#SAGApupVolt Is Thirty One Weeks Old

Sunday, June 3, 2012

#SAGApupVolt Is Thirty One Weeks Old

On the vet's scale this morning he weighed 30.5kg, so it seems his weight is holding steady between 30kg and 31kg. He is eating 200g Purina One All Breed Puppy Formula twice a day, and he so loves his food!
He was exactly seven months old this Wednesday past! I am quite stunned by how fast our time with him is flying by!
The hot spots on his head and neck- from his time in kennels- are almost completely healed, and apart from a couple of patches of really short hair its hardly noticeable.
Our handling sessions are a breeze now! Its quite incredible how Volt seems to have decided that the sessions are like having a spa treatment and he loves the attention! He gets brushed to start with, and I touch his feet and nails, gently feeling the webbing between each toe, and running my hands up and down the length of his legs and tail. I look into and rub his ears, I look at his teeth and run my fingers around his eyes and run the brush around his face and neck. This handling means future vet visits and grooming sessions are a breeze.
I had to giggle this week- Volt spends most of the day inside the house with me, but he doesn't have free reign to go where he pleases. On Thursday morning I realised I hadn't seen him for a while, so I went looking for him and found him curled up on the floor on some cushions in my bedroom that the dogs are allowed to lie on! I left him to sleep there 'coz I think he needed some time away from Riddick. :P
Volt is really good with Riddick, and Riddick is learning from Volt- things like sitting and waiting at the back door when they need to go outside. And of course leaving Riddick alone at home for short periods of time is a lot easier when he can stay with Volt.

And now I'd like to show you some of Volt's mischievous side... Usually when you tell people you have a Labrador or Golden Retriever puppy, they roll their eyes and ask you if you have any garden left! I always laugh when they say things like that because our guide-dog puppies are very closely watched and trained from the day they come home with their puppy walkers. If they are awake they are "watched" and any undesirable behaviour is discouraged.

Labbies are very smart, and if they aren't stimulated they will get naughty- not because they're naughty but because they're looking for something to do. Volt is walked regularly (almost daily, though having Riddick at home makes that a wee bit challenging right now). In the 5 months that Volt has been part of our family I have lost one pair of laptop earphones, one pair of Crocs sandals, one pair of swimming fins and a pair of goggles. The goggles and fins were outside and he was home alone, and the other things were lying around the house and he wasn't watched closely enough. :)

A couple of days ago my husband caught Volt on the dog's daybed- inside the house- chewing on this book! It had been lying on the coffee table in the living room and for some reason Volt decided it might taste good!

As for my garden, Volt doesn't dig which I am really pleased about. I also have an intact hosepipe and there's nothing wrong with my garden furniture, but there's a Strelitzia on the corner of the house that Volt took as shine to as a little puppy already! I have no idea why this particular plant bears the brunt of Volt's attentions...