Lolly

I push it into the middle of a cube of ham - he really loves ham

I fed my puppy the same food as the breeder fed the pups. He had dry biscuits in the morning wth egg and cheese, dry food for lunch and dry food for dinner with vegetables or raw chicken or sardines. He still gets the same thing but only has morning and night food now. My B/C was fed 3 times a day until 8 weeks and then 2 times a day since then. Good luck with your puppy - I'm the same as you - he's my first one and I'd never had a dog before. It's really daunting at first - actually, in the beginning, to be honest, I thought I'd made a huge mistake. But it gets easier the more you both settle into it.

Oh, don't tempt me ...

So it's all or nothing and by invitation only .... great *rolls eyes* more training of the humans :p I swear it's easier to train the dog to do the right thing than train the humans to do the right thing by the dog. If I have to tell one more human that the command is DOWN, not 'sit', 'ahhha', 'no' or one of the other numerous commands they use and then wonder why he wont do what they say, I will tattoo it into my forehead. I taught the older kids to say NO and turn their backs on the dog, which has been working great, but I cant teach the 2yo to turn his back. Thanks :p

Jules - I do this too. My B/C is only 4mo so most of the time he wont come to me, especially if he realises I dont have food. But if I run the other way, most of the time, he just watches me run off. He wont chase a ball either. He lays down and watches the ball roll past his face. Is this because he's just a pup and eventually he will get the urge to run after me and play ball? I think the reason he's not chasing me is because either whatever he is doing (like digging) is way more fun than chasing me round the yard or he's just not looking at me run away and doesnt notice that's what I'm doing.

My 4 m/o B/C is growing perfect in every way. After an initial wake up period for me we've settled nicely into a routine and he can "down" (means to sit, he's a showdog), "stop", "heel" and "stand". He also understands NO but still does things he's not supposed to like BARK at people who dont stop and pat him on the head. Sometimes he'll have a little bite too but that has pretty much stopped about 97% of the time. He lost his two bottom front teeth yesterday - I've not ever seen anything more adorable! I have a 2 y/o nephew and the dog is currently the same size as the boy. The dog jumps up and puts his front paws on the boy's back or front to have a lick and the boy FREAKS out. Cries and runs. YAY for the dog who thinks this is a great game. I'm not sure what to do with this - I dont want the dog and boy to start hating each other. I'm introducing the "down" to stop the ballistics that goes on whenever anyone walks in the front door. He is made to DOWN and then can move once he gets a pat from the person (or me if the person hates dogs). Should I just do this around the boy as well? Can dogs learn not to jump on particular people? or is that dumb question? My SIL is allergic so the dog can't jump on her and my nephew screams and runs so I'd like to stop the jumping on him, but the rest of the family love being jumped on. Is it an all or nothing thing? or can I teach him to pick & choose?

Oh, how sad for you ... Our 12 week old B/C was sick (vomit, runny poo) last week for 24 hours and of course, parvo immediatley ran through my head .. he was fine the next day after a trip to the vet and some antibiotics (they're saying it was something he ate?) .. I was scared as hell .. my fingers and toes are crossed for you ..

My B/C bites a lot, as all puppies do. I've been trying to stop him from doing it by saying NO and turning my back or stopping all play or removing me or him from the room. He likes to jump and bite my hands or ankles. As soon as my hands are anywhere near him, he will bite at them. I'm being consistent and trying to train this out of him because before we know it, he will have adult teeth and really bite someone. When I take him to visit our relatives, he bites the kids hands (not hard, playing sort of, but you know what I mean) and I get angry with him and say NO and the kids stop playing with him. My problem is the adults, who should know better, say "awww don't! he's just playing, look! he won't hurt you". It makes me so mad. We're up and awake at 6am whether I like it or not

My husband didnt go, but when I got home and told him what a great time we had and showed him the COME and SETTLE he was jealous and is definately coming next week. With the COME I was just randomly standing around yelling COME COME COME. She told me to stand in one spot and say "{INSERT NAME} COME". If he didnt respond, she told me to move into his sight and gain attention and then say {INSERT NAME} COME. It took three goes and since then every time I've commanded him to come he's done it. I didnt even have to go into the yard with him for wee last night. I stood at the back door and when he was done I commanded COME and he came straight away. SETTLE was so easy I cant believe I didnt know about it. I picked him up and put him on his back and stroked his tummy and said SETTLE. It took about 5 goes because he was freaking out, but when I got home I showed hubby and he settled immediately. Once he's settled I put him back on his tummy. Apparently its all about you allowing the dog to go back onto its tummy. With the biting, you hold their lips in so they're biting themselves. With the barking she said to keep doing what I'm doing and thats holding his snout, looking him in the eye and saying NO. Eventually it will stop. What happens is I say NO to barking, and for each NO I get a BARK. Then he starts snapping and biting at me and gets all aggressive. Now I can use the SETTLE when he starts with that. I highly recommend doing PPS if you can - I feel 100% better after it.

We went to our first PPS last night. What a great time we had - and what renewed enthusiasm we both have! It was great for the dogs to have a play around with each other and great for me to have people tell me I'm not the only one at my wits end! Even the teeny tiny little designer dog parents were at their wits end with their dogs! The teacher talked to me about the barking and biting and told me to keep doing what I'm doing and eventually it will pay off. AND we learnt to settle! God, wish I'd known that trick beforehand .. my B/C learnt quite quickly to settle and I'm so glad I've learnt that to be able to stop him freaking out. We also learnt COME, which he's been doing for a while - my technique needed a tweak and since then each time I've commanded "come" he's done exactly that. I feel so much better for going - just to be with other people and their dogs was nice .. I guess its like having a baby in the middle of winter - you must get cabin fever not being able to go out. Waiting for these vaccinations with a hyper active puppy is just ridiculous - it was nice to get out and socialise. We get to go again next Wednesday and we're both looking forward to it.

Hmmm .. so the pelting, crazy, running around the house and yard at top speed and the running up and down the stairs, jumping from the 4th top step to the bottom of the stairs over and over again (which goes on for about an hour ...) can't be good either? I would have thought a nice, calm 15 minute walk on the lead would be much more preferable than the current out of control, freak out, witching hour, every afternoon we currently have .. Maybe I should be cutting out a sleep in the day then?

He'll be 12 weeks this Friday and he's had his 1st and 2nd vaccinations.

Thanks for your replies ... The breeder says he's testing me .. yes, he certainly is. Today I dont like him at all. Everyone keeps saying he will want to please me, but I dont think he cares what I want. When I praise him (I pat and speak in a high voice), he just looks at me and walks away. It's like he has no concern whether I'm pleased or not. He no longer comes when I call his name. I'm going to start walking him because he walks very well on the lead and I'm hoping that wears him out a bit in the afternoons as he sleeps all day long (I wish he'd sleep as long in the night as he does in the day!). He spends all day long with me - I take him to work. Yesterday he barked for 1/2 hour all the way home in the car. I kept saying NO and held his nose and said NO, scruffed his neck and said NO. Nothing worked - he just kept going for 1/2 hour. By the time we got home I would have gladly returned him to the breeder. We start puppy pre-school today so I'm hoping that gives me some tips on managing his behaviour. He's such a beautiful dog and obviously smart .. I'm feeling a bit sad that I'm not enjoying him at the moment.

Did you get your money back? I hope it went ok for you. Our border collie is 10 weeks, we've had him for two and having a puppy is one of the hardest things I've ever done. He needs constant supervision to stop him chewing things he's not supposed to chew, putting his head in places it shouldnt be, toilet training, making sure he's getting the right food and amount, not to mention the guilt that I'm doing him a disservice by not training him correctly in everything aspect. Couple that with the worry that he's not going to get parvo and die, and sleep deprivation and I'm pretty much feeling a bit over it. I couldnt imagine taking care of him and two little kids as well.

My border collie is 10 weeks old this week. I've been spending a lot of time on toilet training and I wonder if I'm using the right techniques? After he wakes, eats or plays I take him outside. When he's doing a wee or poo I say "toilet, toilet, toilet" over and over again - is this right? Do I say it only when he's actually doing his business? I also praise him afterwards. The problem is sometimes he doesnt go wee or poo when I take him. He's learnt I will take him out if he goes down stairs and sits at the back door, but then he dicks around eating the grass or sniffing at the ants. He wont actually go to the toilet. I spent an hour last night waiting for him to go to the toilet outside, only to have him wee on the carpet the second I bought him inside. The other thing is he barks at me a lot. If I tell him NO to chewing cables or something, he barks at me. What do I do? He also barks at me while I am making his dinner. While I am writing this post he is sitting at my feet barking at me. He's generally very well behaved for a puppy. He will come when I call his name and walks very well on the lead. It's just the barking - and he bites too, he's biting harder and harder as the days go by. He is going to be a show dog so I cant teach him to sit for his dinner. I do make him stand still before I put it down but he barks while I am making it.