Lucy and I say Hi!

[LucysMama]

Hi everyone!

I'm new here. I'm 24, Army wife, mommy to a toddler, and mommy to 4 dogs. We have a chihuahua, Mexican hairless, and poodle mix. Plus my newest baby, and "real dog" as my husband calls her ( he loves our littles, he's just too tough to admit it). My new baby is a yellow lab/ pit bull mix ( but she looks mostly lab other than a little broader head and more muscular). Her name is Lucy, she is now 9 weeks old and we "rescued" her. She was found at 6 weeks, abandoned on a trail in the woods. She had a wound on her chin which looks like a burn mark. She was found by a friend of ours and we took her into our family!

She is already in puppy kindergarten, and gets along really well with the littles. I want to have her very active doing agility, obedience, swimming, hiking, running! But for now, we just play around the yard and work on being a puppy...and some basic commands as well. She has sit down perfectly, even without food.

I was unable to be proactive in the training of the littles due to a multitude of changing life circumstances, due to being a military spouse and pregnant. But they are even starting to get in on our little training sessions, and my most hyperactive little is my hairless and he is even sitting on command now!

One question - Lucy is a lab but she is scared of water, like the tub. I will be moving to Arizona in a few months with the pack, and want her to be able to swim to stay active in the horrid summer heat. I have been setting her in the tub and treating her for doing simple commands while in the tub like sit, touch, ECT. Then I put the water on a trickle, and continue to do simple commands and encourage her to sniff, drink, and get a little wet. But the wet part she is not a fan of. I don't want to dump her in and make it a negative experience. I want her to learn to love it, but I know pits notoriously don't like water. Any suggestions?

I will post pictures when I can get on the desktop.

[Sophiesmama]

Welcome!!!

[deidra]

Welcome! Some labs dont liek water till later in life and some may not like it at all! Tank will wade by the shore of the lake or pond but doesn't swim as much as bentley. Bentley you can through a stick in the middle of the lake and he would retreive it! It may just take a little time. Oh and Thank you for"rescueing" her.

[Campfire_Dog]

I have found that going in the water is different from getting in the tub. My Jack loves the water and loves to swim and bring back sticks. Heck once he thought I through something when I did not and he saw a dead head in the lake so he swam out and he actually drug the thing right in and pulled it up on shore. I had to laugh. Anyway I figured the way he likes water I would buy him a small pool for the back yard but he will not go in it at all. If I throw his kong in there he will stick his head in and get it out but that is it. You may be surprised when he goes in the water for the first time. The first time Jack went to the lake he walked right in till he had to swim and then he was swimming. No hesitation or getting used to it. We had him from 10 weeks and you would have sworn he had been swimming all his life. Good luck with your new puppy. You certainly have a house full. We will need a group photo.
Judy

[morla]

hI! Welcome to the forums! I hope you like it here!

[Sophiesmama]

About the fear of water....Sophie loves the water, you can't keep her away from it. She has her own pool, and has torn down the fence to get into our big pool! BUT...she will fight you going into the tub! It might be the enclosed space, not sure. Once you get her in she is ok with it, but still isn't happy. So, it might be the case with yours. Try putting a kiddie pool in your yard, see how she does with it....

[LucysMama]

Thanks for the welcome!

Yes, we have a full house! But Im a stay at home mommy AND military wife, so my pups are my buddies, they keep me company. I almost feel like we really don't have 4 dogs because the littles are just such couch potatoes! But with Lucy stirring them up, they are all playing and running wild.

Thanks for the advice about the water. I didn't think of it that way regarding the tub versus a lake. Maybe we will take her out in a few weeks and see what she thinks. Hubby loves fishing!

Lucy is a petite little thing! This week starts week 10. I weighed her last night and she is 10 pounds. I have read some threads and seen how chunky some other pups are at her age! People at puppy kindergarten couldn't believe she was as old as she is.

[Dio's mama]

Dio (he's over 2) didn't take to the water right away. He was TERRIFIED of it as a pup. After his first birthday something changed and he became a full fledged water pup. He loves: rivers, streams, lakes, mud holes.... but does not like the bath tub. This summer I bought him a little pool (like sophiesmama) and if he was dirty, I hosed him off in there.

Basically, give your pup some time to grow older and bolder if she is scared of water. She may surprise you later on!

[BigBrownDog]

Welcome to the forum!

[Sophiesmama]

Wow! She is petite! Sophie was 20 lbs at 10 weeks, and she is a lean-built lab... Hope to see some pictures soon!