Puppy Ramblings

Jackson watching Giada on The Food Network this morning.














- This coming Tuesday Jackson will be 16 weeks which, according to all dog experts, is the end of his "young puppy" stage. This is also the end of his socialization which sets the tone for how he will handle all things as an adult. I hope we've done a good job. It's hard to know because we're such novices when it comes to owning a dog. Plus he has such a great temperament that he doesn't really seem to be phased by anything (they emphasize the importance of positive experiences so he doesn't have any negative associations as he gets older but as far as we can tell, he loves everything and everyone). He needs some serious lessons on approaching new people calmly though. He just gets so excited and his tail goes into what we call helicopter mode. I'm surprised he hasn't lifted himself off the ground.

- So far we've completed 5 out of our 6 puppy classes. I have mixed feelings about how this has gone. On one hand, it's great to receive insight and information about how to train Jackson and also how to interpret his many behaviors. On the other hand, I can't help but leave every class feeling as if we're failing miserably as puppy parents. Jackson is the biggest one in his class so during the 10 minute off leash socialization time at the end of each class, he dominates the play area. He's never aggressive but being the biggest doesn't help him make friends easily. Luckily there is one other female yellow lab who is smaller but can hold her own with Jackson during the playtime. This makes me feel better.

- One week we covered handling with the pups. Dogs need to feel comfortable with anyone touching any parts of their bodies so we practiced this with our dogs. Jackson did great because he rarely even notices when you handle a part of his body (especially when he's chewing on something). Then we passed the puppies around the circle to help the dogs get used to strangers. One of the puppies is a toy dog and can fit inside a small handbag. All the other puppies in our class are larger breed dogs so when she was passed to us we couldn't help but laugh whole time; she was just so small!! She really had no interest in listening but she's so teeny it didn't matter. I know it's important to socialize your puppy which is why they are in the class but I'd have a hard time justifying paying for puppy classes with a dog that will never be bigger than two hands put together. She was cute though!

- My nickname for Jackson is dog which I've realized isn't always received well by others. When we're on a walk and he gets distracted by a person walking by I'll tug the leash slightly to keep him focused and say, "come on dog." Then I get evil looks by people who are most likely thinking I am not a warm enough puppy mom. I'm over it though.

- Speaking of walks, he is doing so much better! He even adjusts his pace now so that he's right next to us when we walk. He still gets distracted but this is to be expected for a puppy. Unfortunately when we worked on loose leash walking in puppy class he did not show his skills accurately. He's just too damn distracted by the other dogs to listen and then it's like a wrestling match with the leash. Silly dog.

- This past week was our first week back at work which brought some changes for little J-man. First, we only feed him twice a day now instead of three times (this is okay based on his weight so no worries about us starving our pup) and he's in his crate for much longer than when we were home. Thankfully, he has done wonderfully! No accidents and no noticeable changes in his mood or energy levels. Such a good boy.

- He's doing a lot better about playing with a toy on his own. He is still a lot like a toddler though in the sense that he constantly wants one of us to be petting him or touching him when he's roaming around the house freely. He also can be deeply distracted by a toy but the second one of us stands up, walks to another room, or puts anything in our hands he's immediately at our side wanting to be part of whatever we're doing.

- He certainly has a little personality and can be a really funny dog, especially when he's sleeping or entertaining himself in his crate. He rolls to his back when he's really asleep and will wiggle, stretch, and snore while he's sleeping and dreaming. He also likes to toss his toys over his head then "fetches" them to keep himself entertained. As I type this now he's even suckling in his sleep. It's pretty entertaining.

- One awesome thing about Jackson is he never barks!! We've probably heard him bark 5 times since we got him. It's certainly not because of anything we've done I think it's just part of his temperament. Either way, I'll take it. We have a neighbor dog who barks a lot and Jackson will just stare at him when they meet up and move his head around while he barks.

- I'm actually pretty impressed at how little having him has affected our day to day lives. We still go out to eat at night and even traveled to visits Mike's family with him in tow. We obviously don't leave him at home every night of the week but it's nice to know we can still go out to eat for a few hours if we want and he won't be traumatized.

We sure do love our little guy. As we've met other lab puppies we have realized just how handsome of a boy he is. His size, body, and coat are very impressive which our breeder told us but we didn't really understand at the time. I'm excited to watch him to grow and am a little nervous to see just how big he'll be. According to everyone we meet, he's going to be a big boy. I'm alright with it... I think. Love you dog!