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Thanks for the feedback, Allie. I appreciate it. I’ve pretty much told the the owners what you advise your clients re: dog parks, puppy classes, strangers, how to socialize safely from both physical and mental-health perspective. The puppy is a 9-week old — I was wrong about his age — Golden Lab that owners got from responsible breeders. (I checked their website.) Nearly all the info provided by breeders is in sync w/what I told Hudson’s people during our initial session. He was crate trained and got first round of vaccinations. Owners (on their own) have been keeping habitation chart, focused on potty training, which seems to be going well. They already had decided not to neuter for at least a year, maybe never. Their teenage daughter takes him out once in the middle of the night. I think if they tweak the number of meals and the timing Hudson might be able to last a full night pretty soon. I’m not happy with the food the breeders recommend (ProPlan), but I’m not gonna make a big deal of it right now. These are owners who were doing their homework before they asked me to help them. The interesting challenge will be — it’s what they specifically asked for — is showing them what to do and then helping the two kids as well as mom and dad to do it right. I’ve started that w/the kid who gets up at nite to go potty. I also have taken Honey dog to their house to accustom the the pup to a grownup dog. Til H. is about 14 weeks old my main focus will be on socialization, confidence building by introducing small challenges H. can succeed st, luring/shaping behaviors, etc. Here’s what I wrote/told the owners should be our goals for the next several weeks:
Have the basics we need to train H. to a high level of obedience in place by the time he’s 16 weeks old: (a) strong bond with each and every family member; (b) self-confidence thru proper socialization; (c) physical fitness / health / body awareness / agility; (d) the essential life skills: come when called, be calm when you need him to and have good manners in general; (d) gradually, gently, start putting behaviors on cue. If we get this right while he’s a puppy, we’ll eliminate the causes of a lot – most – behavioral problems.
P.S. I’m looking into getting a GoPro or other video recorder so I can upload vids.
