Cookiez

My pup had access to the kitchen, the lounge room, hall and study. I think initially there was a bit of restlessness at around 5.00 am in the morning but she'd always just grumble if no one was awake and then settle down again. I let Codi have free run today when I was having a nap in the bedroom. Normally I would put him in his pen but today I left my bedroom door open and he came in, sniffed around for a good half an hour and then curled himself up near my feet. He only left the bedroom when he heard my OH come home. Maybe there's hope to letting him wander around on his own at night!

Aww, that makes me feel a little better! Codi has a similar set up- the area he is kept in is all tiled. I have no idea why he liked the door frames... We were a little upset as we live in a brand new house! I got over it eventually though. Lol, at least it's contained just in that area! I thought I was so well prepared by having lots of chew toys handy... Never expected Codi to like the taste of the house better. LOL. :D My other dog Coffee is like your Clover- trustworthy pretty much from day 1! So I was a little shocked with Codi! Codi "thinks" too much too. He's very observant where as my Cavalier was very cruisy. If there's a reflection on the wall, or something moves across the floor, Codi will bark and try to "catch" it. Also one of the reasons why I am slightly worried about leaving him on his own... I can see from this thread though that this is not uncommon and it's not just me who doesn't give my dog a free run all the time! What a relief!

Thank you for your advice. He is quite happy in the penned area- he's been used to it since he first came home to us at 9 weeks, and that is where he sleeps at night. (It is across from our bedroom so he can see us) Currently we turn on the air conditioning in our bedroom for him in summer when we are not home. I more or less wanted to know if anyone else has ever been in this position as me... I suppose it is better for him to have more boundaries at the moment- plenty more years ahead to give him more freedom! I think you are right in saying that you know deep down whether they are trustworthy. It's good to know others have experienced this! One half of me thinks that he would be ok, but the other half knows that he is still a curious puppy so I wouldn't be surprised if he got up to mischief. I like the idea of giving them free run in the night when you are sleeping... Where did your pup sleep when you did this? Did they get up in the night to wander around at all?

Codi has a bed- but he never ever uses it! In fact when he first came home he preferred to sleep on the floor and used his bed as a toy! He quite often slips on the arm of the lounge and hands his head off the side. :D:D Or on the floor with his legs in the air... Or in his water bowl... Or under the dining table... Or cuddling up with his toys on the floor...

This may be a silly question, and I realise it's different for everyone- but I am curious, how and when do you know you can start trusting your puppy inside your home? When my Cavalier was a puppy she was kept in the laundry with a doggy door to the backyard. It wasn't long before she was given free run to the house (and mum's house was pretty big!). When we did have to go out for long periods of time, she would be kept in the laundry (for shelter) and would have access outside to toilet. By the time she was a year old, she was allowed in the house wherever she wanted and she knew to go outside for toilet and NEVER chewed a thing inside mum's house. We now have a 9 month old Japanese Spitz. I would like to think that he's now trustworthy enough to be inside unsupervised by my OH feels differently. Codi is kept in a sectioned area of the house when we are out or at work. We don't let him in the yard because we only have a patio and it is landscaped with pebbles which he likes to try and eat. In his "pen" he has enough space to sleep and he has the spare bathroom to use as his toilet (we have put a puphead puppy loo there). When we are at home, he is given "free run". He will take himself to the toilet when he needs to go and pretty much stays within our sight anyway. The only places he doesn't have access to are the bedrooms as they are carpeted. Now it probably sounds like he's pretty reliable and perhaps you are wondering why my OH doubts him. He hasn't done it for awhile but when he was teething he chewed up our door frames DESPITE being given plenty of chew toys which we rotated everyday. About a month ago we came home and he dug at an area on the wall and took the paint off. We are not sure why he did this (maybe there was a noise) as this has never happened before. We asked our trainer and ruled boredom out of it as he is occupied with plenty of toys and treats and it was a one off incident. My OH is worried that if he is given free run inside the home while we are at work we may come home to a war zone. Our house is puppy proofed but OH is worried about TV being knocked over, or something serious like that. He's starting to get bigger and I would like to be able to give him a bit more freedom and I feel bad that he is inside a penned off area while we are at work. Any suggestions on what I should do? How much access have you given your puppies in the past and how quickly did you allow this to happen?

I am not sure of the breed of the dogs that I had encounters with. The first 2 incidents we walked away quickly so didn't really get a look- other than a rough size of the dog and their colour. The 3rd time where they followed us it was a pittbull and a staffy. I know that these dogs can come from good homes (as with any dogs!) but they were rather scary. It is a real worry to think that there are people like you out there too where you have actually heard of/know dogs being attacked in the area. It's ok if you know the dogs off leash or if you can see owners close by. When I see a dog (especially if it's big) off leash it makes me feel uncomfortable late at night! I have thought about this. Problem is I have not seen those same dogs again- so I am not sure what information I can give them. I don't even know where they are coming from! sorry im not sure how to quote a post hope i havnt stuffed it up too bad but i can understand where your coming from, if nothing else you could just tell them that there is a problem with off leash dogs in your area that you are unsure whether they are strays or loose pets but it is a problem, never know they may do something I think I will definitely mention something to the council. I haven't had an encounter for about 2 months now. (Could be due to the fact that more houses are being built- or that I am avoiding the areas where they seemed to be coming from.) I hope that owners are not just letting their dogs wander out. Anything could happen! This is terrible! She didn't even seem to care! Yes we are in an area similar to the Ponds. (We are in "Nelsons Ridge" actually- same development company I believe) I like the idea of carrying a camera- that would help identify the dogs! I don't know if there are loose stock around, but certainly because there is vacant land and the fact that we back onto the reserve is probably the reason that they seem to be hanging around. The area itself is actually very safe and friendly. I frequently see security driving around at night to patrol the area (especially around empty houses still being built)- I was just rather uncomfortable with seeing dogs that could potentially be dangerous!

It's ok if you know the dogs off leash or if you can see owners close by. When I see a dog (especially if it's big) off leash it makes me feel uncomfortable late at night! I have thought about this. Problem is I have not seen those same dogs again- so I am not sure what information I can give them. I don't even know where they are coming from!

I think the major point here is how ethical is this breeder if they are willing to allow a baby puppy under 8 weeks of age to leave their home... It's just not on as far as I'm concerned... I do agree. When we took our puppy home we ended up waiting till 9 weeks because he was only one of two in the litter and the breeder said it would be good for him to "grow up a bit more" first.

I live in a relatively new area and there is a reserve behind us. There are still lots of vacant land around as well. I am not sure if this is the reason, but I've had 3 encounters with stray dogs while walking Codi. This never happened to me before when I lived in Castle Hill. (Sydney) Just after a bit of advice and thoughts on this situation! 1.) First time we saw a stray I was walking with my OH early one morning (6am ish). We were walking up towards empty blocks of land towards the reserve- we saw a dog off leash with no collar on from the distance and we quickly changed direction. At this stage Codi was about 17 weeks and this dog was quite big. It was probably friendly but we didn't want to risk it. 2.) Second time I was out on my own. My OH had gone out with a few friends for dinner and I took Codi for his evening walk around 8pm. It was quite dark where I was walking and about 5 meters infront of me I suddenly saw a dog come out of the bushes. It wasn't the same dog as the last incident. Codi was only about 5 months old and he is wary of strange dogs and will bark if they come too close. I was worried about a potential incident happening but couldn't really change directions in where I was going (hard to explain but I figured it was safer to keep walking and get to a more populated area). I managed to walk Codi close to me and he didn't notice this other dog. I then power walked down the road and could see that this dog followed us for sometime. It could have belonged to someone but in the dark I really couldn't tell! 3.) The third time we encountered strays was actually quite scary. Lol. I was looking after my Cav who usually stays with mum. It was 9am on Sunday morning in broad day light. We just walked out the front door, OH with Codi and I had Coffee. 2 big dogs came around the corner of the street off leash. They looked quite friendly and I actually thought they were being walked off leash- however no humans followed behind them. They came right up to have a sniff and neither had collars. Of course Codi was quite spooked and started barking and crying at them. I didn't know how they would react so OH and I quickly try to start walking thinking the dogs would go their own way. They actually followed us and wouldn't leave us alone! We ended up picking Codi up (he was still quite young, and for some reason DID not like these dogs). We tried to go back home, but the strays walked right up to our front door step. Luckily another man walking a dog saw us, and he realised something was up. He lured the dogs away for us so that we could get home. Codi is really well socialised with dogs and have attended both puppy preschool and obedience classes. In the third incident he was really quite spooked and it made me feel very uneasy. I have not seen any strays lately, but in saying that I have avoided the hill and the vacant land near the reserve after dark now. Both for Codi but also for my own safety. I am just surprised that I seem to have come across so many dogs that appear to be strays? Anyone else ever encounter strays during their walks? I have not seen any of those dogs since. It is a small area so I do know most of the dogs and their owners in this area.

I agree with all the ones everyone has already mentioned! I am finding it really hard to narrow it down to 2! What about "stay"? That was important for me so that Codi understands he can't just bolt through the door or go running off. We're still working on this one- he's good at it in the home environment. I haven't been able to train "leave it" or "give" reliably yet. We have been given many suggestions for how to do this (having 2 equal value items and swapping them and then rewarding when they "give".) However, Codi gets far too distracted as soon as he sees or knows he's getting treats and he loses interest in the item. Recall and toilet training is definitely important too. Oh and of course socialisation especially when I have a JS!

The more the merrier. Erik is on guard until he knows you, too. Kivi is never on guard. A dozen Lappies hanging out together is hard to miss. I think parking out there is a cinch. If it's where I think it is there's a big carpark just next to the park. I think if you give Codi a little time and space he'd calm down. Kivi and Erik are just over a year apart in age. I think maybe in summer we need to do a beach picnic meet up! :D:D I may have worked out a solution with OH- he said he could come with me and then leave (he had plans) we might take 2 cars in that case. You'd never think Lappies were rare when you see how many are on the forum hey? Lol. I will have to look up the details on google maps I think!

CWEW was gonna come with her JS You'll know all the lappie people from the spitz breeds thread. I have to drive out on my own as well, as OH is working. It's at Olympic Park, though, which is easy to get to as it's right off Metroad 3. Kivi is pretty good with puppies. If they are worried he lies down and ignores them. They come over soon enough and he lets them do anything to him. He's a big teddy bear. I don't really remember our first trip to the beach with our boys. We probably kept them on a long line. Ours had been out and about quite a bit before we made a beach trip, though. So they seemed not too insane and kept close. It was handy having a good recall on Kivi. Erik wouldn't have gone anywhere without Kivi when he was a baby. He was like Kivi's satellite. I'm sure they both dug in the sand and wouldn't go anywhere near the water. They love the beach. I really want to come! I was worried about parking and having to handle a dog on my own to find where everyone is (I suppose I'll just look for the fluff balls. :D) and I didn't know how Codi would be with a group of dogs he doesn't already know. He's got the typical spitz personality where he's on guard till he knows you. I want to meet everyone's dogs too- looking on the spitz thread they are all so beautiful. :D How far apart in age are Kivi and Erik? Aww, I giggled at you running the opposite direction! That sure would have confused them. Lol. Yes I was thinking I should start taking him to the fenced park down the road more regularly. I'll have to start doing it in the mornings so that at least he'll be the only dog there.

Thank you. Using the whistle saves me screaming her name "Heidi,Heidi,Heidi,Heidi,Heidi,Heidi,Heidi,Heidi,Heidi" while she's running around in zoomie mode. Sounds like I'm yodeling. HAHAHAHA! ;) :D Argh! That's where people go wrong! ;) Introducing puppies to dog parks is always a bit tense, I think. For my two I kept them on a short leash to begin with, and basically crouched beside puppy at the edge of the park and stayed close while dogs came to visit him. If puppy looks distressed I would block the other dogs. It took a few visits for them to relax. I keep them on a short leash at first so they can't bolt if they get frightened. You should totally bring him to the Lappie picnic on the weekend. There'll be lots of nice dogs and puppies for him to meet. :D I actually had him on a leash! We went to Castle Hill dog park (which is very friendly, my cav loves it there) and because we knew Codi is a bit snobby with dogs- we walked in very slowly, went to the most empty part of the park on leash so he could just have a sniff. That's not what ended up happening though, cos a staffy puppy bolted up to us and Codi just freaked out. I have never seen him like it. Lucky the owner was really nice and he actually wanted us to keep trying them together to play. I could see from the way Codi was behaving that he did not like this dog so we ended up leaving... I haven't tried a dog park since- only if there are no other dogs there. Lol. He's fine with dogs at puppy school though. I think it's just a JS thing- wary until they are formally introduced. I want to come to the picnic! My husband has plans already though and I don't know that I want to drive out on my own... Does that sound lame? I don't really know any body!

Gorgeous photos and what a beautiful dog! She looks like she really likes the water. I like your idea with the whistle and chicken! Sounds like so much fun for her! Hehehe, this is exactly why I started this thread cos I had no idea what people do the first time. Lol. I am glad Zoe came back! :D

I do all of the above that you have suggested- but I think I need to do more of this! * Give him lots and lots of off leash play in a safe place (somewhere fenced with few dogs). For me, this means hitting the part at 7am. Thsi will mean that off leash is less of a novelty and more of an everyday event and the temptation to do a runner will be less. Last time we took him to a dog park he was a little spooked by some of the dogs there. Since then I've been a bit reluctant to take him to the dog park. I will carry some treats with me and make this more regular I think.

Leslie Nelson's DVD "Really Reliable Recall". :p It's a great method. Where abouts in Sydney are you? Some of us get together and go to the beach down in Wollongong every 2 months or so. We haven't been for a while because my life got too busy to organise one, but I will get around to it eventually. I have a copy of RRR that I deeply cherish, but I could maybe lend it to you. Because you are a fellow spitz lover. Kivi and Erik are testament to the fact that it works on spitzes. :D My boys don't go in the water at the beach and that's fine by me. They like to splash in the shallow rock pools. My last dog got dumped a couple of times, but being a corgi she was a very bouyant shape and just bobbed to the surface like a cork. She learnt to stay out of the waves. Oh you will have to let me know next time there is a beach meet up! I am near Greystanes but we are always willing to travel. Anything for my little doggy. I might see if I can get a hold of the RRR Dvd. Thanks so much for the offer though it is so nice of you. He is so smart but at the same time so smart that he doesn't always do what I want him to do! (Ahh that's a spitz for you!)

I do take Codi to obedience. He did several weeks of it after he graduated from puppy preschool. He will come to me but he's unpredictable. If he is doing something that deems more worthy than he will ignore me. I want to be able to get to a stage where he will come as soon as I call regardless of what he is doing. I realise this will need work. The long leash sounds like the way to go. Maybe I can do this at parks as well to work on recall. He's fairly good at most basic commands and can do quite a lot of tricks- I just wouldn't say he's 100% all the time. Any recommendation for safe beaches for dogs in Sydney?

Any recommendations on how to train recall more reliably? He's still at that stage where he will come if he "feels like it". If I have treats with me he will stay with me and doesn't wander too far off. The last time I let him off leash at a park he didn't really run too far- my friend had her dogs with them and Codi stayed by my side. I think I need to take him out more often to give him the opportunity to learn. My husband is too paranoid to let him off leash though.

I know it's winter but we'd like to take our puppy to the beach when summer eventually comes. He's now almost 9 months so by the time summer rolls around again he will be bigger and hopefully more reliable off leash! I wanted to know what others have experienced when taking their pups/dogs to the beach for the first time. Were you worried about them running into the water? Did you let them off leash straight away? Codi is not the most reliable off leash (to be honest I have never really tried- we have been to the dog park a few times but he hasn't perfected the "come" command so I am rather paranoid)- I know he would eventually come back (he's a bit of a mummy's boy :p ) but am still a little worried about just letting him go on the beach. Did you get your dogs life jackets or anything like that? How did you stop them from going in too deep? Goodness I am thinking this sounds really silly!

I have a friend who has a staffy who reckons she regularly gets dog snobbed. She tells me that people will see her and turn the opposite way, or if they are in an enclosed space together people will pick up their dogs. I suppose there's an element of fear in this too. Although, my dog has always reacted funny to staffies- so if I saw one in a park I would probably walk away to avoid confrontation which could be seen as me being a "snob". That's not my intention though. At the end of the day, there are snobs everywhere. People do need to learn to take things with a grain of salt and realise not everything is about them.

To be honest it doesn't bother me that much. I just more so want to know why he does it! I thought at first he did it because he was a young puppy- now it seems like a habit! He usually wakes up around 5am (I can hear him moving around) but he won't make a sound till he hears one of us get up to use the bathroom. Then it's on! Lol. Thank goodness he doesn't do that when I get up in the night though!

He has access to his toilet in his pen. (Hard to describe, he has basically 2 areas blocked off- a sleeping area and then I have a puppy toilet for him in the bathroom). He seems to just cry because he heard/saw us get up and wants us to attend to him right away. As soon as we make our way to the door and he knows he's about to be let out- he's silent.

When I say we get up and get ready- we are literally just walking into the ensuite to go to the bathroom and maybe brush our teeth. We would be no more then 2 minutes then we get him straight out of his pen for a run around and then his morning walk. Once we get home from the walk then we take turns getting ready so he gets to spend time with us. Codi has never been good at cuddling up and going to sleep. When we got him as a puppy I thought there was something run cos he never napped during the day! He would be dead tired and struggling to keep his eyes open and he would still be walking around. On the upside though, like I said- he sleeps so well at night and never makes a sound so I suppose I should be happy for the trade off!

Lol, it doesn't bother me. It bothers my husband! I do worry that the neighbours might hear him (we are very close to our neighbours. New house and they way they build!)- but other than that I don't care so much... On weekends it is a little annoying because by the time 8am rolls around he will start with a little whimper to see if we'll get up.

Our puppy is nearly 9 months old now- and he sleeps amazingly well at night. We've never had a problem putting him to sleep- even when he came home on the first night. However, he will cry and whinge when he wants us out of bed in the morning! We have sectioned off a bit of the house as his "pen". This includes part of the hallway and the spare bathroom. It is located across from our bedroom and from where he is, he can see my bed. We only put him in the pen when it's bed time as we still don't quite trust him to have free run of the house. Our bedroom is also carpeted, and although he is toilet trained, we'd like to feel 100% sure before letting him sleep "anywhere". As soon as he goes in the pen at night, he will curl up and go to sleep. He's very good and never makes a sound at night. He will get up and take himself to the toilet (we have a puppy toilet in the spare bathroom). I get up several times in the night to go to the bathroom. Sometimes this wakes him up but he never makes a sound. When my husband's alarm go off at 6:30am- that's when he starts. He will wait to see if we're moving around- then as soon as my husband goes in our ensuite- Codi starts crying and whinging. We don't respond to him, in an effort for him to learn that if he cries, he's not going to get let out. He will do this until we are finished in the bathroom. When we come out and stand in the doorway of our bedroom- he will then be very quiet, sitting there really nicely with his tail wagging as if to say, "Cry? Me? No... that never happened!" We thought he would eventually grow out of crying in the morning, as this is the same routine we take everyday. He doesn't actually whinge or cry at us once he sees us- it's only for those initial minutes when we get out of bed. On the weekend he does this slightly "later" in the morning. We don't set an alarm so he usually only does this act once he hears one of us get up. Any ideas on what we can do or do I have to just put up with him crying every morning? Lol.