W Sibs

Hmm.. interesting. He will get better again, Cynthia. Just going to take a while for him to be

Can it be possible that a dog is too dependent to their crate? I'm asking because I've never crate trained my dog before.. I didn't even train Charlie!! He just happen to love his crate. But, right now, he is loving it bit too much? I dunno. Here is my situation: The other day, i did a little experiment... I carried him downstairs to the living room and left his crate upstairs. He was totally fine. Walking around, playing with me, he took his naps outside in the sun.. like he always did. Then, after lunch.. I took his crate down... his whole body change. He saw the crate, then quickly rushed into and sat in there. And, the cycle of him being scared of getting out of the crates starts all over. Cycle is... he wants to come out. But, instead stands at the door of his crate.. his body all tense up, the hestitation of stepping out (we have cut the lower bar on his crate so he no longer has to step over the bar at the crate to step out.. if that makes sense), and the fear of stepping out, in case he is in pain again. Once he steps out, he is all fine again. Somedays, he gets his fear get the better of him and just remains in there for the rest of the day. He will then whining to get everyone's attention (which we ignore. we look to see that he is physically alright.. if he is ok, we ignore his whining). Since Charlie has been sick... we have been having unpredictable days. Few days and weeks he will be back to his old self... cheeky, playful, fearless little fella that we love (and lately really miss)... and there are days, like the past few days, where he has his low days where he just want to stay in his crate, don't want to leave. Gets all sad and mopey. I think he is losing confident in being a dog or maybe I'm expecting too much from him too soon. His recovery is going to be a very slow and long process. Quick Add: He does have a mat in the living room where he rest on. So when I left the crate upstairs, he went to rest and nap on his mat.

he is very cute... no matter what he is

awww... sending a lot of healing vibes for you and Tia!

OMG!!! too cute!!!

This is the same as Charlie.. he gets invited for playdates with other dogs and kids! I'm the one who just drive around, and get put in the corner to supervise the activity! Same here. I like to bring Charlie with me, but I always ask first. I dont get offended if they say no. As for my place... I would like the heads up if my friends bring their pets or kids. More so now. Charlie stills have bad days so when he does.. I don't like kids or other dogs around to excite him.

Charlie doesn't get excited meeting me or anyone at the door (except OH and his brother)... he walks over calmly with head down, then he will sit and wait for his cuddles and pats. Then, he will go off and get a toy to give to someone. Very respectful

Oh.. i just read this thread. I hope Grover gets better soon!!

Totally agree!

Where do you live?

that's so adorable!

awww... what a cutie!

she is gorgeous!! can wait to see more pics of her

Cute!

I taught Charlie by putting a treat in front of his nose and pull it away from him till he stand.. say 'Stand' and then I give him the treat. At the beginning he would try to get the treat out of my fingers but i won't realise it till he does what I ask. He learn quick smart he won't get it till he does what I ask. Then give him a 'sit' command. We repeat it again.

Love the story!!! I cried reading the book.. My friend named her cat Hachi...

well, it was a hot weekend and I couldn't stand watching Charlie looking very scruffy, that I took out the sisscors and gave Charlie a fur cut!! I put him on the coffee table and started to cut his fur... I figured, I can give him a trim till he gets better enough and take him to the groomers Charlie was totally an angel about it. He just stood there while I snipped away, and he didn't even protest when I was snipping away his paw fur. He just watched me doing it. He does look a lot better, less scruffy Just want to say how I have a new respect for groomers!!! It's hard work!! Charlie is easy dog, but I was thinking what if he was a snappy or badly behaved dog!! The job will be impossible for me to do.

I read the title and I'm like 'Oh no' But, awesome news about passing pre school. Like a post above.. you should continue with his training. Sounds like you have a very clever pup there.

I use the hand signal too. Waving him back. I've never measured how far I want him to go. Sometimes it's a metre or sometimes it's 2 metres or more (depends on where I'm training him) he just goes till I give him the "stay" hand signal. Shelle.. I'm going to try your way tonight!! Sounds interesting!!

As far as I knew there was no reliable DNA test for dog breeds (or even human race). Although, I would love to test Charlie out. I know his fur-mum is purebred CKCS and his fur-dad is a purebred Shih Tzu, I've always been curious to see which side he takes after more in a genetic kind of way. He looks more CKCS but he has more traits of a Shih Tzu, I think.

Wow.. you sound so organised and have everything planned!! Depending on your puppy. Personally, I would try to settle him down for the night. With Charlie. From day dot.. I tell him 'Lights out' and he goes to his bed. But, there are times where he won't settle down, I still turn the light off, but I can hear him playing with his toys in the dark. I just ignore it the sound. He would get tired and go to sleep. If I really want him to settle down, I will put him on the bed.. he will give me a huff, but in seconds, he will start snoring. Place it wherever you feel comfortable on doing so. If it's a nice day, I will put the pen outside, and if it's cold day, I will put it inside First thing I trained Charlie (aside from sit and stay) was to stay out of the kitchen. Especially when I'm in there. So, when I'm in there, he usually lays outside the kitchen waiting for me or he is in the backyard doing whatever out there. I would let him wander and smell stuff. Let him have a free romp and wait outside till he does it. If he has been out there for a while, bring in him and within 5 seconds, take him out again (sometimes puppies forget to do their business ) Charlie doesn't have a collar on at home either... there is no way he can escape the yard unless someone leave the front door open, and he doesn't step out of the house until I tell him it's ok too. You can teach your pup to walk on the leash as soon as you get him if you want. Just clip on the leash and let him walk around the yard or house with it, so he gets use of the feel of it. But, good idea to take your puppy out to meet different people and get use of strange sounds. It all depends on your pup. If you have a mellow and easy going pup, that's easy to give him a chew toy or treat while you're entertaining people, then do that. I would try to avoid locking up the pup as much as I can. Let him hang out with other people and stuff... when he gets to much, then I would put him in his pen. Most of the time, if you are a calm person and the pup is in a calm environment, the pup usually is calm too. Well, most dogs I've had is like that. Along as you exercise your pup every day (there is no excuse not to walk your dog everyday unless he/she is sick or injured), feed it a good diet.. there is no chance your pup will go chubby. Even if you give it a few snacks here and there :D Could try giving him raw veggies to chew on (carrot, corn etc). Bones are good too :D Charlie has these calcium treats for after dinner, he has liver treats and cheese for training everyday... also if he did something really cute that we haven't seen he do before. Charlie has never ever been chubby

Really good. Stronger and stronger each day :D Only more energetic and with no walking, he has a lot of pent up energy. Biggest challenge right now, is to find things to keep him entertain. He is no longer on pain meds.

a few of my latest favorite of my pup... :D

he is a stunner!!! i think he looks good how he is now :D

Oh thanks for the offer.. but I live in Sydney