tez

Hi everyone! Some lovely weather forecast for this weekend so I hope everyone enjoys it! Great weather for moving, Tenties! Jess...how is Zee going with her UTI! Have you got the results back yet from her culture?

Thanks for the reply, Tlc! You are right about puppy hood being over...which is good but there are lots of aspects of it I shall miss. Training will be better now though as I think she will be less focused on the dogs around her. It is nice to see her developing into the dog I knew she would become. Just wondering how pound dogs cope as many of them are lost or surrended during that critical "fear' period. It must be quite daunting for many of them!

I feed Jane at night. She's almost 14 months and we found she was getting abit porky with 2 feeds a day so cut it back to 1 at 12 months. She wasn't getting alot anyway but she does seem to put condition on easily. She does however get training treats on her walks and during a training session in the evening. Only tiny amounts but with two walks a day and free shaping clicker training, they add up!

Hi all! I think my out there, confident, have no fear puppy is growing up and finding the big wide world a little bit more scary than she did a week or so ago! Jane (aka the black menace) is now nearly 14 months old and all of a sudden she seems to be aware of the fact that some things in the big wide world MAY actually be abit scary. It started with me noticing on walks that she would actually stop and look and be wary of unfamiliar objects whereas before hand she would just bowl up to anything and happily investigate it. At training on Sunday, which we have been going to since she was a young pup, she had her usual play time with the other dogs at the end of the session and she is usually in the thick of things. Always happy to play with the other dogs and pretty relaxed with even the rougher playing dogs. Anyway, this Sunday, we had a few new, bigger dogs and it was a pretty wild and windy day. She was having a run around and at one stage, she was running with about 3 other dogs in tow(all friendly young dogs) when I noticed that she was heading for a large puddle of water (Jane likes to throw herself in any sort of water for a cool off) behind the cars. At this stage I was walking over to put her back on lead as I realised she was getting abit tired. Next thing, she appears with the other dogs still running behind her but she is clearly distressed...whimpering and crying( Something I have never heard from her before). I was very close so immediately stepped in and put her on the lead thinking she had injured herself. I was quite worried and examined her carefully all over while the other people gathered their dogs. It soon became apparent that she was physically fine but she was frightened (again, at first for Jane)! I took her off for a bit of a walk to further assess her and for both of us to to calm down which she did very quickly. My thinking is that she got frightened by the dogs running after her and distressed when she felt unable to stop for time out in the puddle without the other dogs running into her. Anyway... after having a think about this and reading that she is in the age group for this 'fear stage'(9 to 16 month appox.), I believe I will need to closely supervise and alter some activities so she dosen't have any long lasting repercussions. So...no more free play at training for a while and then only with one or two of the more gentle dogs and I will have to closely moniter MY reactions to lessen any distress she may feel in new and unfamilar situations. Any other ideas would be appreciated! I would also like to find out how other people have handled this stage in their dogs development. Thanks in advance.

Ahh...the dignified and Handsome Cooper...he needs a curved pipe and a Sherlock Holmes Hat and no-one would be able to tell the difference!

Mobile phones...but we don't let her have them very often...too expensive

Have you thought about a pheromon diffuser? They diffuse a pheromon in the air that helps calm anxious dogs as it replicates the female hormone dogs secrete when they have pups. We used one for Jane as she was so hyer-active as a pup. The first day we had it, she fell asleep in the lounge room. We had never seen her do this before! We got ours from our vets. You just plug them into a wall socket and they are odourless. When I first plugged ours in, I remember saying to Jane...'Breathe deeply little puppy' and she did and she fell asleep!!!

Thanks guys...hugs gratefully accepted!

Good luck with the results Jess! Unfortunately we won't be going ahead with the adoption for personal reasons which is a shame as he is a lovely dog. One day we will have a friend for us and Jane but not just yet.

How is Zee going Jess? Did you get any answers from the vets about the lake? I'm sure she will be ok...at least she's got a good mum to look after her!

Funny how you started this thread today Tlc...I was only thinking this morning after seeing your 'baby' photos in another thread, whether you missed your doogies being puppies! You would have had about 18 months or so of puppys non stop! Your dogs are cuties now but OMG...they were the smoochiest pups EVER!

The lovely Jane was 'The puppy from Hell'! She just never stopped. We even took photos of the first time she fell asleep in the lounge one evening when she was about 4 months old...it was a breakthrough! She was bitey and so irritable that the vet suggested we get a pheromon diffuser to help calm her down. And I'd only gone in to buy some dog food! She was so hyper that she would actually get distresed trying to go to sleep at night! Do I miss her puppy hood...Yep sure do but I'm loving the dog she has become! Would I do it again...Yep in a heartbeat! Now she is a confident cuddly and fun 13 month old who still keeps us on our toes but enriches our lives no end. There were tears sure but I have also never laughed so much either! My girl is certainly not for everyone...certainly not for the faint-hearted but I would'nt have her any other way. And just cos its nice to look back and go aahhh, heres a pic of her as a pup!

Poor Zee...Don't know about dogs but some people have a hard time with UTIs. It can take months to clear up and then they always seem to be susceptable. Still the cranberry tablets should help. Jane's eyes are back to normal and shes all good! Just want her to have her new little mate home so she can start bonding (me too!!!) but we need to have a property check done first and I'm still waiting to hear when. He's a cute little guy and looking at him makes me smile. Never thought I would have a whippet but he ticked all the boxes personality wise and he is a good age for Jane and hey...if he gets sick of her pestering him, he can just run away! NO Chance of Jane catching him ;)

Sorry Jess that Zee is unwell. Can't give you too much info about the lake either. Jane's eye were fine for quite a few days after the lake but went from a little bit of yellow muck in the corner of her eye one day to sore red swollen eye the next morning...one eye worse than the other. The vets thought it might be a grass seed but as the other eye was involved as well ( but much less so) they started asking questions as to where she had been. When the lake was mentioned, they concluded that she got it from there. Mind you, she also stuck her nose into a few soft mushy cow pats while we were there as well so who knows! I'm sure if you rang them they would give you the info about the lake...if so...please pass it on! BTW Jane's eye cleared up really well and really quickly with the meds. The next day they looked back to normal. I hope Zee's UTI clears up soon. Is her behaviour affected by the infection? I know little kids with UTI's can become little brats behaviour wise due to the bladder infection and was wondering wether dogs are affected like that as well!

Well done on bringing this gorgeous boy home with you! I'm sure you will have many adventures, laughs and cuddles for many many years! The start of his life was not so great but he's got you now so the rest of his life will be perfect!

Well we need to have a property check done and while I love living where I live, it is 2 1/2 hours from Melbourne (where Scout is now) so the distance may be holding things up a bit! I can go get him early Saturday morning so the dogs can have the whole weekend to get to know each other and for Scout to get to know us!

Thanks everyone for sharing your expertise and experiences and most of all your very very cute pictures! Makes me even more excited to bring home Scout! Tlc...you are truely evil with ALL your piccies of the fabulous four!!! I'm thinking that things SHOULD go pretty smoothly as Jane is a very easy going dog around other dogs. She may however be abit puppyish with Scout and not leave the poor guy alone so we will have to watch that Scout is not too over-whelmed for the first few days til he gets used to her!!!

Elsha...that first photo in a classic As if he's saying "OK dad...but he is going back now...PLEEEEZE'!

Thanks for the comments everyone. Yep Scout was listed as a whippet cross but looks very much like a whippet and runs like one too! He's a very interesting looking dog but we chose him due to his personality. The cute looks just came as an added bonus. When we met him, he was a real sweetie and got on with Jane very well. After the initial run around (with Jane coming a very poor last!), they took turns giving each other a ball that Scouts foster carer had bought along then laid down in the shade for a rest...SWEET!

I'm loving all the pictures! Boof is one handsome dog and its nice to finally see him! Maybe I should include a picture of our current dog, Jane and one of our new dog, Scout, who will hopefully be with us soon. Unlike you guys, he is not a young pup (Obviously!) but is approx 10 months old.

OMG Tlc...they are the cutest photos ever!!! Lacey was sooo tiny and you're right...Cooper looks so in love!

Just wondering if anyone can tell me if they noticed any changes with their first dog once they added a second dog to the family???

Do you just shove the crystals down? Put them in something? w Yep...just shove them down...when the dog starts to heave, stop and get ready to clean up. Its brutal but very effective if you catch the dog in the act of eating the chocolate.

I found out this morning one of my girls ate an easter egg yesterday morning.. We are staying with my sister's family and my niece caught her eating it yesterday morning but knowing how I am with the girls and chocolate (I have been telling them all the time to keep it up high away from my girls) she decided not to tell me because I would worry.. Thankfully she seems to be fine.. I would take her to the vet immediately even if she seems ok. We thought the same with our dog...3 days after she ate the chocolate she was one very sick girl! They with do a blood test and may keep her in to moniter her.

Orally. You need to give enough that they start getting ready to vomit before you stop. When it happened to Meg, We gave her what I thought was a good amount but nothing happened so I called our vet (being in a small country town has some advantages) and he said to just keep shovelling it in til she vomits. Sure enough up every thing came. You will need to IMMEDIATELY clean up the vomit though as the dog will want to re-eat that chocolate so make sure its on concrete and in a well lit area so you can get rid of all of it!