Lucian08

Thanks TerraNik, we will start implementing those things tonight. I know Lucian is only playing, and he gets rather excited when we all play together and I think he just loses control of himself! He LOVES icecubes, and we have hardwood floors, so I will start giving him them a little more often to see if his gums are playing up for him. Somebody please tell me that adult teeth are less 'shark like' than the puppies!!! LOL

Hello All! I'm after a bit more advice about Lucian. The last week or two have been fantastic with him and we aren't having any major difficulties at all! He goes to bed really well now and sleeps all night, 99% of the time he goes outside to 'do wees' and when he doesn't, it's because we haven't watched him closely enough! Sometimes he whines though and gets all confused looking so we know he NEEDS TO GO NOW!!!! LOL My question is this. When playing, Lucian likes to chew. Thats all good, he has his chew toys and pull ropes and etc and we play with these, but when he is playing with us Human Folk, he actually likes to bite! Really hard. Poor OH has some rather nasty bite marks and what not on his hands and arms. We know he is playing, and it is not an 'attack' in any way shape or form, but we would really like to get him out of this 'biting' business when playing with people. It makes it hard for our son and his friends to play with Lucian, because Lucian likes to start biting. What we have tried so far is this: * Making our hands into fists and taking them away behind our backs. Lucians answer to this is to go for any other part of the body or go searching for the hands. * Distracting Lucian with 'his' toys. He will play with his toys for a moment and then get back to biting us. * Saying No and making him sit, still inside with us, until he calms down. * Putting him outside after he gets particularly vicious with a limb. Now we are aware he is still a baby and still learning, but he just seems to like this 'game' a little too much. We are concerned that it will be difficult to get him out of it by the time our new baby arrives in September. Now I never liked 'licky' dogs, but I would be happy for him to be a 'licker' as opposed to a biter. So, does anyone have any tips or ideas for us to try to show Lucian that chewing his toys is ok, but biting us is not? I have noticed that he likes to have things in his mouth, and sometimes he will just sit there with a hand or foot in his jaws, but not bite or chew it. Is this a normal thing for puppies or Labs? Any ideas anyone has will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!!!!

Good lord in Heaven those white dogs are stunning! I never knew White Shephards existed. How exquisite! All these new pups are adorable...I hope they don't cause too much grief!!!!

1...2...3....awwwww What a cute colour she is! And does she have two different coloured eyes? I have seen that in Huskies or Malamutes but not in any other breed. Hope she brings you many years of joy!

Thanks everyone for all your support and positive comments! Last night was even better than the night before! We implemented the same routine at 'bedtime'. Lucian came inside and had a good long play with us until he was ready to settle down, then we both went and organised his kong, his hot water bottle and his little man. After Lucian did some of his own crate 'housekeeping', in the form of rearranging his blanket, he settled himself inside and we didn't hear a peep out of him until about 4.30am where he whined for about 30 seconds then nothing. I quickly peeked outside the blinds and he was happily back in his crate settling himself back down. He was rewarded this morning with much running and jumping and snuggling from us all as the boys prepared for school and work. Only 1 accident inside this morning, as we weren't paying attention!!! All in all, I think we have a great dog here and he has adapted to our family rather well! I am so glad! BlackLab ~ We take Lucian outside to his 'spot' and encourage him to 'go wees' and 85% of the time he gets it so he is rewarded. We know that accidents will happen, because he hasn't quite figured it all out yet, so we aren't telling him off for it, just showing him the 'right place'. He will get there, I know. I am much more settled now that we have had 2 nights of sleep and it is so much easier! CliftonPark ~ Lucian has been fed by all 3 of us, including our 12yr old son. He has been taught to sit, prior to us placing his dish down. When he has a cows ear, we have occasionally taken it away and given it back a short time later and he has not reacted in a bad manner. Our son tends to go up and pat Lucian while he is eating and Lucian just looks at him then goes back to eating. The cat can walk past him, rub up against him, investigate what 'that dog' is eating and Lucian will continue about his business. I am confident that if he stays this way we shouldn't have any problems with food 'aggression'. Hope everyones having a great day!

Well, last night was our best night! After implementing outside toys/inside toys yesterday, Lucian decided that it was much more fun outside and we spent some time yesterday afternoon running around with his new ball hang chew thing. We made a specific 'inside family play time' before bed, and he was inside with us wrestling with OH and having a general good time. We decided to try Lucian outside to sleep last night, on our back verandah which is enclosed so not exposed to the elements. His crate is near to our back door and it faces in, so he can see us walking back and forth. I covered the crate, set up his hot water bottle under his baby blanket, put his 'little man' inside, which he loves to use as a pillow, and he got a brand new Kong filled with treats to entice him. I am pleased to report, that with only a few yips and barks overnight and various intervals, and only for about 2mins at a time, Lucian slept quite happily!!! Oh, and just in case you were wondering, we didn't close the crate, so he was able to leave at anytime and use the bathroom, just like he does when Im out during the day and he's outside. I have removed his kong for today and his hot water bottle and 'little man', because I want these to be things he associates with bedtime. He is now currently inside with me on an endless pursuit of his tail. Oh, and he is enrolled in Puppy Preschool at the local vet. We have realised where we went wrong in the very first days that we had Lucian home. Now, I think we are on our way to a happy and harmonious relationship with our dog!! Thanks everyone for all your tips and ideas, I have taken them all on board and will continue to do so in the future!

Update: I have calmed down a bit now as the day has gone on. I have had a good ole chat with OH and we have made some decisions. Lucian is now going to have 'outside toys' and 'inside toys'. I am off to buy him a hot water bottle and a louder ticking clock than the one we have. We are going to let him 'cry' for longer than he has been, and we will just have to deal with it. It is me that has the issue though, I can't let a little baby puppy whine like that, so OH is going to be my rock for that part! He's about to score himself a Kong as well, and we will introduce that tonight. I saw someone else had posted somewhere that we need to make outside more fun than inside, so that is what we are planning on doing. As I left for an app this morning, I added an empty cereal box to his collection of toys and boy did he go ape with it! Cardboard is EVERYWHERE. But, cardboard is easy to pick up and he seemed happy with it. Sorry about my little whinge this morning, but it was starting to get between OH and myself. Will update you all tomorrow on how Lucian copes tonight.

Hi Janba, Yep, pup has his own little baby blanket in his crate that he has had since day 1. He has a favourite teddy that I let him take to bed with him at night as well and he uses that as a pillow. I got the crate from an animal shelter and it is the right size for pup at the moment. He has been outside this morning, we are trying to get him used to being outside during the day. I let him in for a bit of "mum & me" time, and instantly he pee'd on the floor! He has been outside for about 45 mins and yet he waited until he came inside to pee! So, back outside with him. I know it probably sounds like I'm being a bad dog owner, but I'm just so over it today.

We have started putting Lucian in a crate at night. It goes outside during the day with him and he is free to go in and out as he pleases. Unfortunately, we have had no sleep for a week now. He will not settle in his crate at night, and we cannot let him 'roam free' around the house. #1 - because he hasn't quite worked out how to ask to go outside for the toilet yet & #2 - because we don't want him to be a wholly 'inside' dog. I know he is young, and he just wants to be near us, but neither of us are sleeping and I am at the end of my tether. I know he's a puppy and it will take time, but I am just not sure what to try next. I am trying not to be mad at him when he cries and barks, because he doesn't know yet that he's not really supposed to. Sorry about the whinge, I'm just tired and cranky. Any more help would be greatly appreciated.

NoodleNut ~ Yes, Lucian will eventually be sleeping outside. It is rather cold at the moment and as we don't have anything protected yet for him to sleep in, he is sleeping inside. I WILL be looking into the crating idea though. It sounds very beneficial. We are also planning on getting Lucian a 'house'/kennel for sleeping in outside. BlackLabrador ~ Thank you so much for your wealth of info. I will ring around our vet clinics on Monday and see whats available. I have a specific question for you: Is Lucian allowed to socialise with other dogs (friends & Families) that have been fully vaccinated? Or is it best to wait until Lucian himself is fully covered? Thanks again everyone!

Thanks guys! I will be taking all that information on board. I have seen a couple of people make comments about "crates" but I had no idea what they were on about. Now I know! Seeing as Lucian is going to be ultimately an 'outside' dog, is it still a good idea to 'crate' him at night? I set up the bathroom tonight, with his cushion, blanket and some of his favourite toys. He had newspaper to pee on and I left a small clock radio on so he could have some 'background' noise. I was gone for about 4hrs, and when I got back, he was sound asleep on his cushion and surrounded by torn up newspaper, which of course, I had expected! He didn't seem too distressed and we went outside together immediately for 'wee' time and he was promptly rewarded when he went when I asked him to. I only remembered today that Lucian isn't fully covered until he has had his C5 on July 1st, so have now decided to keep him at home until after then, but thanks for reminding me. I hear what you are saying about the lead in his mouth, cute yes, but practical in the long run? No. Thanks again for that too! We have already decided that puppy school/obedience training is where we will be taking Lucian once he is fully covered by vaccinations. All in all, he has already become a valuable member of our family and we hope to have many more joyful years with him!

Hello! We adopted our lil fella Lucian on Wednesday. He is a 9wk old Labrador. He has seemed to settle in at home reasonably well so far. We distract him with HIS toys when he starts to chew or looks like he wants to chew something that is not his - for example my sons fingers!! He has had a couple of accidents inside, which we expected, and we can't complain TOO much, seeing as he seems to only pee on the hard, easy to clean floors! We take him outside the minute he wakes up for "wees & poos", and regularly throughout the day. He has already learnt to stay away from the cat, because Cat = Boss. I took him for his 1st walk around the block yesterday. It was only a 5 minute stroll but I want to get him used to being walked on the lead sooner rather than later. It was quite a lovely walk! Lucian does prefer to walk with the leash in his mouth as well as my hand, but seeing as he wasn't chewing it, rather just holding it along with me, I let him do this. He followed me more than got 'walked' but all in all, for his first 'formal' outing, I can't complain! The only 'issue' I guess you could call it, with Lucian, is that we are not sure how to stop the whining & barking when he is out of view of people or left by himself to go to sleep. We do not want him to be a 'house dog' but he will be allowed inside to share special time with us as a family etc. I have put him in the bathroom with his blanket & cushion and a couple of his toys, and he usually goes to sleep but then not long after, he wakes up and whines and carries on until it becomes ridiculous. We have gone in, told him "No", settled him back down and then he starts all over again. He also does this when I put him outside during the day to have some outdoors time. He has now slept in our room with us, and last night with our son in his room, and there were no issues there, but this is not a solution, and I know if we keep it up, we will have 'done our dash' so to speak. We are aware it's only early days, and he is learning his boundaries, the same as we are learning to set those boundaries. If anyone has any tips or pointers to help Lucian and us with this one factor we would be eternally grateful! I look forward to getting to know you all and learn from you wise ones!!!! PS: Sorry the post was so long!!! Here is our little Lucian.

Name: Lucian Sex: Male Date of Birth: 10th April 2008 Age: 8 weeks Colour: Yellow/Golden Breed: Labrador Retriever Hobbies: Yapping & Whining when he can't see anyone & chewing fingers Loves: Being snuggled Hates: Being where he can't see anyone!