jemjem*

my pure german shep was a little bit of a chewer, i used to think she was sooo naughty but i think that was just compared to my first dog who was a family dog, our very first male shep chewed a few thongs once and my dad growled at him pretty bad showing him the thong and he hit him across the top of his bum with the chewed up thong and he never touched or chewed another thing again, not once. i dont really think hitting a dog is good and everyone says it doesnt help but when they are a puppy i guess they are similar to toddlers who cant really communicate back with you. smacking may not always work and i have heard if you hit your dog or show aggression towards them they will show aggression back but in our case our dog was not scared of us and was not aggressive and he also never chewed another thing again except for his toys. now my girl... shes 9 months old now. around the 4, 5, 6 months was probably the worst, and maybe just after she was desexed. shes over chewing things now, now shes dug a big 1m by 1m by prob half a m deep hole in my back yard. sometimes she leaves it alone and we fill it in and she doesnt touch it for a month then all of a sudden shes dug it again. so we're going to fill it and get some new turf and put over it and put a fence around it we did try putting wire over it and locking it into the ground but then she just dug around the wire... maybe she buried a bone in there?... anyway i suggest you just get rid of the things you dont want your dog to get into or put a fence up so she cant get into your entertainment type area, dont leave your shoes outside, dont think leaving items on tables will stop your dog either coz my dog got up on our outside table a few times and shes a huge german shep, im surprised the whole thing didnt crash down..... dogs are sneaky, and they arent stupid you cant hit your dog or get up it for something if you didnt catch them in the act otherwise they dont know what they are in trouble for (mind you when i say to lucy "LUUUUUUCY... did you do that?" and point to the hole in thr ground she sure as hell knows what im talking about and cowers and goes and hides

Do you mean will it be a problem as in will she end up chewing it to bits or something? My dog chases the water like that as well but on grass (i live in north queensland so we dont have water restrictions) and i think it's just a game for them! If you are worried, put her somewhere else whilst you water. My pup did the same and she is ok, doesn't chew it and a few months down the track doesnt even do it anymore.

Thanks a lot for your advise - Everyone - I really appreciate it. Does anyone know who I have to contact and what the prices are etc. for the townsville club?

She is getting much better!! All her grown up teeth have now come through. She had a problem tooth there for a while, her eye tooth (the adult one) had fully grown through but the old one was still there, it was wobbly and i really wanted to pull it out, i gave it a bit of a wobble every day and eventually yesterday i touched it and it fell out. I think possibly she was chewing trying to get that out. Since that tooth has been out she has had a lot more energy and has been running around and playing and hasn't chewed anything. She sits and stays and shakes (not that shaking is really necessary but she sits and stays) so I am happy with that. She is sooo cute. She knows who is boss too. She stretches her boundaries with other people but when i call her or tell her to do something she does it, she knows im boss. Oh i just love her! Yeah, I almost cried when my dad was telling me to sell her (he doesnt even live with me! who is he to tell me) and I couldn't imagine my life without her now! My other shepherd is 8 years old. He's starting to slow down a bit now and yeah they play together but my pup plays a lot more with my brothers lab who is umm, probably bout 16 months old now. They have a great time together. Thanks for all your advise I am really happy with her progress. Ive been a lot more stern with her and she has definitely improved!!! I will post a photo of my 8 y/o shepherd, my brothers 16 m/o lab and my 6 m/o shep (and the single photo of a pup face is my pup - dont mind the date the camera is wrong) HAHAHAHAH also i will post a photo of my brothers lab it was taken when she was yawning i think and its just hilarious it looks like she is LAUGHING!

I tell her to sit once and she sits. If i pull out the container and she moves i stand up until she sits. If i open the container and she moves i close it and stand and wait till she sits. This only happened a few times. She has since got the jist of things and sits about 2 meters away from me and waits now. She is learning, slowly. I have faith in her that she will be ok. My dad (who doesnt even live at home and isnt much part of my life) keeps on my back to sell her but how can i? how can i honestly do that. She loves me and I love her to bits. I read an email from someone who wanted to buy her and I was literally upset with tears in my eyes thinking about someone else taking her away from me. It's made me realise very much that I need to work hard with her. Thanks a lot for your advise I really appreciate it. What your saying about me being the apple of her eye does make sense to me. She listens to me and is ok with me, it just seems when my mum or partner try to do something shes worse with them, she knows im the boss and i think thats why? I need to teach them how to teach her the way i do. Pls see the photo I will post, she is absolutely gorgeous. Takes after her father, a very dark shep. Lovely! I honestly don't think I could sell her, plus this would be highly unfair to her, she has bonded with me and I couldn't let her go ;) EDITED - photo didnt attach...... will give it another go.......

I'm no expert - But I think maybe if there were two puppies they would find more comfort in each other. But I guess it depends on your puppies personality and how old they were when taken away from the pack etc. But I'd probably suggest less barking/whinging if there were two as they might find comfort in each other?

And about food times, that's what we do with out other GSD's and I can't and won't change the way I do things for her. She is fine when I do it, I just need to teach the others how to. She is told to sit, if she's too close she's told to get back and she does and as I bend down to open the crate if she stands up so do i and tell her to sit again, then as i scoop it if she moves i do the same thing i put the lid back on and stand up until she sits - she gets the message. it's only when someone else is feeding her that she doesnt take them seriously and thats probably because they dont do it how i do it - i will have to teach them. thanks a lot for your advise. Can you train a dog WELL in obedience without taking it to puppy school?

My opa bought a Miniature toy poodle x Maltese (I know a lot of people are against cross breeding) but to be honest this little girl is lovely! She is very cuddly, she isn't yappy, she's only small, she is very playful and doesn't need big walks (a big play in the afternoon wares her out!!), she doesn't eat much, she hasn't chewed shoes or anything up (shoes are generally bigger than her lol ) she goes to the toilet outsite (walks out her own doggy door) and they haven't had any problems with her at all. The only problem you get with a maltese is that their eyes weep, so you've got to be willing to take good care of that. As far as I'm concerned, even though cross breeding is terrible, this little girl is the perfect inside dog (the best ive seen so far).... the price isn't attractive though.

I have a BEAUTIFUL 6 m.o GSD. I am not breeding her. She is booked in to get desexed on the 4th jan. She nips are you hands when you point your finger and tell her to sit (then sits). She is pretty good at feeding time, but only when i feed her. IF someone else feeds her she goes crazy, won't sit, tries to get the food out of the scoop etc. but when i do she seems to be ok. She has chewed everything in site. She chewed through a VINYL bbq cover (that cost my dad a lot of money to get made) she has drapped copper logs out from behind the shed and chewed them. She has chewed all her toys. I dont have somewhere i can put her when she does something wrong (like a time out). When i come home from work she tries to pretty much jump up the screen door to try to get to me. I did sook her a bit when she was younger which i now see was a mistake coz when anyone sits down shes gotta be sitting right on your feet. (maybe i need to build a time out spot)? I don't know if she is NAUGHTY or if she SEEMS that way because my other GSD is so placid and does anything you tell him to do? She is only 6 months old... My dad is telling me to sell her as a breeding bitch before i get her desexed but i really do love her and i know she loves me and i really dont want to give her away. I want to try and improve her behaviour i just need a bit of courage and some pointers... she steals things off out back table (even fly spray bottles) and i have to go out and check all the time that she hasnt stolen something else...i really want to help her improve but i need some advise...please...anything... she isn't a digger - which i am thankful for. Will getting her desexed change her behaviour at all? Any advise would be HUGELY appreciated!!!!!!!!!!

Our next door neighbour has palms right against out fence and some of their palm leaves hang over the fence. One time when my brothers dog was over she ripped GREEN palm leaves off his tree, not the brown ones that are ready to fall off, the green ones that are still attached! I have no idea how she didnt cut her mouth. My dog on the other hand, I don't think he has ever pulled anything out apart from running through it to bark at a dog walking past or something. Except I do remember when he was younger and mum would be pulling weeds out he used to pick them out and shake them in his mouth, was quite funning having dirt flying everywhere!!!

This probably isn't a "puppy problem" as such (well to me it is) I have about 4 weeks until my pedigree GSD baby comes home. I have three names I really like that I guess I will choose one when she comes home and I see which suits her best. I like Coco, Lucy and Molly. Molly reminds me of a human though, Coco is a nickname 24/7 so I am really leaning towards Lucy because I can nickname her Lulu or whatever I want plus my brothers dog is Missy and her nickname is MOO MOO so what would you nickname Molly lol. ANYWAY.....my real trouble is....I don't know what to call her for her PEDIGREE NAME!!!!!!!!! I have been thinking for weeks! I bought her from KULGLEN in Townsville and the litter name is "D". She is a little girl so she is going to be KULGLEN D.......................... and I just can't think of anything!!!!! I would really like to hear from ANYONE anything they want to throw out there!!!! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!!!! All replies are seriously appreciated!!!!!

thanks so much to everyone, you have all been so much help!!!! i really like a kids pool and sand idea although i think she would bust a kiddy pool so maybe the two clamshells with 1xwater 1xsand. i think she would enjoy the sand for sure!!! i will pass all this on to my brother, the only prob is he lives in a rental property and they arent supposed to do anything to the yard at all but i am sure a bit of sand isnt gonna do any damage!! thanks so much to everyone, ill try make sure he gets her to puppy school but i cant force him, if he wants to be able to have some sort of control over her and if he wants her to know who is boss then hes just goig to have to do it otherwise she will become way too independant, thanks to everyone! can't believe how many people replied, thanks!!

Thanks a lot everyone, I figured this would be the problem and I have told him time and time again he needs to show her who is boss. I will pass on all information from him. Thanks a lot for all your help. Ciao, Jemma

Hi there, I was wondering if anyone could give me any information on my brother dog. She's a Lab, absolutely gorgeous dog, almost 12 months old except it seems shes going through a "puppy" stage. I asked the breeders who I bought my puppy off (not lab breeders) and even though they don't breed Lab's from what I told them they said it seems as though she really craves and wants human interaction. My brother just doesn't know what to do with her anymore but there's no way he will give her away. I used to get up him all the time because I said he never diciplines her, he does but I don't think he really diciplined her enough when she was young. I'm not sure she knows who is boss. She chewed through his gas line on his bbq so he went and bought a metal one and she has tried to chew through that aswell. She stole 6 steaks off their outside table. She finds things and we have no idea how, one day they came home and there was a hammer in the back yard. They have a large backyard although there are no gardens or trees in there (it's a rental and they can't do anything about that) She is secure in the backyard and can't get out although she has a backyard full of toys. When she see's anybody she goes absolutely crazy and jumps up and wants to play. My brothers girlfriend works full time (soon to be a mum so will be at home full time) and he worked casual when she was full time but has recently got a full time job (which i think will only make his 12 month old lab, missy, worse until his gf is at home all the time). He has taken her to pet stores and to vets to see what they have to say about her (but as I see all the time breeders dont like pet stores very much so maybe pet stores don't know enough about labs to really put their two cents in). I am asking for ANY help from ANYONE but in particular PLEASE ANY LABRADOR BREEDERS!!! Missy gets walked almost daily, if not daily atleast every second day. She gets played with daily but she is still naughty. She rips the strings off mops, she pulls GREEN ATTACHED LEAVES of palm trees (not the dead ones that are falling off!!!) She severly pisses off my 8 year old German Shepherd as he plays with her for an hour then gets sick of her and goes and lays down and shes still nipping at his mouth and biting his tail etc. We don't understand what her problem is? Can someone please help us as we do not know what to do about her. We do not want to and won't give her away. She sits, speaks on command, rolls over and shakes so she is obedient but she seems to be really independent. What can we do???? Thanks to anyone who replies. My sincere sincere thanks... (PS...SHE IS DESEXED IF THAT MAKES ANY DIFFERENCE???) (PPS...LOOK HOW SHE SLEEPS ON THE BACKYARD TABLE, ITS QUITE FUNNY ACTUALLY BUT SHE GETS TOLD NOT TO DO IT AND STILL DOES IT) [a tachment=44901:attachment]