask for commands.
    - reward drop i with something the dog finds valuable.
    - I'd consider a basket muzzle for my own sanity for some walks. See the page Muzzle Up Project for fitting and desensitization before using).

    It's a bit of a catch 22 in cases like this because you need to "use the command" so often that it really is hard/impossible ot make the command worth listening too. Plus you are using it VERY often before it is truly ingrained in teh dog so you do more work to untrain it than you do actually training it. Maybe use the muzzle as you work on "drop it" and "leave it".

  6. #6
    Senior Dog MightyThor's Avatar
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    Thor was obsessed with wood chips. We used to have mulch all over the landscaping at our old place, and his first stop whenever he went out was to look for a chip to chew on. It was super annoying when working on potty training, and anything else, really. Leave it became the most important command, as well as drop it, and he got 99% solid on those two EXCEPT when it came to those damn wood chips.

    Then one day it just stopped. I guess he finally grew out of it. Or maybe the repeated drop its, leave its, and prying wood chips out of his jaws finally sunk in.

    I still see an occasional glimmer of that puppy naughtiness though. He likes to find small sticks when we're out walking and he'll snatch it up from the ground and get the zoomies (we have land where we walk off-leash every day). I usually let him do it, depending on the size of the stick and the danger to both him and my knees. I swear he gives me a little smirk "oh yeah, mom? You thought I was over my wood obsession?"
    Mighty Thor, "So Much Dog", born 1/6/2014
    And baby Barley, born 3/9/2018

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  8. #7
    Senior Dog zd262's Avatar
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    I had actually forgotten about Bubba's obsession with wood chips!! It was a huge issue when he was a puppy. I guess he eventually grew out of it, I really can't remember now haha.
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  9. #8
    Senior Dog Shelley's Avatar
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    I don't care for harnesses, they are designed for dogs that are supposed to pull, like sled dogs. A properly fitted and used prong collar as a short term training tool is much more effective.

    I also teach young dogs the "Exchange Program", where the dog or puppy has something, I call them, offer a treat, they give me what they have, (if it is a safe thing for them to have like a stick, I give it back to them). My dogs bring me stuff all the time for a cookie, sometimes I indulge them, sometimes I don't, but still do regularly. This way you aren't chasing them around the yard and they gulp what they have in their mouth, because we always take it from them. If my puppies (9 months old) have something they shouldn't, I just say their name, and show them I gave a cookie, they run to give me what they have, Miley just brought me a fence nail yesterday, definitely something I didn't want to her have. She gave it right to me happily.

    You don't say how old your puppy is, but you posted in the puppy forum, how old is your puppy that you are walking her 2.5 miles a day? I don't take my 9 month olds more that 1/2 mile, although they can play and swim as much as they want. Their joints are still growing, and I don't want to stress the joints until the growth plates have closed.

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  11. #9
    Senior Dog Jeff's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shelley View Post
    I don't care for harnesses, they are designed for dogs that are supposed to pull, like sled dogs. A properly fitted and used prong collar as a short term training tool is much more effective.
    This..

    One of the biggest mistakes I made was to put Hemi into a Harness too soon. This taught him how to pull and pull hard. I would ditch the harness. Lab pups are a lot of work. A lot. Good news is it gets so much better and the work you put into it when they are little pays off. I would also work on walking on leash and walking and paying attention to you. One of the things you can do is go someplace relatively clean. Basketball court, tennis court. Some place like that where there is nothing really exciting on the ground. Or find an obedience class. they work on clean padded floors. The only thing really of fun is you with some treats. Walk around big circles and so on. Another thing to work on at home is have a treat in your hand hold it in your hand, they do not get it until they look you in the eye. When they do say Yes, or click if your using a clicker, then reward. Eventually start naming it. Watch, Watch me, then practice that while walking, make sure you say Yes and have treats ready.

  12. #10
    Puppy MysticFallout's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shelley View Post
    I don't care for harnesses, they are designed for dogs that are supposed to pull, like sled dogs. A properly fitted and used prong collar as a short term training tool is much more effective.

    I also teach young dogs the "Exchange Program", where the dog or puppy has something, I call them, offer a treat, they give me what they have, (if it is a safe thing for them to have like a stick, I give it back to them). My dogs bring me stuff all the time for a cookie, sometimes I indulge them, sometimes I don't, but still do regularly. This way you aren't chasing them around the yard and they gulp what they have in their mouth, because we always take it from them. If my puppies (9 months old) have something they shouldn't, I just say their name, and show them I gave a cookie, they run to give me what they have, Miley just brought me a fence nail yesterday, definitely something I didn't want to her have. She gave it right to me happily.

    You don't say how old your puppy is, but you posted in the puppy forum, how old is your puppy that you are walking her 2.5 miles a day? I don't take my 9 month olds more that 1/2 mile, although they can play and swim as much as they want. Their joints are still growing, and I don't want to stress the joints until the growth plates have closed.
    You think maybe that's a bit way to far? 14 weeks and 2 days old (born Oct 4 '18).

 



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