spottychick

Sorry a bit blurry but you get the idea - in our front yard when he arrived (after a meet and greet off site) And playing with Pepper - he's the blur ;)

Um .... I dunno bout you guys but this doesn't look like a 4 month old dally to me ;) But he sure is pretty!!!

:D Sorry guys - it has been a bit mad here and I've had neighbours dropping over and his previous owner called to see how he was settling in so I've barely had time to spit. YES HE ARRIVED!!! ;) I've just fed him and now he's going nuts playing with Pepper. Pic coming in a sec - just thought I'd put you all out of your misery quickly and then get some pics up

LOL You lot are worse than me

Sounds like a good thing to me ANd you will still be able to see him etc so that's just brilliant!

Yes that would be good yellowgirl. I'll print it and fill it out then give it to the lady who's going to pick him up. I'll PM you

No he's none of those things katdog There is no paperwork involved at all it seems. Not even vaccination papers.

Awww it's so nice having people to share the anticipation with Just for those who are staying tuned: The puppy is due to be picked up at 2.30 - 3 ish tomorrow - but of course I cant get the owners on the phone to confirm that's okay. I have left two messages to that effect and emailed them so hopefully someone will be home when the lady turns up for him...... So for now I'm assuming it will be okay *hmmmm If they are not there I'll get a phone call so if anything's gone horribly wrong I'll know by 3 oclock. Anyway, all going well, there won't be any news till at least 5 pm as it's about an hour and a half's winding drive back here from Launceston. Also I've arranged for a neighbour to help me intro the dogs outside of the property when he gets here so we'll be down the park for a while before he comes into the house. I'm busy cleaning up around the house and yard - looking for puppy hazards and escape routes. I'm also wondering where I can get a secondhand crate to borrow or buy.

Having had similar issues with my adopted fella I can understand how you're feeling I can't recommend the TOT programme enough. You can read about it here I am not sure why it worked with Tango but I think it had something to do with his focus, him understanding who the leader is and also to do with allowing HIM to figure out what he needs to do. I have him and my other dog both sitting, waiting and Tango staring into my eyes until I tell him he can have his food. One of the things I know this did was teach him the sit command without ME having to teach it to him (if that makes sense). When he sat I said "sit" and he associated the word with the action after a while. But this seemed to effect his behaviour in general and made it easier to teach him other things. He's not perfect (yet??? HEE HEE) but the TOT really helped him over some crucial issues. tango had never been walked so he was impossible to walk on a normal lead and collar (my back and neck suffered badly when I tried). I got him a front-attaching harness and he stopped pulling almost immediately. I tried the head halter but that sent him into a panic. He has been walked with the other dog almost all the time but my other dog can walk politely off-lead so that made it easier. I am about to transition him off the harness because I think he's now settled enough when walking to do that. He also gets walked off-lead sometimes (in a safe area) and I think that's helped be less frantic about walks on the lead. Good luck!! And congrats on rescuing this bundle of trouble

LOL Yeah but who's counting??? Hopefully the little dude has only one more night spent stuck out on the grass all alone on a freezing Tassie night. Ta for all the "luck" wishes everyone!

My girl Pepper is also a humper Not often, but every now and then I'll hear a racket from the loungeroom and discover she's hauled all the cushions/blankets out of the bed and gathered them into a ..... er..... hump object. But yes, nothing to get stuck which is a blessing. Tango does nothing of the sort.

Thanks lic and yellowgirl - he might need all those thoughts and crossed bits Yellowgirl - glad to know I'm not the only one who experiences this wierd stuff - but it's a shame people can't show a bit more respect ay. *sigh* ETA Now I'm frantically trying to dredge up all my memories of all those things I used to know like how to house-train a puppy and what to feed him and how to stop him chewing up things and what not...

Hmmmm that's how I "pray" too And thanks

Right. Finally got the owners OH on the phone - she sounded a bit suspicious of me till I explained who I was LOL Looks like puppy's getting here on Thursday!! I asked if they could send me a pic but he just laughed at me as if I was mad to suggest he might have a pic of the dog. Also asked his OH about vaccinations. Seems they have no paperwork at all - the last lot of vaccinations were done 6 weeks ago by a friend who has her own vaccines so there's nothing on paper. I think I'll pop him into the vets asap and just have him checked over. I quite like the name Skipper too - believe it or not I was thinking of that name before I read Haylz's post! But Rumba isn't bad either..... But I'm still going to try to hold off on excitement until he's actually here.

I don't know ellz. I still don't know why none of my calls were returned over the past 3 or 4 days. But after talking with him it doesn't sound like he has heard anything. Mind you - I'm not sure of anything anymore.

OKAY so now I've got something tentatively organised - one off opportunity where someone will pick him up for me on Thursday - and of course I can't raise him on the phone again so that I can confirm and stuff. I'm starting to tear out my hair here.

Hey bluefairy - yep! It works

Thanks for sharing my frustration folks. I was very sad for a moment there. HOWEVER I finally got hold of him. It seems he wants to go ahead now. Grrrrrr I have no idea what's going on over there. I asked him about the dogs vacc certificate (re breeders name) but he just got all grumpy and said he doesn't care who bred him. But I have missed the window of opportunity to pick him up/meet him/intro my dogs etc - I was trying to organise it all for today or yesterday but I couldn't get hold of him. And now he's impatient and talking about how he's going away on holiday in a day or so and the dog MUST go now. So now I'm trying to find someone to help, even if it's just to pick up the puppy and bring him over to me, I cant do that for a few days now. If worst comes to worst I have arranged things so that I can separate all the dogs here (hopefully that won't be necessary!!). Anyway - I've just left a message at the local dog boarding kennel to see if they'll pick him up for me. They're just down the road from me so hopefully they can do it without it being too expensive. Any other ideas of who can help with picking up dogs and taking them to rural areas in tassie? We don't seem to have lots of options here Good greif! What a pain.

Yeah looks like this has fallen in a heap. I just tried calling again. This time the phone was answered and I heard a brief bit of "family" chatter then the phone was disconnected. I rang back and got voice mail. I left a message asking him to please let me know what's going on even if he's changed his mind - to at least let me know. But I don't hold out much hope. This smacks of cowardly "avoidance" to me. They've either given the pup to someone else or changed their mind about selling him and are too gutless to let me know. Really wierd considering the last time I spoke with them he was all thrilled about him coming to a "dalmatian family" etc ANyway, I'm very disappointed and sad but I will get over it I guess. I'm more worried for the poor puppy - I just dread finding him at a pound in a few months/couple of years time.

Sorry, it's looking a bit shakey atm as I can't get his owners to return my phone calls or answer his phone...... Will let you know what happens.

My dogs never stress when I do it - they often come over to me and push their muzzle into my hand when they're doing a reverse sneeze and are soothed by my hand on their nose. I think Anne might have been more concerned that people not do it if the dog doesnt like it.

When they sort of snort like they're sneezing in reverse. You'll know it if you see a dog do it. It's very distressing, like they can't breathe or something.

Yep, that's how I solve it. I give it a bit of a rub too - they seem to like that!

Very sad to hear this. I know how hard it is to lose a beloved friend this way. Hugs to you and farewell to your lovely Faith.

Just put on some heavy duty gloves to pick it up. Have you got a small crate or something to put him in? I'd move him somewhere far away and nice/safe (or as safe as poss).