2 posts tagged “lab”

 

Yesterday evening, we took Wrangler for his first trip to Starbucks. Of course we couldn't leave Maddie behind. And I thought it was a good opportunity to better his training and his feeling as being one of the "pack". I know that the first walk we took him and her on together the other day really made leaps and bounds in his behavior. He began listening when we gave him commands and didn't seem so ill at ease as the first couple days. I'm a big believer of walking your dog being the key to having well-behaved dogs. And I definitely believe last night's walk helped get him more into the hang of things. The dogs seem much more relaxed around each other and he seems happier.

I can handle both dogs while walking under normal circumstances. Maddie on the left and Wrangler on my right since he's stronger and I'm generally right-handed. If they were of the mind of it, I could definitely be pulled away but that's the same with even one dog of this size. They're both rather well-behaved so I think I can pretty much handle them on a walk by myself. That is until mud and little dogs are thrown into the mix. But I think I've learned something from that experience.

That will be another post.

There was a very nice woman working at Starbucks who gave each of them a doggie treat. She confided that she always carried a few in her pocket since a lot of people bring their dog and she's trying to get over a fear of dogs. We let her feed it to Maddie since we knew how she'd behave but I fed Wrangler because we've had him for a shorter period of time and weren't as sure about his behavior. Maddie's a huge teddy bear (while Wrangler is a bit more energetic but no less loving) so she pet Maddie for a little bit before going inside. The dogs behaved themselves wonderfully and I think within a few more walks, Wrangler will be in the hang of it all.

Here are some pics of the trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

His name is Wrangler. He's an 8 year old black lab from a family up in the mountains.

 

 

Unfortunately, circumstances were such that they could no longer keep him and needed to find another home for him. We had planned to drive up to get him on Wednesday but a storm came in with snow and sheets of rain. So couldn't do that. Luckily, there was a break on Saturday and it was warm and beautiful for enough time that we could go get him. Here are some pics:

 

 

Maddie was of course up to any ride. We were happy to see that her and Wrangle got along very well. He's very strong. The first time I held his leash he nearly pulled me down a hill. I'll need to train him appropriately before Rain can walk him. Even then, I might have to be the one walking him. Still, he's an absolute sweety and though we are so happy to have him, I'm saddened that it had to be such a sorrowful experience for his last family. I really felt for them as they are going through some of the things we've had to go through this year.

 

 

 

The first night went rather well. He only cried a little bit. But around midnight, I was going to bed and he jumped up into the bed with me! We have a rule about the only piece of furniture the dogs can jump up on is the couch in the sunroom since it's our most casual room. I probably would be ok with the dogs sleeping on my bed with me but my grandma made me a wonderful quilt and it can't get dirty. So, though I was temped to let him sleep like that the first night, I thought it'd be meaner not to be consistant. And I refuse to have a double standard for my dogs. So, I tried to get him to sleep on the couch in the other room. Usually Maddie sleeps up there too though they both have dog beds too. As soon as I went back to go to sleep again, he jumped up on my bed again and refused to move. Here's vid and some pics.

 

 

Don't you love how he doesn't even budge? It's only recently that he's started taking us seriously. Usually I use more of a commanding voice when I expect to be answered but it was midnight and he was so cute and I felt so bad...Eventually I got him down by moving his dog bed into my bedroom but it in all probably took about a half hour. Which is a lot when it's already midnight and you're tired. Luckily, he seems to understand the house rules now.

Last night he got a bandana like Maddie. His is Spongebob and it has dual purpose. One is he looks so fricken cute. Another is that now I can see him outside at night by following the ghostly yellow bandana prancing around the yard. Very useful, mind you. What was really cute though was when the kids were saying goodbye to him last night. Specifically my neice Jaden who just can't pronounce his name. I had to get video of her cuteness.

 

Here are some pics of the dogs today. They seem to be falling into a groove which is so nice. I'm not one of those people that loves pets the most when they are "new". I want to get through that period fast. I love having everyone snuggly fitted into the family and knowing the drill. He's a really sharp, sweet dog so it's coming along really nicely. We're very happy to have him.