aussielover

The laundary is quite cool, but she has a blacket and also a warmed-up bean bag thingy to keep her warm. Wil try doing a big play session before bed time. She already knows how to sit, shake hands, come, up and drop (sort of). But I will teach her some new tricks. No one comes down to her or yells at her. Hopefully this behaviour will just go away after she is more settled in?

I'd say most dog owners would work full time. As long as you are doing reasonable hours say 9-5, not 6am-11pm then most dogs and puppies should be fine. It would be ideal to have a small room with outdoor access and tire the dogs out before you leave by a walk (or playtime and/or training if they are too young). Leave the puppy lots of toys as well and they should be reasonably happy. It might take them a few days to adjust to though.

Got one wrong :D Assistance dogs are awesome though, what they can do is very impressive! When i went to pick up my guide dog puppy, there was a sign with etiquette guidelines- one was "speak to the person and not to the dog"- who would speak to the dog, if the person was right there??? The way it was worded was pretty funny, it made it sound like there were people who actually had a converstaion with the dog, not the person!

Just wondering if you can teach more than one trick at a time? My puppy is 8 weeks old, she knows sit and come. she is pretty good at shake hands and "up" (jumping up onto a surface). I would like to work on lie down and beg but obviously the lie down is more important. should i wait till she gets the "drop" command to teach her beg?. when I was teaching shake hands, she seemed to do the "beg" quite naturally, so I think this will be reasonably easy to teach her. Also, is this trick ok for such a young pup? We are also having issues with drop- she will do it if I lure her without a problem, but I don't think she gets it if I don't. Any tips for this? I am not using a clicker (I don't know if I am allowed to- she is a guide dog puppy, will speak to them next time they come visit). but I am using a verbal marker "yes". I like teaching her new tricks, it seems to occupy her for a while, she becomes destructive if not sleeping or given something to do. She has not quite mastered sitting quietly yet :D , but i do reward her when on the rare occaison she does do this (usually just before she nods off to sleep!)

My bedroom is upstairs and she's not allowed upstairs. I have tried having a mattress downstairs and having the crate next to it but it doesn't help- and makes it way noisier for me and harder to resist giving in to her.

My puppy Mindy barks in her crate. I have read lots about crate training and talked to various "experts" but my puppy still seems to hate her crate! I've only had her for 5 days and I know I need to give her some time, but it is very frustrating at night especially, i feel sorry for the neighbours and I hope they don't get too mad! The situation is that she is in her crate in the laundary overnight from about 11pm-6.30am. she barks, howls, cries and carries on for around 45 minutes but last night she went for 2hrs. When she finally settles down, she sleeps through the rest of the night. I have practiced giving her treats and feeding in her crate, I have relocated it to the family room during the day, I don't shut the door on her during the day. She will still only go in there if there is food in there though. I have read that you are not supposed to lock the puppy in until they happily accept the crate during the day, but where else would you put them overnight in the meantime? I find it does help with her toileting (ie she doesn't go overnight) and I'm not sure that if she had access to a larger room, whether she would decide to go. Our house is open plan, so there really isn't anywhere to shut her off except the laundary. My feeling is that it is not the crate itself, but the fact she can't be with me that is the cause of the barking, so therefore locking her in the laundary may not help at all. Sorry for the ramble, i guess my question is: how long will the barking continue on for? Is there anything else I can do to make nighttime easier for her? Thanks for your help

I actually saw the same squirrels in at pet shop at broadway shopping center ;) Apparently it is legal, but you must have a licence to keep them, and they were also around the $1000 mark. who knows why you would actually want to keep a squirrel as a pet? :D This is also a terrible pet shop that sells puppies- like border collies and kelpies, imo generally not suitable dogs for an inner city area. The poor kittens in there were stuffed int a cage, they were quite big too, looked about 4 months or so. Pet shops make me mad

I have also noticed that Mindy humps her duck toy. It is the only one she does it to and only when she is excited and playing roughly with it. I am not overly concerned as long as she does not start to hump my leg or anything like that! I have heard though that this is a sign of dominance? Can that be true? I don't think she is trying to dominate her toy duck- it is interesting though because the toy is actually bigger than she is, so maybe she does feel the need to dominate it. I hope she won't do this to other dogs. should i try to get her to stop? Mindy and her toy:

Whilst I realise that the RSCPA are trying to get homes for the many animals in their care and I agree that crossbreds can make great pets, it is disappointing that they have said that crossbreds can be bred responsibly which I believe in most cases is untrue. The exception is with working dogs, but these animals are not intended for general pet ownership anyway

At my puppy school there is a rotty pup with a docked tail!!?? Are there any registered breeders who still dock? I am aware it is illegal and don't know why a breeder would do this. There is no bob-tail gene for rottweilers is there?

You think it's a good idea for someone who is not on board getting a dog to end up taking care of it, do you? Its not always so bad- My OH did not want a dog, does not like dogs, and yet spends more time at home in the day with our dog. He sees the joy I get from my dog and because of that, because he loves me, is happy to help me by taking care of any needs she may have in that time. When I am at home I take care of all her training and exercising etc. The kids also pitch in hen they are home. When our last dog was a pup my OH did the same. 9 times out of 10 I am the one who is super sensitive to any chewing or whatever, he just shrugs and says "it was only a credit card/couch/shoe" etc. Though the 4 pairs of thongs he went through tested him a little. Taking care of a pup/dog at home during the day is not that hard, Im sure the OP's wife will cope and will probably end up enjoying the wonderful company. Big deal if she doesnt- when the OP gets home he can give the dog lots of attention. Thats basically the same thing that happened with my parents. My dad didn't like dogs and he eventually came to do quite alot of the work for our dog and came to enjoy it. Unless they REALLY HATE dogs, I think there is a strong possibility that after spending time with the dog, they would come to accept/tolerate it (if not fall in love!) I thought ridgeys were quite challenging for the first time owner (not saying it can't be done)? The thing with more "independent" type dogs is that they can also require more time and effort for training. Have you thought about a compromise between a puppy and an adult eg a 4-9 month old. I have personally found a huge difference between an 8 week old puppy ( I currently have one!) and a 4-5 month old puppy. I got my old dog Clover when she was a bit older around 4-5 months, and she required a lot less training, effort and time. Of course I am sure her personality had something to do with it but at that age they are fully vaccinated so you can take them out for long walks or run/play at the park to tire them which really helps. They can also "hold on" for longer so toilet training is easier. The good thing is they are still really quite puppy looking, cute and playful! I know some people think that to really bond with a dog you have to have it from a young puppy ie 8 weeks, but I have to say imo that is ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE!

Yes, I walk regardless. Clover liked the rain and Mindy likes it as well. It is more fun, you just have to get into the mood! But i absolutely detest going on public transport in the rain.

I personally wouldn't keep a dog on i/d long term. If she is keeping her weight on and seems happy, it could work for you. There is also hills w/d which we often use for pancreatitis dogs as it has less fat. It is quite bland though and some dogs don't like it. The eukanuba low residue is good for sensitive stomachs but I'm not sure about pancreatitis.

why don't you see how puppy school goes and if you are still having trouble then consider a private lesson. My puppy school teacher is great and is always happy to answer questions by email or phone. Many people can train the pup so long as you are using the same commands. You all have to be consistent with rules and discipline. Who is this other person? perhaps it would be best to tell them that they must use the same commands and reprimands as you do, otherwise their interaction with the pup will be limited. It is your dog isn't it? If its your parents- there's nothing much you can do except explain to them why you want to do it a certain way.

Clastic- sadly my aussie passed away earlier this year emery- your rottie puppy is adorable! Mindy is going well, she is asleep at my feet now. We got her a pink blanket yesterday which is fluffy and she loves it. It is really good to have something that your pup knows is for resting on. I can move it around the house to whever I am and she will settle on it well. I'm about to give her some lunch in her kong. She doesn't like banana, carrot or peanut butter which is quite unusual for a lab! She is eating or dry puppy bicuits well though so i am not worried. we have puppy class tonight which is exciting. All the puppies will be large breed puppies which is exciting (usually they are small oodle type things and the owners freak out if larger puppies want to play with them). There will be a GR, a GRxlab, a rottie and a mastiffx and of course, Mindy.

Lottie is adorable! and very pretty too

Aww cute, it would be nice to be able to bring pets to work.

Clover used to wiggle her whole body (she didn't have a tail) when she was excited. Just last night Mindy slithered off the mattress we have downstairs in a very slug-like way, with her back legs extended behind her. She actually looked like a large black slug. She then proceeded to attempt to crawl across the floor in this fashion- but soon found out it was a very ineffective method! Mindy is my new lab puppy- she will be a guide dog (hopefully) when she grows up. We just got her yesterday. Clover RIP

I love dogs that do this! It is adorable! You'd never get any work done though

I quite like moggy and mutt at Mosman and Northbridge. It is a bit expensive though. I just got my puppy a fluffy pink blanket from there which she loves

I personally LOVE Samoyeds. They always look so happy.

IMO dumping your dog because you are moving is not a very good reason at all. In fact it is bloody lazy! We have lived in several different houses with our beloved family dog, two of which were in the UK and one interstate (here in Oz). Moving overseas is so much simpler these days, especially from Australia, you can take a dog to most countries and if you want to come back into Australia there is 1 month quarantine for most countries (upto 6 months for some countries though). Of course rehoming is a different matter. Had we not been able to take Clover with us, we luckily have a few friends who would have wanted to and been able provided an excellent home for her. If you are a responsible owner, I think you could always find someone willing to take your dog. We sometimes have cats surrendered to us because they "scratch the furniture".

Oh dear. I'd love to help but I'm not in the area and have only just got a new puppy myself. The puppy sounds like a nice dog though who just needs some training. hope someone can help.

Shortstep- what is this website you are quoting from? I'd like to have a look- wonder what they say about aussies!

Mine need more exercise than yours Gayle! After 3-4 days without going anywhere they are climbing the walls, the yard gets destroyed and if they are kept inside, anything in their reach cops it too.. But mine are younger than yours, so maybe they will outgrow it, doubt it, but I can dream I think one Aussie by themselves will require more exercise as at least your two can play together at home. My girl got over 2hrs a day and she definitely needed it.