Scout, our lab x rescue is home :) (with photo)

[MidnightDinosaur]

And he's just gorgeous. He's been my little shadow since we got him home.

Made even more special due to the fact he was originally offered to another family instead of us. Lucky for us, the other family turned him down.

Took half a hour to coax him into the house & he's petrified of the toilet flush but I guess the first thing we need to work on is his name as he has no idea.

Any tips for getting him to learn his name? I have clicker & treats.

[basildonbond]

Oh he's gorgeous:)

To get him to learn his name say 'Scout' and immediately give him a treat, and repeat several times - do that several times a day and he'll learn his name in no time

As far as other training is concerned I'd wait a little while just to let him settle in first

This article has lots of very useful advice on helping a new rescue dog settle in

[pinkbraces]

I have no useful advice but had to post because he is GORGEOUS :)

Lucky you and lucky him, enjoy each ohter

[ememem84]

He is lovely. Who doesn't love a black lab???

[pigsDOfly]

Aah. Home at last.:)

Lucky Scout and luck you.

[ThroughThickAndThin01]

He's gorgeous. Love the name Scout. What's he crossed with?

[ClaudiaNaughton]

Lovely, lovely boy. Congratulations

[WeAllHaveWings]

Lovely face and those eyes getting used to his new home.

Do you know what is name was before? Was similar to his new name? (love Scout)

Teach him Scout the way you would teach any command with lots of treats, say Scout and treat. Then move a bit away and say Scout and treat etc etc.

[lougle]

He's gorgeous!!

He'll learn really quickly. I taught my Mum and Dad's rescue 'paw' in 5 minutes flat yesterday with just a handful of boring old kibble. Once they know they get a treat for it, they're yours!

[lavendersun]

I came looking for your new thread OP. Just lovely, the whole thing including him. I hope you are all very happy together wells up.

[MidnightDinosaur]

Well, it's nearly 7.30am now. He woke me up at 6am with his rope toy. (Crate due to be delivered today)

All wees & poos done outside so far. He was neutered yesterday morning before I picked him up and he "woke up" at about 11pm. He finally settled to sleep at 12.30 with me asleep on the sofa next to him (he did try to pull my covers off first to get my attention)

I don't know what to think about his background. He's so friendly, absolutely ace with the kids, settles well at my feet when I'm sitting down but he acts like he's never been in a house before and is terrified of the toilet flushing.

Rescue think he's got a bit of collie in him, his paws suggest something else as well, he's very strong but is following me around like a shadow at the moment so going to take the opportunity to teach some loose leash walking in the garden.

We don't know what his name was before as he was picked up off the street. He was quite skinny, no chip or registration done for him. His handler started calling him Scout so we decided to stick with that as we all liked it.

We all love him but can't quite believe he's here.

Will get to work on his name today, thank you for your tips.

[MidnightDinosaur]

And thank you for all your kind words. I'll be hanging around the Doghouse a lot from now on.

[basildonbond]

gosh - if he's been neutered and moved into a new home in the space of a day it sounds like he's doing absolutely brilliantly

let him have plenty of time and space and don't expect too much of him too soon

he's definitely fallen on his paws now :)

[RhinosAreFatUnicorns]

He's gorgeous - what a handsome boy

[Oblique27]

Lovely, please keep the updates coming!

[BagelwithButter]

Lovely story, wonderful that you got him in the end.

I have read that it's best to treat them at first as you mean to go on. Eg, if you don't want them on the sofa long term, don't let him on in the beginning even though you feel like "spoiling" him in the first days/weeks.

Also, get him used to being by himself, not hours obvs, even just going out the room, going upstairs, going out, shutting front door then coming in again. Just gets them used to it gradually, so there's not a problem with desperation anxiety at a later date.

But, no rush, he just needs things fairly quiet and simple for the next week or two.

And we need lots of pics!

[MidnightDinosaur]

I walk, he follows, I stop, he settles.

He's sleeping well, loves his Kong. Haven't managed to take him on a proper walk yet as he snapped his lead pulling when I took him out the door I have an extra strong one on order to arrive tomorrow so until then I'm doing lots of little training sessions with him, games of fetch in the garden and walking to heel training. Hoping if I can get him walking to heel consistently then it'll make loose leash walking easier. I've been told he can't have too much exercise for a week due to his op anyway so we're just taking it easy at the moment.

He caught on to the command "release" pretty quickly though