Danois

Hi Karina Congrats on your pup. A gentle word - designer dog names are not used here - it is a lab x poodle. You are on the correct approach with him in his area - returning to a barking/ whining dog is rewarding the behaviour - they learn that if they bark, whine then you will come back (which is what they want) and they will continue to escalate the behaviour until you do. Make it a fun area for him - including leaving toys. It is a good idea to keep toys on rotation so they do not get 'bored' with the same ones - just keep out 3 or so at a time. It is a good idea for pups to learn from the start that they will be left alone. You should also start leaving the house for a couple of minutes at a time - making sure when you leave and return you make no fuss of the dog and in fact ignore it when you return for a couple of minutes. You build up the time you leave the house for. With the night toilet breaks - make sure it is simply out on lead, toilet and back into crate - no talking, playing etc.

So basically you are teaching your dog that if it barks you will come running... You'll find the more acceptable approach is ignore the barking puppy and return only when it is quiet.

Have him sleep in his crate in the bedroom until he gets into the routine of sleeping through the night. Then move the crate gradually from the room to the laundry until he can sleep in his open crate in the laundry. He is a young pup who is suddenly away from his litter, mum etc and is lonely.

If you do not want to be getting up at 4.50am for the next 10 years then I would be ignoring him at that time and settling him into your routine or otherwise popping said puglett in its crate with a kong or something like that and going back to bed.

Anal glands and I would not have waited until the following day as you may find them discharged on your doona at 3am in the morning....

I agree with Teebs and Nekbet - I never found having a puppy tiring. From day 1 routines were put into place to integrate the dog into the house - he fitted around me, I did not fit around him.

From Dogs NSW: CHALLENGE POINTS Challenge Points are earned on the following system: Best of Breed winners: 5 points and one point for each exhibit male and female including him/her self but excluding the Baby Puppies. The opposite sex Challenge Certificate (ie was not awarded Best of Breed) earns 5 points plus one point for each of its own sex exhibit, including him/her self. (e.g. if your Intermediate Dog won the Dog Challenge but was not Best of Breed, and there were 10 other dogs shown in the various classes (excluding Baby Puppies and all absentees), then he earns 5 points plus one point for himself plus 10 points for the other dogs = 16. So if you get BOB you don't also get the points for the challenge certificate. After breed judging its all about the glory, the ribbons and bags of free food only. http://www.dogsnsw.org.au/how-to-exhibit-your-dog - this is a good explanation of all things showing.

Make that most shows when there's a harle there...

I have never had to kick a dog but have given an owner a clear warning I would kick her dog if she did not get it away from Boo. I would kick as I am not stupid enough to put my hands between 2 dogs, 1 of which is in bite mode. I would prefer my foot/ leg be bitten than my hands - easier injury to live with!

After the first instance of bad behaviour, I would be leaving the beach/ park or whereever you are - ie remove the privilege of being somewhere fun and exciting. No attention, fun, interaction etc on the way home.

Speak to some of the experienced staff at PB - Bernie (girl with short blond hair) is one re food. Most of the others have no idea at all. They lost a lot of their good and knowledgeable staff with some management changes it seems. The more knowledgeable staff seem to be at the old Pet Warehouse store. I think them sticking EP had a lot to do with one of their employees going to work for EP.

Its a shame that Pets on Broadway (meaning the one in the shopping centre) sells puppies. You'll find most people here will not shop there for that reason.

I have been advised that EP is no longer going to be distributed overseas. This came from the Great Dane Lady who has used it in her feeding programs for years however no longer recommends it due to the fact it no longer follows the original recipes. She put me on to Golden Eagle which goes back to the original recipes - http://www.goldeneaglepetfoods.com/index.html. Presumably it will come to Australia in due course?

Words still fail me in how to express how sorry I am for your loss of Memphis and Cujo. The tributes you have written are just lovely. They will always be with you - in your heart and in your memories.

Yes. ;) Which is why I don't start these discussions in places where everyone will agree with me. Unless I'm feeling a little battered from discussing them here. :p I'm not in the business of converting, and I think that's where discussions about training methods can get messy and frustrating. Everyone does what they think is working best, and most people are pretty committed to that for obvious reasons. Having people come to your way of thinking is the ultimate in affirmation and everyone likes it. I don't flatter myself to think I've ever changed anyone's mind about anything and don't need to have done so to feel my opinions hold merit, but it sure is nice when you can add to a general knowledge pool or say something that makes someone think, whether it's about why they agree or why they disagree. My two cents - you lose me with your posts as they are not succinct and meander and any point you are making gets lost in the waffle or massive blocks of text. I also think that you do yourself a disservice by attempting to compare your hare to dog training - in my eyes, this immediately discredits any point you are making.

I am so sorry Deelee - Sometimes giving them their wings is the best option, especially for them. I have seen your posts in the last 2 years and how much work you have put in to rid Evie of her demons but sometimes love and training just is not enough to fight what is there. I am glad you are planting the gardenias - someone gave me port wine magnolias, wisteria and daphne when I lost Angs and I love watching them come into flower and filling the garden with scent. Its a nice reminder.

Good that you spoke with the breeder. A dog does not need rice.

Hey Jenna - probably the best place to go for this question is back to your breeder - they will know what works with their dogs and will have advice to ensure that puppy is getting a balanced diet with all the right nutrients and minerals.

Royal Canin and Eagle Pack.

Boo is super lean and if he decides to not eat a lot for a couple of days you can see his spine. I am now including lamb flaps and chicken carcasses in his diet and will maybe introduce human grade mince - the cheapo one with lots of white in it. I would stay away from Satin Balls too - I made them for Angs and he got the runs. My vet saw the ingredients list and was a little horrified.

Yes he has - Dr Ian Murdoch

dogmad - it is the Pennant Hills vet. My vet from Lane Cove has taken over the clinic and I will now be making the trek from Inner West. I Interesting, thanks for that. I knew it certainly wouldn't have been the previous inhabitant of the practice!!! Glad I could clarify it dogmad - no idea about the previous vet there but I do know how good Ian is. In fact both him and his vet nurse (who is a DOLer) were nominated for MDBA awards last year - Best Supportive Vet and Best Vet Nurse.

The kindest thing is to let the dog be - it is old and the trauma of surgery and chemo would probably kill it. I hope your suggestion has not made the owner question his care of his dog.

Hi The runs are possibly due to all the changes in diet and also a result of a change in environment. At 8 weeks I am assuming you have just got the puppy? What was the breeder feeding? Stay on one food (and not one you get from the supermarket but one which has a protein as the first ingredient) and feed that. If you chop and change food on a puppy they can become a fussy eater knowing that if they refuse something better will come along. However, at that age, I would take the pup to the vet if the runs persists past one day or sooner if pup is not drinking or is lethargic.

dogmad - it is the Pennant Hills vet. My vet from Lane Cove has taken over the clinic and I will now be making the trek from Inner West. I had a real illustration of different approaches to vet care this week. Milo (cat) was unwell - I went to Sydney Uni Vets as my vet was not yet open. Cannot fault the care - thorough examination and very competent. Their approach was to take blood and faecal sample on Thursday night and monitor and if no better on Monday then we would have to do imaging. Even talking biopsy and endoscope. I took him back Saturday - different vet and this one gave him an anti-emetic to stop nausea and ABs so see if there was an improvement over weekend. Funnily enough there was and I am $500 poorer. My usual vet would have started with that as the first option then moved to testing etc if no improvement. The younger vets seem to opt to test for everything as the first option and hope to chance upon something. Anyway - point of the story is give Ian a go at Pennant Hills - I trust him completely with my lot and he was brilliant with Angs.