BooBooBear

hehehe loving the mud. I was calling Humphrey Top Deck because he was chocolate on the bottom and creamy on the top yesterday

Bless his little heart - glad to hear he is doing really well :D

Do you sell on ebay? Like you know, can I bid on one and WIN the auction?

I am wetting myself laughing at this thread - it's hilarious :D

I know you're talking about Mother's Day but listen Valentine's Day is on Sunday so I thought I might get one for that? Got any available this weekend and can you organise for a dozen roses and a fluffy red heart tied around it's neck? Much appreciated

Humphrey 10 weeks - after a swim This one's a bit dark but I'm on my laptop so I haven't got Photoshop on this one.

It was a pathetic piece of reporting. Slapping numbers across the screen saying Brisbane was the highest - well of course it's higher - there are more people!!!! The report had absolutely no substance in my opinion

Ohhh I'm so hearing you, the little Humphrey Bumphrey had a big disaster on Saturday - read my post in the Golden Retriever thread Suffice to say it involved carpet, paper towels, a blocked toilet, water and then a broken washing machine!!! oh it was fun and games. I did the vinegar/water thing, seems to be ok so far. Although funnily enough we had planned to pull up the carpet in a few weeks to replace with floorboards - great choice me thinks!!!

My heart dog was Boo Boo - my everything, my baby, my angel with fur, my bestest friend......I lost him in September last year aged 12 to cancer. Oh my gosh the pain was excruciating (I have tears as I write this). I miss him every minute, I close my eyes and I feel him here, I feel a breeze and I know it's him. It was like losing a family member and I didn't know how I could/would go on. Somehow the days get easier but it takes a while. I used to say to him - I love you for eternity - so that's what is engraved on his polished wood ashes box. I never thought I would get a puppy so soon but Humphrey arrived with me 2 weeks ago and honestly he is hilarious and it really has been healthy and wonderful for me to give my love to a new little bundle. It's funny I see some things that Humphrey does and I know there is a little bit of the Boobster (BooBoo) in him for sure! BooBoo I will love you for eternity....

hahahahaha perfectly happy piddling puppy - ;) :D love it! So we are back from our Vet visit this morning and he does have a little staf infection (little red sores around the groin) so he has put him on some antibiotics which should clear up the staf and if he has a bladder infection should clear that up too It's certainly not bothering the Humphrey :D

Oh thanks Goldielover - I will take him to the Vet and see what he says. Poor little man

Humphrey (10 week golden retriever) has been awake since 5.30am. I've taken him outside to the toilet 4 times already (he's done both number 1's and number 2's) and in between he's had about 7 or 8 little piddle accidents around the house. This seems a lot to me - do boy puppies get urinary infections too? Could this be a sign? Help!!

That's great Corvus, thank you for that. Will definitely try that too! I actually did walk out of the kitchen after I'd prepared his dinner and went and did a few things in the garage before I came back, made him sit and then gave him his dinner. Tried to teach him that barking wasn't going to be rewarded with dinner to stop the barking Like I said I'm trying so hard

Thanks so much Loraine, great ideas, will give both of those a try! I'm trying so hard to be a good mummy but it's so hard

Humphrey has just discovered how to try to jump up on the furniture both the couch and the kitchen chairs - he's putting his front paws up and trying to grab at things. Any suggestions on how to avoid this? Also, he barks when I am preparing his dinner. Seems to be the only time he does this. Any idea why and how to handle this one? thank you!

Ohh fabulous thanks so much, off I go to the dishwashing liquid will let you know how we go!

My bootiful little 9 week old Golden Retriever walked under my car and now has a black sooty stripe right across his head. How do I get it out of his fur??? I told him people will think he's a Zebra

Wow thanks so much for everyone's responses, I really do appreciate it. I find it incredibly reassuring that there are people who haven't crate trained and it's all worked out. Can I just ask - during the night, did you just get up a couple of times to take him/her to the toilet, or did they wake you? Will keep you updated on our progress, at the moment I'm still trying the crate but will see how we go over the next few days. When he is out of the crate/play pen I seem to be saying 'no' a lot

Jed - thank you thank you thank you, that's what I wanted to know! If there were people that didn't crate train and what you actually did in place of crate training. I'm not entirely sure crate training is the way to go for me either but I really needed to hear from someone who a. knows a lot more than I do and b. was willing to 'go against' the grain. My 12 year old Bull Mastiff (who passed away in September) was never crate trained and neither was our 14 year old Staffy Kimba (still going strong :D ) and they were and are beautiful. I understand why a lot of people choose to crate train but to me I'm not sure it fits with what I believe. Just me I guess. Will see how we go with it all :D

Er, thats a puppy who hasn't been outside long enough to empty his bladder PROPERLY.. nothing to do with being distressed about being crated! Speaking from experience here. Until we started using the pen/crate a lot more and staying outside with him longer we had the same thing happening, now he's on his way to being housetrained. Of course he's going to hate the pen at first, he can't be out running around causing mayhem!! So it needs to be made a nicer place for him. You need to make it a safe comfy place for puppy to go. We pen ours during the day with toys etc, and pop him in his crate at night with a cover and a kong to chew(not that he ever does). For the first month he slept in our room and he settled instantly. He's now out in the lounge room at night and he grumbles a bit but soon settles when he realises he's getting ignored unless it's a desperate "I NEED TO PEE NOWW" whinge(which only ever happens at 1.30am), any other time of night he gets ignored.. 9/10 we have a velcro puppy who is wherever we are.. he sleeps on the couch and dog beds around the house more than he does in his pen or crate. He actually has heaps of time outside, we don't rush the whole toileting process in any way. He just seems like a peeing machine Thanks so much everyone for your help and encouragement, I really do appreciate it and I know that little Humphrey is only a bubba so I just need to be more patient and disciplined in my approach.

Thanks so much GayleK - OK I'm going back to basics and have set up his crate/play pen again and made it more like a den with a sheet over the crate and he's in there now with his toys etc. Will let you know how I go positive happy thoughts positive happy thoughts :D :D

GayleK - sorry I should have been more specific, I meant in relation to toilet training. What I'm finding is that he HATES and I mean HATES being in the crate/pen, I take him out to the toilet and he does his little business but not 5 or 10 minutes later he wees in the floor in the house, so to me the crate training isn't doing anything except getting him distressed. Last night he was hysterical so after about 15 minutes of high pitched non-stop barking, I took him out of the crate, popped him on the floor in the laundry where he fell asleep instantly and he slept ALL night until 5.30am without one little accident. Every other night with the crate he was woken up twice during the night and barked and barked and barked. I don't want to wake the entire neighbourhood :D So are there some dogs that really hate being crated? and if you don't use a crate for training what are the other options. Basically I'm worn out, exhausted, haven't slept for a week and I'm at my wits end :D

Hi Ellz Thank you so much for your response, it is much appreciated. I have been crate training Humphrey (9 weeks old) this past week but the thought entered my head that, years ago no one I knew or even myself crate trained so I wondered if there were people who chose not to go down this path - so I simply asked the question :D to see if there were alternatives and if so what were they. Thank u again for your help and advice :D

I just meant that are there other options and if so, what are they?

Is there anyone here who chooses not to crate train their puppy and if so, how do you go about it? Thanks