Steve Scott

by Steve
(Manchester, UK)

Hi

Great WEBSITE!!

Following loads of research and enquiries with breeders etc.. We decided the Newfy was the breed for us.

We have just got our new puppy dog "Duke".

He is 11 weeks old today!

He is great!!

I have 3 young girls 10, 7 and 5 and they all adore him.

Up to now he has been a dream, toilet training is going quite well, still has a few accidents, however he makes a point of weeing on the paper and barking when he wants a poo, so I am sure in the next month or so he will be fully trained.

I am looking at enrolling him in a puppy class when he is 12 weeks to get him socialised with other dogs and do a little training.

I have a couple of questions...

Exercise

I used to have a labrador and remember him to be absolutely crazy as a pup and wanting to go out all the time (in fact if a door was opened he was through it!!). I have been a little surprised at Duke's lack of enthusiasm for going on walks or even on the back garden??
Our Vet recommended that we take him for a 15 min walk a day and gradually build up over the next 12 months to 30mins. I started to take him on a short walk around the block from our house (takes 15mins). However, last night he flatly refused to come out of the door and would not budge?? I decided to let him have a roam on the garden for 10 mins and then brought him in.
This morning I put his lead on and again he wouldn't budge? I opened the back door to see if he wanted to go out and he went on the patio. I went on the grassed area to encourage him to sniff around and go to the toilet, however he didn't budge and just barked a couple of times and went back inside, he then did a wee and poo inside??

He does sleep a lot in the day, tends to have a few mad 20-30 min episodes where he wants to play, but does't show any interest in walking??
When we are out for a walk he sometimes sits or lies down and has to be encouraged to keep up?

Is this normal behaviour?

Could you advise on exercise and walking for a young pup??

I feel as though he should be going out for walks to develop his muscles, however I don't want to be dragging him around the block and making it a negative experience?

Play

We all love to play with Duke and he has a few toys to play with. His favourite thing is pulling on the girls dressing gowns and having a tug of war with them. We discourage this by saying "no" and then offering him a rope toy to pull. 8 times out of 10 this works however he does still favour the dressing gown to the toy! Do we just need to repeat the mantra until he understands or do you have any other tips to help him get the message?

Socialisation

We have had loads of visitors since we got Duke and he is brilliant, he plays (mad 10 mins) and is content with everyone. He hasn't really had a close encounter with another dog since we got him due to vaccinations etc.. During his walk on Saturday night (again a little reluctant) we encountered a large boistorous pointer. He was on a lead and was bounding over to Duke and barking. This really unsettled Duke and he backed off and was whimpering. He did not budge after the encounter and we walked him back home.
I am hoping this experience hasn't put him off walking??

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
Steve