Persian Spitz

We adopted a Japanese Spitz last year as our first pup. We both work full time (7am-5pm) and had no major problems looking after him, except for the usual issues with raising a pup. But be sure to take a couple or few days off work to get them settled in. Ours was quite vocal the first few weeks but settled down after that. He does get along with other dogs and they're quite a playful breed that never seem to run out of energy. The two major reasons we were drawn to the breed is that they're very intelligent and their Samoyed-smile makes you want to cuddle them. If you can handle a breed that will rocket around the house/backyard; if you have time for their grooming needs (a lot of brushing required for their long hair) and if you have enough time to spend with them – this breed might be for you.

1. When my dog and I go for walks, other dogs behind fences go nuts barking at him. He doesn't seem to mind. I've always thought this was normal assuming that other dogs smell the scent of my dog who are intruding on their territory (the street). I just wanted to ask if everyone experiences the same thing. Other dogs seem to bang against fences, trying to get out when we pass by. 2. Does it matter where your dog walks in relation to you? I read somewhere (I don't remember the site at the moment) that the dog has to walk beside you or behind you. Because if they're walking ahead of you, they see themselves as the pack leader or something. I'm not too sure. I see lot of people walking with their dogs in front of them.

He's about 18 months old. Our normal route takes us about 2km but on that particular day we went for a shorter 1km walk and about 3/4 of the way, he sat down. When we got home, I played with him for a while to see if he displayed any other unusual behaviour – ran around the backyard and such, he seemed okay.

My boy and I were walking one afternoon, as we always do, not far about 1km or so, but in this one instance he just stopped and sat down. I gave a slight tug on the lead and called his name but he just sat there. I thought that was a bit strange because he hasn't stopped during walks before. I thought that he hurt one of his hind legs so I went to take a look but when I touched his back side he tried to bite me. An admittedly half hearted attempt at a bite anyway. We stood there for a bit. Then I carried him for about five metres then set him down, and we were on our merry way again. Is this normal behaviour or is he trying to communicate something?

We thought we'd keep the pup if it was too much for the old folks. Our boy could use a brother.

Are pups appropriate gifts? Whenever I walk my 18 month old to my parent's house, they fawn over him. My dad sometimes takes my dog for walks and such. They ask me all sorts of questions about him even when my boy isn't there. This is my first dog so I quickly learned how much work goes into raising one - feeding, grooming, cleaning up and mostly training. There were points throughout those 18 months that I almost gave up on the pup and told my parents "You want him?", half jokingly. They came up to me one day and asked "Are you still giving away your dog? We'll take him if you don't want him." I'm quite attached to my boy now. I said that maybe they should get one of the more lower-energy dogs that can lounge around the house with them. They said that they liked the look of my dog because he looked like a small wolf. My wife suggested that we should get my parents a pup. Now, I have a Japanese Spitz so they're little rockets with loads of energy. They also mentioned they liked the neighbour's Siberian Husky but I'm pretty sure Husky's are also very active/ My question is – is it a good idea to give a pup to two 65 year olds? If so, what kind of breeds look like wolves?

Is there any way to reverse this?

I keep the cat food and dog food in the same place. One morning I gave the puppy some dry food and went back into the house. As I put the pack down I realised the picture on the pack was a cat. The dog and cat eat Science Diet so the packaging is identical except for the pictures and some words. I ran out but my dog had already started eating the dry cat food. Will anything serious happen? What should I do?

My OH and I are planning on going away for four weeks. We're considering our options on what to do with our boy. Option 1 is to leave him with the breeder we adopted him from. The upside is that way he'll be surrounded with others of his kind and should be happy. My OH is thinking the downside of that is he might forget us or pick up habits from the other dogs there. Option 2 is to leave him at the vet because they have a pet boarding service. The upside of that is we can also leave our cat so a familiar face might be less stressful and the vet is right there. The downside is they might be caged most of the time or feel abandoned. Option 3 is to have someone come over to our place to walk, feed and clean up after him and his brother, the cat. The downside is that he'll be alone for maybe 95% of the time. Is there a fourth option that I haven't though of yet? What would be the best course of action?

Thanks for the reply. This is good to know, I was worried when I started reading about people not being away from their house for more than 9, 8, even 7 hours. I guess I'll leave him be for now and get him a few more toys to keep him occupied.

Is it better to have two dogs than one? We have one at the moment and because my OH and I both work during the day, he's alone most of the time. We fear that he may become more restless and get depressed as time goes on and he's alone. Will being on his own too much, around 12 hours a day, have a detrimental effect on a one year old? Would it be wise to get another?

Thanks for the replies. I've actually tried to get him to jump off the table. The coffee table is pretty low, about 25cm and he's about 45cm on all fours, so it's funny when an excited ball of fur is reluctant to jump down from that height even with the lure of a treat. Strangely though, I raised him in a puppy playpen around 35-40cm high and he learned to jump over that. When he's inside the house and I can't him give my full attention, I put him on the table and he gives an indication when he wants to do his business outside so I guess he's partially learned. But I haven't tried it at night yet. I'm concerned about the restrictive nature of the crate, it looks too confined being able to only take a 3-4 steps forward and back; and the dog behind bars looks quite sad. I have a couple more questions about the crate: 1. Normally, how do they give the signal on when they want to go outside? 2. When they give the signal, is there enough time to - unlock crate, get them out, put lead on them, run them out the door? 3. Should it be like a home to them (should it have their toys)? 4. Is it best to place the crate in the bedroom or another part of the house?

Those rubber Kong toys where you can put the treats inside are pretty tough. My boy has one and after three weeks it's still pretty much in its original condition. His normal stuffed toys, ropes, balls have a lifespan of about three days and they'd be destroyed. How many of these Kong toys should one dog have to keep him amused? Is there a cheaper alternative to Kong toys that are just as durable?

I was thinking of crate training my boy so he knows to go outside when he wants to wee. Having looked at several crates in a pet supply store and online, I've noticed that a crate is pretty much a cage. I just wanted to ask what the purpose of the crate is. Is it so the pup has a place where he feels secure? Is it so he doesn't run around the house? Is it so he's confined to one area and won't answer the call of nature in such a confined space? I was thinking that if it's only to limit his movement in he house, I could just place him on a coffee table (with a larger surface area than a crate) because he never jumps off. Would this be a legitimate alternate or is a crate necessary?

We let our one year old run around in the backyard. What's the best way to stop him from digging, pooping or hanging around in one particular area? There's a pebbled area that I'd like him to avoid. A fence isn't an option because we access the area quite often for the gardening. I've tried a couple of ways: - I've tried to train him consistently to stay away from the area by walking around with him in the backyard except for that patch, giving him treats when I call him and he runs around and avoids that area to get to me. It seemed like he was learning as he would stand on the perimeter and not set one paw on it, even if I was standing in it. However, after a few days he would forget and go back there or when we get back from work, it's obvious that he's been playing there - I've tried a couple of repellants from Bunnings and they work for about two days then he's back there - I read that if you put his poop in a hole that he's dug, he won't return there so I tried that but it didn't work - I try to be fast on the "No" when I'm in the house and hear pebbles being stepped on or played with; and I go out right away His toys, food, water and house are on the other side of the yard. Is there another way I could tackle this problem?