Belly up!

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Sitting, on command, 12 weeks

Sitting, on command, 12 weeks

Wallace sure is getting comfortable around our house. He has taken over the kitchen, expandedto the dining room and frequently “escapes” and makes a break for the basement or upstairs to the kids rooms. He is fairly predictable though. We find him attacking or snuggling with the large chocolate lab stuffed animal that was a gift from Litty, their grandmother and my husband’s mother. Fortunately, it keeps him away from other items like barrettes, headbands, favorite stuffed animals and shoes.

I am working on his training, and there is progress. Believe it or not, he is now 12 weeks . He weighs 21 1/2 lbs.  I keep thinking about how big he is going to be and that it won’t be long until it is hard to pick him up or to ride on my lap in the car. This week, on the way to school pick up, my neck was fully licked.  If only he could do microdermabrasion or other facial applications.  He will now sit AND stay when we put his dinner bowl down, come when called and walk at a heel about 50% of the time. He knows what it is though, because he has found out that he gets kicked (accidentally) if he cuts in front or behind me when we walk. A subtle tool, but one that works nonetheless.  And I got a great tip from Litty- we got Wallace a nail groomer, and he will now lie still, if he is sleepy, and get his nails filed. It only takes about 10 small biscuits!!  Now we just have to do the rabbit’s nails…

Belly up!

Belly up!

Once we get him corralled back downstairs, he entertains himself with all of his toys, the favorite of which right now is the top of a shaving cream container. It is just big enough that he can’t keep it in his mouth and it pops out and rolls across the floor. It is hours of entertainment for us and for him. But soon after, it is nap time and the big guy just passes out. Full on, belly up, ears out like a bat and gums falling open and small little razor teeth in sight. It’s the best view in the house.

 

 

So Wallace turns 11 weeks tomorrow. He is stubborn as all get out. I keep reminding myself that he is a baby, but when they start willfully doing the chewing, pulling, biting, peeing or other naughty thing you just told them not to, it is easy to forget. Patience. Patience. Patience.

The Wall Street Journal just posted an article today on yelling. Advice taken. Yelling is not helpful to your sanity or the dog. Training a puppy just takes patience, consistency and repetition, and then more patience. Fortunately, even though Wallace has had snow on the ground for at leastIMG_2400 20 of the 27 days we have had him, we have been able to take him on walks, train him to sit and stay before he eats his food, and finally, go down the stairs out the back porch and use the doggy door! As his weight goes up, it is getting more difficult to carry him outside or down stairs. 24 lbs this week – more than double his weight when we got him.

Even though he is growing fast, he still can’t wear a regular size collar. I have had a small puppy collar, but bought a harness last week as he was really resisting walking on a leash. He really doesn’t need to do a ton of walking yet, but he does need to learn to be a dog and wear a collar.  As my husband says, you can’t run around naked. You would think we were torturing him by putting it on him. He scratches, sits and rubs his neck against the wall, then stares at us like he is so uncomfortable. He’s not. He’s just irritated that there is something on his neck. We all know that all dogs eventually get used to collars. He will just have to deal.

Yesterday, I tried to put his “grown-up” collar on him. He was at the top of the stairs at my office (trying to run away from the stairs that I was trying to take him down). He pulled out of the collar, turned and ran muzzle first into the glass door. Ouch. Back to the harness.

So, I should recognize and acknowledge that Wallace is/ will be training as a hunting dog. He will be a family dog first and foremost, live inside and hang out with his mama and brother and sister, but September and then November through January, Wallace will hunt dove and ducks with his Dad at our farm and other places in Virginia. I followed, and, am now using Richard Wolter’s Gun Dog and Water Dog books. Whether you agree with hunting or guns is besides the point, and your own personal decision, but Labrador Retrievers were born to work and to hunt. Their coats are water repellent, they can withstand the iciest and coldest of temperatures, and have noses that can find a hot dog buried under 100 feet of trash or a dead duck in 0 degree water 50 yards away. They love it. And they are at their best when they are trained to fetch, retrieve, watch, sit, stay and come.

It is a fascinating process as a mother to work with this new 3rd child. The speed with which they absorb and learn is on super warp speed. If you aren’t careful, you can miss the critical times. Fortunately, Wallace gets to go to work with me so I can keep an eye on him and immediately nip bad habits in the bud, expose him to the world around him and find as many teachable moments as I can. Slowly but surely, Wallace is learning the ropes (and eventually won’t eat them too:)

Bringing Wallace Home

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First ride in the car

First ride in the car

We picked up our new Wallace at 7 weeks old on January 2, 2014 from Southland Kennel in Stafford, Virginia. After losing our almost 14 year old chocolate labrador in September, the sentiment was bittersweet to have a new baby in the house. The three months without a dog were quiet, wanting, and honestly, lacking the chaos that a good family life needs. Dogs make you love, they make you talk to each other, they help teach lessons and they divert you from the realities of work, finances and down-in-the-dumps self focus.  You still have to pay the bills and go to work, but, much like the births of both my children, puppies help to rebalance the priorities.

From the moment we met Wallace, with his two brothers, we knew he was ours. The steely blue green eyes, quite unique on a chocolate, and the fact that the other two promptly fell asleep, sealed the deal. We had the pick of the boys. My daughter, Alban and I had carefully strategized how we would pick not the biggest, boisterous of the bunch nor the wallflower. We were certain of the three, that there would be a perfect middle. There was. And he was wide awake running around the kennel trying to get out and see the world.

His first night was long. While he was fine, his new mother, me, was a nervous wreck waking up and taking him out in 6 inches of snow every two hours. I have kennel trained my dogs and found that, especially for the first months and year, this gives them their own home, protected from children and big boots. It offers a secure place where they can’t eat your furniture, and, almost immediately, a place where they won’t use the bathroom in your house. The first two days he was only closed up in it at night; by the third day (complete with a cushy bed) he sought it out on his own. We taught the kids the rules and my daughter had it down–taking him out when he wakes up, praising him when he made it outside to the bathroom (we are still at a 95% success rate on that front!), and how to prevent him from biting shoes, hands, hair and any other moving body part or clothing.

The first weeks have been joyful, chaotic, painful and somewhat sleepless. At 9 weeks he is sleeping 10pm – 6 am. He has learned to use the doggy door to come in from outside. He sits on command and for his meals. He has gained 5 lbs. We think he has only eaten one lego(a small one). I have spent more time outside than I can remember in January. He loves the snow. He has discovered dogs, cats, soccer balls, his dog food, and his children. They are all smitten with each other. And that is worth bringing home any day.