Well in the last couple of weeks she has grown lots, played lots, learnt lots and got in lots of trouble! She's finished her vaccinations and is out and about in the World. She's been to flyball training to meet everyone in her new family! We went to Pets At Home on a Sunday afternoon which is never a good idea with a puppy, I was stuck in there for 45mins because everyone wanted a cuddle. She's also been to Blaise Castle which is probably the busiest park/woods near us where she met all manner of rolling things (bikes, scooters, rollerskates, weird plastic cars etc), loads of dogs, kids, screaming kids, people who wanted to cuddle her, people who were totally oblivious to her. All in all, pretty good socialisation and nothing seemed to phase her. The only things that worry her are dogs barking that she can't see and traffic going past whilst were walking along the pavement. Both are improving and i'm not pushing her, she is a very strong character and I think she will get past it quite quickly.
Training wise we have done bits and pieces but not loads. There seems to be lots of puppies around at the moment who seem to be able to do sooo much. Fair play but that's not really my style! I'm a pretty relaxed owner/trainer, my main aim is to build drive and determination. I think that sometimes training too many things can make the dog a bit careful and not really want to let go, not really something I want for flyball! So yeh at the moment she knows some basics and a couple of little tricks like paw and hand touch. The main things she is learning at the moment are recall and walking on a loose lead. Both are currently ok but need more patience from me (not 1 of my strengths) to build them up gradually rather than expecting too much too soon.
I'm also working on wiring an 'off switch' in as I don't think she came with one! She rarely sleeps and seems to be able to go on and on. I'm just trying to reward anytime she lies down quietly. She has to go in to her cage for periods of the day otherwise i think she would be doing far too much on her young bones, she does not appreciate this! We have a small wall that comes down from our garden to the back door, I am constantly trying to stop her jumping off it, I may have to fence it off and only leave access up the steps. It's not even like she carefully steps down, she thinks she's Rambo and jumps off it like she's dock diving (its only about 14ins high)!
As you can see from the picture, her and Asher are getting on really well. They play all the time now, and I'm happy that he's happy with her. That really would of been my worst nightmare if he had been upset, he's my special boy :0).
She seems to want to please more than she did which is making training easier. She now really wants to be told how clever she is whereas before she would rather have gone off and done something else. The mouthing has also pretty much stopped. She is very naughty, cheeky and totally exhausting but I wouldn't have her any other way (can you tell I'm writing this whilst she is asleep lol).
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