Treacle went to the Vet last Tuesday to have her final injections and to be micro-chipped. She won’t be able to go everywhere until two weeks after the jabs, but she can now mix with dogs that are known to be up to date with their innoculations. So yesterday she came visiting to meet my German Shepherds. She was a bit overawed by my younger dog Jack but in my old chap Gaspode she found an indulgent senior role model who, she quickly learned she could mug without fear of reprisals. She also helped in the garden by finding our stock of flowerpots and distributed them liberally around the garden so that wherever we might be working, if we need a flowerpot we have only to reach out and one will be to hand (bless her). 
It is always fascinating to see how quickly puppies grow and pick up new behaviours either good or bad which is why it is so important in these early days to build on the good behaviour and stop the bad. Because Caroline and Steve are using the Amichien Bonding method to raise Treacle and have done so from day one she is a totally relaxed puppy and is making great progress. I was playing a little game in the garden with her (all training is play based) and was really impressed with her searching, she is a natural. This is not to say that she is perfect. Is she ever naughty? Of course, she’s a puppy. Has she got a lot to learn? Oh yes. The important thing is that she will be guided along the route to maturity (assuming that a Labrador does ever grow-up) by owners who are in agreement with one another and realise that a dog only knows how to be a dog, she is not a character from a Disney film. Dogs are easy, at this stage they are a clean slate on which you can write anything you like. It’s only people that make it complicated.
The next steps are, more socialisation with my dogs as they are part of an extended pack and it is important that they can interact so that we can dog-sit for one another. And then from Tuesday week we can start extending Treacle with some very basic games that involve nose-work which, I’m sure will confirm the natural aptitude she has already displayed.
As always if you want to know more about my methods, visit my web-site www.robinglover.com