slinkyjill

Yeah will make an apointment. He has been vaccinated for kennel cough though?

Darcy seems to have a cold... His nose is running, but it's dry at the same time. He's also constantly licking his face, I think to try and wet his nose and get rid of the runniness. I tried to do a search on this but it doesn't seem to come up - can anyone tell me what is wrong with him and what I should do to get him better?

I didn't know that getting on top of tables was a dog thing to do!! I think my pup must have been a mountain goat in a previous life - when I was moving furniture out of the house, had locked pup in the backyard and went outside to check and found him standing on the top of our outdoor table like the king of the mountain!!! There wasn't anything on the table either, so beats me why he wanted to stand on it... :p

The neighbour over the road has two cats who tend to cross through our yard at times, so I'm guessing the cats are what kept him there!! The neighbour said that he was very good inside, and just sat there with the cat inside looking at each other, but when the cat ran, he would run too!!!! *sigh* Do you know where I might be able to purchase a dog run? I've had a look online, and there doesn't seem to be too many options around, and I'm having difficulty finding out the approximate cost as well... ETA: Have had a look on Ebay, and there seem to be some options there. so that's a bit of a relief!!

Well it's pretty much decided - we're going to have to buy a dog run. He got out today. So stressed out!!! Apparently my neighbour over the road (co-incidentally we have been having major problems with her children so not the best person to feel indebted to but anyway I am grateful...) was going out at 10am and Darcy was in her front yard. She didn't talk to him or anythign at the time because she had to rush off to an appointment, but when she came home at about 1 he was in her driveway. So she took him in and rang the National Pet Register on Darcy's collar (am I grateful for that!!!) and she contacted me at work to come and pick him up. I'm so glad he didn't go far!! We found where he got out, which was literally the tiniest of gaps between our very large and tall strong gate and the bricks of the path. He is so big I can't understand how he got out through this gap, but anyway he definitely did get out there because we have found lots of evidence that say it was there!!! But now I'm stressing out big time. We are moving to Sydney in a few weeks and I don't know Sydney very well and I just don't know what I would do if he got out while I wasn't at home. He is obviously missing us during the day, but there's just no way we can afford not to work to babysit him!!! I'm a bit concerned about the dog run idea, just that I'm worried he might cry all day and make a nuisance, and I'm anxious to be a good tenant in Sydney when we move there. The only other option I can think of is doggy day care - does anyone know of any in the Hills District in Sydney and how much it costs per day?? I'm guessing a dog run would be cheaper in teh long run, but worried about the psychological effects, ifthere are any??? Please help...I'm stressed out enough about the move as it is without having to worry abut whether my puppy is going to be hit by a car!!!

oh der, silly me, I'll read the training forum!!!

Thanks for the suggestions. Yeah I think training might actually be the go, he is quite erratic at the moment. In the first week we had him we taught him to sit at every road that we crossed when walking, it was amazing how quickly he learnt that. My bf has just rung me to inform me that he has learnt how to jump a one meter high gate that we have down one side of our house and found him in the area between the little gate and our big gate (that he can't jump, nor the fence - too high). Either that or he commando crawled the whole way under the house in the space of one minute...so I'm getting really stressed now. I thought that a dog run might be the go, but I am concerned that it's still just going to bore him and have damage later on. We aren't in a position to afford another dog, and we are moving to Sydney in a few weeks anyway so I'm not about to put two dogs through that stress anyway - it's hard enough on one. We have a park down the road from our house, but other dogs visit in the morning and night, so I'm not sure how I can train him with other dogs around? And I'm not really sure where to start with training? I've never had to do this before (other than the usual tricks like chasing retrieving and dropping the ball). Is there a website that details how to do all those things you mentioned Tangwyn??

My parents dog does this all the time while doing poos!!! He literally, backs his butt halfway up a tree and deposits his droppings UP the tree

Thanks guys for all your help, advice and suggestions. They have been really helpful. Things have improved a bit, since I bought him a toy that is a rubber ball on a rope. He likes to chuck this around the backyard a bit I think and it hits him in the head and stuff and it's all great fun. I have to be careful not to give it to him when I'm around though so he doesn't get too bored with it. I did catch him being a bit of a mountain goat on our pot plants this morning though, cheeky thing!

Yeah he only does it when we are out, for long periods on work days - ie. he is an angel while we are around, but we always come home to find holes and other delights that demonstrates his adventures that day!!! So it's too late to scold him because we never catch him doing it. I wish I was still at uni to play with him during the day too! But yes I do believe it may be a bit of seperation anxiety, but he doesn't whine at all during the day, rarely barks at all. But also, when I say 'walk' I mean 'off the leash at the doggy park'. He runs around more if his doggy friends are there to play with, but that's not always the case!!! SO maybe I need to take him for longer....?

He is a flat coated retriever, and is 7 months old today! I walk him twice per day, once before work and once after work. I also try and not go out once I'm home so I can spend time with him.

I don't know what to do about my puppy - he is obviously bored during the day, but I have tried to give him lots of distractions like Kongs and bones and toys, but while he loves them it hasn't seemed to help much. He is destroying our backyard. He is digging holes the size of canyons, and faeces in the holes don't seem to help. He has also ripped down brush screening in our backyard and chewed that up, destroyed pot plants by digging the plants out of the pots (luckily the plants were nearly dead anyway so i didn't mind so much) and chewed and ripped his blanket to bits and pieces. A tennis ball also seems to have disappeared with bits and pieces left of it, so I think he has eaten it. But today my bf gets home and finds two bags of potting mix which were sitting on a high table in our back completely and uttlerly ripped to shreds and potting mix strewn everywhere all over the table and chairs. I am at my wits end now, I don't know what else to do to keep him occupied during the day while we aren't home, I've never had a puppy as naughty as this one!!! Not only that I am worried for his health particularly because it's dangerous to inhale potting mix and I'm assuming dangerous to be eating plastic and toys. To make it worse we are moving to Sydney soon, and I don't see how we are going to be able to rent a house with a naughty puppy like this unless we get a completely concreted yard with no ability to dig at all!!!??? Any suggestions??? HELP!!! If I knew how to upload the pic of the mess onto here then I would!