Continuation of Lab Training
A lot of our time is focused on training our girls to be on their best behavior in certain situations. For example, we will often take the girls for walks and about 5 houses away from our home, we will take Dakota off the lead and allow her to walk freely at our side. When she begins to walk too fast, we give her the "heel" command and she slows down. That is, of course, if Cheyenne isn't on a lead in front of her. Last night was a learning experience with this as Dakota heeled a few times and then bolted off in front of Cheyenne to beat her back to the house so that they could run around the yard and play together.
That is the problem we face - not with training the Labs but training them to listen to us humans and not be blindsided by the other dog. How do we do this? The only way is through consistent training and being persistent no matter what. They need to learn that the humans are alpha outside of the house as well as inside. Most people believe their dogs to be well trained and then take them out in the world, thinking they will continue to be that sweet and adoring pup. Then something happens outside of the house that the dog is not familiar with and the dog either gets into trouble or misbehaves. It is for that reason that we believe highly on training both on our own property as well as out in the real world. We may seem a bit strict when we are outside - having them sit when people walk by (even if the people are across the street) or having them calm down before allowing a person to touch them but, this is part of the training process and what defines a well mannered pet.
The girls are getting better and since they are still relatively young (Dakota is 15 months and Cheyenne is 7 months), they still have a long way to go and a lot of training ahead of them. As stated before, the idea is to stay consistent in the training and not give up - no matter how frustrated you may get or how much you think it is not working. It takes time but it is well worth the end result - a dog that can go anywhere with you and continue to be that same loving and loyal friend and companion no matter what!
That is the problem we face - not with training the Labs but training them to listen to us humans and not be blindsided by the other dog. How do we do this? The only way is through consistent training and being persistent no matter what. They need to learn that the humans are alpha outside of the house as well as inside. Most people believe their dogs to be well trained and then take them out in the world, thinking they will continue to be that sweet and adoring pup. Then something happens outside of the house that the dog is not familiar with and the dog either gets into trouble or misbehaves. It is for that reason that we believe highly on training both on our own property as well as out in the real world. We may seem a bit strict when we are outside - having them sit when people walk by (even if the people are across the street) or having them calm down before allowing a person to touch them but, this is part of the training process and what defines a well mannered pet.
The girls are getting better and since they are still relatively young (Dakota is 15 months and Cheyenne is 7 months), they still have a long way to go and a lot of training ahead of them. As stated before, the idea is to stay consistent in the training and not give up - no matter how frustrated you may get or how much you think it is not working. It takes time but it is well worth the end result - a dog that can go anywhere with you and continue to be that same loving and loyal friend and companion no matter what!
posted by Shannon at
7:51 AM
4 Comments:
My name is Bonnie and I just happened across your blog yesterday while looking up information on labs after being spayed. Our lab, Java (a year and a half old) got spayed yesterday and today she doesn't seem to be doing too good. She won't drink or eat (I did get her to eat 2 treats). I wondered...did this happen with your labs afterwards? I've always heard how they bounce back so quick. She also wasn't given any pain meds. Thanks so much
This depends really. Dakota bounced back right away and Cheyenne took a little more time. Our vet gave us pain medication for both girls and that helped a great deal. If you didnt get any pain meds, I would suggest calling your vet. If you did and it is still not working, then it may just be something that she is going through. Whenever my girls aren't feeling well, I boil some ground beef and mix it with some rice - then serve a little at a time to the girls. You can add a little chicken broth in there too and even warm it up in the micro. This way the smell of the broth will hopefully help with getting her to eat.
Please let me know how it goes.
Hey, It's Bonnie again. I just wanted to give you an update. Thank you for helping to calm me down about Java's demeanor. She bounced right back the next day. I guess it just took her a little extra time.
Wonderful! I am so glad to hear that everything is okay. Even though we know it is surgery and such, we just want our fur babies back to the way they were right away. It is normal to feel worried and when they do snap back to their old personality, we feel silly. It is all normal. ;)
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