- Location
- Cornwall , UK
Reuben is eleven months old today and so yes, one would expect changes but there has been a massive shift over the past month or so . He is now passionate about retrieving , actually preferring his ball/dummy over treats every time . I`ve found this passion to be a fantastic tool , especially when around distractions as he will not even look at other dogs if we are engrossed with his ball/dummy , this is great as he is by nature a very sociable ( read excitable ! ) young lad who used to accost any poor unsuspecting human he came across ! He no longer jumps up, thank goodness as he is now 35 kilos and rising 
, still gets very excited when anyone visits home, but he is slowly improving , bless him .
His recall is grand , working three ways , whistle , voice or hand signals . I am convinced that his awful experience in the forest a couple of months ago has made him aware of the importance of recall as it has been fantastic ever since that awful day . He is a very loving dog , adores his cuddles and snuggling up close but morphs into a grown up big boy once we get out and about . He still tends to pull on lead at the start , fortunately most of our walks are 95% off lead , just using the lead until it is safe to release him , same on the homeward trip . Coming back , he will walk beautifully to heal , most likely because he is tired out ! Reuben is very protective towards Nelly , getting quite upset if she is having one of her little chiari caused episodes , and he watches her on walks , if she lags behind too much for his liking , he will round her up x
I dont mind admitting that I have found it hard work and tiring , especially in the first few months when I wondered what the heck I had done , but it has all been worth while , we adore our boy who is making a smashing dog , he has his moments of course but there is no perfect dog , we love him very much indeed xxxxx
, still gets very excited when anyone visits home, but he is slowly improving , bless him . His recall is grand , working three ways , whistle , voice or hand signals . I am convinced that his awful experience in the forest a couple of months ago has made him aware of the importance of recall as it has been fantastic ever since that awful day . He is a very loving dog , adores his cuddles and snuggling up close but morphs into a grown up big boy once we get out and about . He still tends to pull on lead at the start , fortunately most of our walks are 95% off lead , just using the lead until it is safe to release him , same on the homeward trip . Coming back , he will walk beautifully to heal , most likely because he is tired out ! Reuben is very protective towards Nelly , getting quite upset if she is having one of her little chiari caused episodes , and he watches her on walks , if she lags behind too much for his liking , he will round her up x
I dont mind admitting that I have found it hard work and tiring , especially in the first few months when I wondered what the heck I had done , but it has all been worth while , we adore our boy who is making a smashing dog , he has his moments of course but there is no perfect dog , we love him very much indeed xxxxx
. I think it took me nearly 3 years to get to the same point with Cassie 
a credit to all your training