Finn's thread!! Puppy is GROWING!!!

[KingD]

Congratulations! What a cutie
After that big long thread trying to decide what breed of dog to get and you end up where you started, with a Golden

I was thinking exactly the same!
Anyway never mind. I do like a good retriever.

 

[ChickForLife]

Following!

 

[berryncherry]

How can I forget this??!!!! Another thing to train would be socialization. Due to past mistakes, my dog now barks at strangers and any other dogs who happen to walk past us at the park. (He especially hates bikes and scooters). So maybe after Finn is completely vaccinated, you can work on that. What I do is I like to sit on a random bench with him where I know lots of people will walk past. When someone does, I tell him to look at me and sit down, then give him a treat. I’m hoping that this will teach him not to get distracted from my commands even if there are people or dogs around.

 

[black_cat]

I believe it most often happens while playing catch. I'm talking about the whole ball getting lodged in the dog's throat and cutting off their wind. Most dogs can play with tennis balls all day long and never have a problem, but if this happens to a dog it will most likely choke to death before you can do anything, because there is nothing to grab a hold of to get the damn thing out. I've heard that you can try to push it up from the outside of a dog's neck, but I don't know how successful that is.

So... don’t play with tennis balls at all? Every time I’ve thrown for a dog they’ve either picked it up from the ground, or caught it after a bounce- never with enough force or at the tight angle to drive it into their throat. Should I just make sure to not throw things in a way that they can catch them in the air?

 

[black_cat]

I would start from the very first day: "wait" at doors and stairs, rather than rushing through and maybe knocking people down.

For the door, just say "wait" and block the dog with your hand, then "OK" when you let them go. Similar for stairs. I might say "OK" and let the dog run up the stairs ahead of me, but the dog still had to wait until I gave permission. And sometimes (as the dog gets older), I make it wait so I go up or down the stairs first. And if the dog will not be allowed out the door, they can still "wait" until I close the door.

I would not devote special training time to this, just every time you actually go through a door or up/down stairs. My main idea is to prevent the bad habit of rushing ahead when you do not want him to. By using the same word each time ("wait"), you eventually get the bonus of having an adult dog that waits when you say so.

Great idea!!!

 

[black_cat]

How can I forget this??!!!! Another thing to train would be socialization. Due to past mistakes, my dog now barks at strangers and any other dogs who happen to walk past us at the park. (He especially hates bikes and scooters). So maybe after Finn is completely vaccinated, you can work on that. What I do is I like to sit on a random bench with him where I know lots of people will walk past. When someone does, I tell him to look at me and sit down, then give him a treat. I’m hoping that this will teach him not to get distracted from my commands even if there are people or dogs around.

Of course!! We are in a very doggy neighborhood with lots of dogs of various sizes and ages, none of which are aggressive, and lots of friends to get the puppy used to people. I’ll also make sure to have him in different environments and on different surfaces and in different scenarios.

 

[21hens-incharge]

So... don’t play with tennis balls at all? Every time I’ve thrown for a dog they’ve either picked it up from the ground, or caught it after a bounce- never with enough force or at the tight angle to drive it into their throat. Should I just make sure to not throw things in a way that they can catch them in the air?

We have had a dozen dogs (1 was small the rest were over 70#).

For real we have used tennis balls with all of them for fetch, catch and general play. No one has come close to choking on one.

I can see where GIANT breeds like mastiffs may be able to get one lodged but I have yet to see a retriever big enough to even come close.

Just monitor play. Toss gently and enjoy the doggie.

 

[black_cat]

We have had a dozen dogs (1 was small the rest were over 70#).

For real we have used tennis balls with all of them for fetch, catch and general play. No one has come close to choking on one.

I can see where GIANT breeds like mastiffs may be able to get one lodged but I have yet to see a retriever bug enough to even come close.

Our last golden was around 100, but his parents were both around 90 for showing. Finn's parents are around 70, so he should be smaller.

Just monitor play. Toss gently and enjoy the doggie.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Our last golden was around 100, but his parents were both around 90 for showing. Finn's parents are around 70, so he should be smaller.

Most of ours have been 100-125 pound beasties. River the bloodhound has an amazingly big mouth....or it's just the giant lips....but she can totally hide the fact she is carrying around a tennis ball.

 

[black_cat]

looking at these... which plaid pattern is best?