W Sibs

that's so sweet... he is gorgeous! love the first pic!

Charlie has an egg milkshake once a week (thanks to my mum). Also, he has 1 weetbix and milk on Saturday morning for breakfast, while my boyfriend has 6 weetbix and milk. They like having their weekly breakfast date together Once in a while, I will give Charlie milk for breakfast, instead of bones. He is on a high calcium diet. Those puppy milk you buy in supermarket are not worth it. But, if the dogs like it, I guess it's ok. Although, the 4 years old is no longer a puppy... so why is she still feeding her puppy milk?

Ohh... may I please have one small and one medium? thanks

oh that's terribe scarlet! i met an idiot owner this morning while walking charlie. she had a foxy looking dog.. no collar and no leash. the dog was allow to run around the street free. it didn't matter that were cars driving around, kids walking to school, bike rider or other dog walkers! she was just walking behind her dog. i asked her where her collar and leash was, and the girl said that she didn't need it. her dog comes back when she calls it... well, her dog just ran across the road to come say hello to Charlie... we were standing at the corner of a roundabout I picked up her dog and handed it to her, telling her that she shouldn't be walking around a dog without collar or leash. As Charlie and I were walking home (the most slowest walk EVER)... my neighbour was sitting on in front of her house looking shaken up... she told me that her DA Labrador x poodle had a go at a little foxy dog, when that little dog rushed over. it has no collar or leash on. her dog didn't draw blood, but.. yeah.. bad situation. poor lady was so shaken up about that experience.

I don't like or let Charlie play rough... I don't think socialising dogs necessary means rough play. He is little, and can easily get squish or another dog send him flying. I let Charlie greet other dogs (with their owners permission)... they sniff each other, do play bow and do their happy bouncy thing they do with each other, and sniff more. There is no tumbling or jumping at each other. They usually run around and sniffing things together, and sniff more and bouncy thingy more. If there is chewing/licking each other faces.. they are usually laying on the ground and do it

she looks gorgeous and healthy too me too

I kinda have the same problem with my Charlie We have a cat next door that likes sitting on the fence, and Charlie barks at it like mad. It's out of our control if we aren't there, luckily none of the neighbours has sat anything about the bark. Although, the barking isn't the thing that worries me... it's the fact that he tries to jump up to get it! My partner has tried to catch the cat a few times, so we can introduce them together.. but the damn cat is too fast! Charlie is mostly inside in the day though. We put citrus spray along our fence a few times and that keeps the cat off it.. but the rain keeps washing it away.

what an idiot!

Write up the rules you want your dog to follow. Read them over and over. Till YOU get it. Then you show your dog what you want it to do. You can't train your dog if you aren't sure of what you really want either. Be consistant about it. Don't get upset... just remember that you can't be upset at something that doesn't know or understand. and, you can't be upset at yourself because you are still learning. You're bound to stumble along the way. if you feel yourself get upset, then take a deep breath and be calm. Don't be too hard on yourself... you're doing a great job, and the fact that you are worried enough and care enough to ask for advice, that's awesome Don't feel bad for your dog if it doesn't like it. You haven't hurt it's feelings. You haven't dampen their spirit. You're not a bully. She will still love you. She's not going to feel like she is getting punished. You don't have to be forceful to be assertive. because if you're forceful and they still don't listen, then you're going to get upset and feel negative. If you want her out of the room... just gently guide her out of the room, don't order her verbally (because obviously she isn't listening)... so just use your body (or leash). Just simply walk over to her and make her back away out of the room... once she is out, make her sit and praise/reward her. You may have to repeat this step over and over, but eventually she is going to know that you don't want her in that room, and she is only allow in that room when you invite her in. (This is what I did to teach Charlie to say out of the kitchen... if he is in the kitchen, i simply take a step toward him and he backs out straight away... he sits at the entrance of the kitchen watching me with that cheeky smile of his )

stay calm and positive. if/when the puppy is whining or crying.. totally ignore it. don't touch it or sook it up.. just ignore that behaviour. you can stand there with the pup, so the pup knows you are there.. but don't fuss over the puppy (this may be hard for a few people, but it's best for the pup) sbt123 gave good advice too. make it stand on the table and touch her everywhere... you can pretend to play vet with looking in the ears, touching his tummy area and lifting up the pup's tails the first time we took Charlie for a quick walk, then we took him about half hour early so he could have a sniff around the place, meet everyone there and see that it's not bad. when we got into the room, he remained happy. when we put him on the table, he was still sniffing and our vet is great.. interact with him a lot. charlie was busy eating a liver treat when he got his needle and didn't even notice his injection!

Do you give him a reward/praise each time you looks at you? Do you get bored of saying her name? Sorry about all the question, but I do find all this interesting. When i train Charlie.. i find that the less I talk, the more focus he is on me. because he has to watch me to see what the next command is.

get it chipped now.

No. In fact it reduces the value of the name. The kind of talking Pepper's owner is doing I call "begging". Dog should react the the first cue and not need all the white noise. That's what I thought too. I was just curious to see if there was a need to do it. Maybe she was doing basic training for a sport or something, I don't know about.

Ok, how often do you use your dog's name while training? There was a lady I met at the dog park doing some training with her dog.. it was always "Pepper. Sit. Good girl, Pepper. Pepper. Stay. Good girl, Pepper. Pepper. Look at me. Pepper...' I realise when I train Charlie, I rarely use his name. Once, I get his attention, I don't need too. When I do need to get his attention, I usually said 'Oi Mister. Look at me' and he does.. But, is there a reason of using the dog's name over and over?

Charlie isn't a fan of kibbles... so we made a game out of it. They can try mixing the kibbles in their main meal too... slowly introduce it to them.

Charlie turned 1 years on Saturday 13th February. My puppy is turning to be a little dog.. awww... Had a good weekend with outings, play time with dog friends, getting spoilt by everyone.

it is POURING down hard rain in sydney right now...!! Charlie enjoyed his time outside in the rain... but made a huge deal about coming inside and being wet. I bought out his towel and he quickly walked to the towel to get dried. he sat very very still while I dried him off.. now he is sitting inside watching the rain. he's not scared of storm either... when thunder hit, he just tilted his head looking very cute and then give me a 'what was that, mum?!'

he is definitely a keeper!!

I probably could! But it's very hard to get out of bed... plus it's strange but my dog loves sleeping in until 2pm each day so I literally have to poke him out of bed to take him out in the mornings. I have done this sometimes, if I'm going out for a full day I'll try and walk him before 8am etc. But he's all sleepy-eyed and droopy-eared and very pathetic looking sounds like Charlie when I try to wake him up in the morning. But, as soon as I get his walking collar, he perks up a bit a little bit. We still go for THE most slowest walk ever though. We come back, and he curled up in his bed in the living room and continue snoozing.

I walk Charlie really early in the morning or very late evenings. He perfers his late evening walks though... he isn't much of a morning dog

What Nekhbet said.

pets better than lovers on Valentine day ONE-quarter of Aussie couples find spending time with their pets more attractive than their spouse on Valentine's Day. A global poll by Reuters and Ipsos found that one in five adults said they would opt for the company of a furry friend on February 14. The survey of 24,000 people in 23 countries found residents of Turkey the most likely, at 49 percent, to choose an animal over a partner or spouse. The French, at 10 percent, were least likely, Reuters reported. The United States came in at 27 percent and Australia at 25 percent. But the survey also found that age and income were more of a determining factor than nationality with younger, less affluent people more likely to vote for their pet. John Wright, senior vice president of Ipsos, said 25 percent of people aged under 35 opted for their pet over their partner compared to 18 percent of those aged 35-54 and 14 percent of people aged 55 plus. Men and women were evenly split over the question. But if you would like a pet and a lover too you could always try Puppy Love speed dating. Melbourne-based community support group, Single Volunteers, has joined forces with Pet Rescue and animal shelters to promote pet-friendly Valentine’s Day dating. Melina Schamroth, Single Volunteers founder, said the dating nights will be a way that people can meet while making a difference by working hands-on with discarded animals. Still, women attending the event could be left with just a dog. Whilst these events are popular with women, Ms Schamroth says that they are having trouble finding men to attend. “Women outnumber the available men two to one” she said. “Men can be reluctant to attend traditional match-making events, but they need to understand that these events are not about being single, rather about being a person who cares about their community and just happens to be single.”

4th?

Happy Birthday Furias!! Awww... what a cutie! Looks like she had a lot of fun!

Ceilidh - I'm sorry for your lost No dog has touched me the way Charlie has. Even from the first time I met him, I knew he was mine and we belong together. There is no doubt in anyone's mine, who Charlie belongs too. He is, no doubt, the love of my life.