My Labrador turned 1 in September and we've had him since he was 8 weeks, so he's been with us for over a year. We got him1 week before I found out I was pregnant. I found his puppyhood really, really tough. He would bite my older kids, bite me, took a long time (or seemed like it at the time) to be house trained, would destroy absolutely anything that was in the room with him, and would just not sit still for a second! I found it very, very tough! We resorted to using a dog sitter to take him for the days my husband was out of the house as I felt I could not cope with him at all.
Anyway, fast forward to now and he is so much better. The dog sitter's been off for two weeks so I've had to cope with him and actually he's not been much bother at all and I am much fonder of him now!
I would like to rely less on the dog sitter but he obviously needs to be walked. My older two are nearly 9 and 10 so I walk them to school but don't have to wait in the playground with them. It's almost an hour round trip to walk the kids there and back so it would be perfect to take the dog too but the dog goes mad if the kids get more than a few feet ahead of him. Whining, barking, pulling on the lead etc. I don't know if it's because he wants to be in the lead or because he's anxious about them being away from him - even though he can still clearly see them!
Any tips for helping him not to mind this? As we're quite a distance from the school I let them take their bikes or scooters so although they wait at roads for me to catch up it is inevitable they will be in front of us most of the way.
Many thanks.