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Introducing UFO vom Wildhaus “Archer”

7K views 41 replies 19 participants last post by  Pytheis 
#1 ·
Well, the time has finally come! It’s been over two years since my WGSL puppy, Forrest, passed away and getting this new guy has been a long time in the making.

I picked him up at the airport this morning. He flew in with his littermate, Uzi, and thankfully, the kennel was clean! He’s a confident, sweet, happy little guy, and I cannot wait to get started with him.

Thank you so much to Chris Wild for trusting me with him! I’m uploading these pictures from my phone, so hopefully they aren’t too big.
 

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#4 ·
Oh, my goodness! He is just precious! I am so happy for the healing he will bring the hole in your heart left by Forrest. Archer is a great name and he is just perfect. Congratulations and keep us in the loop as you both progress!
 
#7 ·
welcome to the WH family! Boys are sooo dramatic....surprised though, that he is noisy in the crate.
 
#8 ·
Oh boy, he was pretty bad last night. It was a rough one. He would sleep for an hour or two, then wake up and scream again. I’d take him out to potty if he didn’t settle down after a few minutes. He always went right away when I took him out, but we were waking up every two hours. Chris warned me that he was vocal. I’m sure that he’ll settle down in a few days.
 
#14 ·
He’s doing great! He is such a fast and natural learner. It’s crazy what a difference genetics makes.
 

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#15 ·
Archer is 14 weeks old now. He’s what I would call fully crate trained. He never whines or barks in his crate and happily goes in on his own when he needs a break or nap. He sleeps from 9pm to 6:30am every night with no fuss or potty breaks needed.

He is in a puppy class right now, and that is going well. All the exercises are easy for him, and I have no issues keeping him focused on me. He has developed some problems with dogs however. He seems afraid of them and barks his fool head off whenever he sees them. We’re working on it.

He settles really well in the house, asks to go outside when he has to go to the bathroom, and has never chewed on anything other than toys or things I offer him. He’s also not at all mouthy, which I am eternally grateful for! I’m waiting for him to fully start teething before I say that he’ll never be mouthy, but I’ll take it while I’ve got it.
 

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#19 ·
Well, since the thread was bumped, I’ll post an update. Archer continues to have issues with barking at the sight of dogs, and he also barks at cats and people around the neighborhood. I have a private trainer coming to our home tomorrow to work with us. Otherwise, he’s doing great! Still not at all mouthy despite being in the middle of teething, not even slightly destructive, listens well, doesn’t pull on the leash on walks, sleeps soundly from 9-7am in his crate, no potty accidents in the house for weeks... He’s doing awesome.

As far as training goals, I would like to do Nosework and dock diving with Archer, but to be honest, I’m having a hard time finding a place to actually do dock diving with him. In Colorado it seems the only choice right now is to go to actual trials and practice before the event starts. Nosework is easier to find classes for, but the trainer I really wanted to work with doesn’t have any openings for us. I figure I have some time to let him continue to be a puppy before I get seriously into sport training.
 

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#21 ·
Not to put you off dock diving because I love it, but my non reactive dogs learned really bad habits there...all the dogs scream and carry on on and near the dock. With the barking problems you describe you might regret dock diving. Overstimulation is pretty common...

Maybe tracking? For us tracking is the right kind of exhausting and also seems settling.
 
#22 ·
He looks great! I agree with tracking....it is mental exercise and I know most pups love to track. I watched his brother Uri track yesterday and he was pretty amazing. It was a pretty long track with corners and he was super focused.
 
#23 ·
I was thinking about giving tracking a shot! Chris didn’t think he had an especially strong natural instinct for it, but I’m sure he’d still enjoy it. We just won’t compete at the super high levels. Uwin also tracks, and so does Unni, I believe. Maybe I will get Archer into it!

And @Thecowboysgirl good point about the dock diving. I hadn’t thought of that.
 
#27 ·
He’s got great food drive! I actually spread his entire breakfast in my backyard for him to find every morning, and he loves that. He’ll hunt for it for an hour in the morning, then continuously go back throughout the day to find more.
 
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#25 ·
If you ever want to do AKC Tracking, at least the tests I've been to, the dogs were pretty chill. It tends to be a long somewhat boring day where people caravan around to different fields for each dog's track. So the dogs waiting in cars are rarely near aroused dogs or even the clapping when someone gets the glove. Actually not much in the way of arousal problems because you sren't allowed to do much more than quietly praise your dog when they get an article so everything is pretty calm

I've done some AKC tracking training groups that were similarly pretty chill and potentially a good way to work a reactive dog.
 
#31 ·
Well, this guy is getting big. He will be 6 months old on Tuesday. He seems to have come into his rebellious teenage phase a bit; he seems to be thinking about if he wants to do what I say rather than hopping right to it, so I’ve doubled down on rewarding a quick response and enforcing commands he decides he’s not so keen on.

He encountered snow for the first time this morning. At first he was confused, but he quickly realized that he LOVES it and didn’t want to come back inside. I take him for hikes every week with his corgi friend while we work on his barking at other dogs. He does much better than he used to, and he loves playing with the two dogs I’ve carefully introduced him to. He prefers to go on pack walks rather than playing, and I have to say that I prefer that too. Everyone is happy.

This guy is such a love. He cuddles with the best of them, but he’s always ready to jump up and play at a moments notice. He is completely solid environmentally (minus the dogs) and I have never seen him even slightly nervous of a new surface or strange object. So far, since he’s still young, he loves people and always wants to go say hi to everyone he sees. He’s great about sitting and paying attention to me as they walk past, but you can still see his tail wagging hopefully.

He’s amazing. Chris breeds awesome dogs.
 

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