poodle proud

Thanks whip it. I also ended up buying the yellow bag as the store only had the 7.5kg in holistic chicken. Well. She spat it out and started eating the older boys duck formula. Shame she cant eat it for another 7 months! The older boy ate some only after I (like a goose) pretended to eat some myself. Although one sniff of it this morning and he walked away. To be fair I mixed in a bit of rice and tinned food to see what would happen and as I suspected they have just eaten around the kibble. Time to go cold turkey this evening I suppose? SO as everyone suggested I will persevere and hope hunger wins out in the end. I guess this is the only option as I am not wasting the $75 I spent. Id buy some of the wet food but its 4-5$ a tin That and I really want them to eat this as 95% of comments I have read on the web are positive. Does anyone know how long is a reasonable trial period? I know I am jumping the gun but I would hate for either dog but particularly the pup to lose condition.

Not that I know of Crisovar. He never seems to do well after raw meaty bones. Other than that he just gets stomach upsets semi-regularly. And while I cant put it down to anything in particular he generally is fine when on chicken and rice. Perhaps thats why I'm eyeing off the EP wholistic chicken. Chicken and rice is fine for a while but Im sure he doesnt get all the nutrients he needs in that mix alone.

Wow! Thanks so much for everyones replies. Its been great reading the discussion after a long night at work. I understand we can get played by those pups of ours. Whatever food I try I will offer for 15-30 and remove til the next day. I know they will be fine. I guess the other thing is aswell as being better quality food I want one that will be easily digested by my older boy's tummy. He has a history of gastritis which has previously caused bloody vomits. Very scary and upsetting. Does anyone have any experience with giving this food to dogs with this sort of problem? I know the food is good quality but Id hate to give him something so rich that it may make him worse

Hi, I have two poodles who have been on a soft food diet which I dont think has been agreeing with them. The new pup was on advance kibble but lost interest and the older dog was on hills sensitive stomach which was ok but because the pup wasnt eating hers I felt bad and gave them both wet food. They have had some runny poos and and upset tums this week and are just on chicken and rice now. I really want to get them both on something quality with real ingredients, not byproducts. I am leaning towards eagle pack but was wondering if anyone with smaller, fussier breeds has had any success? I have noticed a lot of people who give eagle pack the have larger breeds or are working dogs, gun dogs etc. Any input would be great.

My dog did that when we first got him. We were feeding him once a day at the time and so we started feeding him two smaller meals. Havent had poo breath since

My pup also loves plastic bottles, also i add unccoked rice as it makes a sound she goes crazy over when it rolls. Yesterday I used a toilet roll and flattened it out and folded the edges up so it was kind of like a packet and put cheese in the middle of it. She and my older dog had a ball chewing it and figuring out how to get the cheese out. Such a cheap toy

Thanks Erny. Its more about when I give them bones/treats and want to keep them away from each other. Also I wanted the older dog to have somewhere to lie when we have guests. I dont know much about crate training but I have taught her to sleep in her crate. I wasnt sure whether it would be confusing for her to sleep and eat in there? As you say it seems I will just have to be on my toes and watch for her going near his mat.

How exciting! I took my second pup with us on walks in my arms too so she could get used to local sights, sounds and smells. I have posted this before but something I found invaluable was buying a soft toy dog that looked a bit like my pup. The pup came from a breeder but didnt have anything that smelt like home so we were worried how she would settle it. She cuddled up to the stuffed dog from the first night and only cried in the morning to tell us it was time to get up :rolleyes: All the best

Thanks standardpoodle for your reply. I did have her in a pen but she is part mountain goat and we gave up on trying to find new ways to keep her in. She has the pinkest, pretiest girly bed I could find on ebay It just seems she thinks everything is hers. And even after all that she doesnt sleep in any of them but on the floor or at my feet She is crated overnight but the main problem is when she is with us in the lounge room. I have trained my older dog to take his treats to his mat to eat and since she has put her smell over all of them he doesnt go there anymore. I was hoping to teach her the same thing but that she would go to her designated mat.

Hi, I have a 4.5 month old toy poodle pup. Since her arrival she has commandeered the older dog's mats and this has deterred the older dog from going there. How do I teach her which is her mat and by the same token teach her that his mat is off limits? Any help appreciated.

Hey Gabriel, Cute names. I am just going through this with my two poodles. I have a 4 year old dog who is on the timid side and he cowered and ran away when the pup chased him. He had his nose out of joint for a couple of weeks but they are getting better every day. Everything I read said that in this situation it improves with time which is hard to believe when they seem like they are not getting along but its true. There were lots of days where I questioned if I had done the right thing getting another pup but we are 2.5 months down the track and they play together all the time and the older dog even lets the pup lie near him. In the first week the only time when they got on reasonably o.k was when I took them next door to my neighbours yard. They seemed to forget their rivalry and played happily. Perhaps it was the neutral territory thing again. I did a lot of research and these are the things I did to help with the transition: * I greet and feed the older dog first (confirms his position in the pack) * I feed them separated so neither feels their food is threatened. * I Give the older dog time without the pup getting in his face all the time. (I put the pup in an enclosure and took the older dog for long walks so he could see that the pups arrival doesnt mean the end to the good life he had) * Allow the two of them to sort out their issues. Only intervene if you are really worried about them getting hurt. I was paranoid at first and didnt even want the older dog to growl at the pup but the more Ive backed off the better. The only thing I had to watch was when the older dog got a bit rough in play. It was just the difference in size that hurt the pup sometimes so I monitored their play and intervened if things got too rough. The pup needs to know you will protect it but as dogs they need to sort some things out for themselves. My two still have spits and spats but a lot of it is the older dog teaching the pup manners and she has learnt pretty quickly. Other people have also suggested tiring the pup out by playing with it outside before putting them together so that the pup is not so hyper and they are meeting with more even energy. A big thing I learnt from a trainer obedience school is to not pander to the older dog. He would sook and paw at me when the pup was around and because I felt bad I would go and pat him, basically rewarding his timidity. This seemed to make the older dog feel like his was competing with the pup for my affections and so he sooked more and disliked the pup more. When he does this I get up and walk away and pat him on my terms. He seems far less threatened these days. As for the food I fed the pup 3 times a day. I also made sure the older dog got something too but took it out of his daily portion as we are trying to watch his weight If I leave biscuits out the pup would keep eating until they are gone wheras the older dog stops when he is full. Perhaps they learn better self-control as they get older?? Pups just want to eat everything anyway which could be boredom rather than hunger so Id be more inclined to feed them their portions and play with them in between. I also asked about this scenario on allexperts.com and they gave me heaps of good tips. If you go to "dog questions" the answer I got and the responses to other peoples similar questions are there. Hang in there!

Buy another and do what I did....use the panels to make a lid! Ellz, I have considered this but wasnt sure how to secure it well enough so it doesnt fall off but that I can get in easy enough. How did you do it?

I was stoked to read the post about these pens too. That is until the first five minutes our pup spent in there. We look over and shes half over the top! We have tried so many different barriers to her getting out, vinyl, bamboo, fabric, towels, but she figures it out every time. Often happens in the morning. We hear a "THUMP" and next thing shes in our room. Im so glad you all have had a better time with them

I was feeding my dog once a day and he started vomiting bile in the middle of the night. My vet told me some dogs need food twice a day so their gastric juices always have something to work on. I gave him a bigger meal of wet food in the morning and then left out a small amount of dry food during the day which he normally ate once we got home in the evening.

Our dog wasnt a pup when we got home but we did notice that he was a poo eater. We had been told to feed him once a day but when this started the vet suggested feeding him twice a day. Since we did this he hasnt eaten it at all. We also installed a dog door at the same time so perhaps it was partly boredom as others suggested and the outdoors gave him something else to think about.

I picked our pup up on my last day of work for the week and then had 5 days off. But we didnt stay home with her that whole time. I had read elsewhere to go out for bief periods in the day and gradually make them longer so the pup doesnt get used to you being there 24/7. We have and older dog too so I still took him for walks and left her in her pen or went and did the groceries. Also when she was looking sleepy we would put her back in her pen. So even when we were home she wasnt near us all the time. She cries a little when we leave or go to bed but at night she stops after a couple of minutes. Now after sleeping through the night and crying to get out in the morning thats a whole other story. When shes awake, thats it, theres no being quiet in her pen then I dont know if you plan to crate her or use a pen but that initial few days taught us that she was part mountain goat and she worked out how to climb out of her 1m high enclosure in the first day. It took us a few days and a few ideas to stop her getting out. If we hadnt been home in that first few days then she would have got out, and maybe she and the older dog could have had a scuffle or she could have gotten stuck somewhere and we wouldnt have known til we got home from work. We chose not to crate her because we didnt have anyone that could let her out to toilet during the day. So we use a metal pen with a lino mat underneath and have newspaper down for her to use during the day. I know there is a lot of different opinions out there but this is just our experience. As one of the other posters said, ask your breeder what the pup does during the day currently. Our pup was crated for periods during the day so it obviously wasnt too much of a shock to her system to spend some time alone in the pen. That might be a good start. One other thing I did was buy a stuffed toy dog that was reallys soft and the same colour as our pup and put that in her pen. She cuddled up to it from the first night and I think that has comforted her when spending time on her own. It wasnt an expensive one from a pet shop. It was from a local variety store and was cheap as chips. My theory is that she thought it was her brother or sister. She doesnt chew it and she still cuddles up to it now. All the best with whatever you decide

Our new puppy doesnt seem to do it at all and our older boy we got when he was 2.5 yrs so I dont think for him it was a puppy thing. Perhaps it could have been boredom which is partly why we got the new pup. Maybe hes too busy dealing with the pup hanging from his tail to think about biting or licking himself ;) I just liked the idea of a product repelling fleas and ticks before they bite. It just looked so much like he was being bitten. Our vet also told us that people bring fleas into the house so sometimes it has nothing to do with the dog but the fleas end up finding them anyway. poor things.

Catandgrant and dogon We have used sentinel spectrum for about 2 years. I thought it was great as it does everything in one but our boy continued to look like he was being bitten he would randomly twitch and start biting parts of his body. I spoke to the vet and she said that while s.s is very good it doesnt actually stop the fleas bting but as you said it renders them infertile when they do bite. Although s.s was cheaper I have decided to go with interceptor spectrum for gut and heartworm and advantix for fleas and ticks. Its supposed to repel and kill them before they bite. Ive only just started but so far so good and a lot less random twitching from my dog. I buy mine online from priceless pets. One of the cheapest prices around and I normally recieve the order the next day. Their website doesnt say they stock the 0-4kg range (as I have a pup aswell) but they do you just have to ask. Both dogs are on both now. I also bombed the house and things have been much improved since then also. Hope this helps.

Hi Catherine. We have a ten week old poodle. I had read it is a good idea to get a companion toy that they can cuddle up to when alone. I know pet shops and and other major retailers sell them but they are over $20. A waste of money IMO. I just bought our girl a soft toy dog for $5 that looked a bit like her (she is black and the the toy is mostly black). Its really soft and floppy. She cuddled up to it the first night and has done so ever since. she might cry for 10 seconds each night when we leave but thats it. We often find her lying on it or next to it wherever she is in her pen. I dont know if this will help you but for us it was one of the best decisions we made. I also have read somewhere along the lines that a ticking clock can simulate a heartbeat and comfort them. And during the day leaving the radio on might help. Good luck!!

UPDATE Things are going much better. Thank God! They play together and the older dog is even letting the pup pull on his tail and doesnt get phased. The pup wants to cuddle up to him but knows hes not keen on that yet so she will get inches from him and lie down. its so cute! The only real issue is the older dog is a bit snarly and snappy if hes on the lounge and she approaches him. I had some advice from someone that if he starts to get protective of items liike the lounge to lie him down, head on the floor and just firmly remind him that although he is top dog, I am the leader. I have done this a couple of times and this has helped a lot. This is lucky as we suspect she is part mountain goat and has learnt how to climb up on the lounge already! Kirra_bomber_zeus, I hope your new pup settles in just as well as your previous dog. I totally empathise with your experience. I know many people wouldnt think twice about bringing a second dog home and how the original dog would feel so its been nice to see people thinking similar things to me. Blue Fox, I think what you said in the post about "not smothering the heck out of the pup" is what I was thinking I should be doing . I probably normally would have done this but dont really have the option this time. Ive kept the pup in the pen when I am not around and have made sure the older dog gets to go on walks on his own and has time away from the pup. Thanks everyone for the advice, its been such a help!

Thanks! We are doing the same thing as you did it seems. The older dog is getting lots of attention and praise when he sniffs the puppy and basically allows her anywhere near him. Things have improved since yesterday. Our next door neighbours are away and we have been able to take them both over a few times a day for a run around on some fairly neutral territory. Its a night and day difference when we go there. The older dog relaxes and wags his tail and goes into a play stance. She gets bowled over a bit and this morning he was so enthused he just ran and did a leap over her whole body! Its been better at home too. When we got home last night they both had a sleep one metre apart for a couple of hours. I guess I just dont want the pup to miss out on attention that it needs because I have to consider the older dog so much. How is your pup now considering you had to minimise the attention the pup got?

Thanks everyone I will use those tips. We are a bit disheartened this morning as all our older boy is doing is sooking off and looking depressed. He is not at all happy about her presence and will avoid her at any cost. She just wants to play with him and his just gets timid and runs away. I know these things take time but HELP! This is exactly what I was concerned about.

Hey blue fox, Thanks for ur msg. Pup is here and things are going ok. The pup is rambunctious to say the least and the older dog is taking a while to warm up. They have had a couple of tussles with a couple of squeals from the pup and a couple of snaps from the older dog but nothing serious. I think our older boy doesnt know his own strength and knocked her over in the garden. No real aggression as such. Pup has her own pen and seems quite happy to spend time in there. Any suggestions for how to teach the older dog to play gently or is this out of my control? P.S i will visit and upload photos when I transfer them to my new computer

I think you are right. This is also what the breeder said. I'll just have to watch them. I think for the first few weeks I'll keep her in the pen when I am not there. I found out from the breeder she has been crated so shouldnt mind being in the pen. I understand your paranoia kamuzz. I am fortunate that my neighbours keep an eye on everything during the day. I think if my dog could answer the phone I'd call him at lunch to see how he was going :rolleyes: Thanks for you input

Hi Saram I Had not intended to crate train her mostly because I dont know anything about it. I dont know if we would be able to do it if it requires taking her out every few hours. I could ask a neighbour to come around once a day but any more might be stretching the friendship. I did contact the breeder as kamuzz suggested and was told she has been going on paper in one spot. So sounds like she is off to a good start. Still wondering what the thoughts are on leaving them in the house together albeit separated. Any ideas anyone? :rolleyes: