♪♫LMBC♫♪

Sorry but I don't think your OH should have to contribute anything to YOUR dog. My OH would have been happy without having a dog. But he knew I wanted one so he told me I could get one, but their had to be rules. Its his house too and if he doesn't want the dog on our bed/furnature or anywhere else, he has every right to say so. It may be your dog but its not just your house. He lives there too and there have to be rules to satisfy both parties. You really should have discussed all these things before you got a dog, and if you weren't going to accept your OH's point of view you shouldn't have gotten a dog until you had your own place for it to live. I know it sounds harsh but I get the impression that you don't like your OH very much anyway. I pay all the expenses for my dog, from his purchase price, to the petrol I used visiting his breeder, his food, vet bills and all the expenses that will come from showing him, its my responsibility and I think my OH has been very compromising by allowing the dog to live in our house. He has to put up with all the bad parts, barking all night, messes in the house, so why shouldn't he be allowed to have boundaries?

The first night I got up every 2 hours. The second night I left him for three hours. Last night I only took him out once during the night and once early in the morning. After the early morning toilet break he went in his crate. I think I might start feeding him earlier so hopefully he gets it all out before bedtime. During the day he seems to just go wherever he is at teh time so I'm thinking he is probably just too little to realise he needs to go until its too late.

http://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/puppie...D&Submit=Go

Yay! Sleepless nights and cleaning up poop! I have soo much too look forward too

Ok so, being new to this whole crate training thing and not having had a puppy in almost 9 years...ahem.... Should I put him in his crate the night we bring him home, say in the bedroom with me, and just get him up to take him out every couple of hours for a wee? Is that the approach? And then we can gradually move the crate away from our bedroom? If he whines, we should ignore it, but what if he needs to go for a wee? Should I only take him out if he's quiet? I don't want him to have an accident because I left him in there when he was whining...and what if I take him out and he doesn't wee? Oh I'm so excited/nervous

We use prban on my boy. He had severe paralysis as a baby and could have died. I was only 12 at the time so no one listened to me when I said there was something wrong ;) but eventually I threw a huge tanty and went and sat in the car with pup in my lap beeping the horn until dad gave in and came to drive us to the vet. Turns out the tick was inside his mouth. So from a baby he learned to tolerate me sticking my fingers in his mouth to check for ticks. He has been on proban ever since and has never had a tick since we get ours from VPD too, and I would recommend it to anyone who asks. ETA I think it would be a great idea to haev a pinned thread on ticks, especially at this time of the year.

We have been using Proban tablets for our dog since he was a year old, he is now just over 8 years. It is getting more and more expensive at almost $80 a bottle. Mum wants to know if there is a cheaper product she can buy that will do the same. We have used spot treatments on him in the past but he was still getting ticks. Since he has been on Proban, no ticks, no fleas, ever. Its a really good product, just really expensive. Any ideas?

RIP Dolce. I'm sorry for your loss CC, but you know you did the right thing, and no matter what anyone else tells you, it is what was right for Dolce that matters.

Oh, what a sad story :p RIP little Nee Hi

I just love the way pups walk when they are learning, all cute and wobbly...

Not allowing him access to the verandah is not really an option. he is an outside dog, and it is the only place where he has shade and protection from the wind when its cold. The only concern I have about desexing is that he is getting old. Would putting him under cause him unneccesary risk at his age? He is 8 years old.

Actually yes, my sister's dogs stayed with us for a few days. So this could because of that maybe? And to clarify, when I say 'only just started' I mean, he always cocked his leg, but never before on our verandah. He always knew he wasn't allowed to pee there. And its gotten to the point where if you leave something outside on the verandah, I can guarantee you that it will get pee'd on. Dad is convinced that if we desex him, he will stop. I don't think this sounds right though...

My 8 year old male BC has been cocking his leg on everything. We can no longer leave him alone for five minutes without him cocking his leg on something. He never used to do this, at least not to the extent he does now. He used to know not to pee in certain places (such as on the back veranda) and now its like he thinks everything is fair game. He has not been doing number 2's anywhere he's not supposed to, but he cocks his leg on everything, including his own kennel. Someone suggested putting black pepper around the places where he does it, but that didn't work. We clean everything to try to remove the smell, but he still does it. I don't know what else to do, we can't be there to watch him 24 hours a day.

How rude and ignorant. I went to a training class once with my sister's dogs, where the trainer insisted on not using food rewards. We were supposed to physically put the dogs in the position we wated, and say the command (ie say sit as we force the dog into a sit). We were then supposed to verbally praise the dog. This may work for some, but my sister's dogs are mostly motivated by food. The forcing them didn't work. Also, try forcing a stubborn male dingo into a drop position. I had to keep one hand on the leash, and she told me to pull his legs out with my free hand. Didn't work, so she acted all superior and came over and did it for me (mind you, she had a spare hand to keep his butt down) and says "see, its not hard". He would also bark a lot during class (he likes the sound of his own voice I think) so she told me when he barks to hold his mouth closed with my free hand. he did not like this at all, and he got to the point of knowing when my hand was coming towards him, and he would snap at me and give a warning growl. When I explained to her why I didn't think her technique worked for this particular dog, she said "oh you just need to stop being scared of him" Um...ok. She then proceeded to demonstrate (on her little JRT) that when he acts aggressively I should physically force him into a submissive position like another dog would do. i tried to explain that, given his size and high level of dominance, I thought this was stupid and dangerous, she rolled her eyes. No comment, just rolled her eyes. Stupid woman. Every training method doesn't work for every dog. And for the record, the RSPCA don't know squat about dog training.

My dog used to be scared of the noise from cars driving past when we were walking. Eventually, as he got older and got exposed to more and more cars driving past on a regular basis, he just got over it. Just make sure you don't accidentally reward his behaviour by giving him too much attention (good or bad) when he is being fearful. Keeping him occupied through the day - kongs are great, but if he is getting through them too quickly maybe it is too small for him? I'm not sure exactly how big a BB is 5 months, so I can't really advise what size to use. Maybe someone with more breed experience could help here. Apart from that, different food types are harder to get out from the kong. We put a few dry biscuits in the middle, then stuff it with chicken mince and seal the ends with peanut butter. It usually takes about an hour to get through for my BC. Others have also suggested in a different thread a frozen kong. I think it's basically filled with the same sort of stuff only frozen, but don't quote me on that.Do a search for kong fillings and you should find it. Make sure he has lots of different toys for when you go out. I find that pups especially enjoy squeakers. To keep him amused, try keeping some 'special' toys that you only give him when you go out. Have a few different ones and use them on a rotational basis, giving him a different one each day. This way, he's not just seeing the same toys all day and getting bored with them. To him it will be almost like having a new toy each day. If you find that he has a particular favourite though, maybe use it more regularly.

You're doing the right thing with the growling, but if you're not already, you need to praise her as soon as she backs off. Have some treats or toys handy and as soon as she leaves bub alone, reward her with a play or treat. Its basically about distraction, and teaching her that there are more interesting things to do than lick the baby. Failing this, you could try putting something yucky tasting on the baby's feet/hands/wherever. This could make the lickign not so fun. Most dogs don't like the taste of anything citrus, so maybe some lemon juice could work. Obviously, you wouldn't want to put it on baby's face in case it gets in his eyes. The only problem here is that we are talking about a baby, rather than an object, so you are limited as far as deterents go. If it was chewing the furnature you could easily apply a commercial deterent, but obviously you can't really do this with a baby. I think at this point the growl/distact thing is the go. Just make sure you are consistant, don't reprimand sometimes and not other times. As far as why she is doing it, maybe she is just feeling maternal and is trying to do to him what she would do to her pups. Or it could be that it is just all new to her and she doesn't quite know how to react. Good luck

Frozen kong sounds liek a good idea for a hot day, never thought of that before. We usually use mince, sometimes bits of cut up meat, and we plug the ends up with peanut butter. Takes him forever to get it all out, we use it when we go away for longer than usual

;) This is all so sad. Poor little Page. I hope she is not suffering too much and that she is able to visit with Jet/Pete.

Walking him should be fine. I have never heard of any reason not to. What you need to avoid at this young age is excessive jumping. The pressure of landing from a jump puts pressure on the joints and hips in young pups. So no hurdles or bounding down all the stairs in one giant leap as my friends dane seems to enjoy :p Oh, and I assume he is vaccinated? This should be done before leaving the house.

Rubbing her nose in it is, like you said, mean. When she goes in the house, does she always go in the same spot, or the same few spots? Or does she just go anywhere? Make sure you clean up all her messes with something that will remove the smell completely, because some dogs like to go where they can smell that they have done it before. Remember, just because you can't smell it doesnt mean that her special doggy nose can't smell it :p

Most dogs wont go toilet where they eat and sleep, but if they are given enough space (eg a whole room) they consider it enough distance to go toilet in. Have you considered a crate?

What a gorgeous little boy! Are you feeding him the same food he was being given at the pet shop? If not, a new diet may be upsetting his tummy. Otherwise he's probably just settling in, so don't worry too much. He's soo cute!

Border collies are really just fluffy balls of endless energy. You need to try to remove as much of this energy as possible during the day. At 8 months old, I assume they are fully vaccinated? This means that thy can now enjoy the pleasures of exercise outside their home. Lets face it, the same old sights and smells every day can get kind of boring. If you havent already, start leash training them so that they can go outside for walkies, and try to take them whenever you can. My border will happily do two long walks a day (He comes with me in the morning, and with mum and dad after work) and he's still full of go after all that. This is a plus for you too, as it gives you the oppurtunity to exercise too. Try teaching them to fetch. Get a few cheap tennis balls and keep them specially for this purpose so they don;t get destroyed to quickly. You can also get one of those ball throwing thingys...does anyone know what they call them? You use it to pick up and throw the ball so you don't have to touch it when its all slobery. If your yard isn't big enough for fetch, try a leash free dog park or beach, but before you take your pups to one of these, it is essential that they will come when they are called, and you should be constantly supervising. As for the crate training; each dog should have her own crate. A crate is a special place for the dog to go to play by herself, and sleep an privacy. There are many different kinds but my personal preference is a wire crate which can be folded up for travel purposes. The crate should be big enough so that they can turn around, sit, stand and lie down comfotably. Keep in mind what the adult sze will be when puchasing a crate. When setting up the crate, choose an area of th ehouse where pup can be with the family, but make sure its not going to be in the way. It shoudl be lined with comfortable bedding and contain fresh water and a few toys. Once you have the crate, get the puppy familiar with it by letting them look and sniff at it, and if they seem reluctant to go inside, try bribing them with toys or treats. Once pup is happy and comfortable going inside the crate, start confining her for short periods. Start out doing this while you are still in the room. Eventually you can extend the time you leave her there to include periods alone without anyone around. Once they are happy being in the crate, they should be able to spend the night inside without too much fuss. If she needs to go to the toilet, she probably won't want to do it in the crate, as dogs are generally clean and don;'t like to go to the toilet in the same place they eat or sleep. If she really needs to go and she can't hold it, she will porbably let you know, If she has been sleeping overnight in the crate without whining, then any noise could be an indication that she needs to go out. Let her out of the crate, take her outside, adn once she's done, put her straight back in the crate. This way, she will learn that whinging in the night isn;t going to result in her being let out to play, only to go pee.

Sorry Erny, just venting.

Hey, I had this great idea to stop people getting attacked by dogs! Why don't we just ban all the evil, aggressive, bad 'pit bulls' and restrict our right to use a valuable training tool to control our dogs! Sounds good to me! Our government makes me laugh.