I want to get a dog but I have to work, how does everyone on broadway market do it ?

Oh wow, you're very local then - yeah, that's Owen's daily stomping ground, just back from his morning walk there. If you're a regular there then you'll definitely see us....

treats in boxes is always good for ours, he likes destroying boxes anyway, so double the fun for him.

Egg cartons (sometimes taped down to make it harder for him) with a few treats.

Or wrapping a towel / blanket and hiding treats in, then rolling it up, makes him fathom out how to unwrap to get a fishy biscuit.

Man, having a small dog definitely has advantages. Owen would eviscerate any of these options (including blanket) in minutes....

i do forget that not all dogs are 10kg and little...

Yeah pretty regularly there, baseball cap blue jacket black lab is the usual get up.

If your lab likes playing with/can tolerate big enthusiastic idiot puppies then we'll definitely come say hi next time.

Well she is only supposed to socialise with a very limited number. I’ve yet to work out how to make this a reality. I guess I could run a wanted ad but not sure that’s a great idea either 🤣

That park is both good and bad, number of dog walkers with 6 dogs and those that seem to want to be social seems high. The other day I was walking around and this guy basically made a bline for us, despite us giving off some pretty obvious cues. His dog seemed fine but not really cool with the approach off lead in the circumstance.

She’s well socialised and we may be on a lead but that’s fine to approach she might be interested but she’s pretty placid generally.

If she wants to learn bad manners from another Labrador happy to meet up and ruin all the good work you’ve paid for

Out of interest, why only supposed to socialise with a very limited number?

Yeah, that park is not good if you want to avoid/control interactions with other dogs. Having been in both camps (Owen was an absolute twat a few months ago and we kept him on lead for a few months to help curtail his overwhelming need to say hello to every dog, it worked to a point, he's much better on lead now but still very keen to run outreach across any open space he finds himself in off-lead) it's tricky. Lovely if you have a sociable dog who wants to socialise, no good if you want to keep yourself to yourself.

Don’t call me I’ll call you ;-)

Apparently if they socialise with a lot of dogs they start to see dogs as fun and a bigger distraction when working.

Based on absolutely nothing but feels, I think some of her dog curiosity when working would vanish if it could be done when on exercise walks. IANAE!

Its good as it’s quite enclosed so was the first place I took her off lead but a lot just seem in their own world

Mental exercise over physical, the dumber your dog the easier it is.

Absolutely this. I would struggle to tire my dogs out physically, especially the girl, but mental stimulation, work, games, training will lead to hours of blissful sleep...

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Ah sorry, I forgot she was an assistance dog. Yeah, that must be hard to navigate. Is she particularly interested in other dogs when working?

I’d not say so. I do have a slight imposter syndrome at present and also feel like I represent assistance dogs when we go out and feel slightly on show.
We had a minor hiccough the other week off lead which has also knocked my confidence slightly.
All that said it’s been amazing the difference in H already, particularly calming her whilst walking and making her safer.

That final sentence is wonderful and I hope makes any minor hiccoughs more than worthwhile! I don't know your situation, but from my experience in the early stages of having a dog if your only hiccoughs are minor you're doing incredibly.

To clarify about Dolly walking 50 miles a week, it’s mainly so I can eat more ;) We normally play a game of wrestle the rotting carcass off the twat game. She sniffs out a long dead thing and either Liz or myself has to get it off her before she eats it. Fun for the whole family. A friend walked her the other week while we were away and up until then they thought we were lying about this game. After a squirrel, a rabbit and a possible rat on one walk they now know it’s a thing.
As I type she’s hiding from the squirrels making ready to pounce.

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Trying to work out what mental stimulation works for him is the big question!

After crying every time I left the room after lunch, eventually I crated him and he calmed down. He had to come in the van as I ran an errand, earlier.

Seems like whatever I did worked, he has been flat out all evening. Bliss.

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Spoke too soon

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Great pics

What have you tried? Luna is the most wired dog I’ve ever had, so have had to work hard to find things that work her, but have got there

My little pal.

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Great pics Markyboy. and @Jung loving this too.

Has anyone got any tips for getting a 17 week old puppy to effin move when she's decided all she wants to do is go back home? She'll happily walk/run/gambol for miles and hours when we're with the family, a few other people or even with just one other child. But when I try to take her out on my own (even if there's no-one else at home when we leave) she just point-blank refuses to go. She sits on the pavement and cries and tries to turn back. Carrying her just moves the problem to a new location a few metres down the road - and I don't want to get into the habit of carrying her anyway. Bribing her to heel with treats works only for a metre or two until she either gets the treat then sits down and refuses to move again for another 15 minutes or clocks that I keep moving the treat and she sits down and refuses to move again. I've tried cajoling, encouraging, cuddling, dragging, getting cross, trying to get her excited and chase me... none of it works.

Weirdly given that she seems so worried about the world the only time that she forget she's worried is when another person or dog walks past when she immediately perks up and wants to say hello and flirt and play. Then when they move on she's all happy for a couple of seconds before she remembers that she's frightened and just wants to go home all over again.

I needed to take her out for a walk earlier as i'd been on calls all morning and no-one else is home. I had 90 mins to do a 10 minute round-trip to the shop to get human food. I gave up and came home after 80 mins having run out of time, treats and patience. The only actual progress has been the few times I'd cracked and picked her up to cross a road. Came home hungry, frustrated and cross. Now I need to go back to work and all the pup wants to do is play because she hasn't had any exercise this morning. So fucking annoying!

Edit for clarity: pup wanting play isn't annoying in itself - it's lovely. It's just the situation. I have to ignore her and work now which sucks.

I'm guessing it's just a "give it time" thing, but any other tips gladly received.

That sounds stressful! My only thought is maybe it's something to do with having left the house and worrying about the rest of the pack etc. Maybe driving a short distance away then starting your walk could help to break whatever unhelpful association is building there?

Can you do some trips that start with someone else, but carry on without, maybe reducing time with the other person until it's none. Might need to meet them again after a while but increase alone time gradually.