fbaudry

I cannot believe gorgeous Henschke would do anything like that! He looks so sweet and well behaved.... I guess he is teething big time at the moment. Archie my cocker turned 6 months on Saturday and just finished teething I think - luckily for us even when he was teething he was not much of a chewer, or at least not a destructive one... He spent hours on his soft toys but didn't destroy them at all. They were just a little bit bloody at time ( ) and we actually picked a few baby teeth from their fur!!!! Maybe I should hold my breath on that though.... Our neighbours have a french bulldog who was the perfect puppy and has now decided at 10 months of age that it was time to become a chewer from hell!!! Even when he was at the peak of his teething he wasnt really interested i chew toys (I tried rope, rubber bones, nylabones, rawhide). He would chew on a nylabone or rawhide bone whilst I held it and he was lying next to me, but would lose interest if I let go of it. I think you are right in not allowing him more freedom if he is at risk, and I have found out with my two that the amount of space they have doesn't really help with boredom as they are so people focussed. Besides kongs, I leave Archie something like 5 or 6 crunched up plastic bottles with a little bit of kibble in each (that's how he gets 50% of his daily food intake). As he does chew them, he is not at risk of ingesting plastic and he can spend hours tossing and turning them to get food out, and I take it by the time he is done it's time to sleep! He also uses a treat ball (i think it is the Kramar one) but I have found on a few occasions that he managed (God knows how) to close the opening through which the kibble is meant to come out... What my two cockers love as well is ice blocks (flavoured with a little bit of broth, chicken stock, or vegemite) and will spend hours licking on them (and have very messy ears at the end of the day) I try leaving him one of his favourite soft toys to play and sleep with, but he seems to ignore them until I return home, when they are duly picked up and suffer hours of silent abuse in my presence I wonder if other spaniel owners have experienced the same?

This topic has probably been covered elsewhere but I couldn't find the thread.... apologies if it is a repeat... I've had for 2 months now a cocker spaniel who's now 6 months. Prior to me getting him he was at the breeder's, in a kennel/country environment with no exposure to the big wide world, and contact only with the breeder and lots of other cockers. He's improved a lot in terms of socialisation / adjusting to life in the city, in the house with only one other dog, graduated last week from puppy school and goes on a weekly basis to general dog obedience. However there is an issue that he's had from day one and that I can't seem to eradicate; the sound of another dog barking sends him off in a barking frenzy, running around to check what the barking is about or lunging on the leash and running around is is on leash. If he is off leash (at the park) he will run up to the dog barking and bark at it, then come back... I've never had a barking dog, and Olaf, my other cocker can walk past houses where dogs bark at him and absolutely ignore them, but Archie (the puppy) just goes off his head and drives me insane and I do not know how to get his attention in a positive way to get him to stop.... I have tried distracting him by putting a treat in front of his nose and giving it to him when he turns around and looks at me, but that only works sometimes and only if he's on the leash... Ideally I would like him to be completely immune and just ignore the barking but at the moment, the minute he hears the beginning of a bark he goes in full alert mode, tail up and ears forward and starts looking around for where the bark came from... Does that mean he's going to turn into one of this aggro dogs I sooo hate seeing around? Any help / tips will be more than welcome, I am a bit at my wits end with him at the moment...

could I ask you which brand you use? I'd love to find something raw, ready to go and not too expensive... Doing my own at the moment but I find it a bit time consuming and messy, and would rather spend this time training or playing rather than pulping vegies with my small blender! Yeah its much better then doing it yourself here is there website http://www.caninecountry.com.au/ they have lots of great stuff. They make there food themselves and is cheap as 1kg is $3.25 and if you buy 10 1kg packets it's $30.00 they have a huge range from roo to turkey. They also have bulk bone products, nothing dodgy people quality food. ETA: Woops sorry don't know if you live around the brisbane area as thats where they are located. But I'm sure if you ask in the Health / Nutrition / Grooming forum someone will help you out. Thanks for that! When I read your post first i went yeah! that's exactly what i want then i went: bummer that's only in Brisbane, was too good to be true but I went to their website and they have stockists in NSW soooo Thank you thank you thank you :p

I think you already know the answer to this! Follow what your instincts tell you. I always advise anyone taking their dogs to classes to go and sit in on a class without their dog first. If the methods make you uncomfortable go somewhere else. I've run puppy classes before and they never involved alpha rolls! You can teach a dog manners and good training without anything like an alpha roll. Especially puppies! It's a shame if you can't get the $120 back (try though!) but if not then take it as a learning experience. If you continue with that class you may just end up having to pay more money later on if your dog develops other behavioural issues because of it. On the positive side you can know that you're helping me to see what training can be like here (I recently moved here from England) and inspiring me to set up classes! Glad I didn't go in vain and helped you with your research! I do find it extremely difficult to find a place one is comfortable with... I didn't like the few I rang up just from their condescending attitude, and the fact they didn't seem to teach you much at all. I went to that one without really investigating, purely on the basis the breeder was raving about it... So i guess it is no puppy preschool for Archie, but thank god we have the dog training with Steve Austin, that is a real god sent! Good luck with setting up your own class, and do not hesitate to contact me if you want names of no so good classes in Sydney , I have a few on my list ETA: I signed the petition!

could I ask you which brand you use? I'd love to find something raw, ready to go and not too expensive... Doing my own at the moment but I find it a bit time consuming and messy, and would rather spend this time training or playing rather than pulping vegies with my small blender!

Not too sure what to make of my puppy preschool.... I got Archie (cocker spaniel) a month ago when he was already four months old. He came from a reputable breeder but had very little exposure to anything outside his kennel environment and was quite fearful for the first couple of weeks. I didn't give and insisted in giving him exposure to the street, different people etc every day (eventhough he hated it and turned into a pancake, flat on the ground, everytime we passed the front door). He has improved tremendously since and is now confident, playful and boisterous, the way a cocker puppy should be! we just need to get over the housetraining hurdle Anyway, as he was so fearful to start with I was really anxious to book him in some sort of PPS and didn't really find one that I fell very comfortable with so I went with the breeders recommendation and went for the first time last week. That's an hour fifteen minutes drive from home but I was willing to try it since the breeder highly praised it. With Thursday night traffic, I got there 2 minutes late (not good as I really wanted to get my bearings and get there early ) and entered after the session had just started to the following sight: Around 20 people kneeling around in a shed, holding their puppies lying on their side on the ground. I quickly went to the last empty spot, next to a 13 weeks old dingo puppy who was struggling and whining.... Archie can be a bit vocal at times when he hears other dogs barking, and he was completely over excited at the sound of this puppy, plus a few cattle dogs pups who were also struggling and crying. I was told to put him into position and growl at him everytime he struggled or cried, which is what the other owners were doing. Luckily he quickly settled as I really hated that bit and thought I would leave straight away. After a while most of the dogs settled, except for this little dingo and an eight week old cattle dog pup who struggled throught the whole class.... We were told to repeat this exercise at home every day for 30 minutes (in a row) to establish dominance over our dogs. The rest of the class was what I guess are the usual basics, sit, down & stand , have feet and teeth checked etc.... No playtime or interaction between dogs at any time. I have paid upfront for the 6 weeks course and honestly I am not sure if I want to go back this week. Maybe I am wrong but I have been reading about positive reinforcement, positive training (Ian Dunbar, etc) and this seems to go against everything I've read thus far. I really thought this dominance thing was old fashioned and completely over the top (I admit thinking it was ok at times when watching Cesar Millan rehabilitating border case dogs) especially for young puppies... I'd be curious to see what other DOLers think of that... Archie didn't seem traumatised, but on that night he peed and pooped in his pen. Maybe it was just a coincidence? On the other hand we've been to 2 sessions of general dog training with Steve Austin and both loved it! Again it is not meant for socialisation with other dogs (there is no play sessions) but I felt much more comfortable with these. What do you guys reckon? should I persevere with PPS or just admit I've lost 120$ and forget about it?

Personally, I only use white vinegar diluted with water for general tile cleaning; anything with amonia smells like wee to dogs, eventhough we humans only pick up whatever artificial fragrance is mixed with it (Lemon, pine etc....), When it comes to cleaning a specific spot where the dog has weed, I got some urine-off from my local petbarn. Apparenly this removes all smells, even the subtle ones we do not pick up...

I am hoping some of the DOLers will be able to help me with this issue.... We have had for 3 years now a rescue cocker spaniel who is probably between 10 and 12 now. He is a lovely and placid boy who has totally conquered us and sold us to the breed, to the point where we are seriously considering getting another one. Yes, they are addictive :D However, he has an issue with dogs jumping on him, particularly on his face, and will snap at them when they do so regardless of whether they're adults or just puppies. He does snap and bite without giving any visible warning (no growling or teeth baring). He is absolutely fine meeting and greeting other dogs on his walks in a polite way. He is also fine having other calm dogs coming over to our house, and regularly stays with a friend when we are away on holidays and is then sharing a house with 1 to 3 dogs he doesn't necessarily know... I am wondering whether introducing a new puppy is a recipe for disaster? Would the puppy learn quickly that it is not to bounce all over the older dog, or could the puppy be traumatised and develop socialisation issues? Any suggestions / tips would be greatly appreciated before we make a decision Frederic