Buddy's Back?

Walking in the park yesterday, we met one of our friends who had not met Banjo yet. After the usual pleasantries, he remarked how Banjo looks and acts a lot like our first puppy Buddy. We noticed the physical similarities that all black lab puppies share, but their behavior has been quite different. At least it had been until tonight.

Our evening began with our weekly farm visit where Banjo observed the chickens and got too close to the hogs. He couldn't resist kissing them and vice versa, so now our little black dog smells like a piggy.

He can't get a bath because he received flea and tick treatment yesterday. Saturday is Pooch Fest, so it doesn't pay to bathe him before swimming. It's going to be a long two days.

Back to Banjo's behavior. He was a certifiable MONSTER tonight. Mouthing, biting, jumping, pawing - pure evil, he would not calm down. Buddy behaved the exact same way at this age, however, we were not as prepared to handle it then. Banjo received behavioral modification this evening which started with cradling until he calmed down (repeat as needed).

I also tried some tricks learned from Skeeter and Victoria the last two days. Skeeter is a ten pound Schipperke and Victoria is one hundred pound plus Rottweiler. These two dogs, while very different, were able to enforce their dominance and calm the puppy much quicker than I was able to.

In one five second interaction with each dog, Banjo was submissive, but not fearful. He respected them, which is exactly what I was looking for. So, in addition to cradling, I acted like my canine mentors - vocalizing and biting with my hand in order to get him to lie down and relax. Sorry no video.

This behavior lasted a month or more with Buddy. It will not last that long with Banjo. Either we will show what we have learned the last two years or he gets to go to Camp Morga.