Lauren Golden

Hi all! So great to hear everyone's puppies are going well! Maggie has been good and is getting better everyday with being left outside while we are at work! Not too much destruction yet! Just a shite load of poo's (pun intended ) and a chewed up doormat! She's getting a lot more confident, and came right out of her shell last puppy school and joined in happily playing with the others. She went to her first vet visit with us on Wednesday for her second vaccination - boy has she grown! She now weighs 9.2kg, big girl and only JUST fits into her harness (we will have to buy a new one this weekend - the small only lasted 3 weeks!). She still LOVES to do her business on the doormats, we have tried gradually pulling the doormats towards the garden, which worked for a while, put then she just decided to go where they once were by the door! Found out tonight she can easily get on and off the couch on her own (we decided to not let her on the couch, but I like to have a sneaky cuddle with her on here when my OH isn't looking!) - tonight she jumped on herself and lay down next to me - CHEEKY!!! Will have to take some more photo's soon, as it is so true what everyone says - they grow sooooo fast!!!!

I live in Glenelg and go to the vet in Morphettville, on Morphett Road - they are excellent!

I had the scare of my life tonight. Decided to get some chicken necks for Maggie's tea (her first time trying!) and I was cutting them up, putting them in the bowl, done this a million times for my parents dog and my cats, when all of a sudden, I look down and this one looks a little different... with closer inspection - this one still has its HEAD attached!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I had to get my husband to removed it for me, I felt so ill!!!!!! Maggie has been pretty good with her sleep ins. Although we have been staying up quite later than normal as we are on holidays. She will go out for her final wee around midnight, and then she wakes up around 7.30, one of us stumbles out of bed, puts her out, shut the door, she pees and poos on the doormat almost straight away, we let her back in, we all stumble back to bed and sleep until at least 9.00! BUT my husband has been very kind lately, the last two mornings he has stayed up with Maggie and let me sleep in, AND even brought me breakfast in bed!! I think he's a keeper! BUT back to work for us next week (we are both teachers!). Not keen at all and I don't think Maggie will be either - she cries for half an hour to an hour when we put her out on her own, then she falls asleep probably from the exhaustion of it! Oh well, we bought her a sandpit today and some big bones, so maybe that might help!

Very cute Costa's Mum! We just bought Maggie a clam shell today, just need to buy some sand now. Though I can imagine that the sand won't stay in it for too long!! Maggie is not too interested in food related distractions - I've filled up her Kong with many different things, Vegimite, Peanut Butter, kibble, liver treats, canned food?!? She'll play with it until we shut the door on her. Might head to the Supermarket tomorrow to get some bones for her.... does anyone recommend any long lasting yummy bones?! What a prissy little princess I have!!!

Sounds great! At lunch time we fed her the kibble that we originally bought her - Eagle Pack, soften with some warm Carnation milk (it looked like cereal!) with a teaspoon of Pal puppy (apparently for flavour, says her breeder - will def move onto a better brand once this can has gone!). She enjoyed this very much and pratically ate everything! Yay, a much more happier Mummy! I left her outside by herself today again, and let her cry for about an hour and a half... then suddenly it went all quiet ... I thought she had escaped, but alas she fell asleep! Maggie 0, Mummy 1! I guess it's just being persistent. I think I might get her some chicken necks to add to her diet... my cats loved these too!!

By the by, does anyone have any tips for getting your puppy used to being outiside on their own? I'm trying with Maggie, but she just hates it. We're both on holidays now, but next week we are back at work and will be out for a loooong time!!! The trainer at puppy pre school said to just pop outside every now and then and do things like hang out the washing/put something in the bin and just ignore her and go back inside.... I feel this is almost making her worse!!! Any other tips?

Very cute pics guys, here's a couple more of Miss Maggie... After a very scary bath - she did not like it at all! All tuckered out !! Thanks for your help on the other forum guys... hopefully Maggie's appetite will change. I've anyone hasn't seen my reply, could someone please tell me their home made fresh meat/veggie recipe? Thanks!

Thanks guys for your help! I'm probably just being a worried Mum... we'll see how she goes. She had her normal breakfast this morning, but I only gave her half the amount - she ate most of it... So now she's eating less than half - bah! RE the garlic and yoghurt, that was what was advised to me by the breeder. She said she gave her puppies small amounts of garlic and yoghurt in their meals at night... hmmm... perhaps I won't do that again! Could someone please tell me a recipe for a home made fresh meat/veggies dog mix? That would be greatly appreciated! (I too would get bored eating the same food all day everyday!!). But yes she loves that milk! I'll keep you on the update!

Yeah PIA looks great, we signed up for the same cover. Hey if you guys have a chance, can you look at the post I just put up under Puppy Problems, i'm a wee bit worried about Maggie not eating much of her food!

Hi, Just a question... Maggie gets fed three meals a day, she is a 10 week old Golden Retriever. We have had her since Thursday. She normally scoffs down most of her meals, but today has barely touched any of her meals... (she has been eating kibble, soaked in warm water, with a teaspoon on Pal Puppy - as reccomended by the breeder). The only thing I can think of is... 1. She had her worming tablet yesterday? 2. I added a bit of garlic, yoghurt and tuna to her meals yesterday? Has that upset her? She's still playful and happy and her stools have been normal today. After she pretty much ignored her dinner, I gave her a bowl of her puppy milk, which she quickly finished off. Then piece by piece I started feeding her bits of her dinner which she ate. But she seemed to not be chewing - is it possible her teeth are hurting?! I just don't know!!!!

Who did you get your pet insurance through? What does it cover?

I'm starting to think that maybe she needs a bit of privacy... Now that she's feeling a lot more safer outside on her own, she'll go when we leave her out and shut the door. She finally went 2 hours after eating, then late returned for a poo! Hurrah! Nic, my husband is the same, he tries to do a high pitch yikes but it sounds like.... actually I don't know what it sounds like but it makes me laugh!!!! It's definitely hard for a male to make a noise that high pitched!

Bahhhhh been trying to get Maggie to go wee outside for the last hour and a half - we're exhausted, she's exhausted - so, even though it's breaking the rules, we've let her inside, and she's out to it on her bed!!!! We fed her lunch around 1.00pm and now it's 3.30pm, is it normal that she hasn't gone yet or could she just not need to go? We had this same problem after her lunch yesterday too - took her an hour and a half to go after her lunch! Draining! ;)

Thanks BF great advice! Nic - at puppy pre school they did a big session on biting. They say you should yelp like a hurt dog or do a high pitch "yikes" and recoil back if your puppy bites too hard. Wait a few seconds and she should lick you to say sorry. It worked really well with some of the puppies at pre school. Just keep that at and hopefully that will help.

Hi everyone, Just a little Maggie update! It's our 4th day of having her and as each day comes she is getting so much better! The crate has been completely ruled out for the moment. She had her first day of puppy school yesterday and she was the shyest one of the bunch. While all the other puppies were playing and wrestling she just hid behind our legs and even fell asleep at one point! The trainer thought that it was too soon to crate her after the very scary experience of being on the plane in a crate for so long. She is sleeping on a dog bed next to us and that seems to be working OK. We take her out for a wee about 11.30 and then she will wake up about 6.00, take her out for another wee, and then bring her back in so her parents can have more of a sleep in. We're on holidays so she'll sleep again until about 9.00 which is great. She's got an obsession with weeing and pooing on door mats... when we take her out she will move away from the garden and find the nearest foor mat to do her buisness on. We keep moving the doormats into the garden for her to get the idea, but then she will just go back over to where the door mat was and go there!!! I wonder if the breeder kept her indoors and used those puppy pads to train her, and maybe that's why she likes the door mats?? She hates being on the lead and will just sit there and refuse to move! The trainer at puppy school recommended that we put her on the lead, and stand in the garden so that she HAS to do her business there - but she just kept lying down - even when we picked her up again and again, she just lay down sadly. BUT as soon as we take her off the lead, that's when she quickly runs to the door mat and goes there?! She's had some separation anxiety issues, and will follow us everywhere. The trainer gave us some tips about what to do, (when trying to leave her alone outside without her crying the whole time) which is working SLOWLY! But otherwise she is just adorable! Hope everyone's pups are doing well!!