Crag Puppy Basics?

Mark - I dunno. Probably. A + B doesn't always = C in the dog world, but castration will certainly help with wandering, urinating on everything, potential aggressive behaviour etc... Unless you want to breed from him, there's really no good argument for keeping the balls. Past a couple years of age, a lot of that behaviour becomes ingrained and you won't get rid of the wandering etc... by castration.
GSP's (as a gross generalization) are crazy, neurotic dogs. A lot of the ones I've met (of both sexes, bits removed or not) are almost ADD, have (sometimes owner-induced) separation anxiety and other mental issues. A few have been very nice, gentle dogs but I suspect that they have had quite a "firm hand" when they were being trained. Not recommending that track, just noticing a correlation. Your pup will likely mellow out with time and training. Were you the same calm and rational person you are now when you were a kid? I'd ask around and see if there is a good obedience school in your area if you are keen on that. A good obedience school isn't like juvenile detention for dogs, more like a charm school.

Graham Johnson wrote: GSP's (as a gross generalization) are crazy, neurotic dogs. A lot of the ones I've met (of both sexes, bits removed or not) are almost ADD, have (sometimes owner-induced) separation anxiety and other mental issues. A few have been very nice, gentle dogs but I suspect that they have had quite a "firm hand" when they were being trained.

Thanks guys. I really didn't expect to get this much useful information out of the thread before someone told me to kill myself then the dog for considering it.

For the question about breed, she's a lab. Chocolate mama and yellow pop. Looks like the phenotype is definitely choco and I'll definitely cry if that white stripe on her forehead goes away when she gets older.

I think I'll take her for a walk (carry) to some nature later this week.

As for the food quality questions, I can't get her to eat anything but boiled chicken and rice. She's off to her first vet visit right now, maybe they'll have better ideas about food.

nicelegs wrote:Thanks guys. I really didn't expect to get this much useful information out of the thread before someone told me to kill myself then the dog for considering it. For the question about breed, she's a lab. Chocolate mama and yellow pop. Looks like the phenotype is definitely choco and I'll definitely cry if that white stripe on her forehead goes away when she gets older. I think I'll take her for a walk (carry) to some nature later this week. As for the food quality questions, I can't get her to eat anything but boiled chicken and rice. She's off to her first vet visit right now, maybe they'll have better ideas about food.

Do you know what the breeder was feeding her? We snagged a big ziploc bag of food from the breeder to do a week of weaning onto a different food. I think it's generally recommended to stick with the same food as the breeder if you approve and can find it, at least for the first couple of weeks while she adjusts to her new home.

legs, any updates? Our guy is coming along pretty well but he still walks like crap and I'm terrified of letting him off leash. Might send him to a foundation program at one of the gun dog trainers in Denver for a month and see how that goes.

How'd you do keeping your girl away from other dogs during the Parvo fear phase?

Keep an eye on her. I know you're in Denver but there have been a number of dogs taken down by mountain lions in COS recently.

I remember taking my puppy to the crag about a year ago when he was that size. On the way up, he didn't really know what to do or how to jump up big rocks. But man! On the way down, he was cruising down all those large rocks. They learn quick, and as long as you are consistent and ALWAYS watching/correcting, they should turn out fine. Congrats! Dogs are such great companions to have around.