Final Obedience Command “DOWN”
The command “DOWN” is the next command used in your obedience program. The command “DOWN” tells your puppy to lie down until you give them another command. This command will be used mostly around your home. Teach your puppy the “DOWN” command by having them “SIT”. When they sit give them some praise, know face your puppy and take their front paws and pull them toward you. When your puppies’ chest touches the ground, command “DOWN” and give them praise. Some puppies will immediately try to stand up. Should this happen correct your puppy with the command “NO” and repeat the “DOWN” process again. The “DOWN” command can usually be taught in 3 to 4 lessons but don’t worry
if it takes longer. When your puppy becomes comfortable with the “DOWN” command use the “STAY” command to have them remaining in the “DOWN” position.
Friday was the day that Razzles had enough. It was a very, very sad day. We had to have our Razzles put to rest. On Tuesday Razzles began to go down hill. She was diagnosed with Canine degenerative disc disease on 06/12. After a gallant effort on her part it was time to end the struggle on her part.
After a month of steroids and showing all sings of being able to live a some what normal life it all became too much for her. She was unable to go upstairs at night to bed and she was not happy about that. Her mobility was limited to just walking outside on a leash. She was eating, sleeping and walking around well. She was excepting everything well until Tuesday July 6th. Everything began to change. She began to have trouble walking and her walks became much shorter. Each day was a little more noticeable. On Friday I took her outside and she was very unsteady. As soon as we were outside she sat down and looked at me. Razzles would make no attempted to move. For the first time through this nightmare Razzles showed signs of pain in her face. Tears came in my eyes and I had the feeling in me that it was time to end this on her part. Through this entire struggle Razzles showed no signs of pain until Friday. It was also the first time she would not attempt to stand. Razzles was very frustrated during this ordeal but seemed to accepting everything. We took Razzles to our veterinary that afternoon and I carried her inside. When all was over it was a big relief to see her with no pain and frustration. As much as I hurt inside I was sure the right decision was made for Razzles.
http://www.sunsetlabradors.com/sunsetblog/2010/07/
The first time I took Chisum to water he was 7 months old. By the time Chisum was 7 weeks old it was mid September and the pool was closed up. The water temperature in our area was cold. The first time your Labrador retriever puppy experiences water you want them to have a good experience. Chisum would have had a shocking experience back in September. It was the end of March and the weather was hot for this time of year; so off to my hunting club “Chisum” and I went.
My hope was to have get his feet wet and maybe go in the water up to his chest. Wow I got a lot more then I had hoped for. The first few dummies I tossed a few feet in the water and he was in the water with his feet and seemed to enjoy it. So I tossed a dummy about 5 feet out and “Chisum” was in the water up to his chest. After a few dummy tosses of about 5 feet and a wet lab I was satisfied, but “Chisum” seemed to want some more. So I tossed a dummy about 10 feet out in the water. With no hesitation “Chisum” jumped in the water and was swimming after the dummy. Needless to say I was very happy with this. The next dummy I tossed was 10 feet and once again “Chisum” jumped right in, however when he went to grab the dummy he missed it and pushed it out further in the water. “Chisum” returned to shore without the dummy. As we both watched the dummy float out further in the water, “Chisum” kept pacing the shore line and all at once he dived in. He swam at least 30 feet and retrieved the dummy to me. After a few more retrieves in water at about 30 feet or more “Chisum” was tired and I was more then satisfied. Not only did he get his feet and chest wet, I had a lab that was retrieving from water. This was only the second time I had a Labrador retriever swimming and retrieving from water their first time to water. The other lab was my “Sunny”. I knew at this point I had a special lab.
I have not talked about “Chisum’s” father a lot but I thought this would be a good time. We purchased Deep Run Sunset’s Rock at Deep Run Farms in Virginia. I had followed their website for a long time. http://www.deeprunretrievers.com. They are one of the most respected Labrador Retriever kennels in the country. At the time they had a Yellow male named GMHRCH Silverbrook Return to Sender, MH they called him Elvis. I had seen Elvis on numerous TV shows and I fell in love with him. I knew I wanted to have a black male out of Elvis and every litter that Elvis produced was sold before they were born. So we put our name on the list. 8 months later we had a black male pick of the litter. The litter we had waited for so long for was born and their was 1 black male. We were asked if we wanted to wait for the next litter since their was only 1 black male? Our response was absolutely not. 8 weeks later off to Virginia we went. Deep Run Farms was beyond anything I could imagine; I was speechless about their entire operation. Once we reached Virginia they were not hard to find: there are road signs every where directing you to Deep Run Farms. We now had our black male puppy and we were on our way home with our “Rock”. No wonder “Rock” was born on February 14th Valentine’s day because he is the most lovable of all our Labs. He works in all kind of weather, you all remember the blizzard we had last year? The photo bellow is right in the middle of the storm. I guess it is no wonder why “Chisum” retrieves like he does. I will be discussing his retrieving in our next post.
May was not the best of months for Arlene and I. My mom lost all her vision in her left eye. She was diagnosed with a macular hole in both eyes, the left eye being by far the worst. A macular hole is a small break in the macula, located in the center of the eye’s light-sensitive tissue called the retina. The macula provides the sharp, central vision we need for reading, driving, and seeing fine detail. A macular hole can cause blurred and distorted central vision. Macular holes are related to aging and usually occur in people over age 60. She had surgery on the left eye May 12th to repair the hole in her eye and hopefully return at least some eye sight. After the surgery she had to sit in a special chair with her head down 45 minutes every hour for the entire day. They call this face down healing and the entire process lasts 14 days. Needless to say I was back and forth from home to Middletown 5 to 6 times a day. All seems to be going well at this point with my mother and I go to her house once our twice a day now. So during the month of May not much was done at home. I was able to work “Chisum” 15 minutes twice a day. All of our training was done at home and he was not a happy Labrador retriever. “Chisum” usually goes most places with me and I was unable to take him out very much this past May. Hopefully things will settle down and we will become buddies again this month.
The “COME” command is extremely important now and in the future. You want your pup to come to you now and as an adult. You don’t want them running around wild and have no control over them. Teach the “COME” command with a six foot leash. Place your puppy in the sit and stay position and walk in front of them to the end of the leash and keep repeating “STAY”. Kneel down and clap your hands and say “COME”, pull the leash toward you keep repeating “COME”. Praise them for coming to you and repeat this and eventually you will not need to pull on the leash. Increase the distance between you and your puppy by using a fifteen or twenty foot lead. You now can replace the voice command with a whistle if you would like. Two quick tweets on the whistle is the command for come, start by commanding with “COME” and then two quick whistle tweets. Eventually you will be able to drop the command “COME” and use just the whistle. The “COME” command is the most important command you will use.
The “STAY” command is also taught on the leash. Once you have your dog sitting to your side, hold the leash tight and up in the air and put your other hand in front of your pups face as if to say stop and say “STAY” firmly. Now with your hand still signaling “STAY” try walking to the front of him. Should he move place him right back into the sitting position. Continue to keep repeating “STAY”. Repeat this several times until he stays in a sitting position. Once he stays in a sitting position gradually increase the space you stand in front of him and remember to continually keep using the command “STAY”. When you are able to increase the distance between try dropping the leash, should he move keep repeating over until he stays in a sitting position. When you are satisfied that he knows the “STAY” command you can now move onto the “COME” command.
Walk with the dog on a very short leash at your side. Command “SIT”. Pull his head up with the leash and with your other hand push his rear down. Command “SIT” again when he is sitting. Repeat this over and over for 5 to 10 minutes at a time. In a short period of time you will only have to touch his rear and he will sit. When he sits without touching his rear you can advance to a whistle if you would like. When you command “SIT”, use one short whistle blast. In a few days reverse the order to 1 short whistle blast and then command “SIT”. It will not be long before you will be able to stop using the voice command “SIT”; he will do it by whistle. He will also begin to sit when you stop walking. Now we can move on to the stay command. Remember to keep using all the commands that you have taught them and give them lot of praise.
The Labrador retriever is ready and willing to work in all kind of weather. Chisum and I had to deal with all kinds of weather this past month. We had 3 feet of snow over a 2 day period. Then we had 6 inches of rain a few days later. But as you can see by the photo below, a Labrador retriever is always ready for training. Remember this Lab is only 6 months old and the snow in most areas was over his head. Chisum was actually more willing then I was.
Walk with your puppy on a short leash at your side. I train all our new pups to walk on the left, reason being I shoot right handed. Should you plan to hunt your retriever teach them to heel on the opposite side that you shoot. Not planning on hunting your retriever then walk him on the side you feel comfortable with. Walk slowly and keep the leash tight and keep repeating the word “Heel”, make sure you keep them at your side and don’t let them walk ahead of you or lag behind. Should they move ahead tug the leash back to bring them back to your side. The same goes if they lag behind only tug on the leash forward to bring them to your side. Remember all the while you are teaching this keep repeating the word “Heel”. Teaching your puppy to heel at your side should only take a day or two. Once he has learned the heel command and is walking at your side you can start to make some turns. Turn to the left and right and even due a complete turns to go in the opposite direction. Make him stay at your side by tugging lightly on the leash. The objective is for them to learn to follow and watch your movement.
