CliftonPark

The very first commands we taught our pups was 'sit' and 'wait'. We make them sit and wait before meals, entering through door ways, to receive treat and toys. They are given the 'ok' command to indicate they may eat and enter through doorway. All this is taught on lead until they understand what the commands mean and are compliant. Once they know the 'sit' we then taught them that they must sit when meeting people (done on lead intitialy) We ask them to sit and put them in to the sit if they do not comply. We also request that when people are meeting the pups that they do not speak or pat them until they are sitting. (this is often one of the hardest things to get people to do) We explain that we are training our pup and appreciate their help in not patting them until they are sitting. Important to be consistent and praise them (food/pats/verbal praise) for doing a good job. Good Luck.

Well re the 'marking' the reason I say that is we visited the family (who has dogs) and they wee'd inside (no poop) everywhere (very embarassing and why we now travel with crate and playpen), not big amounts but lots of little wees as though they were marking and I think it was because of the other dog smells. They have not ever done that type of wee marking since. Only guessing mind you, but that's what it looked like to me and I know Daphne isn't doing it because she can smell other dogs but she may want to mark her smell into each room?

Oh you do make me laugh and I so know the frustration your feeling. I don't have any perfect answer for you though. I'm kind of wondering if she is marking. We deny access to any carpeted area (have barriers up all over the place) Mine are 13 weeks old now and only now really showing signs of very few accidents. It's constant and you're still in early days yet. I'd deny access until she's better toilet trained. Have you tried puppy training pads. While mine will shred them if left with them overnight, they are attracted to that spot and I have one placed near front and back door when they are loose in the house to encourage them to head in that direction for pee/poop.

Well I've been talking to a new vet and also had a long chat to current vet about my concerns and was actually very good and understood my concerns. Suggested Sentinel for monthly heartworm/fleas/all wormer as the flea treatment is an insect hormone that stops eggs hatching out and not an insecticide that goes on the skin. The vet personally does not like topical treatments as does not like children cuddling their dog that has that insecticide treament on it's skin. I explained I do not want flea treatment as I'd prefer to treat a problem if it occurs than give additional preventative treatments. Said I could use Heartguard just for heartworm and continue with Drontal Allwormer for intestinal worms. Anyone have an opion on Heartguard? Have contacted another vet also (for a second opinion) and explained my concerns and have an appointment with him to sit and have a chat about everything including vaccinations, titre testing, natural diets etc. So I'll be interested to see what he says but seems very open to discussing all my queries.

Thanks Mel, I appreciate your comments. My thought is that I'd need to diarise (as I do with all wormer) whereas daily it just becomes part of preparing their daily dinner time meal. I def will google though.

Thank you Tess32. You have obviously done your homework so I think I will follow your advice and start them on daily tablets as I do not wish to incorporate flea treament.

Thank you so much everyone as it has really been worrying me and I have already decided I don't trust my vet now. I'm going to ring a number of other vets and seek opinions regarding this to see who gives the best answer! (now that I have an idea of the problems associated with yearly vacc) Regarding the daily tablets could you please tell me what brand you use and is it one obtained from a vet or pet shop/supermarket? At what age do you think I should start the daily tablets please?

Thank you I am glad I went with my gut instincts and decided to ask before proceeding with this vacc.

Personally I would never feed my dogs cheap dry food. I would persevere and find a way to entice him to eat premium. (if Kong tricks him he isn't that adverse to it) Try coating it in freshly cooked warm juicy meat like chicken or mince. Good nutrition is very important. If you decide to ditch the dry food you could try Billinghurst's BARF patties. My babies love it.

Labrador babies. Thankyou for your advice. I worry so much about too much preventive protection when it may not be necessary but also don't want to risk my babies getting heartworm. Can you help me understand the danger?

I was just wondering about when we should give our pups their first heartworm vaccination or if we are better to go monthly. (i.e. not such a big dose of heartworm prevention) I really worry about over vaccinating my dogs and vet has them booked to be done at 14 weeks. Does anyone think this is too young for a yearly hertworm vacc. Am I correct in that heartworm isn't something to worry about until they are 6 months of age? I was wondering if we should wait until they are a bit older for more vaccines or is it better to go monthly. I don't want to overload their little systems and we don't use flea prevention (none of my dogs have ever had fleas in over 16 years) and I'd rather treat a flea problem if it happens than add extra chemicals to their system now. Confused on what's best

Ok Daphne is goergous but now I'm studying my babies and comparing the way they lay to the photo of Daphne. What is it that makes you see good hips in Daphne? Could you please explain...is it the legs straight out at the back?....another paranoid mum here....

Don't know why you wouldn't want to crate train. If trained to their crates in a positive way by good association by offering food treats and chew toys (keep pigs ears for e.g just for crate time). Our pups love their crates (as does my other older dog) and know something good is coming when they go inside. I also give all bones in their crates. They love it and I can supervise. It is a cosy secure place for them to rest and we take one with us when we go visiting. Allows us to take them visiting (good socialisation) and we can relax in others peoples places knowing they aren't off chewing or pooing where they shouldn't. I attach the playpen to the crate so they can move between the two areas. On thing though, never ever punish your pup to her crate. If you need a 'time out' place, choose a different place.

Hi Chugo101, Your little Daphne is absolutely divine! She is so very beautiful and I can relate so very well what you are going through. My little girl now 13 weeks old did exactly the same thing with stones and it had me constantly worried and checking poo to see if she was swallowing. I constantly monitored her when outside and would just take them out of her mouth and discard. I have lots of chew toys avail for her inside and outside so there are plenty appropriate things she can chew on. Empty plastic water water bottles (lids removed and with a some dry food treats inside) have been good for outside. She seems to have lost interest in the stones now thank heavens. Re the toileting, again I can relate BUT I had it with 2! So you can imagine double the mess and needing eyes in back of my head to monitor them. This is where a play pen when you can't watch her is a big help. There is light at the end of the tunnel and you need lots of patience. You are doing everything right (and the dog books can make toilet training sound sooooo easy), the pups have such small bladders that yes even after being outside to toilet will do it again in what seems like 5 minutes later. As she gets bigger so will her bladder and the time lapse between toileting will improve. Mine are now 13 weeks and still have occais accidents but are much improved. Re the following you around, I would pop her into playpen from time to time to stop her following you so much. I have ours in main living area so they can see all the activity but don't always have access to us. Teaches a little independence. We also have a crate in another room where they are taught to spend some time alone where they can't see us (and sometimes apart from each other) for some of their daytime sleeps. I use a chew treat (like half pigs ear) to keep them occupied while learning to be alone in the crate. Good luck with it all. Keep us posted on your progress.

My puppy had diarrhea at about 9 weeks of age and my vet suggested worming him again. I did this and it fixed the problem in 24hours. Vet said most often it is caused by worms. Hope your puppy is ok. I would be interested to know what the problem was when your pup is better.

Aaaah to leave water or not to leave water? Such a dilemma I had myself with my 2 little lab puppies. When I got them home 5 weeks ago now I left them water overnight, however this turned out to be too much of a problem. I found a very sturdy water bowl but they simply used it as a swimming pool! I agree with some of the earlier posts that the weather is cooler now and water does not seem to be missed at all (expcept for the fun they were having swimming in it perhaps) They do not rush to the water bowl in the morning so they obviously aren't desperate for a drink. Plus you indicated in a different topic you posted that you intend to feed BARF at night, (which is what I do) and this diet does not make them as thirsty as dry food. If you feed dry food at night then I do think they would need water available. I also was given advice that no water helps with toilet training overnight. There is so much to work out and learn getting a new puppy and like you I seem to never stop worrying that I am doing everything right. Isn't it great to have friends to get advice from on DOL. Can't wait to see a pic of your little Daphne.

I have developed a 2 crate system, but a crate with puppy play pen attached would work just as well if you have the space. (however 2 crates are more secure if you have a climber) They now sleep in the laundry as the family room was getting very smelly in the mornings and it is where I wanted them to eventually be anyway. My puppies (I have 2 that are 12 weeks old = double poop and wee). Due to having days I cannot drag myself out of bed in the early hours of the morning for toileting I have attached 2 crates together. One crate has their bedding in it and the other is empty except for Puppy toilet training pad. So if I'm not up in time they can get up and toilet in the attached 'toileting crate'. I just have to remove the soiled training pad and mop up the tray. It works well when we need a sleep in or they don't make it through the night. I will be very glad when they have bigger bladders!

Luke you have an impressive library! I have read Dunbar and like his training methods (I like Cesar Millan but think his methods are most beneficial for dogs with issues that require more than positive reinforcement) I would love to get Dunbar's DVD's but have not been able to find any that suit our Region in Australia? Anyone know where I can obtain some that can be played on Australian DVD players?

Thank for the warning about bones and will keep a close eye on them. I have been bashing the wings with a mallot at this stage to crush the bones until I am confident that they are chewing them properly and crate them while they eat them to ensure they do not attempt to bury or hide them.

Thanks for this, I've made a note of the paperwork I need to ensure I get. The pups are being reared on a BARF diet at the mo and its whether we stick to this or try to swap onto a dry food. I've bought some of the Dr B's BARF frozen patties but really I was hoping to put her onto something like Eagle Pack Holistic for Large/Giant breed puppies or maybe a mix of the two. What are you feeding? Any idea whether its best to gradually change diet or just do it straight away? I'm just worried about over/under feeding. Plus in the morning when I go out to do school drop off & aerobics I'm out for 2 hours so thought maybe dry food in a treat ball would be a good way to give her, her first meal of the day to occupy her while I'm out? We've got a puppy pen and I'm preparing myself for some hard work! The whole diet thing has me a little paranoid about what to feed as it is so important to get it right with large breeds and I have had it drummed in to me to grow them slowly! Don't over feed. The breeder had them on premium dry food. I introduced them to BARF over a week and I have had no problems with upset tummies and they have perfect poop! (always a good sign) BARF is excellent and I use it for their evening meal. I use premium dry food (Nutrience) for breakfast and your idea of treat balls to keep her occupied is excellent. Having 2 pups makes it hard to monitor if they are both getting their fair share and so I need to separate them at feed times and this also makes it easier to teach them to sit and wait before I give them permission to eat. (took 2 days to teach the sit and 2 weeks for the 'wait' until I say 'ok' for them to eat...impatient little possums) For lunch they get either chicken necks or wings. I did read Dr Billinghursts 'Grow your pups with bones' book and would highly recommend it and it is an easy read. They keep me on my toes but I am enjoying every second. We're off to puppy school this weekend.

Hi, I recently picked up 2 labrador puppies, one of which was the smallest in the litter. We chose him because he had the most beautiful personaility. I have had them a month now and the smallest has already caught up in size to the other pup. I would not worry about your pup being the smallest and I personally think the personality is more important. With regard to paperwork. I would ask if not supplied copy of parents papers, and copy of certificates of elbow, hip scores and clear eye certificates. You should have microchip transfer of ownership completed to transfer ownership to you when you pick up your puppy. Vaccination card (and worming dates). (I did not get a health report from vet) Your breeder should also give you details of the food the pups have been on (and if pup is not on a premium food I would recommend you slowly switch her on to one as the first 18months of growth are so important, especially with a large breed dog like a lab) From my first 4 weeks of experience I would also highly recommend a crate and puppy play pen. It will give you a secure place for puppy to sleep and play when you can't be watching her (I need eyes in the back of my head to keep track of the toileting and chewing and the crate is a god send when I can't keep watch) (and is totally transportable when you go visiting/holidaying) Good luck with your new baby and would love to see a photo. (unfortunatly I'm not clever enough to know how to attach one here)

I have the innotek which I use on my GSP and it has been a god send! She has only ever barked through the first level. Now she understands what it means, she won't even bark through that. Is not afraid of it when I get her to sit while I put it on. Very pleased with it. However I have never used on a smaller dog like a mini poodle. I agree with Kamuzz speak to Steve at K9 and I would be interested on his opinion re using an e-collar on a smaller breed.

I believe you can do the NDTF course and apply for a sponsership (if accepted you need to work within the network to pay back the sponsership $ on completion of the course) Not sure if this is still avail, but may be worth investigating.

Hi It is also important that when you recall your dog that it is 'always' for a good reason. Never recall your dog for things he doesn't like doing e.g. never call your dog back to you to reprimand him, bath time, or whatever he sees as unfavourable. You want to associate your recall with 'only' good things so he won't want to hesitate in coming to you. It takes time to build reliability. If you do recall your dog always be prepared to follow through. This means if Fido doesn't come, you need to go get him. If you don't he will learn that he is able to ignore you. For this reason I would not call him if he is highly distracted and having so much fun that coming to you is not going to be as much fun as what he is currently doing. In this situation I would go get him rather than call him for something he will see as less fun. Hope this helps. Good Luck.