mrs tornsocks

Yes, he has a kennel which we're hoping he'll utilise when he's a big bigger - but it's got bedding and toys inside - he just doesn't seem to use it too much, I put treats in there to remind him. I have fed him chicken wings and necks but he absolutely gobbles them and I have freaked once or twice about them getting stuck so prefer not to give them to him unattended. I give him big lamb bones occasionally but not every time he's out. He doesn't have a ball, I could put one out and see how he goes in terms of falling over his legs and keeping his little joints happy. He seems quite happy out there (no barking/protests etc) but just looks all sad !

Ok this is going to sound a bit pathetic but when I leave our pup outside (and I'm home), usually when I look out he is just sitting there or standing there sniffing the air. He's a 13 week old lab and I know there's not much I can do about this but I am wondering other than toys, kong etc., how I can help keep him more occupied and playing out there. He has a heaps of toys etc with him. I know I'll probably be cursing him when he decides to destroy the garden or chew through fly screen doors but I just feel so sorry for him ! I generally try and put him out there for half an hour or so even when I'm at home, just so he feels more comfy when he has to be alone when we're out. He is pretty good and quiet at hanging out on his own.

I think she is okay so long as you watch her very carefully (which I'm sure you will be as she's your new baby !) Have a collar and puppy lead with you so you can pop that on her while she goes to the toilet, and keep her away from obvious marking areas (ie poles, corners of buildings etc. etc). It might be an idea to hang at the breeders until she you see her go, and then take off - you might get away with only one toilet stop that way. Personally I think letting her out is a better option than having her soil her crate, in a trip that's already a somewhat strange & stressful already. Congrats on new pup !!!! Do you have any photos, what breed is she ?

run free sammy

You can also buy water bottles for crate, may be some danger of chewing them but it's an option. You can buy an attachment for the crate http://www.petnetwork.com.au/cgi-bin/shopp...;cart_id=520996 My boy has a slobberchops at his water bowl if he wakes up for toilet .... otherwise doesn't seem to worry about it during the night.

Another idea for when you first intro them is to have some kind of barrier but one they can see through (wire/pen/baby gate etc) just so they can suss each other out but give the cat the best opportunity to get away. If it's an adult cat I daresay it'll tell the pup who's boss pretty quickly.

Our 12 wko pup makes suckling noises - complete with mouth movements .... Still misses mummy .......

Awesome, thanks so much. I assume it's coz the turkeys are bigger ? Also, I have heard about chicken frames but is that basically the raw chicken whole (with meat removed?) Any suggestions on good places to buy this stuff (we live in western sydney) would really help. We have a petbarn down the road but have only seen chicken by-products sold there. ETA: just saw the sticky with locations for raw purchases.Thanks.

We recently found our lab pup has about a 10mm overbite - his top jaw is overshot. How / why this was not picked up by the breeder or us is another story and the vet is aware of it, but one question I did not ask him.... Is it okay to feed him raw meaty bones while he's still in the developmental stage, and has a jaw misalignment ? We have tried chicken wings and some smaller lamb bones but I have freaked a bit thinking he'll swallow them whole, especially when he manages to break the wing in two and the bits become slightly smaller. He has been able to chew the chicken wings okay but it seems to take him alot longer to get through them than our previous lab pup at the same age. He doesn't seem to have done any teething yet (he's 12 weeks).

Congrats on your pup she is absolutely adorable. You sound like you are on track with crating and if she's going to sleep after 5 minutes of her squealing that is not a bad outcome after only two nights. She is suuuuuch a sweetie, if you haven't already, take her to the neighbours today to introduce her and let them know you have a pup and apologise in advance that she might cry a bit at night etc. Who could be mad at that little face ??? Spend some time today putting her in there for short periods of time, it would be good if she has her daytime naps in there too. So ... if she's had a big play and is exhausted etc., that's a good time (and less intrusive for the neighbours if she does cry). Not sure where the crate is placed at night .... Is it an option to have the crate by your bed or nearer to you ? As she gets more used to it, you can move it further away until she's eventually sleeping in the crate int he room you want her to be. Even if you moved the crate away by half a metre every night, she'll have the comfort of being near you for those first few nights. With the middle of the night playtime, when you take her out to toilet be very 'aloof'. If possible, see if she'll follow you out to toilet, rather than pick her up. If you have to pick her up, put her straight down in her toilet spot and pay as little attention as possible to her other than telling her to 'go' or whatever your toilet command is. No eye contact, only absolutely necessary touch. Also I couldn't tell whether she wakes you up for toilet, or vice versa. SOmetimes it's not a bad idea to set an alarm so when you get up to take her out she's very drowsy (from being asleep). Less inclined to want to play. She will eventually learn that middle of the night is not playtime, but there may be a few noisy nights along the way. Couple of other suggestions .... I wouldn't sit and watch her go to sleep. Whatever behaviour you introduce now, you should expect to stick with that. You don't want to have to watch her to sleeep every single night. You might want to get an old blanket or cover for the crate to make it more like night time.

Yay for iggie piggie and Hank - it's a nice feeling, huh ? Our 12 wk old lab slept through the night for the first time earlier in the week, then again a second and third night although last night he had a compelling need to poo - and fast, he cried, I got up let him out and straight back to bed for both of us. You are so right about appreciating them and seeing your persistence and work pay off. Long way to go at their age, but it's still great.

I have not really heard of teaching a pup to toilet inside in a regular domestic environment. It's probably ideal he learns to toilet outside and then if for some reason he can't get outside, you place newspaper or puppy pads down inside (or a kitty litter). The puppy pen and crate thing is possibly confusing him as well. I'm not sure where you are located or your work hours and that is obviously challenging, but is outside not an option at all while you're at work ? Or is a doggie door an option ? Our 12 week old pup is mostly an inside dog (plays, hangs out with us, sleeps) but he still toilets outside. We progressed him to getting used to time outside since we knew there would be times he'd have to be left alone when we're out for the day. That said, we are very lucky in that I do alot of work from home, so it was easier to pop him outside for 30 mins, 60 mins, a couple of hours etc to build up him being used to being outside. I'm not sure if you mentioned what kind of dog he is or how old he is - this might have some bearing on whether you can re-train him to toilet outside. I'm sure you'll be able to work towards a solution and it is stressful but hang in there !

there's a vaccination thread about three down from this on the puppy probs section. that has quite a bit of info. It depends on the vaccs the pup is getting - there's a new-ish vacc they can get at 10 weeks to cover them where they don't require another. But ours is getting three

how big is the crate in comparison to the pup ? Sometime there can actually be too much room in the crate and he will go in there if he doesn't think of the entire crate as his 'den'.

Thanks all. I understand it's not a rumble-a-thon or more the merrier .... and that's not what we want nor expect. We had a lab pup that sadly went to rainbow bridge in March aged 4 months, so we have been through this process once before, relatively recently. We decided not to return to the previous puppy school we went to because there were approx 10 pups, different sizes, which weren't separated, and for the much of the time, it was a free for all. For a number of reasons (mostly our location and fact that we don't know all that many people locally) ... at the moment he has no other dog socialisation except puppy school, I guess my concern was that if he only interacts with one pup a week is he getting enough 'exposure' to other dogs ? Anyway, last weekend there were two pups (both small) which was a better scenario --- and he played nicely and mostly in good control. After attending our third week, I'm increasingly impressed with the instructor and I'm now very glad for both the advice here on DOL and also that we've stuck with it despite the lower number of participants. I think this has turned out a better result for our boy and us. Thanks again all.

Ben that dogstardaily website is a good reference for a number of pup questions. There is soooo much info out there which is fantastic but can also make it hard to wade through what's the best thing for you and your situation. I really recommend puppy school for the crucial socialisation period (you will see the various pup development phases pinned in this puppy probs thread) - the idea is to help them start to socialise with other pups in a controlled environment. It's a good idea if you seek out a vet in advance as well since you'll need to get vaccinations not too long after she comes home - they should be able to direct you to some puppy school options. It will also give you some assistance with basic training before you get to obedience school (if that's the path you take) a little later on. For toilet training, crate training works well for many people, it's worked fantastically for us with our new pup who's 11 weeks and now jsut about sleeping through the night thanks to the assistance of the crate.

Aw she is absolutley adorable, congratulations ! Have you looked into a couple of local puppy schools ? There is one at quakers hill and also rooty hill both at the vets there, plenty of others around. If you're picking her up on Friday, maybe see if you can sign her up for the following weekend. NOt sure what kind of program kellyville pets has ? Just make sure she doesn't come into contact with other dogs that may not be vaccinated (puppy schools will check vacc certificates to make sure all participants are clear) I would say you can start training her, just a little bit, almost straight away. Give her a couple of days to settle in and just do little 5 minute stints of training at a time.

I am definitely not counting my chickens before they're hatched but doing a mini :p as our 11 wk old lab slept through the night last night (he sleeps in his crate in the laundry) without crying for any toilet breaks. He went from about 10pm until 645am. Previously, OH or I had woken up to let him out whether or not he was crying, for the past week or so he generally hasn't been crying but we got up anyway to help with the training (and thinking we would have to at another ungodly hour anyway). Question is - should I now just wait for him to tell us when he wants to go (and hope that he's already capable of holding on thru the night ?) tks.

HI Kat1 We have had our lab pup for 3 weeks now, he just turned 11 weeks. He cried a bit in the first few days but he goes in now almost always without fuss. In fact I just put him to bed now, said 'go to bed now fella' and in he went and snuggled up. He was already pretty sleepy though. He'll wake up once during the night for toilet but I don't think he's too far off getting all the way through. We trained him at night by having him next to our bed for about a week then moved him out a couple of feet at a time until he was all the way down the hallway and eventually into the laundry. This took about 2 weeks. He goes in there regularly during the day when he feels like a little lie down or just to get away from things a bit. I don't think your pup crying is anything to worry about - different pups just react differently. Our previous pup didn't really take to it that well - we had him in the laundry with the crate door open and most of the time he slept outside the crate. That said, previous pup was happy in the crate in the car, whereas this one is a bit whiney in the crate while we're driving - he loves it in every other respect. I'm sure you've read some tips on making him love it more - feed him in there ocassionally, put some treats in during the day.

Yep ! This is what I literally just did for our boy. He comes to the door, looks out and decides, nah ... but when I gently pushed him out he begrudgingly went. HEAPS of praise.

Between my 6 ft OH and an (eventually) full grown lab, we'll need a king bed if he's to sleep on the bed !

Pup is not ready for the big wide world yet, he has not had his final vacc so dog park is not really an option at the minute but will be in 4 weeks or so. Sorry, I should have been a little clearer, it's not so much that he's only had little pups (the japanese spitz gave as good as she got !) - it's about variety of temperaments in the one environment. We take him for little walks down the street where he is kept well clear of any other dog 'markings' - so he's getting cars, trucks, sights and sounds, plus he's met a few different skin kids and other adults, so hopefully his socialiation is coming along okay. Local obedience starts at 14 weeks as well so I guess the best option is to continue where we are and perhaps look for another puppy school or kindy for up until 14-15 weeks where he'll have more 'friends'.

We recently enrolled our now 10 wkold to a puppy school on a friend's (not DOL) reccommendation. The instructor seems very good, a bit better than previous pup school we attended with our last dog, she's very knowledgable and great with the pups. Only problem - she doesn't have very many customers ! Both weeks we have gone there is only one other pup and they have both been balls of fluff which are sweet but with a lab, we're not really getting the range of larger breed socialisation - or the numbers of dogs. Right now he doesn't really have any doggie play dates elsewhere because the other dogs we know might just be a bit big and jumpy for him. It's probably preferable to have an out of control class of 10 or so pups but I'm wondering --- do you think we're getting what we paid for ? And if not, what would be the best approach ?

OMG, that is soooo cute, her little paw hanging out the door. I think the crate upgrade (plus maybe a tramp bed) is definitely the go. thanks.

What's the method in the play dead ? Once he's in drop, where do you hold the treat to get him onto his side ? thanks !