mrs tornsocks

It's hard candice, I'm a bit the same, don't have any doggies locally that I know, they're all quite a drive away so it's not really a reality, at least on a regular basis like young ones need. Candi, I am taking Archie to 'kindy' now, the next step from pup school. There are dogs up to six months, so some of them are virtually fully grown, it's giving him exposure to them in a controlled environment and he's also getting to know them. He gives the big GSD lovely likes on the nose/face and gets them back but he also has the freedom to 'escape' from them if he doesn't feel confident.

Did she have those symptoms I described on labs forum BM ? Snorty/bronchial sound, not coughing; I describe it like a throat wheeze

sandgrubber, we are just back from the vet. Our boy has a weepy eye (just one) which is apparently conjunctivitis and hopefully unlreated to the other stuff (as it's only one eye). My vet told me that the c5 is actually NOT a dose of the virus - I think he said it's not an attenuated vaccine ?? (It was a scientific word and I knew what he meant but I can't remember it). He also said in any case, the reaction would kick in almost immediately, yet my boy only started this kind of throat wheezing sound yesterday, three days after the vacc. Did yours go away or did you get antibiotics ?

thanks Choco's ma ! I called them, they said it's not uncommon if he goes off his food ( ) or coughs up mucus, to bring him in. He seems fine though, just a few snorts now and then.

Thank you - I might give the vet a quick call but I figure this is what it is

Our 15 wko pup had a nasal spray for kennel cough on Saturday. Today he is making a few little grunt/coughy types noises. He is perfectly happy etc just a bit 'snorty'. Does he get a little dose of kennel cough in the nasal spray (similar to some other vaccs which include a small dose of the strain)

Archie lost his first tooth today ! I'll look out for his new one tomorrow ...

Quakers Hill, see Matt if he is in, he is absolutely awesome with our pup (we were just there today for vacc with our 15 wk old lab). Just while we were there today, a random person rang up and asked for some advice (the vet nurse came in) - and he was great with his advice to pass on ... he is patient, calm and very understanding. I hope your pup gets better quickly ! http://www.quakershillvethospital.com.au/

quite a few of our local woolies have them in the deli section, with quite alot of meat on them

Our boy is due for his final vacc this week and the vet doesn't automatically vaccinate for kennel cough. I have heard a few different things so now I'm confused ! There's a chance we'll put him in kennels down the track.

We lurrrrve our puppy's breath. And his coat too, it is totally the smell of 'cute'.

Hi all, and to raffikki the original OP here. Wanted to let you know that I have succesfully given my 14 wk old boy a turkey wing pieces as his RMB a few times now and we are both very happy ! I was/am also very nervous about rmbs as he's not the greatest chewer ... but these seem to work really well and hopefully he's learning to chew more in the process. It was really a bit of trial and error for me so I'm glad I persisted (and so is he, he licks his chops for ages afterwards )

We are getting there ..... he doesn't do it every time but more and more regularly .. to stop him wriggling while he was lying down, I told him to stay and that helped him lie still (although his tail still wags which makes me ) not sure if this link works .... http://i732.photobucket.com/albums/ww323/b...h_MVI_17031.jpg

Thanks Erny, a couple of questions He generally is, but as he's young and interested in lots of things going on around him, at some point I need to 'stretch' him, so the likelihood of him coming may be questionable. For example, at puppy school where there's so much going on, he generally comes but not always; it takes more work and I needed to be much more exciting than normal. I guess what I'm asking is where's the point that you start to push him a bit in more challenging situations. Is training anything else but just calling him away from something else ? Ie when in the backyard, should I be giving him challenges/reasons (eg toys) for him to be distracted, then simply call his name, reward if/when he comes etc. etc. Are there any other training methods ? I should add that I've been using the triangle of tempt and he's going very well with that. Finally, what is meant by train in drive ?

Our lab pup is just about ready to go out to the big wide world (last vaccs this week). I really want to get him out and about to some dog parks and off leash areas, plus introduce him to the water. Obviously I'd like to have his recall continue to improve, is there any basic info/tips etc., people can share to help me train him for this ? He goes to kindy once a week so there's alot of distractions there, which is good training ... and he'll almost always come for food but I'd like to step up his recall ability. Is there anything I can do just in the backyard on our own ? He will always come then, it's when there are other dogs or interesting things around that I'm not so sure about. He's a quick learner.

OP's pup is coming in spring

Do you plan to have him inside the house at all or will that be a no-go zone ? IMO you should have him sleep in a laundry or similar in the crate for the first little while, perhaps even closer to you initially to ease him into it. Assuming he's 8 weeks when he comes to you, he's very young and will need some transition time to get used to being away from mum and littermates, being outside in the crate at night is probably an additional stress to avoid in the first weeks. During the day you can play etc. with him outside but also make sure he gets time out there alone so he gets used to that. Build up his time outside from when he's young - 5, 10, 30 minutes and over a few weeks, up to a an hour, 2, 3, 4 hours. Even when you're home. The idea of the crate when it comes to toilet training is that he's locked in there and learns to hold his wees & poos for as long as possible; he should let you know when he needs to get out. If he's outside with the crate door open it could be harder for him to catch onto the idea that he should be toileting where you prefer him to. Even if he's outside 24/7 eventually, you want to know that he's still toilet trained.

thanks - this could be a better option for us to reinforce the message. I taught him to 'speak' like this (after doing little barks in his face a few times ) - better to have him 'naturally' in this position. ps. your pups are soooo cute, not sure if they're still babies but very sweet faces

:D

I could not see another thread on this so forgive me if repeated. We are trying to teach 14 wk old pup to play dead. he's SUCH a clever fellow (yes, biased) - he sits, drops, rollover, stays (on sit or dropped), barks on command. He's going pretty well with the 'serious' stuff like walking on the lead, increasing distractions and distances on his basic stuff as well. At the moment we want to teach him to play dead but he's confusing it with roll over. Any tips ? When he lies down on one side but DOESN't rollover he gets praise, should we just keep working on this ? He also ocassionally gets confused with 'speak' and will bark instead of going down on one side. Our signal for play dead is finger /hand held like a pistol and a verbal 'bang'. And .. this could be a ridiculous question for a 14 week old lab but how do we get him to lie still to make the 'play dead' trick authentic ?

Awesome linus, this is right down the road. THanks alot.

Actually I have just put the frame in the freezer and thought this may be an option so will give it a go. thanks

;) Thanks redarachnid - serious LOLs to myself at this line - and a bit of a slap around the face to myself as well...

I dunno. Personally I am a little paranoid all round because we lost our previous pup back in March at the same age as our current boy .. to an accident when he was being minded by of all people, his breeder. Long story ... but I am terrified of losing this fella as well. I know it's over-reacting and I need to 'build a bridge and get over it' ... but that's part of my paranoia. I also have no idea of what to do if he should choke.

I am totally paranoid too. My 14 wk old lab has a chew or two on chicken necks and wings then tries to swallow. I have since avoided them. Bought him a chook frame yesterday then thought that might be too big, chopped off a decent sized bit of that - he chewed once or twice and swallowed. He gagged a couple of times just to add to my anxiety. Gave him a veal shank over the weekend which he loved (and kept him going for 2 hours) and chomped down to a size that was stripped bare but still too big too swallow ... but made his gums red and bled a little causing more angst - for me. Next I'll try turkey necks but I'm still not comfy with anything - perhaps when his adult teeth come through I'll try the big lamb and beef bones again