kiesha09

Sorry to barge into the WA thread - but where did you get the collar from? I would really like them for my two

How long do you get to babysit for (argh, such an inconvenience)

An update of the new sleeping quarters :D I used my puppy play pen to fence off their beds in the bedroom. Then took them for a big walk at the park so that they would be adequately tired when it came to bed time. When I went to bed they were SO happy to be coming to the bedroom too, with their tails wagging away. One jumped into her bed as soon as I said 'in your bed' but the other wasn't so keen on the idea so I had to pick him up and put him on his bed. All going ok so far. Turned off the light and......... silence! No banging on the fence. Wohooo! Fast forward to 4am and bang, bang, bang..... I thought she might need to pee so waited for her to be quiet and then let her out. Nope straight up onto the bed curled up and pretending to be asleep in approx 2 seconds Sternly told to get off my bed and into your bed (am not the happiest camper at 4am!) which she did. More banging at 5am.... told to SHUT UP! Which she did. 7am I woke to the thumping of a wagging tail, up I got and took them both out for breakfast. A much more successful night that before. Once they are more comfortable sleeping in their own beds I might move them to their crates, but will see how things go. Once thing I know for certain is that their behaviour has changed in the 3 days since I have had them in my bed. So that is a great thing.

Oh wow! Looks like you have it tough......... :D I wish I was YOU.

Yeah my two would definately know unfortunately. Gayle I just have to say congratulations for lasting two weeks. I have lasted 2 nights now and I hate it! Still haven't decided what to do though

I have tried just not letting them on the bed and for my bossy boy its fine after a few attempts he's like fine I'll sleep on the floor. But my girl is also a ninja dog.... she goes to sleep in her bed on the floor but I ALWAYS wake up with her on the bed. I have never woken up so god knows at what stage she gets on there. Either I'm a heavy sleeper or she's just way too sneaky. I think its the latter. To be honest after she banged for 7 hours straight I decided to get up as I'd had enough and after 5 minutes I let her out. I thought I had been strong and persistent lasting all that time but thinking about it she ended up getting exactly what she wanted, to be let out. So it did work for her!Argh!!! She isn't anxious in the crate - infact it is her safe haven, the place she goes when she's scared or has had enough of things so she's not doing it because she's anxious. I'm absolutely sure its because she is throwing a tanty because she wants on the bed. Any other time of day she would never do that.

So after reading through all your posts it appears that most people would still keep them in the room, just not on the bed. To be honest I think I am a lot happier with that and it sits much better with me. So I need to work out what works best for us and stick to it because I'm sure that changing things around on them all the time is very confusing. So where they sleep next needs to be the final solution. I don't want to sound like I am making excuses but my thoughts are: 1. The last time I tried crating my girl in my room she banged on the door for 7 hours :rolleyes: and this certainly didn't make for a happy mumma :D I could try this again with ear plugs maybe. 2. I like the sound of the tether except that I don't have anything to tether them to without them reaching the bed. 3. I could set up a play pen for them but to be honest I think it would end up being up indefinately because they would ALWAYS try and sneak into bed with out it.

So much easier said than done! HOW do I do this because this would be ideal!!

I would crate them in my room, except my girl will constantly bang on the door of the crate in the bedroom because she wants to get on the bed.

One of my dogs has some anxiety issues and the other has become very pushy so I have implemented the NILIF program. As part of this I have decided that instead of sleeping on my bed they can move out to the lounge room in their beds and are no longer allowed in my bedroom. They have been sleeping in my room for the past 4 years. I can now have any coloured doona cover and not worry about marks on it, have the windows open for air without them barking all night, not have to worry about them vomiting on my carpet, enjoy all of the space in my bed. BUT! I feel absolutely HORRIBLE about it. I feel so so guilty leaving them away from me at night, like I have cut the time they spend with me by over half (even if it is while we're all asleep). I never thought I was so attached to having them in my room. Am I doing the right thing here? It's probably more my issue than anything, but I hate hearing one of them bark after I've left him.

:D :D hilarious!

Get your OH to hand feed Jester. So if he has kibble for dinner get OH to sit on the couch, watch TV and feed him piece by piece (or perhaps 3 bits at a time so it doesn't take all night ) Slowly Jester will start to build positive associations with your OH and begin to feel more comfortable. This worked when I started seeing my OH. My girl was petrified and would hide in my bedroom. So he would feed her each night and each morning, piece by piece and now she loves him. Also my OH works away alot (almost 6 months of the year too) and she doesn't ever forget she likes him now. When he gets back she goes nuts with excitement. It also helps that he always plays with her. Maybe also get OH to walk Jester... if all good things come from your OH Jester will come around.

Why do you think this is Ness? Because its a different place? I go up the river quite alot because we have a shack up there and I like to ski but Kiesha quite sersiously thinks it is the most horrible experience that could possibly happen to her. She loves going swimming in the river but thats IT. I'm sure she just wishes the river would swallow her up. I think its because its very open and she doesn't feel protected so she just sits in her crate and mopes or lies on the couch for 23.75 hours of the day (15 mins for toileting and eating). These days I try to leave her with my parents at their house where she is much happier. At the moment we are actually avoiding dogs altogether and just building up confidence out of our yard. She won't leave my side at the park and heels along as close to my leg as possible. I'm waiting for her to feel confident enough to go off and play. Once I've got that sorted I'll let you know Ness and take you up on the offer with Ness. Mumsy I'm sorry your daughter had to go through that. I really hope that your dog is ok and there won't be any long lasting effects. Maybe you could walk with your daughters for a while until their confidence improves.

Just keep your dog onlead or go to urban parks etc. You can do all the training in the world but if your dog slips up just once then it could be the end for him. Not worth the risk IMO.

Nope completely not fair but we just have to deal with the hand we've been dealt. It's just something that we'll have to continually work on and hopefully with lots of good dog interactions she can start building her confidence back up. I certainly won't be going back to that park in a hurry though.

Yes that all makes sense. It probably was a little too soon for her to see another dog and she just needed some extra time to settle all her emotions down. She is a sensitive soul afterall. It certainly is hard to find somewhere safe to exercise your dogs in the city. I never go to dog specific parks but go to the local school or football oval. However, people soon cotton onto the fact that they are nice places to excercise their dog so start coming too. I don't even mind other dogs being around but what really annoys me is people thinking its a free for all and let their bad mannered dogs come rushing up to my dogs who are minding their own business. Then you get the disapproving looks when you ask them to call their dogs away from your dogs. Ness do you find Kenzies reaction gets worse each time she is in one of these situations?

THanks Bark for your post it was really informative. I have actually been looking into a DAP diffuser for some other anxiety issues that she has so should bite the bullet and buy one. Another little update though... We stayed at the OH's again last night. I took her soft crate etc. so that she would have a safe place. We got there, she ran in, said hello to Gordy (housemates dog) like she hadn't seen her long lost friend in 10 years, bum wiggles and all. Was so excited to see him. 10 minutes later she had stolen his bone and was quite happy chomping on it while he snuggled in next to her. Ahhh dogs... I give up cos I sure as hell don't get em.

No miracles expected here unfortunately. Being the second attack I just want to get her back to a stage where she can tolerate other dogs she knows, particularly OH's housemates dog.

I should clarify this park isn't actually a dog park. It is just a general use park and when I initially got there no one was using it. When they arrived I was on my way to the car but had to turn around when it had a go at the staffy so was trying to go the other way back to my car. I actively avoid dog parks and go to other places either early or late at night to avoid other dogs because I just can't trust them. She has also been to the vets. I bathed her wounds in the antiseptic stuff the vet gave me but it didn't require antibiotics. Sorry should have been more specific. I think the behaviouralist is the way to go. She has some other issues that we can go through at the same time so would be beneficial all round.

On the weekend my 3 yo mixed breed bitch (SWF) was attacked by a German Shepherd. She has been fearful of dogs since being attacked as a puppy and I have spent 2 years getting her to a stage where she will happily walk past other dogs, play with small dogs and tolerate being sniffed by larger dogs. We were at the park and about was about 50 metres from a lady with 3 German Shepherds. One of her dogs had a go at a staffy so I walked in the opposite direction away from the dog. It saw us and began running towards us, and my girl who was scared began to run away, so the chase was on. The GS chased her down grabbed her and she tumbled and screamed. The dog bit her her on her hip and she now has puncture marks and bled quite alot. ** If the GS was serious about it I'm sure my girl wouldn't be here today so this thread isn't about the other dog... other than the owner is an idiot and the dog should of been on lead!!** Since the attack I have bathed her wounds and let her sleep and generally mope around the house. But last night I was staying at my OH's house and of course she always comes along. I took her and his housemate has a lab x poodle who she is ok with so thought it would be a good opportunity for her to see another dog. Well I was wrong. She is petrified and wet herself as soon as he said hello. She hid behind me all night (I just ignored her and rewarded her for any normal non fearful behaviour). She has gone back to where we started, and even worse. So where do I start with her rehabilitation?

Thanks!

Yes it is generally only if I feed them just as I leave so I think this is becoming the trigger for me leaving. I think I really need to change up my leaving routine and make it somewhat more random. I used to leave the dogs with kongs full of their breakfast and treat balls etc. which would distract them while I left but I would come home and find only a tiny bit eaten so didn't think it was worthwhile and started feeding them in their bowls. So I tried that this morning after Kiesha wouldn't eat her breakfast and she was totally not interested in them. But maybe thats because the trigger was already activated when I tried to give her breakfast so should try again. I am going to implement a few strategies ie leadership etc and also speak with a Behaviouralist. Sas can you recommend any good calming supplements (would you recommend rescue remedy?)

Over the past few months I have started noticing that my girl Kiesha who is 4 years old is showing some signs of seperation anxiety. I normally feed the dogs either while I'm having my breakfast or just before I run out the door when I go to work. Lately if I feed them just before I leave, Kiesha won't eat her breakfast, begins trembling and howls as I walk out the door. If I feed them while I have breakfast before my shower etc she just goes back to bed and goes to sleep so doesn't notice me leaving - obviously I am going to try and do it this way as it is clearly less stressful for her but I'm really concerned that this is going to escalate into something more serious (to be honest I already think its serious with the signs she is showing). Currently she is not destructive or anything like that but is obviously stressed when I leave for work or elsewhere especially if I go out at night. I work between 8 and 10 hours per day and she has my other dog for company whom she adores. I do 2 x training sessions per day and she gets 1/2 to 1 hour of exercise per day. Anyone have any recommendations on what I should do here?

The majority of the general public have no idea about dogs in general let alone pedigrees, registered breeders, papers, etc! Most people I speak to with labs or goldens etc. always tell me their dog is a purebred. Once you ask them if they got it from a registered breeder and did they get papers with it the eyes start to glaze over.

Why not just use a standard poodle? Oodlies need clipping anyway. Well this is exactly what I thought and wonder if it has been done, was it successful, if not why not and if so why haven't we heard more about it. ETA: thanks for clarifying poodlefan. Do you know why they aren't used here in Australia then?