Hello, friends! It’s hard to believe that this little furry heathen is 8 months old already.

He’s still full of crimes: stealing the hose, digging holes, stealing socks, chasing chickens and ducks… so we try to give him outlets where he’s allowed to do these things with our permission.

He is allowed play with the bite-proof hose and drag it around while spraying himself in the face (when it’s given to him for that purpose. No theft!) He can dig in the puppy pool, in the garden we’re turning over, in the chicken run (without the chickens!), at the beach and the pond, and in piles of boxes he’s given specifically for this purpose. He gets to go “steal” one sock from the basement’s laundry pile before we go outside in the yard provided he gives it to me before heading out. Now it’s become a game and he loves it. It satisfies his need to go downstairs and “steal” something. I’m actually going to be using this goofy quirk to help me shape distance retrieves for service tasks! He gets to “destroy” boxes and plastic bottles for fun in a controlled setting. As for chasing critters, that’s not a thing he’s allowed to do BUT we do play tug with a fuzzy toy on a long line. This seems to satisfy the drive to chase and tug!

On top of everything else, he’s definitely feeling the power of testosterone but is still about 16 months away from getting separated from his tailgate ornaments.

There have been some interesting longitudinal studies published about the downsides of pediatric spay and neuter in a variety of breeds, suggesting that it’s better to wait, if possible, until a dog’s growth plates have closed before neutering. This is what I’ve done since the early 2000s and it seems to be working well for us.

So what have we been up to, you ask?

1. General Training — all the basic obedience and good manners stuff one has to learn. He’s doing well! He has all the basics down. We’ve cut back “duration tasks” because his attention span is not the greatest at the moment for boring stay commands. And that’s okay. It’ll come back. There’s no reason to frustrate him (or me) for fun and profit.
2. Service and guide training — we’re working on a bunch of work cues and building some new skills such as the formal take, hold, bring it, and pull. He’s also learning navigational instructions when in harness and he loves every minute of it! He has figured out the difference between wearing work clothes and being a “naked dog”, which will serve him well.
3. Fulfillment — Waffles has gotten lots of opportunities to go swimming, explore ponds, check out ducks, dig, destroy, sniff, explore, and discover new things. He’s a pretty brave boy!
4. Fear Stage — This week, we’ve hit a minor fear stage. He’s suddenly barking at things that didn’t bother him before and he’s gotten a little fearful around unfamiliar things. This is totally normal — this is the age of exploration, and he’s suddenly noticing everything about the world around him. I expect him to be back on track in a week or two. Again, this is the age where, in the wild, his ancestors would be out on their own learning what can, will, or won’t kill them. We use the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Hack (describing the world to him in my best NPR voice) to remind him everything’s fine and to carry on. A puppy’s response to your calming signals can give you a real indication of whether or not they see you as their “leader”. I love seeing my worried puppy look to me for guidance as to whether or not he should freak out about something and then settle right down when he sees I’m not fussed.
5. Learning to Chill and dealing with Springtime: We’re working a lot on just learning to settle down and chill out while watching the world go by. In springtime this is particularly hard — not just for puppies, but for ALL dogs! Everything smells fresh (or gross) and new. Everyone’s back outside! So much to see! So much to smell! So many new noises! April and May are often months where pet parents struggle, temporarily, to get their dogs back to behaving like good citizens. It’s also totally normal.
6. Ignoring other dogs and wildlife: One of the hardest things to work on during adolescence. We carry some treat squeeze pouches when we walk and are doing engage/disengage/reward games where Waffles gets rewarded for noticing the distraction and disengaging (by looking at me). Partnered with the Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood Hack, this works really well. If he sees a dog coming our way while we walk and looks at it, then looks at me, I acknowledge what he saw and name it (“That’s a neighborhood friendo! I see it!”) and reward him for disengaging with it and engaging with me. Then, on we go (“Ignore the friendo. Let’s go!”) — if I am more interesting and rewarding than whatever the high-value distraction is, and he makes the choice to engage with me, then we’re making progress. If he can’t disengage, then he’s too close to the distraction and it’s time for me to step in and manage the situation on his behalf. If a dog is too aroused to pay attention, he’s not going to be able to learn, and you end up reinforcing the behavior you don’t want to see. I’ve found that the Bark Pouch treat pouches are really great for this game and we save them ONLY for this purpose.

One thing we’ve also been tackling is Waffles’ motion sickness. It got to the point where he was getting very anxious about getting into the car and would pancake the minute he thought that’s where we were heading. We consulted our vet and have started some meds for car travel. He hasn’t been sick in the car since, but he now has to undo the association of car travel and feeling sick. Here’s what we did:

1. Meclizine for distances under 20 miles, 1 hour before travel. This has helped him stop barfing! For longer distances, we have Cerenia on hand.
2. Switched out Center for Pet Safety certified crate for a CPS certified harness made by Sleepypod: Facing forwards and being able to see outside seems to have helped some.
3. Opened the windows: Now that it’s nice, keeping it nice and cool in the car, with a breeze, seems to help.
4. Sitting with The Mama in the back seat: Now that things are calmer in his vestibular system, having the reassurance of The Mama seems to have taken the edge off. I need to get him a seat cover/hammock so he feels more secure. It’s on the list!
5. Playing SNACKS IN THE CAR: We park the car in our driveway and off and on I take him out to play SNACKS IN THE CAR where we jump into the back seat and share a high-value snack. There’s a Snacks in the Car song and everything! The car is off. We’re not going anywhere. But there are SNACKS.
6. Taking short trips to his favorite place AND getting a SNACK on the way there. Waffles LOVES the nearby lake — it’s a very short drive (we usually walk back!) and he sometimes gets chicken nuggies (don’t judge) to share in the back seat on the way there. We’re trying to make the car not only the thing that takes you places, but the thing that gives you the best snacks AND takes you to the lake.

This counterconditioning will take time, but we’ll get there. We expect him to outgrow motion sickness around twelve to fourteen months, when his inner ear has caught up to the rest of him. Motion sickness in puppies is very common — sometimes it’s CAUSED BY anxiety. Sometimes it’s the CAUSE OF anxiety. Knowing which is which helps you figure out how to treat it.

My training philosophy during teenagehood is one that encourages strong bonds and leadership, and one that relieves some of the pressure of duration and distraction tasks. I scale back efforts at teaching long stays in favor of active engagement work. I put my efforts into building a strong relationship centered around the things my puppy likes to do and reward him with the things he likes most. Right now, those things are:

1. Fetching in water and chasing ducks
2. Puzzle games
3. “Explosive” obedience drills that move very fast and chain a bunch of things together, with intermittent lures
4. Task and behavior shaping
5. Chewing all-the-things
6. Playing tug
7. Hanging out outside on a leash and watching the world go by (“Chill out” game)

Waffles is growing into a lovely little dog with plenty of confidence — he’s also an absolute mooch who knows how to turn on the charm. We call it the Melt Method. He loves nothing more than leaning into people, giving them his paw to hold, and melting into a puddle at their feet to get his tummy rubbed. It also gives people the illusion that he is the most well-behaved puppy in existence as he politely goes up, leans, hands a paw over, and melts. It looks so calm! So demure! So mindful! So deliberate! That last one is absolutely accurate: he’s figured out that this behavior gets him exactly what he wants and it makes the humans coo. Great way to hide the crimes. The upshot is that he’s stopped (mostly) jumping on people to get their attention. It’s to his advantage to just go in for the dive and Melt to get what he wants.

He’s sweet, sensitive, full of beans, and an absolute delight. He’s also stubborn, selectively deaf, occasionally defiant, sometimes forgets play-bite inhibition and is a little too enthusiastic, and his braincells are currently found in his undercarriage kiwis. Ah, adolescence.

Toller adolescence is a particularly sensitive time — more so than other retrievers in many respects. They’re ridiculously smart, sensitive, and file everything they learn away in their memory bank. Bad experiences, poor leadership, and poor boundaries can lead to long term behavioral struggles — they’re not as “forgiving” as other breeds and can hold onto grudges. This said, with appropriate leadership, a strong bond based on “doing fun things together oh boy oh boy oh boy,” as well as boundaries and attainable/appropriate expectations, they make the great work partners and companions. They’ll make you work for your relationship, and that’s actually kind of neat.

In related news, we’re looking forward to a few things in the upcoming weeks: Waffles’ first Dock Diving lessons, and his first trip to the BWCA in late May! Now that the weather is nice, we’ve been spending a lot of time playing and working outside. It’s the best!

Have a great week, everybody!