I sit here typing this as a Nor' Easter rains down on the land. I would rather be in the woods with Bay.

Alpha training..........I didn't know who was winning. An email to a good friend and lab trainer about Bay's aggressive biting brought back these words...

"Hold Bay down and growl in her ear next time she bites and don't let her up for a good while, even if she's fighting hard. Growl like you're mad. Really be the dominant dog. It's worked for me."

And now I can say "It worked for us". We have been practicing this technique all week. Outstanding results. The key is holding her down forcefully while she tries to regain footing. All at once she will become limp. She is held down till we feel her aggression has faded.

I know it is working. When she gets up she has a spaz attack. Runs headlong around the house. But at each pass she is careful to stay clear of her new Alpha's.

After a growl last night I avoided her. As I was sitting relaxing in my chair she jumped up and gave me a licking bath. No biting. I sensed submission.

Thanks Dickster for the advice. You are the man.

Bay has almost doubled in size in one month.

cute

She is Beautiful!!!

10-24-09 AM
Bay and I are back from our walk. We went to family grounds. We turned around where Danny had his moose encounter last fall.

The rain didn't bother her. She was a magnet to the brook. She is only into knee deep for now. She continues to test her limits.

I stood next to her on Dudley Brook for 15 minutes or so. It was pouring rain. Perfect imprint for future duck hunts. I even did some short quacks and come back calls. Those are sounds I want her to remember.

When I got the pup a good friend and lab trainer "The Dickster" told me to shadow that dog when ever we went for walks. When ever she turned around, you were always there. He told me as we mature to hide on her. The theory being she is so used to me being right there it would make her "hunt me so I didn't have to hunt her."

Bay is wandering further away from me now. Today she got the furthest out. She was in her own little world exploring the brook. I stepped off the side of the trail. It took a minute but suddenly she realized I wasn't there. I saw her head come up and she trained her ears for any sound. At that moment I gave a couple short whistles and called her name. She zoned in and was to me in a flash.

The best thing is when she comes to call she sits. Kibbles work wonders.

10-24-09 PM
I took Bay to the farm tonight.


This was her first chance to run in a field.


She loved it.


The bird cover in the back pastures are prime. Bay saw her first woodcock tonight. We both watched it flush. She watched it fly away and paid no attention to the scent when I brought her to the form.

I have to keep telling myself she is a puppy.

Loving the diary, Coalman!

Re: Alpha training . . . I found what I consider to be an excellent book on the subject. It's called "Leader of the Pack." Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/Leader-Pack-Nancy-Baer/dp/0061010197 It discusses a wolf pack and the different forms of communication within the pack as a jumping off point for discussing how to communicate with our dogs in their own "language" so to speak. Really changed my thinking and helped a great deal with both our little lap dog Sammy and Max the Dog. FWIW, I strongly recommend it--especially with a new pup!

Thanks PM. The "Hold and Growl" method is showing tremendous results. I just ordered the book Water Dog from Amazon yesterday from a good friends recommendation. He was very excited to pass on the method he used to train his lab years ago. We'll see.

Bay is twelve weeks old. Our accomplishments are........
Sit
Stay
Fetch
Housebroken

and last night..............
10-26-09
We are very lucky. The breeder I got Bay from has family property about one mile from our house. It is about 80 acres. All the land is in conservation. It is off the beaten path. We have no distractions.

Dudley Brook runs along the main trail going in. I know Bay is remembering. Every time we get close to the trail we use to get to the brook she remembers and heads right to the water.

Last evening I wore my boots. When we got to the brook I stepped in. Bay sat on the bank. I know she wants to test out the water. Last night I helped her along a little.

I picked her up off the bank and gently lowered her into the water. It went about half way up her legs. I pointed her towards shore and she walked up on the bank. The next thing I did was hold a kibble out for her. It meant getting back to the same depth of water. She did it with no hesitation.

After a short break while I still stood in the water she sat on shore and wanted another kibble. I picked her up and placed her in water up to her belly. She never attempted to get back to shore. I gave her the kibble, all the time talking gently and telling her she was a good girl.

Before we left the brook she was wading in as far as her belly. When she showed me a little boredom we continued our walk. When we passed the faint path to the brook on our walk out she went right to the water and up to her belly. I told her all the time she was a good girl and threw in a couple quacks for good measure.

Before we got to the truck she was ahead of me on the trail. I whistled to her and raised my arms in the air. She sat. With my arms up in the air I walked towards her. She never came out of the sit. She let me get right to her. I gave her a kibble and released her.

I love this dog!

Coalman...this is a very nice treat indeed. Have been busy at work letting life get to me. Reading your posts here remind me there are simplier things in life that we should all heed. Keep spoiling us...

Really enjoy the stories Coleman

Week in review

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Not much to write about last week. Just life in general with a lab pup.

The "Hold and Growl" is still being used. Bay is still very head strong on who is the boss. I know we won but she tests us every day.

Accomplishments that are becoming routine are
Sit, using hand signals only.

Sit and stay using hand signals before each meal. Every day we lengthen the time before release. We use the word OK.

Kennel, This is a blessing. She runs to the crate on command. Since we brought her home she has always gotten a treat when we put her in the crate. We leave the crate door open when we are home. She uses it without caution. It is her place to get away.

Fetch. She is good for 3 or 4 short living room retrieves a night. She brings the ball back and I am able to to ask her to give. You can not give her a kibble during our session or she will not fetch. She stays and investigates your hands for a treat. It is the repetition factor we are going through now.

"Inside and Outside" are down pat. She hasn't had an accident in a few weeks. She is sleeping through the night now. No more 3AM outsides.
On her own she has learned to go to the door and whine when she needs to go out. Lately a little door scratching has started. We are putting a stop to that.

In the last week she has developed a bad habit of biting the lead while on a walk. She pulls and bites the lead like to play tug of war. We don't play tug of war with Bay. But this activity gets us on her playing field. To combat it I have shortened the lead so she must heel. If she bites the lead I play Alpha. After last nights walk I can tell she is getting the idea. I just wish my wife took Alpha as serious as I do. Bay knows how to play her.

Next on my agenda Is Water Dog by ROW. I just started reading it yesterday. Only into chapter one. The first words that caught my attention was ROW's reference to field trials and how they were created to imitate hunting conditions.

So kill a bird if we must to train or trial. It brings us back to our roots.

It is deer season in NH. Bay will see less woods time this month. Not because we fear the hunters but because I could never learn to get close to a big buck with a lab in tow.

while ROW is accepted by the masses as the bible, I found the James Lamb Free book to be better and used it for my labs. That was in the last century however. It is amazing how smart most labs are and how quickly they learn. My dogs were your basic meat dogs, but I played enough of the blind reteive "baseball" drill to have dogs that could do about abnything; those were in the days before we had children and I had the time everyday to "practice " with the dog. Actually won a amateur field trial with pone ofthe dogs even though it was the only field trial I ever attended and entered on a whim . anyway, have fun ....

In my last post I said Bay had developed a taste for the lead while out on walks. It got to the point a few nights ago I got mad at her and she knew it. She tried to run away from me but alas I have her by the neck.

A harsh verbal scolding later and she is walking head high and proud at my left side. A couple nights ago she started the lead biting at the front door as we were about to leave on her walk. I put an end to it and she walked better than the previous evening.

Last night we made big strides. Strides in learning, not in walking. When she went for the lead with her mouth I scolded her with a harsh no. That was the last time on our walk she tried to bite the lead.

This is not why I am writing today. I am writing because I noticed last night how well she stayed at heel. If I felt any hesitation on the lead I told her heel. It is working. I can actually see it.

I read chapter 2 of Water Dog last night. It was a good feeling reading that by 12 weeks a lab should be accustomed to "sit, stay, come and possibly heel"

Bay is 4 for 4.

Way to go my little Duck Commander!!

Coalman, just as suggestions I would try the book "10 Minute Retriever" or either of the dvd series "Fowl Dogs" or the Lardy Retreiver training. These are suggestions if you plan to use an e-collar. The Wildrose Kennels dvds are great if you choose not to use the collar and not to force fetch. I am not a fan of the RW books but it could just be personal preference.

Remember, heel is the most important command you can teach your dog for obedience in the field and in general. Again, MHO.

Good luck, I enjoy reading your stories. Great looking dog!

Thank you for those suggestions. I will investigate. Heel is going really well. We went at least a mile last night. I am so proud when I look down as she is prancing right along with he head held high.

Deer season is getting in the way..........

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......of our training. Not that I am afraid of the hunters, I am one. My buddy got a button last weekend and gave me a hind quarter. It lasted two meals for our family. I love buttons.

Bay's training is coming along well. As ROW says it is all about repetition. Heel is going really well. I am tempted to let her off the lead and try but the asphalt jungle scares me. So for the time being we will work on the lead.

You should see "kennel". We don't have to say a word. We kennel Bay during the day while we are at work. She just knows that after the coffee is poured in the thermos and I reach to the top of the fridge for her treat she flies into the kennel. I taught her to sit when she goes in. The kennel is her safe house.

Stay is also doing very well. Every time Bay is fed she is put in a sit and stay. 30 seconds has been about the longest I have held her. She does not break. Not even body language.

I have been playing fetch with her every night. Here she has a long way to go.........or so I thought. I brought Bay back to the breeders for the first time Saturday afternoon for a little dog socialization. When we got there the breeder met us in the front yard. before I knew it he threw a tennis ball for her. It was her longest retrieves to date. She brought the ball back each time and he was able to take it from her mouth. He never said anything but I could tell he was impressed. Come to think of it.........so was I.

So please wish me luck filling my whitetail tags so I can spend more time with my newest love.

Bay is settling in. Her life is starting to be routine.

We feed her at the same time each day and she lets us know if we are late.

We hang the leads by the front door. Bay has started to sit below the leads, look up at them and bark when she needs an "outside". What a trooper.

Bay is now 16 weeks. Both my wife and I noticed she is in need of a tooth fairy. She lost two of her front teeth on the bottom and I can see the adult teeth breaking the gum. Now I know why she is so content to chew her rawhide.

Bay has become testy. She knows some chew things are off limits like a plastic water bottle in the recycle bin. When we scold her she takes off like a shot. She thinks we are going to chase her. She knows she has been bad and tries to make a game of it. We don't play.

Heel training is coming along well. Had an embarrassing moment this week. Bay did both a #1 and #2 before our walk. I noticed she was pulling to the left while we walked on the sidewalk. Next thing I know she is doing a #2 right on the sidewalk. Since I thought she had taken care of business before we left I was unprepared. I came home, grabbed the pooper scooper and drove back to the scene. Thank goodness it was still in original form. I know bad Coalman for not having a bag. She won't embarrass me again. I'll be prepared.

Rabies and distemper shots are next Friday. Starting 11-23 Bay starts official dog school. It will be good for both my wife and I because we have no formal dog training skills. We just look back on our successes and failures from the past years of our canines.

I never knew after Brandy (RIP) if I could love a dog as much again. As I look over now at that yellow ball of fur sleeping by the front door I know that feeling again.

The rain is over and a big whitetail buck awaits. Thanks for letting me ramble.