#RiddickPup Is Five Months Old

He is 22 weeks old, he weighs 21kg and he's eating 220g of Nutriphase Puppy three times a day. As the weather is considerably warmer than it was a couple of weeks ago he is no longer getting the extra 10g of food per meal.

Riddick is getting so big and he is so smart!

His defensive behaviour is kicking in nicely and he is barking at noises he hears outside, people at the gate or the doorbell. Since we want him to be a guard-dog for us I am not discouraging his barking but I am going to investigate when he barks and then telling him to stop barking. We are discouraging barking during play though because we don't want him yapping for fun. His sense of hearing is exceptional and it seems it is definitely a compensation for his eyes not working 100%.

Walking on lead is going really well. I learned several lessons in training Volt- some of them only after asking SAGA for help- and putting them into practice with Riddick has really made a big difference. He is much easier on lead at five months old than Volt was at the same age and its fantastic. We have not yet ventured into the street on lead as Riddick is still exceptionally vocal when he is insecure, but he is happier and happier inside the complex every time we go for a walk.

I am working on "sit", "down" and "stay" a lot more than I used to. I realised I hadn't focused on it enough and I want Riddick to respond to the commands the same way Volt does.

Riddick is still very attached to me too. If I have groceries in the boot and I need to unpack the car he will follow me back and forth from the kitchen to the car and back until I am finished unpacking. When I am baking he literally lies in the middle of the kitchen floor and I am now accustomed to stepping over him while I work. He goes just about everywhere with me in the car and usually sits on the front seat next to me unless someone is sitting there.

Riddick still sleeps in our bedroom every night, and whilst he is allowed on our bed he is getting big for the bed and if he joins us he lies across the foot of the bed, and he prefers the cool floor and LOVES the cool bathroom floor tiles!

The coprophagia is still a problem. I bought a liquid called Copranat which you spray on the animals' food, but it takes 6 weeks to work and in those 6 weeks you have to keep the animals completely away from any poop! That means I am pooper scooping the garden several times a day and watching the dogs like a hawk when they're outside. Its really expensive stuff and I went through a whole bottle in less than 3 weeks! I am really hoping it works... It has a guarantee on it but only if you can keep the dogs away from the poop and spray it on every meal.

I am really hoping it works because I am going to have to buy a couple more bottles...