Sherlock

srdogtrainer

srdogtrainer

Experienced Member
I am getting a new puppy this weekend. He is more like a foster, I will be training him for Service work. He is a 7 month old black lab mix. He is coming from 'All for the Love of Animals Pet Rescue Inc' in Va. I am very excited.... :D I can't find his picture right now but he is very cute. More photos and videos coming soon.
 
srdogtrainer said:
I am getting a new puppy this weekend. He is more like a foster, I will be training him for Service work. He is a 7 month old black lab mix. He is coming from 'All for the Love of Animals Pet Rescue Inc' in Va. I am very excited.... :D I can't find his picture right now but he is very cute. More photos and videos coming soon.
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Congratulations! I look forward to seeing pics and vids. How does River take to new dogs in the home?
 
River barely blinks at them LOL! He is so used to me training other dogs, bringing new dogs home for long or short term. Service dogs in training, foster dogs, pet sitting...

He isn't very playful anymore and he kind of ignores other dogs a lot of the time but he is very tolerant and respects dogs he doesn't know well. He can be very cautious with food etc. For example when I had Gomer I gave him (Gomer) a treat but he was to insecure to eat it so he just lay there with the treat in front of him. So River seeing that it wasn't getting eaten really wanted it but he doesn't want to challenge another dog. So he will very slowly and carefully step into their space and inch forward a bit at a time, testing to make sure the other dog is okay with it. Almost like if I was shaping him to pick up an item, each time waiting to see if he is going to get a click, but in this scenario he is waiting to see if the other dog is going to react or protest in anyway. Then wants he decides it is safe he will snatch it up.

It is actually kind of funny because he is a very food motivated dog but he is also a submissive dog too.
 
I have my puppy in training. He is about 7 months old. He is a sweetheart. He was very stressed with the long ride here, being passed from person to person. He is shy/ reserved at first but I am hopeful he will continue to come out of his shell. Overall he has been very well behaved. We have a bit of work around other dogs because he can guard toys or snap when he is started by River suddenly appearing. This makes me a bit nervous because RIver is generally a good dog for even aggressive dogs to meet because he is so calm. I have only had him one full day so far so he needs time to settle in. I am expecting the worst but hoping for the best.
 
Top 5 Thinks Sherlock is Really Good At!

House Breaking (NO ACCIDENTS!)
Loose leash Walking!
Relaxing when people are settled.
Taking Treats GENTLY!
Attention to his Person.


Top 5 Things Sherlock Needs Work On!

Socialization with Humans and Other Dogs!
Polite Manners with Other Dogs!
Not Jumping on People!
Alone Time.
Leave it/ Not jumping up to Steal Food!
 
running_dog said:
I'm startled by how individual black labradors look now I've started to get used to them - I always sort them into domed/flat skulled, set of the ears, and then look at nose length. Sherlock seems domed headed (like Gus) in some photos but flat headed in others :confused: with quite a long nose (Gus is middling). I like the look of him.
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He must be a mix. He doesn't have 'black lab ears'. He is pretty small for a lab too. I agree with you, he is a good looking dog though. :)
 
Sherlock has come a long way already and it has not quite yet been a week. He has gone on a few field trips including Dogs and Cats Rule and Washington Crossing State Park. He took one hour class at PetSmart and then he spent the day at work with me today for the first time. He doesn't seem to have any sensitivities to sound. He is great in the car even though it was kind of traumatic for him at first after an 8 hour car ride with different people each hour. He is a lot better with River and has only barked at him once when he was in the crate and River was sniffing around it since Monday when he had three incidents of snapping/lunging/barking. I attribute it mostly to stress. He has calmed down a lot since then and is starting to be more social with people and meeting some dogs. He is very mellow and will easily calm down when people are settled. He also is doing a lot better in the crate. He kept wanting to go in the crate at PetSmart expecting a treat and if I didn't give him one he came right back out and went in again. He is a goofy little boy, very sweet and intelligent. I think he is living up to his name. He has more initiative then River and is a bit more strong willed, but he is doing well with his training.
 
Sherlock is getting the hang of retrieve. He is not as natural a retriever as River was when I got him. Today he was holding a bike horn and a furminator. He still wants to turn his head away and if he has the option he will take the item somewhere other then to me and he hasn't mastered sitting with an item, but he is doing a lot better with it. I have a lot more confidence now that he can be a retriever then I did even a few days ago. After all I have only had him just over a week! ;)
 
I'm a bit late on this thread but Sherlock is gorgeous and sounds like he's doing really well! LOL love that he's already getting you well trained with the crate game:LOL:;)
 
MaryK said:
I'm a bit late on this thread but Sherlock is gorgeous and sounds like he's doing really well! LOL love that he's already getting you well trained with the crate game:LOL:;)
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He is doing very well. Our main challenges right now.... (1) getting him use to being in a crate alone....he loves going in but doesn't like being closed in and left alone. He has been doing better with it except yesterday my sisters and I took my mom out for lunch as part of her mother's day present. We left him for 3 hours in the crate. I came back to find he had pulled a dog bed into the crate and shredded it. He also kicked the flooring out of the medal crate and ate a hole in the rug. I took the medal crate down and put the plastic one up in it's place since it is more inclosed. I also can't cover his crate even the plastic one I found out yesterday or he will eat the sheet. He does like to rip things. Anyway we need more work on crate training apparently.

and our second project..... SOCIALIZING! He is actually doing well with people now, but he needs MAJOR work with other dogs! Weird because he lived on a farm with other dogs, he played with other dogs and spent more time with dogs then humans, but he has no social skills and he acts like he is terrified of dogs!

Those are our most important things to work on right now!
 
Oh dear, does seem like Sherlock showed his disapproval of being left in a crate, but I would hate to think of what he'd have managed to get up to if left 'loose' in the house. That's not a bad record for such a short time!

Maybe, just a suggestion, next time he's in his crate a Kong stuffed with a yummy treat (maybe a couple of Kongs as he does seem to be a very determined 'chewer') would help alleviate his anxiety. I guess he doesn't like being 'closed in' with the cover. I had a dog and a cat who both objected strongly to any form of cover over their crates. The cat was worse!

That is weird with the socializing! Maybe when he was with so many other dogs he was kinda 'bullied' a bit? Made to feel very much the 'under dog' - just a thought which popped into my mind. Because one would think having spent more time with dogs than humans it would be humans he was scared of not dogs.

Dogs sure can keep us on our toes can't they! Make us think and re-think everything we thought we knew.:):rolleyes:
 
Sherlock apparently does not like kongs with peanut butter. He did like some braided bully sticks I got him though. We went to an event with vendors, music, dogs, activities etc. River came too as a demo dog. So I had to trade off with him and Sherlock. Sherlock did very well in his crate and with meeting other dogs. I was so impressed. Now we can start working on River's crawling figure 8!
 
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