Knuckles last vet visit!

[Kittilicious]

Puppy shots are officially done! He is 3 months, 2 weeks old ... will be 15 wks on Sunday.

I got the weight chart this morning, too. I kept forgetting to write everything down.

9/30 - 10.8 lbs
10/14 - 17.6 lbs
10/21 - 21.1 lbs
11/11 - 30 lbs
12/2 - 40.9 lbs

His littermate, Thunder, goes with us to vet visits (easier on my sister-in-law & I) and he was 50.6 lbs today!!!! He is solid, where Knuckles has lots of loose skin to grow into yet. Our vet said both are doing great & healthy, though.
Knuckles, however, is very fearful. Kept trying to get away from Wendy (vet). He wanted nothing to do with it. I just think I have a fearful dog. I guess he's going to be going with me a lot more now... even tiny trips to the store. I thought I was socializing him enough, but I guess not.

Oh... and the BEST news?? He is losing puppy teeth!!!

and for your viewing pleasure... here he was this past Sunday, at 14 weeks.

[msvette2u]

He's cute, and going to be huge!

A lot of the fearfulness/shyness is probably due to bringing him home so early. It's been proven that 8+ weeks is better to take away from mom.
Not much you can do about it now though, other than work with what you've got.

[DanielleOttoMom]

Awwww Knuckles your such a cutie pa-tootie!!!

[Kittilicious]

Originally Posted by msvette2u

He's cute, and going to be huge!

A lot of the fearfulness/shyness is probably due to bringing him home so early. It's been proven that 8+ weeks is better to take away from mom.
Not much you can do about it now though, other than work with what you've got.

I know I still cringe that he was taken away 3 weeks early, but he was going to regardless so I'm still happy it was with me. It's interesting though - Thunder, same litter, gets no socialization at all. He lives in the country with 2 other GSD's and the only new contact he gets with people are those who come to their house (which isn't a lot). He hates getting in the vehicle, where Knuckles jumps right in. But yet, Thunder is calmer and shows no fear at all.

[Kittilicious]

I was going to start a new topic, but everything is pretty much right here anyway. I've been thinking a lot about what the vet said about Knuckles getting out and being socialized and the fact that we are doing it already... and also the difference btwn him & Thunder - that Thunder is NOT socialized and has no fear of people.
We are coming up on the dead of winter. The walks are getting shorter and fewer, but even when we are out, nobody else is. So meeting people/dogs on walks isn't going to happen until spring. Then I thought of the car rides... sure, I can take him everywhere I go, but my mind is thinking to much into this. If I have him in the car and we are in a parking lot and I go into the store/wherever - is the car a sort of protection for him from anything scary? Wouldn't it actually be doing the opposite of socializing him since he's not getting in CONTACT with people, only seeing them? Won't that make it worse? It reminds me of a dog in a kennel, but maybe I'm thinking too much into it.

[JakodaCD OA]

Even tho littermates just goes to show the diversity you can get out of a litter.

Is your Golden a social dog? I'd be taking BOTH of them, to places like shopping centers and such and walk around..Knuckles may gain confidence from Saki if Saki is a people type of dog.

You don't have to 'force' him on people, just get him around them..Take a bag of treats with you, have people "toss" him treats,,(treats=good things coming from humans)

Just an idea for you, and he's getting so BIG!! cute guy

[Kittilicious]

Originally Posted by JakodaCD OA

Is your Golden a social dog? I'd be taking BOTH of them, to places like shopping centers and such and walk around..Knuckles may gain confidence from Saki if Saki is a people type of dog.

She is, very much so. The world was created to give her attention. The nearest shopping "center" is over 1/2 hour from us (wonderful Central Minnesota farmland!), but I think we are just going to have to do it. That is a good idea.

On Thanksgiving we were at my parents and a bunch of them wanted to go for a walk. My adult niece (who lives with my parents) wanted to bring Knuckles, so my daughter ran home and got the dogs. When she got back to my parents she just let the dogs in and they went running into the house and Knuckles was in attention overload with everyone - even though I think the initial "hey, who the heck are all these people in Grandpa's house?" surprised him. (we visit my dad almost daily) He did great, only person he didn't want to go near was one of my nephews, but he's a little strange, very high energy person. He was cautious of everyone, but still did great. As soon as he found someone he recognized, though, he'd go into puppy-spaz mode. LOL I wonder if it wasn't because it was Grandpa's house? He was familiar with that... he's not so much with the vet?

This is a hard dog to figure out.

[sddeadeye]

Knuckles is honestly one of the cutest pups I've ever seen! It sounds like you are doing good by him. Do you have any obedience classes nearby to take him to? That might help with some socialization as well. I can relate with living far away from everything. When we lived in Medora (western ND), the nearest town with a real grocery store was 35 miles away. The nearest place that offered dog obedience classes was over 100 miles away. Now we are in Fargo which has pretty much everything right in one town. So much more convenient.

Another idea is to ask your vet about just bringing him in for a visit every once in awhile. The staff could give him treats/positive attention. It may also help keep him from being fearful of vet visits if the trips aren't always accompanied with poking, prodding, and vaccinating.

[Kittilicious]

Do you have any obedience classes nearby to take him to? That might help with some socialization as well. I can relate with living far away from everything.

The other vet in town (population 2000 and we have 2 vet practices... LOL) offers training/classes in the spring/summer, but not during the winter. There is a puppy class at the PetSmart 20+ miles away, but they only offer the classes at night and I have night blindness My husband just had shoulder surgery so it's not something he can do either right now

[msvette2u]

There's always Petco and Petsmart, or else feed stores that welcome pets. Home Depot and Lowe's do, here, since it's all concrete floors. And I highly second the recommendation to go to the vet clinic maybe even once a week.

Do you have friends to enlist? If so, sitting on the floor with treats, in a circle, and calling the dog to you helps a lot.