20 Weeks!

We’ve had a lot of woods walks and adventures. He’s still young enough to stick close most of the time, but we’re able to get in a lot of woods walks. We accidentally had swimming – he wasn’t sure that he liked that but he also didn’t dislike it too much. Next week it should be warm enough for real swimming and hopefully Griffin will be able to demonstrate!

Viktor visited the rally trial and an agility fun match.

He hasn’t asked to sleep on my lap for a few weeks but at night he does love to sleep curled up against me.

Informal Training: Lots of recalls during our walks. Many leash walks in town and other places. Riding in the car, demo dog in puppy class and he was a demo dog in a beginning agility class last night. He did mostly well in his crate in the middle of the room – he had a kong and was calmer with me near but sometimes was more noisy.

Formal Training: Some position changes, staying and this in class this week we’re doing go out/send out training.

We started doing some tracking training, he really likes using his nose so it should be a fairly easy game to teach him.

Good Things: He’s really easygoing in most ways. Walking in public has been quite easy and he will lie down at my feet and offer known behaviors. He’s very confident (which is sometimes a bad thing) – this week he tried to climb the full height agility a-frame while out playing – he didn’t get very far up it though.  He absolutely loves people, he’s very snuggly and seeks out the touch and interaction.

Dangerous chair climbing. Note 3 paws on the narrow arm rest.

Challenges: Even though he’s very hungry, sometimes he would rather explore than eat convenient treats. He tends towards resource guarding from other dogs – any valuable chews and meals are fed in his crate.  Sometimes he gets startled and barks in a way that isn’t as common in golden retrievers. He’s doing less of this over time and I’m usually prepared to help him.

Next: I had found a group class somewhere else and then just completely forgot to register. We’re taking puppy class 2x a week at the training center – we only have a few weeks left before he ages out (yet he’s a lot smaller than many of the younger puppies so we may sneak in longer)! We occasionally drop into manners classes at the facility and he is going to be a demo dog in a beginning level agility class.

This week we’re going on a trip to Minnesota again – more fun and excitement there and the second big trip of his life. I can’t wait to see how he handles it this time.