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Neither of my dogs have coats. Jane is a labby cross and Gus is officially a Golden Retriever cross although he looks more sight-houndish. They seem fine without them but they do have free access to the house anyway. I wouldn't trust Jane with coats as she is a terror with ANYTHING so the coats would be shredded in minutes me thinks!

Jane used the doggy door the first day we had her at 6 weeks without any training. She was fearless from day 1! She now zooms through the door at high speed so God help the unsuspecting person standing in front of it when she does her express entry! Gus took about 2 or 3 days to fully master it when he came home to us at 14 weeks from a shelter. He uses it all the time now (at 17 weeks) and will even go through it when we open the door to let him in the 'human' way! We actually had to teach him using food and lifting the flap just a tiny bit. His love of food and his long nose did the rest!

Cavalblaze...lovely to see things are going much better with your litter...they look beautiful!! Fingers crossed for little black and tan! Congradulations to leura on the birth of baby Hayden! How the hell did 7lb 14oz fit inside that little belly!!!!

Gus is 16 weeks old and abit of a barker at night too. We have only had him 3 weeks but I am thinking that night time is the only time when he can hear strange noises as we have the radio on during the day when the dogs are home alone and then the normal household noises at other times. Night-time/bedtime is the only time when the 'house' is quiet so Gus would be hearing all the outside noises he would'nt usually hear at other times...hense the barking! Its getting less as time goes on so he is aclimatizing! Just wondering if your dog may also be hearing specific noises only at bedtime due to the house being quiet. If so...could you rig up a radio in the laundry to play quietly over night and perhaps mask the noises that could be stimulating him.

My God...your dog sounds exactly like mine! Its exhausting especially when all we want to do is relax and spend time with our sweet pups! Jane did and does exactly the same but we did find that redirecting her excitability to clicker training really helped. We recently got another dog who is 16 weeks old and I have really become aware of just how much energy dogs expand when they play with each other. I don't think any amount of training or walking or 'fetch' can replace a full on play session between two young dogs!!! Jane is still and probably always will be a high energy excitable dog but having Gus means that her play time is focused on him and not us. It has also shown me that she understands the rules of playing with another dog far far better than she ever understood the rules of play with humans! Gus is a sweet young sensible introvert who will most likely never be as full on as Jane who is an out there total extrovert. She is hard work and has been since day 1! Always pushing the boundries, always wanting to try new things without an ounce of fear and always keeping us on our toes BUT she is a sweet and special creature who just happens to need alot of physical and mental stimulation! At 16 months, she is far more of a puppy than our puppy is!!!

Just finished reading about Cavalblaze's distressing time. It must be so heartbreaking to watch little pups fade. I hope Lele turns the corner soon so she can start enjoying her litter! Best of luck Cavalblaze and fingers crossed it all goes well. RIP to little Mia.

We pretty much walk in all weather. Jane couldn't care less if it was raining and there is the added advantage of a 'towel dry' when we get home which she totally loves! A good drenching always helps keep her nice and clean and she always looks a treat after she has dried off! I'm not a fan though as I hate having wet feet and have yet to find some really waterproof shoes that are easy to walk in. Gus dosen't know about rain yet as we have only had him for three weeks and it really has'nt rained in that time. He is abit of a sooky la la so I'm betting he isn't going to like a walk in the rain!

Congrats on your beautiful puppies Cavelblaze and fingers crossed for the wee little girl! Tlc...no problems with the camera but I think we will put it in the boot as jane has 'a thing' for expensive electronics! Yep...Gus and Jane have definitely bonded. Poor Jane is abit frustrated at the moment. She just loves to shove something in Gus's face to intice him to play tug and he is happily enthusiastic but his gripping ability is below par at the moment due to missing quite a few baby teeth! His adult teeth haven't yet filled the gaps so any toy he attempts to hang on to is quickly lost! Never mind...Jane's second favorite game is to lie on the floor and let Gus jump on top of her from the couch. He's more than willing to participate in that little game!

My two are here to be protected by me. I would never expect them to protect me and would feel bad if it ever came to that as it would mean that I have'nt been able to fullfill my promise to them...that they have a happy carefree life full of fun and adventure. I would never expect my two sweet natured dogs to take on the responsibility of protecting their protector.

OMG...your babies are beautiful!!! Love the look on your daughters face as her ear is licked...priceless! OK JJ spill the beans...how many dogs have you got and who's hooking up with who in the future???? Looks like Vitasz is gonna have quite a harem! I agree with you JJ...I'm beginning to think that Gus isn't going to be as big as everyone thinks. Time will tell and he does have big paws but I'm thinking large medium rather than large large now. He has put on 3 kilos in the last fortnight though but some of that is probably muscle from all the playing he's doing with Jane.

Sounds like Darcy and Zee had a top day! Lucky puppies! Both my puppies went to training today and did really well! No surprise for Gus as he was born good I think but Jane was great...focused and relaxed and not the naughiest girl in school for once...YAH! Here's a pic of the two of them together at home.

My first dog had free access to the backyard and the house via a doggy door from day 1 at 8 weeks old. Sure there was some minor collateral damage but she is a happy well adjusted dog who was able to enjoy a safe secue yard with trees, grass, bushes and well penned chooks who she has never harrassed but does enjoy wandering over to watch through the wire. Now we have our second dog and he enjoys the same freedom. They now get to zoom around the backyard and relax together and I have to say that relaxing is what they do MOST OF THE TIME! Watching my two, I don't believe dogs dig because they are bored. They dig because its a hell of a lot of fun. Its great exercise and the ground is a wonderful treasure trove of smells and sensations for a young dog! Each to their own of course and I know alot of people are more house proud than me but I'm happier knowing my dogs have a variety of choices when I have to leave them while I'm at work. Even though they are 15 months and 16 weeks respectively I know that for the most part, they are snoozing either outside or on the lounge!

:rolleyes: RJ!!!! Sounds like you had a lovely day! Hope your Melbourne trip is great fun! JJ...er sorry for the belated...or premature birthday wishes! I for one only really like ONE birthday a year and that comes too often for my liking ;)

Kylie Minogue??? You should be so lucky lucky lucky to be sharing a birthday with Kylie! Hope you have a great day tomorrow JJ!

Hey JJ...he's abit of a heart breaker! Many happy returns little guy! BTW Gus is coming along in leaps and bounds. He is not so skinny any more and has loads of loose skin so I think a growth spurt is on the cards soon! I will take him into the vets for a weigh in this friday. When we adopted him, he was 11.2kg and last week he was 13.2kg so I expect he will be over the 14kg mark now. I will try to get some more photos soon but i have to say he is sooo much better looking in person!

I'm pretty new at having two dogs as we have only had Gus for nearly 2 weeks...it feels like he has been here much longer though! At 15 weeks, he is still a pup while Jane is 15 months. They spend most of their time together but I walk them separetely as Jane has much higher exercise needs while Gus gets a little walk mostly for lead training and socialisation. I train them separately as I'm too disorganised to do them together. Jane sleeps on my bed at night wheras Gus sleeps in the next room. Jane is lab size and as Gus is a mixed breed from the RSPCA, I'm not sure how big he will be but he is 14 kg now so I imagine he will be a big lad so I'm OK with him NOT sharing my bed. Having spent the first week at hme with them, I have seen how they respect each others quiet time so I'm happy to leave them while I'm at work.

Jane is about the size of a smallish lab and she fits a large. I had a look at the mediums and they look really small! There is a big difference between the 2 sizes but I would err on the large size unless you can physically look at both.

:Happy Birthday Zee Seems you have already had a great day Zee! Many happy returns!

Well thank you for thinking Gus is handsome He is abit of a surprise package in the looks department so its going to be really interesting to see how he looks in a few months. His coat looks longer even in the week that we have had him so I wouldn't be surprised if he has some feathering as he matures. When I think back to Jane as a pup, I never would have thought she would have a beard!!!

Magstar...how is your older dog going with little Oscar? We have found our older dog (15 months) is SO much better behaved since we got Gus! I think its a combination of having a new friend to play dog stuff with and us being more focused and consistant with her training and boundrys.

dogs eat first with us too. Its just that I like to get all the jobs done before I sit down and relax with a meal so the chooks are fed and locked up, the cats fed and the dogs fed. They do go out when we eat as we don't have a table at the moment so eat dinner on the couches and two sad deprived faces looking at me would cause me to weaken and give in. With a new pup here I MUST BE STRONG and not create bad habits!

Thanks for the photos Tlc...great to have a record of Gus's first time at training! And yes...he does do the 'sad dog' look very well but I was pleased he went and socialised in his own quiet little way in the end! And yes...I was BLOODY FREEZING!!! Couldn't believe how icy cold it was when we got out of the car. It was hard listening to Trish when all I wanted to do was throw her to the ground and snaffle her gloves I'd forgotten how much standing around we do in puppy class! Cooper was a real gentleman with the newbie and his coat(s) looked nice a warm too! It was a good group of pups for such a cold start. Gotta say that young Marley reminded me of Jane as a youngster...all enthusiastic excitement!

What a really enjoyable set of photos. Loved the whole lot but you really captured Cooper's expression as decided other doggies are more interesting than Tully's ball Sparky is such a cutie and looks like a young lad in the piccies. And only Tully has a jumper on...would it be because washing a jumper with horse poo on it is easier than washing a whole dog with horse poo on her

Sounds like Elbie and you might like clicker training. There is heaps of info on it on this forum and other sites and its great for getting a smart dog to use his brain! Really good fun for the trainers as well! Elbie sounds just like Jane at that age...my god she was a full on pup! We got a Dap diffuser to help her settle inside and it worked wonders. Also, have you tried giving him a "chew' so while he gets through it he is also settled. Sometimes it helps break the cycle of excitment if you know what I mean. Good luck with him...if he is anything like Jane, the puppy hood is hell but its so worth it in the end! I would never wish Jane's puppyhood back for all the tea in china but I LOVE the dog she has become!

Aawww...she was beautiful! What a loyal faithful friend you had for so long! My childhood dog also live to 17! She was a bitza as well. Never on lead, just mucked around with the kids in the street, never went to the vets until she was 15 and had a grand old life. In her last year, she used to take herself off for a walk as she was too slow for anyone and many people used to say that they would see her walking down the middle of the road ...The things we did then that we would never do now!!!