Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day………..well that what it feels like with Harry’s mouthing, persistent little git. Every morning you wake up, delighted to see the little fella and after the initial excitement is over, ouchhhhhh! There, they are, those tiny pain inducing teeth, and all the time those big brown eyes are looking at you with a waggy tail to boot too! So the day starts off with a loud ahhhhh (I hate using the word no) and walking away and then ignoring him. He does respond so well to the nice, slightly babyish talk that I’m using to tell him he’s a good boy, when he’s licking me instead of biting but every morning, it seems the uninterrupted sleep resets any training that has been accomplished the day before and we are right back to square one. I know he’s only 9 weeks old but the pressure is on (thanks , dear hubby) to prove that all that I’ve learned over the last few years working with dogs (and of course the classes that I help to teach) , means that I can turn a well trained dog out. I had spoke to one client about mouthing puppies and she said with a smile ‘problems ?’ and all I could say in return was ‘Yes, I’m supposed to know what I’m talking about, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t go through the same problems as everyone else,’. Slowly but surely Harry’s mouthing is getting a little better, shorter times until we get the soft licking and if we keep going like this I’ll be happy, as will the kids. I have always found that any particular breeds that are naturally good with their mouths tend to be worse at mouthing and chewing, for example, labradors and cockers. In the meantime I’ll keep going with my method and my mantra ‘It’s just a phase, it’s just a phase, he’ll grow out of it .’ Might keep me sane.