Puppy Socialization

Making sure that a puppy has proper socialization is key to having a friendly, loving adult dog.   This means taking your puppy with you out in public to places where there are many people.  Your puppy should get used to all sorts of sights and sounds and one of the best ways to do this is to bring her with you as you run errands to animal friendly places.   Your local home improvement store is a great place to socialize your puppy.  There are lots of people and sounds in a store like that.  Even the electric doors that open and shut can be a lot for a puppy to take in.  Some pups will walk right through doors like that while others will hang back and be somewhat afraid until you show them there's nothing to be concerned about.  And she's sure to get a lot of attention from people while you're there because who can resist a sweet puppy??

Your pup should also get used to having strangers come up to pet her.  My Bella is a loving, sweet natured girl, but in new surroundings she can be a bit timid.   I brought her with me to our neighborhood Halloween party yesterday.  I thought having her be around lots of children and adults would be a good way to further socialize her.  She was somewhat timid as we approached the noise, people and especially when she saw the bounce house.   That was a bit scary to her until she realized it wasn't going to get her.  But as soon as some of the neighborhood children saw her coming, she was in her element.  She couldn't wait to be petted and loved on by the neighborhood kids and their parents.  She just sat still or laid on her back for her favorite thing...a tummy rub!   On our walk home, she was quite proud of herself as she had been the "Belle" of the ball!  

One thing you should never do is leave a puppy with young children unsupervised.  Children (especially toddlers) don't have a good understanding yet that it's really not ok to pull a puppies tail or poke them in the eye and that can set the socialization of your puppy back.   Showing children at a young age how to treat an animal is good for both the child and the animal.   It helps both the child and the animal develop confidence with one another.

If you have any thoughts or ideas on how you socialize your puppy, we'd love to hear from you!

Puppy Body Language

The more time I spend with my dogs, the more I think they are so much like humans.  Have you ever had to scold your dog for doing something wrong?  Do you notice how they act like children?  It's amazing how similar they can be.   And their body language says so much!

This is Max (left) with Bella.  The life of a dog is hard work!

I had to scold Max the other day because he is completely fascinated with toilet paper.  I keep rolls of it in baskets in my bathrooms.  He was inside playing with me one day when he decided to walk around the house.  After about five minutes of "quiet" I knew he was up to something.  I came into the sunroom to find shredded toilet paper all over my floor and in Max's mouth.  This was not the first time Max has done this, but he just couldn't help himself.  It is such fun to shred!  But when I said, "Max, naughty boy!" he knew he had done something wrong.  He put his head down, his ears down and his tail between his legs.   As upset as I was with him, I couldn't be too hard on him because he looked so pitiful.   I scolded him and put him outside for a bit to run and get some of that excess puppy energy out.   The photo above shows him after he ran himself ragged!

Interestingly enough, dog body language really says a lot about how they are feeling. For example:
Tail between the legs says "I'm afraid" or "I know I'm in trouble."
Ears down with the head down says "I know I'm in trouble."
Lying on their back with their four paws bent up says "I'm very comfortable."
Drooling says "I'm hungry."
Tail wagging says "I'm happy."

I'm sure there are many other things dogs do that convey how they are feeling.  These are just a few of the things I see with mine.   Pay attention to your dogs body language in different situations.  It's fascinating to learn what each position means.  Email your findings!

The Scary Doggie Door

This is Reagan, my puppy I co-own with a fellow breeder.  He's the best puppy.  He has wonderful manners, he never jumps on people, he loves people and will give you lots of kisses if you pet him, and my breeder friend says he's house trained.  He lives with her most of the time, but he's living with us right now because one of her dogs just had puppies.   I believed that Reagan was house trained until the morning after his first night with us when I walked in a puddle of pee in my sunroom. 

Dogs are pack animals.  Older dogs are wonderful teachers to the younger ones.  I have four older English Goldens and they are all house trained.   They sleep in our heated/AC sunroom at night in crates that I leave open so that if any of them need to go potty, they can go through the doggie door outside to do so.  All of my dogs use that doggie door and don't have accidents.   I assumed Reagan would follow his teachers and learn to do the same thing. 

What I didn't count on was his fear of the doggie door.   No, we didn't do anything to it for Halloween.  For some reason, it just scares Reagan.   I tested my theory one day when I walked outside and called my dogs to me.  One by one they all came out until it was Reagan's turn.  I called him by name.  I looked at him through the window and called to him.  And he just sat there not moving.  My five year old (who is Reagan's best friend) went through the doggie door to show Reagan it was easy.  He still wouldn't move.   I opened the door, let him out and then went inside.  All of my dogs followed me in except Reagan.  Again, I called him and saw him looking at me through the window, but he would not budge to come in through that doggie door.   I thought once he saw the dogs do it a few more times, he'd start doing it too.

Three weeks have passed and guess what?  He's still peeing every night in the sunroom!  Tonight I finally did something that I hope will make a difference.   I brought treats outside with me.  Every dog that went through the doggie door got a treat.  When it was Reagan's turn, I lifted the doggie door flap just a bit, let Reagan see the treat, and Voila!   Out came Reagan!   I screamed so loud you would have thought I won the lottery!  We tried it inside and outside about a dozen times until he was comfortable going in and out that door.  I can't promise that I won't have a pee pee puddle in the morning.  But I think we're off to a good start!

If you have good doggie training tricks to share, please post them!

Do I really want an English Golden Retriever?

I got my first dog at age 23.  I had the greatest childhood in the world except that my Dad would never let us own a dog.  My brother and I begged him but he wouldn't budge.  When I finally bought my own place, my Dad finally did buy me a dog, a dalmatian puppy.  We named him Pongo and he was the best dog.  He was friendly, loving, and very smart.  He could also be extremely stubborn, but that's another story.    What my Dad didn't know was that I had always wanted a Golden Retriever.  I finally got my first one from a rescue shelter.   He was the best dog.  But I always wanted to raise one from puppyhood.  Twenty years and three sons later, enter Emma, the English Golden Retriever.  She reminds me so much of Pongo.  She's intelligent, beautiful and the sweetest thing!  But she's also got a stubborn streak.  And she LOVES to chew.  I used to have a garden in my backyard.  All of my plants are now dead and it's not because of lack of water.  It's because Emma loves to chew my plants.  Even at a year old she still digs and chews.  

But she’s a lot of fun too.  She loves to play fetch, she LOVES being in the water and she just adores my children.  She’s the first dog to greet visitors and if you’re not careful she might lick you to death.   For the most part, Emma is a very laid back, friendly, insanely smart girl.  She completed her Star Obedience Puppy class at five months and could do all the basic commands even without food treats.  That’s saying something!!

 Let me give you the pros and cons of owning an English Golden...

Pros
They are great with kids....extremely patient.
They are very smart and easy to train.
They are a lot of fun to play with.  Playing fetch is a favorite!
They are people dogs so they need human interaction and in return provide unconditional love.
They don't need a lot of room.
They are very laid back.

Cons
They are diggers.
They are chewers.
They sometimes think they are people and can be rather stubborn.
They need attention and a lot of it!
Exercise is good for them.   If it's not something you enjoy (ie. walking your dog) these dogs might not be for you!

Notice the picture at the top of this page.  See what I mean about having a mind of their own?  This is Emma (above) who decided she wanted to get in the water with my five year old during bath time!   And myson thought this was the greatest thing!   He loved it!  This is what I mean about them thinking they are humans.

These are not the types of dogs to lock up in a yard alone all day while you work.  These dogs are extremely loyal and want nothing more than to please you and BE WITH YOU!   If you don't have the time for a dog, this is definitely not the one for you.    But if you have time, energy, and a lot of love to give an animal, an English Golden Retriever will give you so much joy in return!