Jules46

Hey Guys Many thanks for advice.....don't know what I was worried about......because later that day my OH didn't shut his crate door properly and Flynn got out!!! Nothing quite like getting the heart going than to walk into the house after an hour of being away to find crate door open and no puppy!! Great relief when he appeared very pleased with himself having had lots of fun in the living area (he hadn't ventured anywhere else in the house thank goodness!!). He had done a couple of wees, and had munched his way through a magazine and a plastic doggy bag (empty of course!!). I think we got away very lightly!! Poor Flynn ending up with daft owners like us!!!

I am really really cross with myself. Am crate training Flynn who is almost 10 weeks old. I am using the Ian Dunbar method of every hour taking him out for his daily routine. Anyway he had been back in his crate for about 40 minutes and I was pottering around when he started whinning. I was just answering a text and telling him I would be there in a minute and the next thing he went all quiet and I knew instantly what he had done. Poor guy had weeded in his bed. I feel so terrible and he was obviously bursting to go, but I thought I had time just to answer my text!! I cleaned it all up straight away and took him out to the toilet and had a good game with him. He is now back in his crate and is settled again, My concern is that if he has now done it once, could he do it again without thinking because the scent is there? Have I undone all the good training so far? Any advice for this stupid owner would be much appreciated.....apart from the obvious.....which is stop texting when your puppy is telling you he needs to wee right now!

Hi Everyone Hope you are all well. Puppies are looking fantastic. Fab collar Ruby. Well we have had Flynn just over a week and he is a delight....he is doing really well and we are learning "puppy ways" very very quickly! We are crate training him which is working very well. Our day (once school run is done etc and it's just me and Flynn) mainly consists of the following: Every hour: Wee run Training/Play In crate with filled kong for some serious chewing time Nap Wee run Training/Play In crate with filled kong for some serious chewing time Nap Wee run........ Between all of this, I try to keep the house going (shopping/cleaning etc) but it's not really working just yet. I have great intentions and put the ironing board up, but never quite have time to do any?! Anyone else having the same problem?? I bought two pieces of VetBed for the bottom of the crate, but once the rain stopped on Sunday he must have found it too warm and he was starting to scuff it up and sleep on the plastic. We took it out and we now have a towel in their instead and he is a lot happier. The VetBed is fab though. I use one by the patio door for wet paws and feet. I also have a Snooze bed for him when he is older. Flynn is also doing the nipping around the ankles. We growl a firm NO and turn our backs on him if he doesn't stop. He is getting the message slowly. At the moment I am stuffing his KONGS with some kibble (from his daily allowance) and filling it with warm water, then plug the little hole with a little bit of peanut butter and then freeze it. Any other ideas for a 9 week old? Also, is anybody cleaning their puppy's teeth and if so any recommendations on what to use? Thanks Jules

FD26 - That's great news....so glad you got some decent sleep! We went to puppy pre-school last night and they were telling us how important it is that we make it known that we are the 'pack leader'. This obviously needs to work across the whole spectrum of the puppy's development including sleep time! Flynn was growling at my ankles and nipping at them this morning.....bring it on puppy!!

Hi Guys Thanks for advice on putting photos on......here is our beautiful boy Flynn.

Hi Everyone Here is a pic of our beautiful Flynn. He is an absolute delight..... Off to puppy school tonight. FD26 - Sorry to hear that Joker is not settling at night. Not sure if this is of any help, as we are completely new to it, but this is what we do..... We move Flynn's crate into our room at night and cover the crate over with a blanket, so he knows it's his 'bedtime'. (We just leave a window so he can see us wandering around). We do not give him any attention at all. We carry on getting ready for bed and just ignore him. He watches what we are doing and seems to settle down. When he wakes for the loo, we keep everything very quiet and say very little to him, so he knows that there is no play to be had. We ignore any crying he makes (although very hard to do!), but it does seem to be working at the moment. Obviously it is still early days for us (5th night), so we are hoping it is not the 'calm before the storm'! You must all be exhausted....but you may just to have 'bite the bullet' and really be strong with him and not give in to his mischief......Naughty Joker!

Hi Everyone We picked up our beautiful ESS puppy FLYNN on Friday. He is just wonderful. He is settling really well. He was the first to leave his 10 brothers and sisters, so a little homsick the first night, but is getting better each night. Isn't this monsoon rain just fantastic!!.......wonderful for the dams and the farmers but not for new inexperienced dog owners!! We are learning the art of juggling poop bag, umberrella, puppy, and torch in our PJs at 2.30am to a fine art!! Glad we bought our winter rain coats from the UK with us. They haven't seen the light of day for the last 3 years, but they are coming in very handy at the moment!! Am not sure how to download a pic of Flynn, so any help would be appreciated. Badger and Joker are very handsome young men.

Hi Everyone We are picking up our 8 week old English Springer Spaniel at the end of the month. We are so excited. Have been reading all your threads and getting lots of tips!! All your photos are just fab!