Chook turns 4 months on Wednesday, and he has been living with us for a month now. What a great little man!, I think in the silent times :). Chook's good points:
1. He is super good-natured. He is very easy-going and loves people. He is a piece of cake to handle - he can already have his nails clipped with no drama, behaves for brushing and ear cleaning. Teeth handling needs a bit more work, but he is not very mouthy (at least when it comes to chewing...).
He has been puppy classes twice a week for 4 weeks. This was a good idea as he learnt about friendly dogs. In a few weeks he went from hesitant with other dogs to Mr Outgoing. His best buddy from puppy school was a huuuge Am Staff puppy. From Sen he has learnt that dogs are not always in the mood for play, and that wise puppies make polite enquiries about play enthusiasm status before barging in.
2. He is very confident. He doesn't mind things that go bump in the night, and recovers quickly to investigate things he has initial fear of. He is still a bit afraid of traffic, but he is after all a country boy and this is the inner city. We spend a lot of time on a certain bench at a certain road intersection - like a pair of homeless people watching the world go by.
So far he has had the great benefit of lots of opportunities. He has done quite a few café lunches and dinners at people's houses. He does not have much capacity for long walks yet but has done a nice mix of bush and urban strolling. He has been to a few agility trials and handled the environment really well. Next weekend he is off to obedience school.
3. He is a very well-structured dog. Oh yes and he is handsome and he knows it :)
All of these are great attributes! I am happy that he has them. He is everything his breeder said he would be and more :):)
Now on to the "room for improvements":
1. Love is lost here due to his somewhat extreme, split your ears from 100 m piercing bark. He is a young man with a lot to say, and often. However everyone (man and dog) is on his case about it and the message is getting through - keep it closed young man, nobody likes it. He has stopped barking in the car, and for the most part when training. Sad fact of inner city living is that the barking needs to go ASAP. The good thing is it is mostly excitement/attention-seeking barking, not barking at actual things and he doesn't seem to do it when home alone.
2. He does not really offer much during training - actually he doesn't offer anything. All of my previous dogs have been great free-shapers. Chook needs to be lured to start things off. I find this a bit frustrating as I find shaping great - tires them out and gets a more active behaviour. Good thing though it isn't the only tool in the box.
He is fairly toy motivated, motivated by simple attention, but not very food motivated (sometimes not at all and there are few things he will work for more than a few attempts for). Motivational challenges are, after all, to be expected for some individuals not from traditional working breeds.
Overall he is a great addition to life! Sen is on a whole much happier now that she has a playmate.
