Niques

Only when talking about him, not to him, unfortunately. I had grown very fond of Warthead. Particularly given that his actual name was not my first choice and it took at least a week for me to warm up to that. He spent his first couple of weeks mainly going by Puppy. Which has since mutated into Handsome Puppy (which, embarrassingly enough, I do actually use so often that he now responds to it ). Evolving, talk about irresistable! Could she be any cuter?!

First met James at 4 1/2 weeks. Never really had a "click" moment. There were only two black boys in a litter of 10 and we didn't find out which one the breeder had picked for us until the weekend before he came home. J had a scab on the back of his neck and the second time we went to visit him, I started getting a tiny bit attached to "warthead". I think I was under the impression his scab added character The time between the second and third visits had me growing increasingly fond of "warthead". I eventually mentioned the scar to the rest of the family and we all started referring to our puppy as "warthead". By 7 weeks when we went to sort out the details before picking him up I had my heart set on Warthead and it turns out the breeder had him picked out for us as well - match made in heaven! Only shame is the rest of the family weren't keen on hanging on to his "Warthead" moniker

BB, that second photo is brilliant! As for tricks, James sits and waits for his food, shakes, rolls over, lies down, spins in a circle, stays and comes (occasionally, for the latter). Also responds to both his name and "handsome puppy" Oh, and leave it. He's getting very good at leaving things, and not just during training. Currently working on crawling and bowing, but both are going terribly. I should have down crawling before leave it, as when I try to lure him forward whilst he's lying down, he won't go for it as he knows not to snatch at it. Wee bit of a problem. And when I try to make him bow, his hind legs just collapse and he goes splat :D Have finally instilled a love of water. He's been enjoying paddling in the creek down at the park so I sat down the other day and thought it time to make him confident with the pool. He'll now stand on the highest step in the pool and splash around gleefully. To the point where, the other day I had him outside eating his bone and had to close the sliding door on him so he wouldn't bring it in - eventually I realised things were too quiet! The little beast had escaped from the area I had him in and somehow weaseled his way inside the pool fence, where I found him happily splashing away! ;) Cheeky devil. He had his first visit to the beach today. Loved it. Had a lovely play with a gorgeous brown border collie. And the salt water has oddly made his fur incredibly soft. He's also mastered being calm in the car - 1.5 hour drive each way and none of the freakouts he used to have. Except when we had the gall to eat in front of him without sharing He has, however, developed the horrible habit of throwing a tantrum when I go to put his collar on. Rolling about and lying on his back so I can't get it on.

Adam Ali Andrew Andy Angus x 2 Angus Rip Anzac Apollo(different spelling!) Appollo Archie +1 Archer Arkhan Armand Arq Ash Ashke Attila Atlas Bailey x 6 Balki Baloo Balou Bandit x 2 Banjo Bardigrub Barney Bart X 2 Barton Baxter Bear x2 Beau x 2 Bender Ben x 2 Benji x 2 Benny Benson BERT! Billy Bing Bluey Bob Bomber Boo Boof Bosch Bosco Boxer Brady Brian Custard O'Doggle Brock Brockie Brody Bronson x2 Brownie Bruce Bud Buddy Buffy... he came with it Bumble Bundyx3 Buster byron Caleb Cannon Caramel Carl Cash Casper Champ Changwe Charlie x 5 Chester Chevy Chief Chip x 2 Chok Chubba Chops Clifford Coco Columbus Cooper x3 Cory Cowan x 2 Cowboy Crikey Cruise Cuba Daniel x 2 Dancer Danny Darcy x 2 Dashx2 Deakin Dean Declan Delgado Denim Dennys Dog Diablo Diesel x2 Digby Digger x2 Dillon Dinky Douglas Dominic Dumas Duncan Dylan Ebon Echo Eddie Edward Elijah Elliott Elvis Edge Ernie Esky Fang Fergus x 2 Finn Fox x 2 FlashBazil Fleming Fletcher Fly Flynn Focus Forester Foo Frank Fudge Galahad Gandor Geo Georgex2 Gordon Gossy Greedy Grover Guiness mcGuinness Hail Hamish Harley Harper Harri Harrison Harry Hector Henry Henschke Hey Dog Hogan Hudson Hugo Ian Ivan Jack x 3 Jake x 2 Jasper x 2 James x 2 Jay JayDee Jed Jethro Jet Jett Jonsey Joop Jordan Joshua Joxer Judd Juggie Kahn Kai Kaiser x 2 Kane Kasper Kaos Kiba Kei Kingston Kippy Kisho Kuga Kynan Kyzer Leo Lincoln Lenny Leroy x 2 Lestat x2 Logan Louie Luca Lucius Ludwig Lughie Lukas Lukon Luther x 2 Mac X 2 MacKenzie Mandrake Mark (the cat) Mars Mason x2 Maverick Max x 7 Maxie Maxwell THE DOG Maze Mel Merlot Merry Milky Milosh Milton Minook Mistral Mojo Mokha Moo Morris Mr Darcy Mufti Nammu Napoleon Nelsson (yes two s's) Nicky Nigel Noah Nova Nudge Nugget Occy Oliver Omar RIP Onslow Oscar x 3 Oz Pal x 2 Payton Pete Phoenix Phantom Piikki Porsha Puck Punch Quick Quincy Raffy Ralph Rambo Randy Raymond Reeve Reagan Reginald Rex Ricky Riku Riley Rimes Ripley River Robbie x 2 Rocks Rodney RIP Roger Rolly Rory Rove Rover Roy Jones Jnr Rudnick Ruff Rumour Rupert Rusty Sam x3 Sampson Sarge Satchmo Scooby Scout Scrap Scratch Shadow Seth Silas Snitch Sonny Soul Spartan Speed Spencer Spike Sport Spud x 2 Sterling Stig (The) Storm Stryker Sumo Swanky Tag Tally Tana Tanga Tazz x 2 Teddy Terry Tey Dog Thomas Thunder Tiger Tirra Toby x2 Tolkien Tommy Tournie Tub Tusca Tye x2 Tyson Udo Ulf Valdez Wags Walker Wally Watson Weave Whisky Willow Willy Wilson Woody Wookie Wycomb Yoshi Zac x 2 Zedley Zeppelin Zephyr x 2 Zeus

The night actually went really well, thanks, BF I woke him up at 3ish and had to carry him out to the grass as he was more than content to try and get back to sleep He then slept through til 6 and did his usual short bark to let me know he was up. No accidents - I'm very happy What a cheeky girl - I think we need pictures of sooty Zoe That's good that Diesel's setting in now, Matt! What a stressful start for you!

I can just imagine the chaos. That's very sweet that she's crying less for you - someone's clearly the favourite I hope the lump is nothing serious. James had a warty lump-type thing on his head when we first met him at 4 1/2 weeks which, amongst our family, we used to distinguish between him and his other black brother. We took to calling him "wart-head" Eventually we asked the breeder about it and she said the vet thought it was a bite from the older puppy living with them, so hopefully Zoe's is just an insect bite or something similar that's scabbed over. Poppy, what a trying situation! My sympathies and I hope you manage to keep them apart until Tuesday. Nic, Oreo is a gorgeous little guy! Okay, pup is settled in in the rumpus room with his bed, rug and a pile of squeaky toys scattered around him so I can hopefully hear him when he wakes up Although I think he's forgone his bed to sleep against my door. I don't want to open it to check in case he wakes, but I can hear his snoring awfully clearly. Two alarms set to preempt his toiletting needs. But still, I just know that I'm going to wake up to a puddle.

Lauren, that's a bit of a shock! I picked up some chicken necks the other day, just to see how he'd go with them. Still trying to work out why some are so tiny and others are enormous Anyway, as expected, he just wolfs them down so he'll be getting no more after this bag. Even chicken wings only take a couple of minutes these days. Riddick is such a cutie! Very cool name, as well. I really must get my butt into gear re: James' sleeping habits. He's still in his pen, in the garage. Every night I consider leaving him out in the rumpus room outside my door, but the competition between potential hassle and my sleep constantly keeps coming out in favour of the latter I just don't want to have to be listening to him jumping about, weeing and potentially climbing stairs after 4am - I want more sleep I'm sure he's warm enough in the garage, but I'd really feel better letting him have more freedom. I'd put him in bed with me, but anytime he's on a bed or couch he always looks perilously close to falling off. And I've little doubt that he would fall off. This weekend. I will put him in the rumpus this weekend - you lot have to hold me to it! I'm with you, Wuffles. A 6am wakeup is a good day! He didn't need to go to the toilet until about quarter to 6 this morning. Normally it's 4:30/5ish and he'll have a short nap afterwards before he starts his barking routine. I crossed my fingers as I put him back in this morning and ended up getting to sleep until 6:15 :D I was very pleased.

:D What a clever little girl. I'm so pleased for you that her sleeping is getting better! And I cannot get over how tiny she is!! Absolutely adorable. Especially that first photo. It's lovely when they finally start sitting quietly for their dinner, isn't it? I always feel so proud when he sits there, not moving til I give the word. Maggie is very cute! I just want to give her a squish, she looks so cuddly! We got a letter yesterday from the Canine Control Council (I'm assuming our breeder has just registered the litter) that contained a puppy survey about breeder satisfaction and related things. Filled it out, popped it in the envelope and onto the desk. It slipped off the desk and I ignored it for a minute or two - next thing I know......the bloody puppy has chewed up the Puppy Survey!! :p Am going to stickytape it back together and still send it off - hopefully they'll enjoy it I've had an awful day with his biting. I've taken to letting him roam around downstairs with me if I'm using the computer in the bedroom (normally he nods off after 30 minutes or so) and the little rat has spent this afternoon trying to tear the bed apart. Aaaargh. He's still chewing people. He's jumping up to snatch things of desks and counters. I was gladwrapping bundles of soup bones and chicken necks to freeze and the cheeky bugger manage to get a grip on the bag of chicken necks and tried to pull it off. Going insane. Not a good day at all.

No great advice sorry, but James vomitted a couple of hours after one of his worming tablets (and was otherwise fine, both before and after) so I assume there is some digestive irritation happening. Also, I had thought dogs shouldn't eat members of the onion/garlic family? Perhaps that could be influencing it. I'd see how she goes over the next day or two.

I loved Rex in Babe. And, Bart the kangal from Kate and Leopold, as the OP mentioned. Gorgeous dog.

Aww, Casey is beautiful! Her markings are very interesting and unique. As for training, I like to make sure that he can do every command independently from the others. I imagine it would only get harder to break the habit as time goes on. I would focus on the steps later in the "sequence" that she does, even if you have to reteach them to have her do it completely separately. And to prevent sequences from building, throw things up a little. Sometimes make her sit without then asking her to go down, etc. We've got the same problem with "shake" at the moment. Whenever he's asked to sit, the little paw pops up to try and shake. Very, very cute. Two training session a day sounds very reasonable. That's all James gets. Well, some days he might get a single half-hearted session, other days he might get three really good sessions. Depends what sort of mindset he's in.

We've gone with PIA as well for insurance. Spirrall - not long to go! Chow's are utterly adorable! Have you picked a name for him/her yet? Have been teaching James to "spin" this evening. He caught on quick, as usual, but eventually it occurred to me that a pup spinning around is going to get dizzy Thought it best to end it for the night. He is so hilarious. Apparently I've been asking him if he's "ready" a lot before he does a command and he has, for some reason, taught himself to tense up and start trembling with excitement if I rile him up by asking him "Are you ready?" constantly. And then when I finally ask him to do something he'll throw himself into the task. If I say "come", he'll jump with excitement and come bolting towards me. I started doing it with "drop" this evening and he'd throw both his paws into the hair and just slam into the ground to complete the command as soon as possible. It is just side-splitting to watch

Mmm, I had a vague hope that they might somehow shrivel between being alive and making it to my freezer I think you're right. Will have to go harrass a couple of butchers. I get the feeling I'll be spending a lot of time there unless my long-term freezer stacking skills improve immensely. Thanks

I had planned to keep his collar on him all the time as I was paranoid that he'd escape. But we've ended up keeping it off him most of the time for superficial reasons - he's had a scar on his neck since he was about 4 weeks old from being bitten by an older pup and the hair had just started to grow back in when he came home. The collar made the new hair come in even more wonky than it already was so the collar stayed off. He's also forever scratching at it when it's on. We don't consciously remove it though - if he's left home alone after he's had his collar on due to being cheeky (and wanting to be able to put him on leash quickly), or what have you, it stays on when we leave. Theoretically, I'd like to have it on him all the time when he's older and has the full run of the house. He's an only dog and an indoor dog at that, so I'd like to think that the risks of catching it are reduced. But chances are we'll just never get around to keeping it on him full time.

What a day, BF! Glad to hear Zoe's taking well to her new food. The three yearly vaccination sounds interesting - we'll have to bring it up with our vet when he goes for his last shot. MAD, that's so sweet that she loves to watch the world go by! James gets taken out on a leash to toilet in the front yard if he's been asleep downstairs and we normally end up sitting in the grass taking everything in for a good 15 minutes afterwards We're in a cul-de-sac as well and he loves getting acquainted with the neighbours if they walk past. Or car-watching - he's a very intense car-watcher. Thankfully he doesn't chase them - he knows that he has to plonk his butt down if a car comes past. Lauren, she's so cute! She looks so, so soft! Wish us luck! James normally sleeps in his pen at night and tonight I'm going to give leaving it unlocked a go. I'm right next to the garage so can normally hear him when he wakes up anyway. My only worry is that he'll realised he's not secured and therefore won't make any noise when he needs to go out. The aim is to eventually move him out of the garage and into the rumpus room next to me (or in the bedroom if he's good), so we'll see how we go. It's been quite muggy here today and yesterday - the heat has taken it out of him and he's been exceedingly snoozy. Not to mention he got tired out at puppy preschool last night (and showed me up after bragging about him - he knows more commands and has them down better than the rest of the puppies, but was so distracted and eager to play he only performed them once or twice before completely ignoring me! ) and finally slept past 6am today! Albeit, only 10 minutes past, but anything past 6 is to be taken as a victory

Hello, I was just wondering if I could ask some, perhaps odd, questions. We're not feeding an entirely raw diet but my lab pup's breeder recommends that in a couple of weeks he switch over to having no dry food and only raw bones for his evening meal so I thought this would be the best thread to get answers from. Our freezer is already jam packed full of frozen packages of chicken mince, wings and bones, etc., so we were wondering, just to figure out logistics, how large are chicken frames? And also lamb necks - what exactly are these? Just the whole neck of the lamb? Can they be cut up into smaller portions? Anyone else using the normal fridge-freezer as opposed to a separate dog freezer? How many chicken frames/lamb neck portions can you easily store? Guess who underestimated how much freezer space a dog would take up?

I freaked out with James. He's our family's first dog. Went in completely blind - no experience whatsoever. I wanted to give him back before we were two minutes down the road from the breeder I think guilt played a huuuge role in my anxiety - the first couple of days I'd look at him and think, "he had nine siblings and now he's stuck with US?!" and feel so depressed for him. What helped immeasurably (aside from learning to delegate - "watch the puppy for a minute, will you?" :p ) was seeing him feel at home. For a few days all I could think about when looking at him was his siblings and how crap we were as alternatives, but eventually I could look at him and know that all he was thinking about was me now. I felt so much better after that. Things are also made difficult by our backyard, which is...complicated, to say the least, so I couldn't just turn him out if I needed to get something done. Of course, then there was the big "WHY WON'T YOU STOP CHEWING ME?!?!" breakdown, with many tears. He doesn't even have to try to chew to hurt - my poor thumb is shredded simply from his teeth scraping when he takes a treat. James is actually a pretty damn near perfect puppy, though. Aside from the biting. I listen to the stories people tell at puppy preschool and sit there thinking, "Holy crap, I have a little saint!!". Just took a while to appreciate it. Speaking of puppy preschool, that's one aspect of the puppy I adore! I think I enjoy it even more than him. I used to think people were mad for wanting only older dogs. Now I can't wait for him to grow up I wouldn't trade his puppyhood for the world though. I love watching him grow and seeing him learn - he learnt how to "shake" the other day and now he keeps trying to offer his paw whenever he sits down. Cracks me up everytime He's too damn cute. I'm a bad puppy mummy. I don't take nearly enough photos of him. Just a wee mite. Taken the first day we met him. First day. Could not get enough of his duck.

Jodi, fingers crossed she's pregnant and there's a little pup in there for you! BF, poor Zoe! I hope her diarrhea is easily cured. And crying all night! You have my sympathies! James has started spending 30-60 minutes barking each morning. God knows why - his bed time has gradually slid back to an hour (at least!) later than it initially was. You'd think he'd sleep more, not less! Very frustrating. We gave him his first bath yesterday. That was chaos. He was not a fan of it at all and had a complete freakout whilst I was hosing him off. Not sure of the point of bathing him, really - we did it just to get him used to the experience, but he really just doesn't get dirty. Dirt does not stick to him. So I think we'll not do that again for a long time.

I'm with you - I barely made it out of the breeder's yard before the "Holy crap, what the hell am I doing with this poor, screaming puppy?" panic set in. I don't know who was more distressed on the way home - him or me! That first weekend was so far from as smooth as I would have hoped, it's not funny. I was so anxious I felt very ill the whole three days. Thank goodness we've moved on from there! And then had a complete meltdown a week or two later because he just would not stop biting! Just sat down and had a big cry Good on them for recognising that they couldn't cope. Better now than later.

This makes me thankful to have a non-innovative dog - your tiny girl is clever to work out how to get where she wants (the couch) and the mere idea has not even crossed my giant lug of a labrador's mind His head easily comes above the couch when he sits - he could get up there with no difficulties if he tried. It's just never occured to the silly sod to try How exciting, Lauren!

Michelle, Georgia is such a spunky looking dog! What breed is she? What a perfect meeting for you - she sounds made for your family! Diesel is so tiny!! What a cutie! We had one plant in the living room when James came home. He immediately looked at it as a chew toy (and when he wasn't chewing it, he was after its pot) and we decided that he had to learn he wasn't allowed to chew it. Still, no difference. We coated the leaves in vinegar, still chewed it to death. About two weeks in, after the plant looked decidedly shredded and he'd tipped it over a good number of times, we gave in and the plant had to move Glad to hear Jangels is doing well! James is 13 weeks as well - it's amazing how fast they grow! Little weeds, labradors are. He's so big now. We've kept James on the diet (including the brand of dry food) his breeder had him on and he spent the first three weeks eating like you've described Zoe did. He'd have a bite and then just graze until we eventually would toss the remainder after 30 minutes or so. It's only in the past two weeks that he's started eating everything in his bowl and only in the past week has he actually been devouring it in 2 minutes flat. So it's possible that she may still have been settling in a bit. She sounds so, so sweet! Sleeping better, paper-trained - you've got a lovely girl there! I haven't popped in here in a while so a bit of a James update. He was the most insanely excited pup at preschool last week. They all sat calmly under their owner's chairs staring at him whilst he leapt around, choking himself on his leash and barking his head off throughout the night. Although he was the most advanced in terms of commands His "Stay" is unbelievable. Clever little sod. Toilet training is brilliant. I don't think we've had an accident for a few days now. He's been getting out for short exploratory trips around the park which he enjoys. Still needs work with his interactions with other dogs - he very much enjoys jumping up and "hugging", for lack of a better term, their faces. Which also involves sticking his nose in their ears and licking their eyes. God knows what he's doing, but now the little white fluffy dog one of our neighbour's owns is a tad wary around him The poor girl Ran into some teenagers in the park today who went gaga for him but then encouraged his jumping and chewing on their fingers!! Grrr Seriously? Let's just promote his worst behaviours. Was not happy. It's also finally occured to him that I will get up when he barks at night. So we're still doing a once a night toilet stop, but then at about 5am he'll start crying until I let him out...and then try to play!! He spent about an hour screeching this morning, on and off between 4:30am and 6am. I feel for our neighbours over the next few nights as I try to train him out of that. He then proceeded to spend the morning (after breakfast) chasing and humping his stuffed elephant You can't stay cross at him!

I'm still guilty of that - and I wonder why it took him so long to learn his name Lately I've moved into constantly referring to him as "handsome fellow". Or, more frequently, "Who's my handsome fellow!?! Yes, you are! Yes you are!" Lola is extremely cute. I love her two week photo - they're so round and rolly at that stage! Your three younger children will be so excited when she comes home, I can just imagine - what a surprise! I have heard some horror stories about playpens which are a little disturbing. It's only just occured to James to jump up with his paws and that only seems to be happening so far when he's eager to see us at the end of the day. He's been more occupied with pushing it around - I come home to find it in a completely different shape than when I left :D I've ended up blocking his primary pushing points with roof tiles in an attempt to keep it square. I'm quite happy to have him sleep in it indefinitely as he knows he just has to sit at the gate and yelp a few times to let me know he's up. But pretty soon he'll graduate to having the whole garage for himself during the day though as he's getting big fast and the jumping risk is too great. Although, this is a big pup who's never bothered attempting to jump onto the couch - the act of jumping has never really occured to him. Slow guy We'll be playing it by ear.

Costa's a great name! Are you using it as a form of Kostya/Constantine or did you come up with it separately? Zoe's also a very pretty name, BF. Two days! Not long now. James was through process of elimination. Everyone in the family had to agree and it was the only one everyone liked. There were a couple that two of us liked, but no other name had all three of us agreeing. And it's drawn attention as well - people keep commenting on how unusual James i as a dog's name.

How handsome is Costa! Sounds like he's settling in well! James had his second vaccination today and made everyone he met love him. Stuck his head in an enormous mastiff's mouth and was surprisingly attentive and obedient when I made him do some commands in the reception, despite wanting to sniff and see everything.

I agree with the Bunnings pen. We bought two compost bins (8 panels total) and that's where he sleeps and spends the day if we're out. $50 or so for the two. Compared to the $150-200 or so Petbarn wanted for an adequately sized pen.