Again, it's been a while since I posted. I just wanted to update everyone on how Trent is doing. He turned 19 weeks old on Friday and weighed in at 43.0 lbs.
As he's my first dog, I'm sure I'm doing 101 things wrong, but it's good to know I've made progress as well.
The GREAT!
- He knows
~ Sit
~ Down
~ Off (for when he jumps)
~ Speak
~ Quiet
~ Leave it (getting so much better!)
~ Drop it
~ Kisses (for when he bites/nips)
~ Come (I think he has an impressive recall for his age)
~ Crate
- We seem to be getting somewhere with learning to fetch and improving his ball drive. We're just working on the whole "give it back" part.
- He is great with kids! Little kids can go up to him and put their hands around his muzzle and kiss his head and he'll just reach up to lick them.
- He is perfectly behaved while the family eats. He will simply lay down by the fridge (hoping for ice) and eventually fall asleep. He does not beg or jump on the table.
- He is becoming a little watchdog, and never fails to notify us when someone is approaching the house.
- His bites are getting much softer and rarely leave marks.
- He has stopped raiding the garbage.
- He loves people and other dogs.
- His "leave it" is improving when it comes to pulling to greet other dogs.
- Whenever we go somewhere, there will always be someone telling me how beautiful he is.
- He has graduated from sleeping in his crate to sleeping on my bed. During the first night - no accidents at all! In the morning he did have a lot of potty, though.
- I can now never go anywhere alone.
The Bad
- He cannot "stay". He always has to follow me around. We're working on it, though! Almost got 3 seconds the other day
- He still sometimes barks at other dogs during walks. He also still pulls to greet them sometimes.
- He loves kids a bit too much and is always very overly eager to greet them, sometimes, nearly knocking over young kids.
- His watchdog skills also include barking whenever my sister or parents walk into the room we are in. He also barks when he is sitting there watching me eat and a person just walks past our house.
- He still does nip and bite, even at 19 weeks.
- As he is growing, people no longer flood over to fondle the puppy. Instead, many are now walking across the street to avoid him. Others are commenting that he might bite.
- I can never go anywhere alone!
And... the Ugly
- He is EXPENSIVE! During the last few months, vet bills have cost us around $400-$500 (us racing to the vet whenever something seems slightly off might be a factor...). Toys and food, around $200.
Fourth of July
I was a bit nervous about fireworks, but he did great! Just around the next block, there was a HUGE parade that takes place yearly and is a big thing here. There are fireworks and a lot of partying and excitement. And it's very loud. At night he did sit up a bit when he heard the fireworks, but he just sunk back down, rolled around a bit, and fell asleep with me. They didn't phase him at all.
Earlier that day, we went to the beach and he had a blast! He met some other dogs, and dug around the sand. He was scared of the ocean (not a water dog for sure) and no amount of coaxing could get him in, but he had a lot of fun and was all tuckered out during the car ride.
HOPEFULLY I can get pictures up by next week. He really is becoming quite a looker, and really filling out.
