A New Year And New Adventures
- haidinyak
- Jan 15, 2019
- 5 min read
The holidays flew by and the New Year came and went. Zeus enjoyed his first Christmas with all the family, and he got lots treats and a new toy. We decided to buy him a Kong as this is supposed to be excellent for chewing and we wanted to keep Zeus on the right path with only chewing on his toys. So far it’s working well and he seems to enjoy the new Kong. We also picked up the spray filling that you can add into the Kong toys to help keep him interested in it a little bit longer. We even did a holiday photo shoot with our friends Latte and Abby (and their mom and dad Kelly and Steve). Zeus loves his visits with his now little buddies, it’s hard to believe that just a short while ago they were so close in size.
As the New Year started I decided to enroll Zeus into lessons again, this time intermediate classes and another $130, to keep up with his socializing. I cannot stress enough how important it is to make sure your new puppy is socialized properly and these classes are a wonderful tool for this. We had our first lesson on the 6th and we jumped right back into our down stays and sit stays but for longer periods of time. He did really well with these and he also worked on his leave it command for a longer period of time, again doing really well. The new command we were trying is “Heel”. This is where we need some work. Zeus has been doing really well with his loose leash walking while out and about in the neighbourhood, so long as there are no people nearby that might want to pet him. If he sees someone then all training seems to go out the window in that moment of excitement and he pulls towards the person for a visit. As he is getting much stronger we have decided to change his harness into a no pull one. He is already used to wearing one and I am hoping it will be an easy transition. The only difference is that the harness he wears now has the leash attach at the top between his shoulder blades. The no pull harness will have the leash attach on the front between the chest so when the dog pulls forward the leash pulls the chest to the side and stops the pulling movement. That puts us out another $40 for training tools, but I feel it is very important for a future of nice walks together. When we started training this time we did not see Winston the Bulldog in our class which was kind of a letdown for me. The two dogs had grown close and I was hoping Zeus’ friend would be there again. However, there is a Great Dane in our class that Zeus has already taken too, so I have hopes they will bond just as nicely.
By the end of this round of lessons Zeus will be just shy of 7 months old and that is when we will think about his next vet visit and getting him neutered. I have not noticed a change in his attitude towards people but I am seeing him treat some dogs a little differently as he comes into his own and starts to develop his own mind up about situations. He is still very good with Ares and us, and I would like to keep it that way. The only moment where I was taken back with Zeus and his behaviour was when we went hiking at the Orono conservation area again. The first dog we met went very well, even though Zeus was on leash and their dogs were off leash. They greeted and off we went on our way. The next dog we came across however did not go as smoothly. It was a Bouvier and he came up onto the trail with no owner around and decided to just stop and stared at us, and that was not ok with Zeus. He started lunging, barking, howling, growling, honestly, he sounded possessed. After all the socializing we had done this upset me because I felt like we took two steps backwards. I ended up keeping Zeus at a distance with me and tried to calm him down and eventually the owners showed up and got their dog and off they went. The next dog we came across was a Doberman and again he was off leash and came around a corner at us and once again Zeus went crazy with the possessed noises. This time Mike tried to keep him calm and thankfully the owner was close behind. The only thing I can think of why this is happening is that maybe Zeus was trying to protect us because he just saw a random dog coming at us and no owners. Or he was uncomfortable being stuck on a leash and unable to get away while the other dogs were off leash. Any humans we came across was not a problem, Zeus was his usual social self so we carried on and did the full 3km hike but I have decided that next class I will be asking the trainer about what happened and getting her advice.
One of the other wonderful things to do is introduce your puppy to as many different situations, sounds, and environments as possible, so we have been bringing Zeus to different work places. We went to the hospital where I work to meet some of my friends there and Zeus had to remain calm and social while there were ambulances driving by, sirens in the background, many people walking around, and garage doors opening and closing. When we went to my dad's work place for a visit where Zeus would have to practice his leave it skill and learn how to be calm when around different machines and the noises they make, as my dad works in a steel shop. Zeus, as always, made me proud and did an excellent job with everything. He just took everything in stride and stayed with me, only getting excited when we saw someone new to say hello to, He is coming along so well with his people socializing.
And Zeus is still favouring his car rides instead of his walks. He has decided that his spot is on the middle console where he rests his front legs and looks out the front window as we drive, making him a great little co-pilot. He also likes to be very close to us by either holding our hands or leaning on us, so we are working on keeping him in the backseat with a tether leash so that we are all a little safer in the car. I am hopeful he will get used to it soon.
So far we are having some really great adventures and I am still so happy with the progress he is making. He tries very hard to do as he is told and please us and understand what we want from him. I can't wait for the next update when I'm sure he will have mastered even more skills and hopefully get some more dog socializing in.
Video link is to see how Zeus likes to eat the snow while he walks and how playful he is with new treats:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SzWS_uTB70
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWUd3O04j8E
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