Thought it was time for another Sgt. Butter update. [
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He's almost 11 weeks old now, and he is MASSIVE. He last weighing was last Saturday at the vet, and he was 22 pounds...and he's grown since then, so he probably weighs a little bit more. But 22 pounds at 10 weeks!! Geez! [sm=eek.gif]
He's been to the vet three times now, and everything always checks out just fine. He has a slightly unusually high pulse rate, which I've noticed myself and the vet has always commented on, but they say that other than the actual heartrate, his heart sounds fine so they don't think it's anything to worry about at this point.
He's super smart and super trainable- In the last few days I've taught him "sit," "speak," "lie down," and "stay." He usually understands what I want him to do after only 3 or 4 tries, and from there it's just a matter of gettingn him to do it reliably- since he's pretty big on exploring and he gets tired of hearing me bark commands at him after 10 minutes or so.
His only really bad habit at this point is rushing the door when it's opened. We're working on it, and he's getting much better already, but there are times when he just can't resist and guiltily tries to get outside.
His recall is surprisingly good outdoors. Doing any training outside is difficult since he's SO interested in his environment, but he comes when called pretty much without fail. He may poke a bit, and make it clear that he doesn't want to, but he comes. [
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He loves pulling, so I've been introducing him to the basics of springpole and starting to develop his bite- nothing major until he's about 18 months, but I want him to at least have the basics down. I've also been introducing him to a harness, and letting him drag empty soda bottles around, since I'd like to do weight pulling with him when he's old enough, as long as he checks out okay healthwise.. If not competitively (I'm not sure if dogs have to be registered or not to compete, I think they do) then at least at home as a fun pastime and to keep him in shape. I'm also considering MAYBE doing some bitework with him, but I really need to research it more before making a decision on that.
So anyway, pictures!
I tried to get one of him pulling, but every time I picked up the camera he dropped the toy. Figures. [8D]