I'm the mother of Duke, and as said before we got another one!
Her name is, Nala.
Born: December 9, 2015
She is 50% AKC English Cream Golden Retriever and 50% AKC Black Labrador
I decided to officially make her thread because I have some questions and I don't want to be "that" person who is constantly posting threads!
My question is, Nala is now 7 weeks old. She plays with Duke but I've realized she will low growl at him when he tries to "rough-house" her or jump and play as he is an oaf! They'll play tug-a-war with a squeaky toy they both enjoy(which is cute). He has done amazingly well with her, I'm just wondering if it's her young age, personality, or if she just doesn't like Duke at all for her to be growling at him when he wants to play...
No puppy expert at all but I would think that's normal puppy play and a warning of maybe hey that hurt or back off a tad dude! You know us females can be touchy. ;-) Tanner growls all the time when playing with his toys by himself. Lol. He too is an oaf and so silly.
Duke trips over his own feet when playing with her. Sometimes he'll accidentally jump on her! But when she growls he backs off, he is pretty submissive in that department, which we are lucky! I think it is just puppy play. She is a female and smaller, she may be like "Hey! I'm smaller than you so when I growl back off a bit". I think once she hits 8 weeks or 9 weeks she'll be more playful and big enough to try and take him on!
She did great in her crate last night! I didn't need to get up till 7am!
OMG I thought that was Duke with a stuffed animal! How cute.
Yes my 2 made lots of play growl noise when playing.
But it can also be a back off message his play type may just be too rough for her.
I think Duke is actually teaching her how to play and how to act. When I was trying to get her to sit Duke came up to me and sat and I told Nala to sit and Duke put his paw on her back making her sit with him, it was by far the cutest thing I've ever seen!
I really hope Duke teaches Nala some more, as he knows the house rules!
She is doing great actually! She does not howl anymore(THANK GOODNESS) but she whines a little but now only when she is in the crate for 5 minutes before she falls asleep. But she is doing a lot better, no longer whines with day-to-day activity. Having her around Duke a lot more is essential as she needs socialization with other dogs constantly so she doesn't freak out and get excited every time she sees one!
My second golden, Leo, would growl when playing when he was a puppy and at first I thought they were mean growls but it was just him playing. He ended up being a "talker" which I LOVE. My first golden (Who wasn't a talker) never did that so it took some getting used to. Helo is mainly a non-talker but once in a great while he will do the play growl talking and I just love it.
I'm so glad Nala is doing better today!! You will be amazed, at how much the puppy will try to copy Duke! My Nala is a good teacher. Only problem-she is teaching her bad habits, as well:doh: My daughter's Shi Tzu taught an old hunting beagle that I rescued ( couldn't housebreak her, for the life of me!) to go on the pee pad. She just watched him and started using it. I was floored!
Oh my gosh! She's a cutie-patootie!! I still cannot believe you got one so soon!! You get points for being extremely brave !
I've been around animals my entire life and if it's one thing I've learned, it's similar to siblings where unless the situation becomes life-threatening, I generally let them work it out amongst themselves. My boy Mozzie will jump and pounce on our smaller Coton de Tulear dog, Bailey. At times, it's almost painful to watch and I will clap my hands or say 'Stop IT'. None of which work by the way! In the end, Bailey has to defend himself and stand his ground, which he does but boy, is Mozart ever persistent.
Please post more pictures of her because she is adorable!! I need to see that cute face
Today, Zack had to study more than usual so I took both of them and watched them. MOST STRESSFUL TIME OF MY DAY. I can see why it's difficult. You may not know this but since Zack and I are not married we choose not to live together(but we pretty much do, each of us just have our own place). Usually Duke is with Zack getting trained by him since I have Nala now. This is why it was easy, but with just only me watching them both I'm extremely stressed out.
(Good thing, Nala is asleep right now and Duke is chewing on rawhide bones!)
I'm exhausted, it's definitely easier when Zack is around. I don't know what I'd do without him with two pups! :uhoh:
I can't imagine watching two puppies at once. Just one was/is hard enough for me. They will grow up quickly though and it will all be a distant memory. I'm sure you are doing a great job!
My biggest challenge at the moment is getting Mozart to walk nicely on the leash. Easier said than done. I finally purchased the 'Easy Walk Harness' and it's a lifesaver. I wish I had done it months ago. As a result of his earlier pulling, I delevoped 'tennis elbow' which is extremely painful. I feel if he pulls my arm one more time, it will be ripped out of its socket
Nala sure is cute! I think you can only take things day by day or you risk going insane!
It's not easy, but it's getting better day by day. I set up a system where I take each one out together if no one else is in the house. They constantly play with each other which results in Nala falling asleep faster! She also has really gotten use to her crate, she no longer whines in it unless she has to go to the bathroom! I've even pushed her limits and make her stay in it for an hour or two just throughout the day when I'm here just to get her use to it more. I think it's worked amazingly. It also gives me the time to work on Duke and train him.
This was them last night as Zack had the crates of both in his truck, but the night went extremely well only woke up at 3am to take them both out but then they slept till 7:30am!
What I'm realizing is Nala is very petite. It's hard to train her since she is very small. We've begun leash training, she does well for the most part. I've been teaching her sit and she almost has it. She also is starting to learn "come" but we have to work on it more.
Is 7 weeks to small to be teaching? I feel like she isn't really understanding things right now.
You can start, but try not to have great expectations. Afterall, they're not even usually away from their litter at 7 weeks. They're still playing and biting each other, just learning to be. Work on housetraining, and there's no reason not to start a little sit and name recognition, but give her a chance. She's still a young baby.
I got Zelda at 6 weeks old, and though we started training early, she didn't really seem to comprehend until she was about 9-10 weeks old. THOUGH when she did catch on, she focused very well, because she'd been practicing focusing on me.
I'm not expecting anything huge per say, but I can tell she doesn't look directly at me. Meaning she doesn't seem she is actually listening. I guess I'll keep at it until she finally gets it. She is just so little, I think she only weighs 5lbs or 6lbs. Tiny tiny little thing!
Okay, I think I was wrong about leash training. I'm actually having to drag her around most of the time. Now spending a little more time it's difficult. But she'll get it right? Duke seemed to be much easier. Duke doesn't help by the way, if anything he doesn't know when to stop playing with her even when she snarls at him to say stop because she wants to sleep!
Oh what an adorable pair!! I hope they're getting along brilliantly. I have two boys, and one is very vocal and the other is pretty much mute. The vocal boy whines like your Duke, and he even moans and groans in his sleep and whenever he lies down. He also does the low growl during play, so I wouldn't worry about it unless the rest of Duke's body language is showing that its not play?!
She will absolutely get the leash training. 7 weeks is so so young, it could take another 8 weeks for her to do a full walk without you having to pick her up!
Dogs are great for letting each other know what they want. They will teach each other their own signals. I'd leave them to it unless things escalate.
One of my boys is much lazier than the other, and lies down for a rest mid-play. The other boy does his best to get him to play again, dragging him around by the collar and leg! He often gets up to play again!
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