aussielover

YES! puppy pre-school is worth it! My puppy is only 9 weeks and she started when she was 8 weeks. You will be in a controlled environment so the risk of illness is lower. An indoor area with a surface that is easy to disinfect is ideal. Make sure the instructor is a good one though, some are dodgy and have no idea what they are doing. choose an instructor that uses mainly positive reinforcement and is willing to help you with other problems. My class goes for an hour and we talk about basic obedience, house training, biting, walking on a leash etc. The puppies play together for about half the time and then do about 3 x 5 minutes worth of obedience and exercises. The rest of the time we try to get them to settle at our feet or on laps. It's great fun for the puppies too and good socialization for them, I'd encourage you to go. Also, don't egt your puppy so tired that she is falling asleep- you just want her to burn off some energy before training

Mindy doesn't have accidents overnight and sleeps through the night from 11pm-7.30am, so i guess I'm pretty lucky. The laundary is pretty small anyway. I'm at the stage now where I could probably shut the door on her, but i don't see the need now as she happily sleeps in there anyway and no accidents. She will even go in there for a snooze during the day if she finds us too annoying! Ian Dunbar actually recommends that you don't lock them in straight away as you don't want them to hate the crate.

Do you think he has a urinary tract infection? This can cause frequent urination. Is he drinking a lot? Can he hold on all night? Also there are some belly band type things to help if he is just marking. When he has an accident make sure you clean it up properly (don't use ammonium based cleaning products)

Oh poor puppy Have you actually seen any fleas on him? or flea dirt (little black specks). If you have, as others suggested try comfortis or capstar (only lasts 24hrs). Otherwise, I would get him tested for allergies. Hope he gets better soon

A healthy dog will not srtave itself. He will needs meals at least 3 times a day. Put the food down for him but only leave it for 15 minutes. If he doesn't eat it take it away. When he is hungry enough he will eat it. He will eat after a day or 2. It sounds mean, but in the long run it will be so much better for you and for him. I use dried chicken and dried liver treats for my puppy for toilet training and recall. I take a portion of her dry food and use that for rewards when she is doing the right thing and general obedience like sit, drop stay and teahcing tricks etc. Sometimes, I will take the whole meal and use that as treats depending on how much training is happening.

How old is your pup? She is obviously interested in getting the treat, so when she tries to grab it, push it back over her head and she should sit down (if only very briefly). As soon as her butt touches the ground say "yes" and treat straight away. At this stage it does not matter of jumps back up immediately. Perhaps try this when she is a little more tired, like after a play session. Do not attempt to get her to sit while she is running in circles as she will learn not to listen to you at all! Are you doing puppy classes? the instructors can usually help you out with these sort of problems.

I crate my puppy overnight to encourage her to hold on- she will go from 11-7am without and accident so it is possible. she is only 8 weeks as well. during the day, if you don't have time to watch your pups every move (who does?) then perhaps the use of a crate or puppyplaypen might help you. I use a variation of the the K9pro method (http://www.k9pro.com.au/pages.php?pageid=86). I set the timer for 40 mins and then take her outside. when she toilets I say "quick quick" and treat her after. Then I reset the timer for 1 hr. This way I never forget to take her out. I did a day without the timer and we had 2 accidents! so it is really helpful. Puppies also need to go out after a meal (from 5mins after-30 miins) and after a sleep or play. so yes, it feels like you are constantly taking them out, but it is worth it. You need to work out what motivates your dog. Perhaps your pup isn't food motivated. does he love his toys? does he love cuddles? whichever one he seems to like best, use this to reward him for toileting in the right place. It also helps to clicker train, or use a marker word like "yes" so they know they have done the right thing. IMO clicker training is easier, but I am currently just using a verbal marker. Good luck, it takes around 4 weeks for a pup to get toilet training so don't worry too much. I'm glad the pup is in a better place with you now!

The poor dog

Your puppies all sound so adorable and making great progress! Mindy's guide dog trainer came to visit to see how she was going. She was impressed by her obedience and Mindy was a pretty good girl. We also had a breakthrough with car travel. The trainer suggested to put her in the footwell of the front passenger seat (this is where guide dogs normally travel). We had a practice yesterday arvo- just around the block and she was sooo good- no barking, no vomiting and no pooing YAY! I don't know why she felt more comfortable in this position, I would have thought it would be more uncomfortable! We went to the shops later as well and she was fine with that too I gave her a roo chew and some treats and she seemed quite happy with herself. She is off too puppy class tonight, hopefully she will behave. Last week she was the naughtiest and had to be put in "time out".

I don't think many people go 6 monthly. It is odd to see people come in with healthy dogs unless it is just for a vaccination. A nurse I work with used to work with Chris Brown and he had a lot of people (mainly women) come for "check ups" for perfectly healthy animals Its good to see most people have such healthy dogs not requiring frequent vet attention! Goes to show that well-bred purebreds CAN be totally healthy!We see a lot of poodle crosses for skin and allergy problems.

Yes, my labrador puppy loves it! which is funny because I was worried she was goin to be cold! I guess they did originate in Canada and had to jump into freezing water!

shih-tzu x poodle and maltese x poodle They have a designer name don't they?

How many sultanas did he eat? Before I knew better, i would give my dog the occaisonal sultana with no ill-effects. I read somewhere that not all dogs will react to grapes and sultanas.

Removing the bone fragments would help, but I know how difficult it is to confine them after the surgery. We recently had a 6 month old lab puppy in for elbow dysplasia, he boarded at the vets for 2 weeks following the op and was going nuts by the end of it. My dog had the stem cells for her elbows which helped, but I really think it would not be worth it without removing any bone fragments. If you are considering the surgery i would speak to a specialist ASAP, (perhaps get 2 opinions) because apparently the sooner you do surgery, the better the outcome. Your poor baby , I hope you find somehting that helps you

yeah, I've never heard of the dry before, maybe they have just brought it out though? I'll ask around

i think mindy dreams she is still suckling (typical lab!). she makes weird sucking noises in her sleep

I thought tuckertime was a sausage thing? I wouldn't feed my dog this all the time- it is mainly for a treat I think. Or add a little bit to dry biscuits to "flavour" the food. There are some sensitive stomach cans available- Eukanuba low residue cans, if the dog doens't like dry food. My old dog was on this and did quite well.

I thought it might be nice to write about all the good things our pups are doing and their progress! Mindy is now sleeping through the night and no longer barking! She has also learnt some tricks such as shake hands and "turn around" I love teaching her new ticks and she seems to love learning. Toilet training is going well, we have had one or two accidents inside due to my slackness (I blame masterchef! she couldn't hold on till the adbreak!) She is settling in nicely, I can't wait till she is old enough to do lobger walks and go to the park. Good mindy!

Name: Mindy Nickname: Minnie Breed: Labrador Retriever Gender: Female Age: 8.5 weeks Picture: see below Where did you get them from? Mindy is a baby guide dog How often do you exercise your dog? 2 walks daily (only for 5 mins as she is very young) Do they know any commands? she knows her name, come, sit, drop, shake hands and up. Compete in any dog sports? Unfortunately not Favourite treat: roo chews, but she is a lab basically likes any food- even her dry biscuits Favourite toy: her duck Funny habits or quirks: She lies like a slug and sometimes even sleeps in this position What's their personality like? She is very sweet, loves attention (especially when coupled with food!) and very playful Do they get along well with other dogs? She is only a puppy so hasn't met many dogs Are they scared of anything? She gets scared when she hears dogs barking. she also hates the car. What training methods do you use? Positive reinforcement? Corrections? I use mainly positive reinforcement but I do say NO! occaisonally.

Sometimes they don't fall out. This is usually more in smaller breed dogs especially the malti-shit, shit poo or whatever you call them etc , type dogs. Its not a big deal anyway, when you have your dog desexed then the vet can remove them pretty easily at the same time.

My puppy is only 8.5 weeks and can shake hands, so I think badger is not too young. Just keep trying and i am sure he will get it A read in another thread that if you hold the treat in your hand and make a fist around it, the dog will try to paw your hand to get at the treat. I used this to teach my puppy, she learnt it in about 10 mins! Riddick is so cute!

What is the shifty eyes? He sounds like a cutie though... need some pics

I'm surprised the vet didn't at least do xrays if they suspected hip/elbow dysplasia. And Hygromas are quite commmon in large/giant breeds such as Great Danes and Greyhounds. I hate to say though that some vets are very anti-purebreds. As a student myself, I have to say that sadly, most young vet students are taught that purebreds have a multitude of health problems and the overall attitude of the teaching staff is generally anti purebred. I think this is a great shame because I think purebreds have a lot to offer.

I've had an Aussie shepherd on a farm, large suburban block and in a townhouse with a courtyard and it really made not much difference to her. The courtyard was a little more effort for us (we had to go onto the street to toilet her- my parents didn't like her peeing in the bushes), but made no difference to her. All the houses have had pretty large indoor areas though which made a difference as you could play in there. If you get a dobe with the right temperament then you should be fien I think, but i am not a dobe person, perhaps someone else can answer this? Your potential puppy sounds very lucky, 2hrs + of walkies a day is great and only being left 5 hrs a week is amazing, lucky pup !

They put them under GA and manipulate the stifle by performing the "cranial drawer" test. the lower part of the leg should normally NOT be able to be drawn cranially (ie towards the head) and if this occurs then it is rupture. The reason why the dogs need GA or sedation is that the test is quite often painful in the conciouss dog. There is also the tibial compression test that doesn't have to be done under GA but it is not as reliable.