Tassie

You can do both night crate and day pen (with crate) straight away. Personally, I like the night crate beside my bed, so pup can smell and hear you close, and you can reassure him if need be, and more importantly, hear if he needs to go outside to toilet .. usually around 2.00 am in my experience. :laugh: My dogs still sleep in my bedroom at night .. the 6 year old in his big airline crate, which I took the door off a couple years ago, so totally his choice. The door was shut for the first 2 of 3 years, until he was completely trustworthy. I'd set the pen up where it's going to be .. preferably on hard flooring it's easy to clean .. and you could either have another crate in there that you leave open, or a nice comfy bed. A lot will depend on whether he's a destructive chewer. Then he can have varying times in the pen during the day ... sleepy times, or when you can't directly supervise at first, or when you're leaving him. Each time he goes into his night crate, maybe give him a dog biscuit ... and something nice when he goes in hi pen .. so you're building up good associations. All of that said though, don't sweat it too much .. things will work themselves out... and be ready to tweak your plans a bit to match the puppy you have in front of you. Just try to be clear and consistent in your expectations .. and remember puppies are expert at training humans. :D

Sending strong thoughts. So good that he's being seen by knowledgeable and nice people .. makes hard things a little bit easier.

Exciting times ahead, JaspersDad. Couple of things to add. For 6 hours, my preference would be a playpen of some kind, to make sure pup is safely confined away from dangers or opportunity to chew things you don't want chewed. Pup can have a small sleeping crate in there, and something to toilet on in the most distant corner of the pen .. newspaper, cat litter or puppy pee pads, or fake grass are all possibilities for that. Some durable safe toys, a stuffed Kong, some water in a spill proof bowl, and safe and happy puppy. I would start giving pup some pen time while you're doing other things, or out shopping or whatever even in that first week .. hard as thy will be. Going into thru pen crate will always be accompanied by special goodies. Times can be shortish at first .. gradually lengthened. As far as toilet training goes .. you have the right idea on taking pup out (not just putting him out), so that you can tell him wonderful he is when he toilets appropriately. Expect to take him out after he's been sleeping, eating or playing. Watch him for signs when he's loose in the house, and rush him outside if you think he needs to go. Of you can't be watching him, best to put him in his pen, or outside. One other thing you can start doing in that first week is getting him used to having a collar and lead on .. very light collar and light lead. Under supervision, let him just trail his lead around .. having given him lots of praise and treats for having his collar put on. Occasionally just lightly pick up his lead and follow him around. Don't leave a lead on when you can't supervise. So much fun ahead. And don't forget .. photos of cute puppies are the 'fee' helpful DOLers expect :D

Agree with DC .... subject to what Steve might have to say, I don't see a problem with what the OP is proposing. Because she was an escaper, as a puppy my BC girl spent 8 hours on school days in a 4 Ft x 4 Ft C Crate pen with a lid. She had newspapers to toilet on in one corner, and a bed in another, as well as water and stuffed Long. She has just retired from competitive agility last year just shy of her 13th birthday, and her vet last week commented that she was beautifully lean and muscled. So I guess the confinement in her early months didn't hurt her too much. It does depend so much on what you do with them for the rest of the time. As has been said, opinions on using crates tend to be as divided as opinions on feeding.

New rules are up on the ANKC site. Haven't had a thorough look, but the table has gone.

Sounds like you and Phoebe made a great start at class. And I can't imagine anyone in Vic would be worrying about a dog in a coat. The perch box is just a name for a box (or book - think phone book) or anything with a non-slippery surface that is large enough to accommodate the dog's front feet comfortably, but not much bigger .. and high enough that the dog recognises it as a different place ... probably around 10cm. The upturned bowl I use is a largish ceramic dog bowl .. I'm lucky to have one with an unglazed base, but you could glue something non-slip on it. Here's kikopup Emily Larlham's video on starting to work with a perch box .. you just need to upscale LOL. And the same search threw up showing the use of a pivot/perch for developing and maintaining rear end awareness .. this one's called Lesson 1 .. but it's more like the finished product. To start, you would just click/mark one sideways move with a back leg.

Have you tried her with front feet on a perch box ... obviously, reward that first so she gets the idea front feet stay on the perch, then ask for/lure sit .. so she would have to use her butt for that, since her front feet have to stay on the box/bowl. The perch box/pivot bowl is also great for getting nice rear end movement to get great positions on turns. (Mind you, beware of over-achievers like the Vizsla girl a friend had, who managed to get all four feet on an upturned ceramic dog bowl, and then sit ... made for a really neat sit. :laugh: The other thing that can work is for you to sit on a chair .. highish dining chair probably .. sitting forward on the edge, and luring the sit in between your knees .. so hands high near your chest.

Such a good update ... good boy Manix .. all happy now.

Good to monitor him ... check whether he seems to have a temp, and make sure he's drinking ... and check with your vet if in doubt or if you conclude he is in pain. But having said that, I had one boy who didn't cope well with his desexing .. lay on the couch with his hand over his forehead sort of thing for a few days. Their response can be quite an individual thing.

I know what you mean about the life span of Berners being a worry, but I believe that with the careful work being undertaken by good breeders, their expected life span has now improved dramatically .. into double figures now. And the ones that I know of are not sickly dogs, although as with any breed, there can be the odd exception. And I haven't lived with one, but I believe they do the tumbleweed thing, rather than the 'stick into everything' thing. Now the eyes following round the room thing ... hmmm ... agree that most of the dogs I would consider as good family dogs are going to do that :laugh: . BMD Club of Vic

So you should be ... that's a great achievement for you and the lad.

I would think Bernese Mountain Dog would be a bit easier to manage than some of the breeds you have mentioned. I see there are some breeders in Queensland, so you should be able to ask some questions, and maybe see them at shows. They are happy to try their paw at all sorts of things - there was one performing at the top level in the recent Dances with Dogs comps in Brisbane . and he also does obedience, but they are also happy just to hang with the family. As far as protection goes, most good family dogs will be protective of their people when need be, and having a dog with a big bark in the house at night is good protection. Even my BC boy can give a really good Rottweiler imitation if there is a strange noise outside.

Yay! That's a good sign. Hope he's continuing to feel better.

Wow! What a wonderful, thoughtful analysis. Thanks you.

Generally a good update for the lad then. Hopefully the food thing is just temporary. You could always try cat food .. that sometimes works if they're having a bit of an iffy eating time. Hope he continues to improve.

Bummer about Jim being returned ... although I guess it's better for him than being kept in a less than suitable situation .. and I guess it's good the people recognized their limitations sooner rather than later. Hopefully his 'meant to be' family will turn up soon. In the meantime, I guess Ginny's not too worried. More work for you though.

Hope your inventive lad is all good this morning. And that you are getting over the fright .. can only imagine how the adrenaline was pumping.

LOTS of fun ahead :laugh:

That's a great start.

Good news so far at least as far as the adrenal gland tumour is concerned. Positive healing thoughts comings to Texas from the Apple Isle. Hope you enjoyed that Scotch. :D

The older pup just kind of mooched around .. he had free access to outside, as he wasn't an escaper. When they were together with me supervising outside, they played lots, with me an with each other. BTW .. loving the way you're organising their visiting the big wide world.

No experience with Shelties .. might be good to ask in the Sheltie breed sub forum ... assuming there is one. But IME with BCs, it's a bit of a trial and error .. some shampoos suit some dogs better than others. I use Plush Puppy herbal whitening for whites (about the third one I've tried), and Chris Christensen Black on Black for the blacks. There might be a CC Gold one worth a try.

Another thought .. low cost or nil cost if you have a longish lead or something that will serve as one. My BC girl was an escaper as a pup, and took a while to house train. She did have a crate/pen set up for indoors when I was out (couldn't stay outside as stock fences were no challenge.) But around the house, I used a longish lead (tracking lead) tied round my waist, as an umbilical cord .. where I went, she went, and apart from taking her out regularly, if I missed the start of a pee, I could scoop her up cos she was close to me and rush her outside. The scooping up usually stops the flow. (Oh, and I did have another puppy (7 weeks older) at the time and a senior bitch.)

So much fun already with this little guy ... and much more ahead. Think he'll keep you on your toes. :laugh:

+1 Have a look on Youtube for clips by kikopup, and by Donna Hill. And I would just add ... all your training is games ..or at least as far as your dog knows. My tip .. don't think of them as two separate sorts of activities.