cwm

please count me in for the next one! thanks look forward to feedback on this one too

Hi Skip, good luck with the job. We moved to Wollongong 20 years ago from the Northern Beaches of Sydney - mainly for our dogs!!! we live in Woonona, which is about 20 minutes drive North of the Gong. I think it's still possible to rent with pets - I know my sister was renting in an old house in West Wollongong/Coniston that allowed pets, so there are still places around. We tend to entertain people mostly down the beach - I think people just look at us and laugh... they're probably thinking, pretty dog, but geeez it's a lunatic! Picture: Woman walking wild 30kilo puppy, who gets so excited that she's down the beach and spots all potential new 'friends' - thus has to 'woof' occasionally to a/ let the world know she's here, and b/ say hi to her new 'friends', this is in between doing zoomy laps around Mum's legs in excitement.... Whilst trying to maintain some level of decorum, one can't help but start laughing at her she's just a tad exhuberant...

LOL, chicken! I just feel sorry for the poor unsuspecting world I'm unleashing Jemima on. See you others on Sat caroline

I'm going to go there on Saturday, taking my NAUGHTY, BOISTEROUS 6month old Rhodesian Ridgeback - so if you hear a wriggly puppy woofing hello at everyone, as she does, it's just us Hopefully we won't get expelled

LOL, you've hit on a good point, it's more training of the 'humans' that is required than the puppy. We too have friends that just want to rough play with her... sooo frustrating. And no, sadly I only thought about getting the camera out AFTER I'd put away all the foam in the bin

Noodle, we did exactly as you with our puppy - we hadn't had a real puppy in the house for 19 years - our two old dogs lived looooong lives... and boy, we didn't know what we were in for... we were quite sure none of our other puppies had been quite so naughty. We started out crate training - she slept in the crate and as soon as she awoke, she was taken outside for toilet and then we had playtime. And we too took it in turns to do night shift / morning shift swaps - boy we felt like the living dead. But, within 4 weeks, she started to realise she had to go out to toilet. The only accidents we had were when it was pouring with rain and we didn't wake in time to take her out. She still (now 6 months) doesn't have the run of the house, although she did accidentally have the full run of the house on Saturday and luckily it was only a cushion destroyed. LOL, we opened up the door and saw a sea of foam - with a toy dog (ones our friends gave us to fill our doggy void before we got our puppy) smack in the middle of it all. Now, I think he was framed - or he was a very naughty boy and poor Jemima, our puppy was just worried that we'd think it was her who had destroyed the cushion! Our puppy is so boisterous and full of life/energy - but you have to love them for that, it doesn't really last that long in the scheme of things and they all are individuals. We found the only real thing that stops the biting and leaping on people is just a quick spray of water from a spray bottle with a firm voice attached to it (whatever you want to say) - and these instances are getting less. Still there though... but it does get easier!!

I tend to agree on this. Our most recent baby, who is now 6 months old, a Ridgeback, has been the most rambunctious of the lot so far - and was an absolute terror with her milk teeth at first, it took us ages and ages to get her out of the biting habit. We persisted and persisted with the yelping and turning away, and it finally started to work. Then along came her adult teeth at 5 months - it seemed as though every day there was another one or two out and more big ones coming through. So, back to the yelping and also 'time out' - a lot of time out when she gets overexcited and forgets about not biting. I have heard that playing with a tug toy on a pup that hasn't learnt bite inhibition can be one of the worst things, and I'm beginning to wonder if it is true, as our girl just wanted to tug on everything, and maybe this is why it has taken a bit longer to get her to stop biting! Still, she is becoming more angelic with each day ;) On toys, the Kongs didn't really work for us - once she worked out how she could easily chuck them in the air and have treats scatter, she lost interest. The best things we found were - a plastic drink bottle, 1L milk bottle, dried out thoroughly, filled with some dry food. Nice and noisy, and quite challenging to try and get into. she thought she was pretty cool when she figured out how to unscrew the lids... loads of bones & squeaky toys & pigs ears

Bridget, I have pm'd you.

Sounds interesting... could you cope with a bouncy...no... REALLY BOUNCY ridgeback 6month old? maybe for the next one she may be ..less bouncy...

There are two natural supplements you could try: Green Lipped Mussel extract has been used in NZ with great success http://www.healthbrands.com.au/topics/heal...ine+friends.htm Also, a company called Hi Form (www.hiform.com.au) used to make their products for both horses & dogs, however, it appears they only market for horses now - however, from memory it was just a slight change in dosage - the product proflamaid is the thing I would be considering. Worth giving them a call for a chat? Really helpful.