Odette

My puppy didnt meet other dogs till puppy preschool, and i think that was before her second shots but after first (it might have been after 2nd shots though, i cant really remember). We had to show proof of vaccination before she could join. After that we let her play with my boyfriends parents dog and my mum's dog, who are all vaccinated, at home, she didnt meet any other dogs until about 2 weeks after her third shots.

I've booked her in for this friday, she'll be ~ 6.5 months old.. Although we aren't sure if she's in heat right now, she does seem to pay more attention to herself in that area, so Im going to pop by the vet's tonight and get them to have a quick look.

My boyfriend's grandma has 2 maltese cross shih tzus, and they dont look anything liek your pup, shorter noses, longer fur... Your pup looks more terrier x.

I'm going to give this a try, i need to get a pet loo (she uses toilet training mats when inside at the moment, and has an aversion to going to the toilet outside when its wet.. Bit of a problem with winter coming around!), and if i can save a couple of hundred bucks, its worth giving it a go!

I use Advocate for my dog and cat, i thought it offered good all-round protection (except for tapeworm, which my vet said wasnt a problem unless i go to farms/sheep areas), i live in the city.

What is the best age to desex a puppy?

Ordered the Artemis Fresh Mix last night for cat and puppy from K9 Katz, got it today at lunchtime (wonderful service!).

I ordered a bag of the Fresh Mix small breed puppy formula and adult cat formula. I ordered it from K9 Katz and Kitchen at about 7pm last night, it was delivered to my work today at lunchtime. With a phone call inteh mornign to check when Id be home. I have to say, what absolutely wonderful service! Free delivery too! Im sold! Lets just hope they like it, they were both on EP before this (Holistic chicken and rice for puppy, Adult cat for the cat), and they seem to have gone off it now... Especially the puppy, she barely touches it. Cat wasn't all that into the EP from the start (she LOVED Eukanuba Salmon and Rice though), but eats it. Hopefully they like this one better (i'll add that they both look very healthy, very soft shiny coats/fur). Will let you know how they do!

Odette does that too, not just with me, but if my partner goes out. She scratches at the door for about a minute then stops. I've waited and listened, and she stops pretty quickly. Another thing i do is put some food in her kong or in her feeder ball and leave her with that when we leave, so her attention is elsewhere. Havent really had any major issues, we live in an apartment too. This morning i left the rest of her breakfast in her feeder ball, and then left. It should keep her occupied for a little while at least! What really worked for us, i think, is that we would confine her to an area (for us, it was the spare room) for an hour or so every now and then, even when we are home, so she doesn't think that any time she is confined that we have gone. She got used to being alone on the house, even when we are home, so when we DO go out, she doesn't immediately think we are leaving....

Its the best, I cant recommend it highly enough. It gives the dog a chance to socialise too, and the tips and tricks are invaluable. Made a big difference to our puppy! I also like the interaction it gives you with your dog, outside of playing. Like you're working towards something together

I use Urine-Off on places that Odette has weed on, and ive heard that BioZet is good for removing biological odours too....

We had loads of problems toilet training Odette, tried all the usual methods (i was against rubbing her nose in it, still am) until my partner decided to put her nose NEAR it (not in it), say "NO" very gruff and then put her in the bathroom for time out for 5 minutes. When she did it outside, she got praise and reward. I had a lot of problems with the nose near it thing, and i dont do it... But i hate to say it, it has worked.... She doesn't go inside anymore....

Hmmm, that's a good idea. I'll look into that, i need something that will work for mum if she needs to take care of her.... We're working on her name recall right now, which has always been really good.. Basically, we get her to sit and stay, then walk into another room. Then call out her name, and when she comes, we reward her. She's pretty good, we'll call out a number of different names, and she'll only come when we call out "Odette", we were pretty impressed by that (although we might have to work on that again!!)

Oh, and we don't just use the clicker. We also use "yes", and are just starting to use praise and wean her off the food training. We aren't experts though, I'm going to talk to the trainer again next week and find out where to go from here. "Beyond basics".

No, no, you understood me wrong. Im sure your "high-up obedience training friends" have their methods that work, so far, this HAS worked in our puppy. We don't feed the dog twice a day in a bowl, we train her as we feed her. The clicker only gets used when she does what we want. eg. "sit". Dog sits. "CLICK" Reward. So, after a few months, if someone HAPPENS to click the clicker, she will run to us because she associates the "click" noise with food. That's just a byproduct of clicker training in our puppy! I have absolutely no isues with mum taking care of the dog, and not training her while feeding her. Im extremely grateful, i don't really see how you surmised that i wasn't grateful, because im concerned that the dog is more quiet than usual? Or that she only gently takes food, not hungrily? Im worried that she's off her food! Or depressed, or anxious or something, has nothing to do with mum's ability to care for her or the way we use the clicker. Anyway. The clicker was given to mum IN CASE the puppy ran from her and her calling the pup didnt work, because, from a few tests, we knew that the click sound alone is enough to get her to run back. I'll also make the note: We took the puppy to preschool, and to basic obedience classes - that's where we were taught to use the clicker. We didn't just make it up ourselves. We have beyond basics training beginning next week, and she has responded again to us "retraining" her, and practising her recall.

She associates the clicker with a reward. We say sit, she sits, "CLICK", reward. We found that if she DOES run off, the clicker always gets her to come back. It was our security measure if she DID run off from mum while we were gone, the clicker would always get her back, and we tested it, and it worked (mum has a pretty thick accent, and the puppy really plays up around her. The clicker sounds the same no matter who uses it).

OK, thanks Google. DHPPIB = C5. All good!!!!

I just checked my puyppy vaccination card, and this is what it says: C3 DHPPIB1 DHPPIB2 She has had these vaccinations, at 8, 14 and 18 weeks. What is DHPPIB?

My partner and i went away for 6 days last week, to the Whitsundays for a well deserved break.. We had booked the holiday months ago, before i had even bought the puppy. I left my puppy (5 months old) and cat with my mum, who has a big house and big yard. While we normally food train our puppy (she works for every meal pretty much hahaha), mum, who was wokring and didnt have much time, would feed her twice a day in a bowl. Apparently the puppy had a ball at mum's place, tearing it up, playing with the kids. Anyway, we got back and the puppy ran out of the house, and for the first time EVER, would not come back when called. Even the clicker didnt work. We had to chase her and corner her. Over the past couple of days, we have been food training her again, and she is responding, we are particularly focusing on her recall (which was PERFECT before). I have notice that she doesnt hungrily take the food out of our hands anymore, which she always used to do (she is a pug X cavalier). She sits, stays, all the usual, but will only gently take the food now... She also seems a bit more quiet than before.... Is this normal after being seperated for a week? Am i just being an overanxious mum? She is goign to the vet tongiht to get microchipped anyway, so i can ask then... But she is definately more aloof than before...... One thing that HAS improved is her toilet training.. Apparently, atr mums she had no cocnept of toilet training, and mum was constantly cleaning up after her.. She hasn't gone to the toilet in our house not even once since she has been back!

I had my puppy on almost the same diet! I started her on Advance rehydratable puppy, then changed over to Hills Science Diet ionthe advice of a vet... Then after reading these forums, and some of my own reading, i swappe over to Eagle Pack Holistic chicken and rice (for puppies and dogs) and i am SO GLAD i did... We have actually been asked so many times what we feed her, because her coat looks so good. Id definately recommend making hte switch, you wont regret it. I bought my food from Fin and Sootie, on Cotham Road in Kew, but i have seen a website that stocks and delivers and the prices are the same as the EP website.

In the past couple of weeks or so, it seems my 5-month old puppy has developed particularly stinky breath! It could be my imagination, but it seems to have gotten worse after i found her eating roo and possum droppings.. ive never seen her eat her own or another dogs droppings (although she will try and get into th cats litter box if [ossible, and has taking to the gross habit of licking my cats bottom if allowed......) She eats EP Holistic chicken and rice, gets a Nutripet treat every now and again, and i do give her the odd tidbit every now and again (she's just so cute!). What could have bought on the particularly bad breath? Teething maybe? The poo??

I have a Rogz leash, I really like it too. Ok cool, then i'd probably stay with not having a collar on her when at home, if its not really necessary.

My puppy lives indoors, and doesn't venture out side unless supervised, and cannot escape from the courtyards when she is outside (6 foot high fencing, concrete base, no gate). At the moment, i dont have a collar on her (she is 5 months old). Im paranoid about her having a "accident" with her collar, i have two friends who have both lost puppies (one at about 6 months, one at 11 months) after they came home to find the puppy hanging from a tree, and in the other case, the other dog had put its paw through the puppy collar and choked like that. My cat doesnt wear a collar (also an indoor cat) for the same reason. When going for walks, the puppy wears a harness. Im going to get her desexed within the next few weeks, and ill have her microchipped at the same time Am i just being paranoid, and should i put a collar on her? What do you recommend? How tight/loose should the collar be? Can you recommend any brands?

One of the breeders could possibly answer that better, Im not sure on the specifics of each vaccine, I just know about immunology 2 weeks is enough for a good antibody response though.

I can't see how it would do that, but i can see how the correct adjuvant might increase the immunogenicity of the vaccine, giving a better response. Its worth waiting the 2 weeks. They are gone before you even know it, and it isnt worth the worry you'll go through if you DO take the dog out and then have a nervous wait to see if it develops any symptoms! From the Nobivac website: Specific claims: An onset of immunity to the canine distemper virus, canine adenovirus and canine parvovirus vaccine components of 1 week and an onset of immunity of 4 weeks to the canine parainfluenza virus vaccine component has been demonstrated following use of the vaccine. A duration of immunity of at least three years has been established for the canine distemper virus, canine adenovirus and canine parvovirus vaccine components. The duration of immunity for the canine parainfluenza virus component has not been demonstrated, but an anamnestic response is produced in dogs given a revaccination one year after basic vaccination. Annual revaccination with the canine parainfluenza virus vaccine component is recommended.