colliepaws

Thanks for telling me about Maine Coons...they sound lovely! I think I will have to add them to my 'cats I would love to have one day' list. And Wow! Arnie is gorgeous! I can't help myself either and I hope no one minds but here's a few pics of my two Raggies...;) This is Dash... And this is Cosmo Oh and btw my backyard has special cat fencing all around it so my boys can't get out. Good thing too because they learnt to use our big dog door to get into the backyard within a week of me bringing them home! And the two of them doing what raggies do best. I've only got a couple of pics of them with Luka (Luka's always running all over the place so it's hard to get them in the same shot together)... Luka was munching away on a dog treat and wanted to lie near Cosmo. I think Cosmo's giving him a 'what on earth are you eating?!' look. And here's Luka and Dash investigating the yard together... And Dash being unimpressed by being smooched by Luka.

Hi maximum! I'm so glad you found some of my advice useful...please keep us posted with your situation - I would love to hear that it's improved down the track. ;) Bit off topic I know - but I just have to say that I think you have summed up Ragdolls really well! I've never had cats before but since I got my two boys I think I'll always have a ragdoll in my life. They are such sweet affectionate cats always following me around the house and watching whatever I'm doing. Like you said they are very dog like in a lot of ways...and it sounds like Arnie is just like my boy Dash! Dash will often hop up on the bed several times in the night and miaow and miaow until I stick a hand out to pat him. Then when I fall asleep again he'll sit right by my head and I too get the soft paddy paw patting me on the face to wake me up! *sigh* I'm like you though - I love him far to much to find it annoying. Although if I'm really deeply asleep sometimes I'll feel him patting my face but not wake up right away and then I'll feel whiskers on my face and wake up to see him about 1cm away staring into my eyes like he's saying 'Hello in there!' Raggies are such great cats.... ETA: I love the pic of Max - he looks so cute and harmless. And Jordie looks so gorgeous! I love the look of Maine Coons but don't know much about them personality wise....

Ah yes, the stress of bringing a puppy into a 'cat' household! :D Not sure how much help I'll be but I'll tell you a bit about my situation in hopes you might find it helpful. I have two one year old ragdoll boys, Dash and Cosmo, and two collies, Molly is 6 years old and Luka is just a pup and is 4 months old. I was so worried when I made the decision to add a puppy to the family. My ragdolls are my babies and are so sweet and affectionate and I was worried that Luka would try to eat them! Luckily Luka seems to see them as very funny looking puppies and while he does have a habit of trying to play with them (and generally squashing them a bit in the process) he hasn't eaten them yet. I think you're doing well with the baby gates...I have baby gates to keep the pup out of the second bedroom (which has always been the 'kitten' room) and also out of the living room which is where they are fed (although Luka is allowed in the living room if I'm home). I feed Dash and Cosmo up on a high desk to keep the dogs away from their food. You might want to try feeding Arnie and Sly up on a table in a room where Max is allowed to be...I know my two seem to like eating somewhere high and looking down at Luka and enjoying the fact that he can't get them or their food. Something I found really helpful for the 'free for all' areas is that I bought 4 or 5 tall scratching posts with platforms at the top and put these in various spots all over the house for Dash and Cosmo to make a quick getaway from Luka if they ever get cornered by the big doofus trying to play with them. This seems to make them feel quite secure knowing that they can get away from him quickly and they aren't so nervous about walking around the house when the puppy is on the loose! Since Max is only little you may be able to get away with leaving chairs/footstools around for Arnie and Sly to use to get up and away from Max although I've found my two boys prefer a fair amount of height between them and the pesky puppy. I also have a couple of crates for Luka which were very handy in the beginning because I put him in there when he was eating or sometimes just to settle down and sleep and the ragdolls could come and investigate without Luka being able to get to them. From what you said about them not being interested and just running off when you bring them into the living room at night when Max is leashed perhaps if they feel more secure in the 'gated' portion of the house you could try bringing Max down there on leash. This would probably work best if you do it when he's very tired so he's not so playful and therefore not seen so much as a threat but just having him there on the raggies side of the house sleeping might work.... I think all in all it will just take time, after all 11 years is a lot of routine to try and change! Hopefully your raggies will come around eventually but if not then just make sure they get lots of cuddle time too. Cosmo is my fraidy cat and tends to hide away until the puppy is sleeping and then comes out to find us so I try to make sure I seek him out to give him extra cuddles and attention. *phew*...well, that was all a bit longwinded but hopefully some of it made sense! :rolleyes: Best of luck with it all.

Awwwww.......so many GORGEOUS puppies!! :rofl: It may seem hard sometimes (with the chewing and the peeing everywhere and general puppy havoc!) but try to enjoy them being little baby pups as much as you can...My pup Luka is the grand old age of 17 weeks now ( :rolleyes: ) but it feels like the last couple of months has gone so fast and that these days I am seeing more of the dog that he's turning into than the baby puppy he used to be... This was when we first brought him home.... And this was taken by a fellow DOLer (thanks MSF!) just a couple of weeks ago. I don't know where my roly poly baby puppy went! So enjoy those sleepless nights toilet training and those sharp puppy teeth because they grow up so quickly.

Hello! I am a big admirer of the beautiful signatures that so many DOLers have and I was hoping that someone here could possibly please make me one? This is my girl Molly... I couldn't choose between these two pics....so please feel free to pick whichever fits best... and a couple more possibilities but I don't mind if these ones aren't in the siggie... This is my precious boy Luka I love these two pics so if they could make it on there I would really love that.. and here's a couple more to choose from if you like.. And here's the two of them together...I would love for this one to be on it too if possible...sorry if I'm asking for too much to be on there! :rolleyes: I'm completely clueless when it comes to this stuff - feel free to just pick whichever pics work best I'm sure it'll be beautiful. Oh and just in case it matters I do love the colour red. Many thanks in advance.

Luka is definitely an attention barker and isn't alert barking...he hasn't ever alert barked at anything yet. I'm slowing seeing some improvement with him....The consistent ignoring is gradually getting through to him. I used to try and praise him if he stopped barking and was quiet for 5-10 seconds but more often than not that just ended up with him letting out another bark just when I'd say 'good boy'! Talk about timing.... Now I just completely ignore him until he has barked himself out and gives me this 'you are such a useless human!' look and goes and lies down in a huff. Then when he's been lying down and settled for a good couple of minutes I'll give him praise and attention to his hearts content.... It's funny how I really thought I was being consistent with him before but I was obviously sending him some mixed signals...now that his barking is getting absolutely no reaction at all he's definitely catching on. Thanks for the support everyone.

Thanks for the replies. :rolleyes: No improvement yet but I'll hang in there and try and be really consistent with ignoring him when he barks and hopefully he'll get the message soon.....Maybe I should invest in some ear plugs in the meantime!

My 15 week old rough collie puppy has decided to start barking for attention. Usually what he does is looks directly at me when he evidently thinks that I should be playing with him or cuddling him and he will just start up barking really loudly. It sounds like he’s yelling at me! He also barks this way at my older dog to either get her to move or to play with him (unfortunately she generally obliges so she’s no help there! ) and he’ll also bark at my cats to try and get them to run so he can chase them and play. Something that I think may have started this behaviour is that he is a ‘talky’ kind of pup who likes to grizzle and grunt and make all sorts of funny noises when getting cuddles and attention. I love his talky noises but when I take him to the beach he often escalates these noises into barks to get people’s attention. Unfortunately he is a very charming puppy so people generally react by saying ‘oh, hello there!’ when he barks and then proceed to pat him. Should I tell people not to pat him if he’s barking? He is generally a quiet dog otherwise. He doesn’t alert bark (not yet anyway) or bark in the backyard when alone. He doesn’t whine or bark or make any fuss when shut out of areas of the house. He currently has run of half the house when me and my OH are at work and we sometimes close him up in that area when we’re having dinner to keep him out of the way. He never barks at these times he just does his own thing or settles down and naps. Currently I am just ignoring him completely when he’s barking (not easy because he’s very persistent) and then waiting and waiting until he eventually gives up and lies down. Once he’s lying down and quiet I praise and give him attention. However, usually while I’m giving him attention he’ll start up with barking again! Sometimes I think he just likes letting out these really loud barks just to see me flinch! He really does have an ear piercing bark. If anyone has any suggestions or has been through something similar with their pup I would love to hear what worked for you!

What you said about your dog not eating the liver just cracked me up! I used to have a couple of retired racing greyhounds and they were not keen on liver either! I handed it out to them and one tried one piece spat it out and walked off in disgust. The other one took a piece - held it in his mouth for a second and then spat it out. I offered him a new piece and his eyes lit up and he took it again, then realised what it was and spat it out again! This continued for a bit in the hope he might eat one but when I realised that I now needed to clean up multiple splots of liver off the floor I decided to give up! I ended up feeding it mixed in with some diced meat with a little tuna or sardines on top to mask the smell for those fussy liver spitting greyhounds.

Raven - I just have to say that Digi is gorgeous! I love Newfys so much they are such a lovely and gorgeous breed... stacyk - thanks for your reply. That's the thing though I've done the treat thing with Luka from the start and he really has no issues with being crated. He's quite happy to go into his crate if I can't watch him and need to put him somewhere for a couple of minutes - just not at bedtime! I have another crate in the living room and he will go and sleep in there during the day but it just seems like he'd rather not spend all night sleeping in the bedroom crate. :D I think you're all probably right and it's just that it's cooler in the laundry and outside...I do put a damp towel in the crate for him to lie on if he wants to and with the fan as well I thought he would be cool enough. But it's probably just that nothing is as cool as the fresh night air. It just seemed really odd to me because my dogs have always wanted to sleep inside over sleeping outside. I guess Luka's just special.

Hi cherlee! Well at least Luka's not the only one who likes sleeping on concrete floors! I did think that it might be because it's cooler there but I bought a box fan just for my dogs and cats (yep - they are all officially spoilt!) which I put on nearby but not pointing directly into the crate to provide some cool air for him but I guess he prefers the fresh air and cool concrete outside. :D Oh, and I thought it was just a shelties thread in the breed subforum! But if it's for collies too I'll definitely join you guys.

I was just wondering if anyone else has a puppy or dog who prefers sleeping outside to inside. My dogs have always slept inside and usually in my bedroom with me. To fill you in on the rest of the story my rough collie puppy Luka is 13 weeks old. Ever since I brought him home he has pretty much ignored the many dog beds, cushions and blankets that are around the house and his favourite sleeping spot is in the laundry on the concrete floor. I have an older collie who has her own bed in my bedroom and I set up a crate for the puppy in the bedroom as well. When we first got him he would sleep in his crate in my bedroom and I'd get up in the night to let him out to toilet so he's never had an accident in his crate. After the first week or so he started sleeping through the night which was great! :D Just in the last week or so though as it gets towards the time I usually go to bed he won't come to sleep in his crate. I know it's not because he doesn't like the crate because he never whines in his crate when I put him in there he just settles down and sleeps or chews on one of the chew toys he has in there. But when I call him to come to bed he comes into the bedroom and will sit there for a minute looking at his crate before trotting out again to settle down in the laundry or outside. I have a baby gate across the laundry doorway to keep him from getting into trouble in the rest of the house and he has access from the laundry to the backyard through the dog door and he really seems to prefer sleeping either in the laundry or out in the backyard than sleeping in his crate in my bedroom with me. Oh, and outside I have two of those raised hammock dog beds and a big double mattress (that someone was throwing out at the last hard rubbish collection) just for my dogs . But Luka of course prefers sleeping on the concrete. Boy, do I feel like a sucker...

I can't miss a chance to show off my beautiful boy so here he is... Name: Luka Sex: Male Date of birth: 28 September Age: 13 weeks Colour: Sable Breed: Rough Collie Hobbies: Pouncing on my cats, wrestling with my older collie Molly, shredding cardboard boxes Loves: Meeting new people, the beach, napping and tummy rubs Hates: When people don't stop to say hello to him, sneezes - he sleeps through thunderstorms but gets spooked when he hears a sneeze. He ran away from my cat when the cat sneezed at him

Interesting question cassie! I would probably feed what I feed now being a variety of raw meaty bones and a very small amount of eagle pack holistic. Although if money truly were no object I guess I would probably upgrade the cuts of meat that I buy. Actually if I had the money I think I would buy a butcher shop have someone run it for me and just swan in and out buying the most expensive things for dog food just cos I can! My asian grocery already thinks I'm nuts for buying heaps of large bones and meat every other week and they ask what I'm cooking and I say 'nothing - it's for my dog'!