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The puppy Bagheera, week one

6K views 55 replies 20 participants last post by  Longstocking 
#1 ·
On Labor Day we picked up our 1/2 Golden, 1/2 Labrador Retriever puppy. Today is his 8 week birthday.

Wow. It's been almost 11 years since I've had a puppy. What a joy he is! He's about the sweetest thing imaginable. Loves to lick faces and nibble ears, and is obsessed with necklaces. I took the whole week off to welcome him home, so here are my initial thoughts and observations.

  1. He seems very smart. In his 7th week of life he's already learned sit, speak, and shake. He's working on "down", and "come" is also coming along.
  2. He'd never had a collar before, and spent his first three-four days trying to scratch it off. He kept walking funny because he was constantly wanting to sit and scratch the collar.
  3. He disapproves of leashes. Walking him is interesting. :)
  4. He has not been stepped on yet. See #3 above. There've been several close calls averted only by my nimble catlike reflexes. :)
  5. Coccidia and diarrhea are his only medical problems. He's on Primol for that.
  6. Potty training is going well, but see #5 above. As far as we know, he has yet to pee in the house. I am knocking on wood.
  7. He's learning to be a bit more independent. That's good and bad as we don't have a fenced yard. I fear losing him at night in the darkness.
  8. HAWKS! Several times now, a hawk has circled or gotten close to check him out as a potential meal.
  9. He's not big on water yet, but we've not really exposed him to too much.
  10. Today is his first day at puppy day care. I hope he does well. It's kinda expensive, so we look forward to the day he can be left at home and not locked in his cage.
  11. He sleeps a lot. Bursts of activity and long naps seem to be his forte.

Here's one of his first pictures at home.
 

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#2 ·
Congrats on your new furbaby!!! he is a real cutie!! I have a big place in my heart for black dogs.

They are all smart, capable and willing! Enjoy your pup! Time flies by so quickly, take the time to 'roll in the grass', and enjoy the journey, they grow up so fast!

All the best to you and Bagheera!
Hope you will share your adventures!
 
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#7 ·
The puppy Bagheera, week two

We made it to week 2! :) Bagheera turns 9 weeks old today. What a simply wonderful joy he is. Has NOT figured out potty training but is making progress towards that goal. He's on new medication for the diarrhea. Methnazone or somesuch. Slight improvement thus far. Other highlights from week 2:

He's learned "no bite" and has limited mastery of it. We need to watch him better around cords.

He's almost too plump to fit through the gate they have at daycare. Almost. :)

Still hates the leash. He wants to go at a slower pace and examine the world. Haven't been able to do much off leash stuff yet but we're working on it.

His nickname is Squirt. His nickname is Beard-biter. His nickname is Yappy. :)

Stay. This word does not mean to him what I think it means.

He's a very low-energy dog. He can zoom around but he gets tired and snoozes a lot. Loves to play with his purple guy toy and even fetches toys on occasion.

I can't walk him anyplace there are people unless I plan extra time. He's a magnet to dog-lovers and gets pets and snugs from everyone he meets.

My life is blessed with him in it.

Here he is shaking dry after a bath.
 

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#10 ·
Bagheera week 3

Today my puppy is 10! Three weeks have flown by. He's more than I had hoped for. While he did not replace Fenris, my thoughts of Fenris are fewer now, even though his collar hangs just outside our back door. Every time I carry Bagheera out we bump into Fenris' collar and he playfully bats at it. I still miss him, just as much, but he doesn't occupy my every waking moment. Most of my every waking moment nowadays is spent watching the puppy, training the puppy, walking the puppy, playing with the puppy.

Highlights from week 3:

Potty training is going well, as long as we watch him. He apparently ran off 3 times while I wasn't watching him yesterday and pooped in our bedroom. He's almost done with his pills and his diarrhea is gone, so at least there's that positive.

He's not the most confident guy. Still scared of lots of things. A dog in a fenced yard charged at him barking, and puppy was like "Oh no! I'm outta here!" and he hi-tailed it to the end of the leash.

He's discovering he doesn't mind being wet. He visited me in the shower this morning. He's VERY curious about creeks and such, but with floodwaters threatening my home town of Cedar Rapids we haven't gone swimming yet. Maybe soon. He's curious!

He and my son are great play partners. Raucous, loud, silly, with tail awag. I love it.

So smart. Some things are hard, like come, and stay, but he's trying.

He was initially scared of a stuffed money that leered at him over the edge of a table, but that didn't last long.

Pretty much slept like a rock last night after my son wore him out playing yesterday. His ability to hold his potty is quite good, he slept for 6+ hours without asking to go out once.

So, Bagheera is 10 weeks old today. Tomorrow, my son turns 10 years old. Appropriately I made a portrait of the two of them yesterday. They grow up so fast!
 

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#12 ·
Bagheera, 11 weeks old today

Another week has passed and my puppy is growing bigger and stronger every day. He's also been exposed to kennel cough! Ack (as he would say!)! No other symptoms other than the hacking cough. Vet gave him Primor again. Doesn't seem to help much, but I think that's expected. Primor is probably given as a ward against secondary infections.

We stayed at a farm house this past weekend. My son loves chickens so we wanted to treat him to a chicken farm for his 10th birthday. The chickens fascinated Bagheera!

Some other accomplishments:

Potty training continues. He doesn't quite get it yet, but I think he will.

He's up to 12 pounds, doubling his weight in 4 weeks. He's a growing boy!

I need to remind myself often that he's not Fenris. He's 11 weeks old. Keep expectations low!

He's no longer the youngest at his daycare. A black Lab named Daisy was there this morning. They argued about who was cuter. :)

We've had to increase leashed time due to occasional games of catch me if you can. I can still catch him. That won't always be the case.


Still a lil' stinker and we all think he's pretty neat. Here he is examining a chicken.
 

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#15 ·
Your little puppy is so very cute! I love the photo you took of him with your son. He looks like he's thinking -- I could chase that chicken and maybe even catch him!!!
 
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#17 ·
It's interesting to note both the puppy and the chicken's reactions. The chickens were somewhat curious, but once they realized he had the shape of a predator, curiosity went by the wayside and they turned, well, chicken. :) Bagheera of course showed no fear, only curiosity and some mild stalking. He gave chase only once, and briefly, as he knew he was on a leash.

This "game" has been played out millions of times over the eons. Predator and prey. Even our domesticated friends know the roles, very well.
 
#18 ·
It's interesting to note both the puppy and the chicken's reactions. The chickens were somewhat curious, but once they realized he had the shape of a predator, curiosity went by the wayside and they turned, well, chicken. :) Bagheera of course showed no fear, only curiosity and some mild stalking. He gave chase only once, and briefly, as he knew he was on a leash.



This "game" has been played out millions of times over the eons. Predator and prey. Even our domesticated friends know the roles, very well.


Not always:). My Husky/Shepard would watch as my boyfriend's cockatoo would come down from her perch, strut over to the food bowl, grab a piece of kibble and crawl back up her cage. It was hilarious to watch. I believe she got nipped in the nose once and that's all it too kind:).


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#19 · (Edited)
Bagheera, 12 weeks old today

Another week! Twelve weeks old today. This puppy has been nothing but a blessing in my life. He has accomplished so much in the five weeks he has been with us. Here are some of his accomplishments so far.

No potty accidents all week. He asks to go out, sitting by the door and whining. What a smart little chap!

He's over his KC and feeling his oats. Bit my son on Saturday when he got too wild and was trying to bite his shirt - hit skin. My son forgave and forgot. Puppy was informed that that is not acceptable behavior. Overall, he's not a hard biter and is always doing it in play, but puppy teeth are sharp!

Water play! Yesterday we took a squeaky ball down to a stream. My son and I braved the chilly water and waded in, and puppy followed along! He didn't swim, as he didn't venture into deep enough water, but it was a joy to see him splash about. Unfortunately he found the water a bit too chilly and was shivering a bit, so we headed out of the shade and he dried and warmed up nicely in the October sun.

He loves the kitchen. This is the room of rooms, THE place to be, if there are humans in it! He has been employed as a minor pre-dishwasher when we have puppy-safe meals.

Zoomies. He has them occasionally :)

He has discovered the remains of our tomato patch. He was out there eating them. At least this is something edible - he usually seems to prefer leaves and dirt and sticks. He did also eat a grasshopper yesterday.

He can now get out of the car on his own. He can't get in the car yet, but we'll work on that. Speaking of car, I never realized but you don't need to press the button on the gear shift (automatic) to go from drive to neutral. Ask me how I discovered this. :) Puppy insists on having his head near me, his rear end in the passenger seat, laying across the cup holders. If he gets TOO close to me his body can slide up next to the gear shift and... yep! Driving down the highway and all of a sudden we're slowing WAY down. Took me a couple secs to realize what was happening!

He's discovered Milkbones. He likes them. At first they were too hard for him to chew, now he downs them like a champ. He also tears through a small rawhide chew in about 5 minutes.

That's about it! I'm so happy with this little guy, and proud of him. He's a picture of him doing his first water retrieve, of his red squeaky ball. As you can tell by the picture he's a future dock dogs champion. :)
 

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#22 ·
13 weeks today!

Another week has passed, another week filled with growth and new experiences. I am so proud of this little guy. He keeps amazing me with the decisions he makes. Most of them are good, and correct, but he is a puppy and some are not so good. Nipping at my son can be too much, especially when he's just emerged from the shower and dangly bits are displayed! Overall though, this dog is simply low-energy. Calm, even. He certainly hasn't found his passion in life. When we brought Fenris home we had a stick-retrieving maniac of a yellow Lab as our current dog. Fenris adopted that devotion quickly. By age 6 months or so he could also out-hustle the yellow Lab and get to the stick first. From then on, two sticks had to be thrown, and often, Fenris was so fast, so fanatic, that he'd end up getting both.

Highlights from this past week:

His first visit to the dog park. Not really a dog park, just a place people take their dogs for some off-leash strolling. He did great! Didn't hurt that this was Sunday morning, and the park was filled with Labs and Goldens.

He fetched a stick on a hike yesterday. Pretty good for him. He's such a character.

He retrieved a grasshopper. You shoulda seen how proud he was, trotting towards me with prize in mouth. Such a soft mouth too, the grasshopper was unharmed - but no way was it going to escape! We tried rescuing it but he kept grabbing it off the ground. Eventually we gave up. Not sure whether he ate it or released it.

We got him one of those doggy puzzle box things. He took to it immediately. Has the general idea figured out but still lacks perfect execution. He does love it though!

He has progressed form merely poking his head into the shower to full-on climbing in with me. Silly pup!


Here he is, doing that stick-fetch thing!
 

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#23 ·
Well,it's week 14.

Puppy is doing great. Almost went swimming for a stick yesterday but he lacked the confidence in his ability. I encouraged but didn't push him to do it. It will come. The genes are strong. He loves to "go for a ride" and even seems perkier for walks now. We still have an issue with him and my son and nipping, so he's no angel. No puppy is. My son adores him though. We will work it out.

Here he is with my son on a hike at the off leash park. Bagheera is ensuring the off-leash part. :)
 

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#26 ·
Boy and his dog



What a beautiful picture of your son and Bagheera, both are just precious!0:)
Have you thought about using a life jacket while he is swimming?
We used them for Tucker and Tonka, until we were confident they were really good swimmers.
 
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#30 ·
We have reached 15 weeks! Bagheera has now spent more time with us than his mother and littermates. He's a happy, smart, generally calm puppy. I get compliments all the time on how well-behaved he is. Slow, steady progress, a soft hand that's always got a treat in it, and loving welcoming arms are the tools I have used to get this far. I will keep using them. How much is training and how much is his genetic makeup? I never discount the value of genes. He's a "mutt" but a deliberately bred mutt bringing together two wonderful purebred breeds. I give a ton of credit to his physical makeup for his personality.

Highlights from the past week:

Had a tick. Tick was removed. Still waiting for the first hard freeze here.

Went to his first ever house party. Not really dog people but they said well-mannered pets were welcome, so I took him. He was awesome, such a little gentleman. I kept him leashed but didn't really need to. He stayed nearby. His only violation was chewing through the leash! I've had that leash for 20+ years. All it took was a few moments distraction and sharp puppy teeth did the rest.

He ate pumpkin seeds. We carved pumpkins last night and those were too hard for him to resist. Not sure how many he ate. I don't expect them to get digested though, unless his stomach acid can do a number on them. He swallows them.

He's finally able to get in the car without assistance. He also pretty much stays where he is told to stay in the car, although this morning he got frightened of something, and suddenly the passenger seat freaked him out. He ended up on my lap. He's starting to show a few signs of fear, coinciding with the close of the socialization period. At the house party he was freaked out by their door mat and refused to walk on it. Funny how they perceive the world at times!

I never taught him this but he goes to the door when he needs to go potty. If nobody sees him, he barks! Is that not a smart guy, figuring it all out on his own? He's not 100% potty trained, more like 95% but at 15 weeks I can't complain. His recall is amazing for his age. At the dog park I visited yesterday he came running when he was over a hundred feet away. I think he thought I had abandoned him, and was relieved to hear my voice, but still. He CAME when called, at the dog park, with 20-30 dogs all around him.


Here he is, showing why squirt guns are NOT effective dog deterrents, at least not for Golden-Lab pups! :)
 

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#31 ·
Week 16 Puppy update, whether you want it or not. :)


Still hasn't learned he can swim. I will never push him in, but don't think any of my other dogs were as skittish about water. He loves to run and splash in shallow water though. He was retrieving tennis balls from the dog park pond.

I'm not sure he'll ever "get" potty training. Seems like he's potty trained unless there's nobody right there to let him out when he needs to go, so he'll crap by the door. And last night he was playing in the living room and suddenly wandered off, into a bedroom, and peed on some clothes on the floor. Huh?? Why? Where did THAT come from? He didn't even go to the door and ask. Now, I wasn't there, so maybe he figures the humans he was with were too stupid to know to let him out? Am I the only one he communicates with, assuming the rest can't understand him?

Still doesn't like to go for walks on the leash in the morning. Lazybones. :)

He stuck his head out the car window for the first time. He really likes that, but he's still too little to get there without a lap to sit on.

He has a consistent, cute behavior when he sees dogs approaching him when we're in off-leash places. He lays down and becomes a snake in the grass. He doesn't go greet them, he waits for them to come and discover him. I thought it was just for dogs, but he did it with a jogger on a trail yesterday.



That's pretty much it for the week. He's such a wonderful dog. I am blessed to have him. SO easy-going! We play with his treats when he gets them, and he wags his tail and plays a bit of keep away, knowing I'd never really eat his chewy or whatever he has.

Here he is at the trail yesterday, being all cute with a stick.
 

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