kitty

Go put your hand on the laundry floor Kitty.. I expect you'll find it a lot cooler than you think it is. My guess is that she gravitates to where she spends time with the family. maybe i should explain our house better... the entire house has vinyl flooring, and the laundry is smack bang in the middle of the house, in a room opposite the Laundry. The laundry has one external door that is always shut, and the internal door is open. I would understand the Laundry being cool if there were tiled floors but not vinyl. i would expect it to be no cooler than say the kitchen. I'm not sure where she is going when she gets out of the Laundry, when i come home to check on her, she's always in the hallway walking towards the front door....

Yes I agree with Nekhbet, close the door. Also don't be too quick to class your puppy's behaviour as separation anxiety, yes she doesn't like being left alone but this is natural in a puppy that has just been removed from its dam and siblings and transplanted to a totally alien environment. True separation anxiety is a different condition altogether and much more serious. do you mean have both the Laundry doors shut???

the Laundry is possibly slightly cooler than the rest of the house..... the back door (which we leave open with just the screen) is directly across from the laundry, and has a good air flow through it. We have an open plan house, so the temperature is quite even throughout... i didn't mean her escaping was separation anxiety, i just mean her whinging and whining and sounding like a strangled cat..... she's just getting used to being left alone.

i was going to put the run outside... for her to use between maybe 2-4 in the afternoon, and on the weekends, or if we have guests around. I am home from bout 5.10pm every day, and i leave for work about 7.30am but get up around 6 to spend time with her and tire her out a bit. My OH's brother (who lives with us) gets home around 2, and whilst he's happy to let her out of the laundry he can't supervise her the way she needs to be, that's why i wanted the run.... plus i hate her being cooped up for so long.

nothing for her to lean her back against... i guess in theory she could be using the plastic fencing on the outside to climb herself up... but it would be a mammoth task, and i really don't think she could make it all the way up there.... i swear i've never heard of an escape artist cocker.... i'm hoping that her separation anxiety will settle down once she knows the house routine.... she's only having her second day by herself today, and she is beside herself to say the least but that's not worrying me at all...... yet She isn't frustrating me at all (seriously), i know that the first year will be hard, but it will all be worth it, and eventually it will feels like a lifetime since she was a puplet and causing havoc

ok so Molly (our 8 week old cocker) has the Laundry for her long term confinment until she is a little bit bigger. It's quite a large laundry, and we have installed a modified baby gate across the doorway. The laundry is actual in the middle of the house, and is very warm, and has good air flow. She has everything she could possibly want in there... treats scattered and hidden, her crate, lots of toys and kongs, a wee mat, water..... everything. Well, the issue is that Molly is somehow getting out of the baby gate. We have experimented and put her in there and hidden, so we can try and find how she is getting out, but it seems she only does it when no one is home. The baby gate has a plastic fencing type material across the outside of it (that she can't chew) to make the holes smaller, as cockers are pretttty small pups. It's safe to say that she hates being alone, and frets quite badly. I've read all the threads about confidently walking in and out of the house, and not making a fuss of her, so i think in her case, she's still just settling in, and missing her mum and brothers. Is she somehow getting over the baby gate? Any advice on how to make the baby gate extra secure and safe for her would be greatly appreciated. She's getting a run this weekend, so she will have less time in the Laundry, but i still need her to be comfortable in there.

congrats on new puppy we got ours on Saturday as well, and we've been crate training her. the first night she whinged when she wanted to go outside. Last night (her second night) she slept the whole way through... yay!!! depends on your dog i guess, but the whole point of the crate training is that they have no other option but to let you know....

another night down and......... she slept the whole way through!!! (clever little puppy)

pup doesnt mind her crate now - she's jumped in there on her own once her twice to play with toys, and i'm going to feed her in there for a little while. she just hates her long term confinement - the laundry. she has everything she needs in there, she just goes mental. i put her in there before to get ready for going to work on Tuesday and she went ballistic. i waited until she stopped whining for a minute or two, went in gave her treats, told her she was good for being quiet and let her out, and we met the neighbours and they love her, so that's good

well first night is over... and she did super super well..... after about 20 seconds of whining she settled down, and only whined when she needed to pee (which was 4 times) she went straight outside with me, did her pee, came back inside and went back to sleep. didn't even flinch when it was cold and the grass was wet. so far so good!!! she is a bit velcro at the moment, she just wants to be with us. thanks for all your advice, i'm sure i'll have more questions. now i just have to concentrate on her not nibbling on my hair....

thats a good idea.... i guess tonight we'll have to tough it out,i'll prob dangle my arm in the crate tonight for comfort, but from tomorrow i can start feeding her in there for a bit till she associates it with good. it's prob just me, but it seems like she is actually scared to be in there.... just so frantic to get out anyway she can.... the crate has mesh material on all 4 sides and the top - i assume she can still see me lol

she can see us - it's not a fully solid soft crate... that's why i got it so i could still see her. crate will be in our bedroom every night, for the next few weeks, next to my side of the bed, till we eventually slowly move it to the corner of the bedroom where her permanent bed will be.

ok, so our 8 week old cocker puppy is having her first night at home, and she HATES her crate, she just wants to be with us. It's super comfy, has her favourite toys, a kong with her yummy treats and a couple of loose treats buried in the blanket for her to find. She really doesn't like it. I'm ignoring her when she's whining, and praising her when she is quiet for 10 seconds, then again when she is quiet for 20 seconds etc. She's trying to climb up the sides (it's a soft crate) and seems terrified to be in there... i dont want to praise her for whining and making a fuss, because i know that it will just teach her that it gets her what she wants How do we help her like it? So far today she has been my little shadow, coming to me when i whistle, and sleeping around my feet...... i know this is going to be hard, but any advice to help her settle into her crate would be great. I'm worried she doesn't like it because we had to bring her home in it.....

oh cool - thanks wish4cockerspaniel that Myo stuff sounds good. i went with vinegar and boiling water - cleans up good, but smells horrid!!! going to wait an hour then go over again just with boiling water. everything is ready now for the pup - it honestly hasn't sunk in yet that its all happening tomorrow - i've been waiting soooooo long!!!

i was thinking of using vinegar.... prob the best bet but i'm not sure. Is heavily diluted bleach bad? Thanks for the advice luvsdogs

I know this is a silly question, but i just need to ask, google is not my friend in this instance. We're bring our new cocker spaniel pup home tomorrow, and her long term confinement area will be the Laundry (with her crate etc) At the moment, the Laundry is where we feed the cats at night, but if we ever have other doggy guests, we feed them in our lounge room, so the cats are used to being fed in both places. I want to give a very very thorough clean of the Laundry this afternoon, to get the cat food, cat food smell etc. I'm guessing that using diluted bleach is not a good idea??? What else can i use as a cleaning agent that wont be potentially harmful to my pup?

that's really strange, the Rotti was chewing pretty hard on the Tuffie for a good 2-3 hours last night (she was trying to figure out where the squeakers were!) and her big Rotti destructo teeth didn't damage it at all, but she has managed to destroy a Kong or two in her time......

Hi Wagsalot Got our package yesterday and it was fantastic!!! the other dog wants the hide a bee, but she cant have it, so i gave her the Tuffie lol - damn those puppy dog eyes! I think i'll order another one, they are just such fantastic looking toys!!!!

i can most definately recommend Tuffie Toys..... i dont actually have our puppy yet (3 sleeps!) but i got one of these yesterday, and felt sorry for our other dog (who is a Rottweiler) and gave it to her. You know straight away that it's a very very sturdy toy, and would take quite a bit to actually destroy! Wagsalot the website is owned by a DOL member, and she is lovely, prices are extremely reasonable, and postage was super super fast. Could not recommend this toy, or this store highly enough!

going to buy Hide A Bee & Junir Ring for our pup that we get next week - hope she likes it!!! If she does, i really want a Dinosaur Egg baby i need to stop buying things.....!!!!!! ETA - i can't proceed through to checkout!!!! i've filled out every field, and still says there is an error. Tried going through as a guest, and creating an account, and it didnt work

I'm wondering the same thing we get our pup in 2 weeks, so hope to enrol soon! i have heard really good things about them!

Sorry, i prob wasn't overly clear. We need to puppy proof the fenceline. The retainer wall and the bushy part will be ok...

Hi all We're going to do some puppy-proofing on the weekend, and our backyard is contained by 6ft timber fences. I know that one or two fence pales are missing, but apart from that i THINK we're ok.. (but further inspection will prove how much we need to do!) We have a timber retaining wall around about 1/3 of the backyard, that has a hill with some 'bushland' as i like to call it... What is the best way to puppy proof a backyard, and what materials are best to use? Someone told me to use chicken wire, but i would imagine that would still be flimsy and could be dug under (unless you dig the wire down a bit) Any suggestions would be fantastic Thanks~~

ooh lots of great suggestions! i think i would rather a physical diary/journal, as opposed to an online one.... i dont trust technology! lol ooh some of those ones on Amazon are really cute!

hi keds.... do you already have the pup? i would suggest feeding the same food he/she is used to, and slowly introduce a new food. Don't change suddenly, cause that can upset little pup's stomach. as for treats.... i would suggest www.happypawstreats.com.au - i'm going to get some for my pup when we get her. do a search on treats on the forum, one of the members owns the above website, and is RAVED about for how good her products are.... hope that helps....