I'm not having much luck housebreaking the new puppy. One thing I've noticed though, is the difference in intellect between the lab and the chihuahua/terrier mix. I don't know how much of it is due to the breeds or due to the fact that the lab is purebred and the chihuahua is a mix (is the correct term mongrel?).
Our yellow lab who passed away earlier this year would have been smarter than this puppy but not as smart as the purebred lab, which makes me wonder that it's the breeding that makes all the difference.
If I was going to put these dogs on a scale of 1-10 in terms of smarts, the black lab (purebred) would be a 10, the yellow lab would have been about a 7, and this poor chihuahua puppy tops out at about a 4.
The puppy watches my hands, watches my feet, the lab watches my eyes and my face. I just can't even begin to describe the difference. The lab, during training, would pick up on things very quickly, even if she didn't follow all your rules, you could tell she knew the rules and was just deciding to disobey them. This puppy isn't getting the message though at all. In terms of housebreaking, or chewing things or stealing food out of the lab's mouth, whatever the case may be, the repetition that I have to go through to get him to learn something is incredibly tedious.
We're bonding, but I think from now on, any future puppies, I'm only going to allow purebreds in this house.
3 comments:
Sometimes, just like people, it is just the randomness of the gene pool. Some of us go in the deep end and well some just wade in the shallows.
Good luck on the training.
Well, Kristin already loves him, so we're stuck with him now, but I think his gene pool can more accurately be described as a puddle.
Sorry to hear about your dog. The little one will catch on soon enough. Some aren't as quick as others.
Kristin's getting so big!
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