Gwinganna

Stopping her fun when she overdoes it like you are should eventually get through. The No and being put back on lead and taken away from the fun should get through with consistent application, plus she is still young.

Good advice here. I even have Jude whos 3 and a half turn his back and cross his arms when Gypsy jumps, but I have to enforce the "ignore the jumpy puppy" rule because the kids forget and pat her when she is up on them, and visitors do too. I heard someone had a nice sign at their front door that said something like "Please totally ignore the dog unless it is sitting, then treat it calmly." They reckon it works a treat. I am getting one made.

I have not used a comb on her, but I will get one and check what type of sliker I have. I doubt you would call it soft, its pretty firm, if fine, wire. She is knot free except for 2 little ones on her belly and one on her back leg I will get out tonight. Not tight matted knots, just a bit clumpy if that makes sense. She had enough lovin last night before I got to her tummy. I wouldn't mind trying a bristle brush too to see how it goes actually. Thanks for the tips.

Thanks Wylie. I got one opinion from the vet, and the dude at Pet Cafe at Clayfield said something different.

I have a wire sort of brush as pictured for the dog as pictured. Gypsys fur is like a wool coat, but not tightly curled. It does not shed and we get her clipped regularly, but not short, she still has a puppy coat at about 4 and a bit months old. We brush her every couple of days and she gets a bath once a week to keep her pretty, maybe once every 2 weeks depending. Is this the best brush for her? She can get little knots and I imagine if we let her go for a month without a brush she would get pretty matted. The brush seems to work well, but it can be a little "harsh" if you know what I mean, which is good because ut gets the dead hair out, but I think it's a bit uncomfortable for her. Is there something more gentle that will still do the job?

Whenever she is dirty or smally, it varies.

Hopefully not Brigette Jones' dog hey? Best it's owner was a size 8 and into g-strings.

Pray she doesn't fart at the wrong moment.

I had a good exchange with the breeder on the lovemypet forum. She was raised in the house, and hustle bustle and noise leaves her completely unfazed. I never met her parents of course, but you know that Warley. She is very calm and good natured. People can't believe how young she is because she is quite contained, if you know what I mean. Playful, but not silly, well not usually :-) It's the rolling on her back thing is all I am looking at, I'm probably being pretty picky. You're right though Warley, it would be better if I had been able to observe the parents. This is the first time I have bought a dog long distance so to speak, and was the most disquieting part of it actually.

DL, don't take it that way, I think people were just commenting on the fact your story and the result from the Vet didn't seem to add up. No-one disbelieves you, it's just the vets advice seems odd in light of what you told us. I'm sure there is a very good reason, the vet saw the dog, if the vet was concerned I'm sure they could have done other tests. Glad your dog seems ok now. If you ever find out what it was, I'm sure we'd like an update.

She is 4 months soon. Still just a baby really. I just don't want to let it go too long and become an ingrained habit. Thanks for the suggestions. EDIT: the other thing is, becasue she is small and cute, people do the "Ohh look at da cute widdle puuuuuppppiiiieee, come here, oh aren't you a cutie oh yes oh yes!" and suddently you've got a grovelling wriggling idiot dog. I have started to ask people very politiely (ie, our friends etc) to please not encourage her to roll over, and if she wants a pat she has to say "please" by sitting nicely. People seem to treat small dogs differently. No one ever carried on over my old GSD like that. Big dogd get more respect, and I think that helps them act more dignified like.

No news yet clearly.

Gypsy has from the day I got her exibited submissive behavior. Good natured friendly and happy, but submissive. Not fearful around humans, but on occasion quite fearful around other, older, bigger dogs. Her first reaction is to flop on her back I figured it was because she was young and I made sure she had calm, positive meetings with other dogs, puppy pre-school etc etc but she is always very much the submissive one in a meeting. She will still flop on her back for people too - I don't know if it's becasue she LOVES tummy rubs or not, but I suspect that ongoing submissivemess is an issue. I try to ignore her when she flops. If I say sit and then go to pat-reward and praise and she flops, I turn my back. Is that the right thing to do? It doesn't seem to impact the behaviour. What's the best way to attenuate this and make he a little more confidant and less likely to flop on her back all the time? Other people think it's cute, but I think there is a root behavioral cause I would rather not encourage.

I've never fasted a dog.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article....d=0&aid=144 http://www.dogscouts.com/childrendogs.shtml It's a start anyway...

BBQ chicken or small pieces of raw steak.

I wait about 20 minutes, but she is treating it as play time. Plus I haven't been able to be sure if she needs to go. Now - this morning - it was different. I got a new enclosure for her to sleep in, like when we got her. She took to it first time again, no dramas, slept in it all night. In the morning, the puppy padd was very wet, but no poos, so I was like YAY!! Took her straight out (6 am) and it's pissing down rain of course. Put a pad at the edge of the deck out of the rain, next to the grass, and drops of the attractant etc on the basis it was at least outside and near the grass. Nothing. Then I had to go to the loo myself, so I left her outside and went to the loo. I get back 10 minutes later, and my boy has gotten up, let her in and there were 2 poos inside on the timber floor! AAARRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!! I had her right where I wanted her and it slipped through my fingers!

I'm in the same boat. So have a look at the thread "housebreaking going down hill - I think I stuffed up - good tips in there too.

Thanks. She seems to be holding it and waiting to go inside. How do I stop that?

Thats funny. If I could find one that kinda looked like furniture, I would get it. Maybe thats a market niche?

Just told my child bride to get different puppy fencing she can't climb over so she can have her corner again, and we'll tighten the area up some to discourage her toileting in there, (it'll be like a crate without having a cage sitting in the house, and while I see the practicality, I just can't handle the look, how shallow am I?) to get the Piss Off urine smell remover stuff, and the Piss On toileting attractant stuff, and a dog door. We'll have to go back to basics. Thanks for the reply Miranda and pebbles and Krash, I saw the "read" numbers going up and no reply and thought I might have alientated people with my "bah humbug" reply to the Doggie Spirits thread :D When I take her out, do I say "Toilet!" (the word I have been using, so I may as well stick to it) when I want her to go, or when she does go. Lately I have been saying "toilet!", and I think she is going to think it means "run around a bit, sniff stuff, sit and look at boofhead and lie on his feet" Plus I am only there early morning and late at night (I leave the house at 7am for work and get back around 7pm most nights) and at weekends, so my wife is going to have to be on the same page, and for her with a 3.5 year old for all but 2 days a week and an additional 5 and 8 year old in the mornings and after prep and school, it's hard for her to be super vigilant 100 % of the time, so the enclosure will need to be good enough for Stella to spend bursts of time in while Ro runs the house, so to speak. Stella can see everyone from there, it's right near the kitchen, so she shouldn't feel too isolated. Never had a problem house breaking a dog before, I must have subtely stuffed this one up. Ah well - refocus and we shall overcome!

When we got Stella she was in an enclosure to sleep and we had a puppy pad in there. It was really cold when we got her (june) and so she was trained to go on the pad. Now, I : a) can't seem to get her to go outside. She plays and looks at me and then we go in after 10 minutes with me thinking I'll try again in 15 minutes, and in 3 she just pees or poos inside before I can catch her. b) her hit rate on the pad has gone from 80% to about 5%, although half the time it is NEAR the pad I want to train her to go outside, but I suspect the wife might have roused on her once ot twice for going inside, unintentionally, or when she has caught her in the act, I know I did once by mistake, and I suspect she is now a sneaky toileter. We praised her lavishly when she did the right thing and went outside early on, but she just doesn't seem to do it at all now. Somehow I have ended up with a completely arse about house training, and I have done largely what I have done in the past, but the effect has been diametrically different this time. It's VERY frustrating. She is 13 weeks old. I need some tips. I was thinking I need to have her sleep in a "crate" or something she can't get out of at night so she builds it up and MUST go when I put her out. Thing is, I really hate crates, and don't want one inside the house. What other alternatives are there? She learned to climb out of the enclosure we got for her. I could put her in the laundry at night, but it's too big to stop her going inside I think and I really need to train her to go outside. It's getting ridiculous. Any good advice?

The peculiar mouth odour referred to as "puppy breath" is a good indication of intestinal worms. All puppies have worms and for this reason are repeatedly de-wormed until 6 months of age. I knew I thought puppy breath was just stinky dog breath for a reason.

Ah, ya big softie... Touching story. Random acts of kindness are no less valued because they were toward a poor dead bird. In a small but important way you made the world a better place with your compassion. Thanks for sharing that.

I don't think anyone should receive a puppy until they are at least 18 unless they have a parent or guardian who will help with it's care and feeding.