Week 23: continued training w Heel, Fetch, Stay, etc.; first overnight human visitor, lots of play with other dogs

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This post is part of our weekly series on raising our Vizsla puppy, Zooka. You can use our posts as a guide to help raise your own puppy, regardless of breed. Keep in mind that different breeds might develop at different rates, so while you can do these things with any breed, your breed might need certain things at slightly different stages or ages. Click here to see our list of all updates.

Notes from Week 23:

Housetraining
- access in the house previously has been managed and limited
  - continuing to allow access to more parts of the house
Teething
- has lost most of his baby teeth by now
- first time we found one of his lost baby teeth this week
- continues to need things to chew on to soothe his gums
Continue training for meals
- and short sessions between meal times
- continue building duration and raising expectations
- continuing to watch for new behaviors and encourage previous behaviors we like during shaping/capturing sessions
- continuing work toward a reliable retrieve/fetch
  - shaping each step of the process
  - continuing with grab and hold with mouth
- continuing Heel work
  - Heel in straight line and with left and right turns
  - Heel to Front
  - Front to Swing
  - Front to Finish
  - Heel, Wait, Heel
- started working on Stay
  - we are currently using the kuranda bed on the deck for most of this
  - Stay is different
Nail trims and muzzle training, continued
Document weight and height at start of each new week
- weighed in at 36 pounds this week
- typically gains 1 to 2 pounds per week
Continue walks on property trails
- primarily using 20 foot line
- always working on loose leash walking!
- always working on checking in on walks
Overnight guest
- we had our first overnight guest since Zooka arrived
- he greeted nicely
- he was (mostly) very polite and appropriate with our guest
- he played nicely with her
- he was very happy to have someone else in the house to entertain for a bit!
  - I call it his first “human play date”!
Field trips
- no field trips this week due to Sue's busy schedule and other things that came up
Play Dates
- Border Collie/Aussie mix and Aussie
  - from same household, boarding with us for a few days, continued from end of past week
- Goldendoodle, male, 18 months
  - have played before
  - boarding with us for a few days
  - Zooka LOVES this guy!
  - he is very gentle and tolerant of Zooka's puppy behaviors
  - he is very good at redirecting Zooka's inappropriate behaviors
  - have never seen him get mad/upset/angry with Zooka
  - this guy sets the example for ALL of us in how to properly guide a puppy to appropriate behaviors
    - even at times when Zooka does things that could seem to justify getting mad, he is patient and tolerant every single time