Genabee

She may just be settling in to the new arrangements, so while she is sussing every thing and everyone out, she may be slow to eat. She will get there though. She sounds very lucky to have ended up in your care. For a first time fur parent, you seem to be asking all the right questions and taking good care of her!

Oh, and I bought a trick book off ebay, one that was suggested in the training thread... On a mission people!!!!

How cute!! Don't worry, he won't starve. Little puppies do sleep heaps, and it might take him a couple of days to adjust and may be slow to eat. Give him a week or so and he will be doing back flips for food!!! He will eat when he is hungry and if he does miss the odd meal here or there, it won't kill him! Enjoy the puppiness!

Ok, so it is 11pm. I arrived home about 9.30pm. While I was cooking my dinner, I did some trick work with her in between - she sat patiently in the kitchen with me for most of it. I put her dinner (kibble) in a water bottle about an hour ago - she is still chasing it around the dining room floor! It was handy to be able to eat my dinner and do the dishes without her under my feet! If for no other reason, I might use the water bottle more often! It was pretty funny, she wasn't sure about it to start with and she sat there looking at it, like she was expecting it to do something. I showed her how to roll it along the ground and how bits would fall out. She was barking at it at one point, very frustrated! I have to say, I was being entertained!!! When she finishes chasing the water bottle around, we will do a bit more trick work then bed. Let's see how we go tonight!

Genevieve loves being outside but she doesn't always like being locked out when we are still inside! Maybe when you are at home pottering around, leave the back door open so he can come and go as he pleases. If he gets use to coming in and out of his own accord, then maybe it won't be so bad when you need him to be out there. Eventually he will just look at you then think 'bugger you then, i'll go sniff'.... and he will! I have a door scratcher too - usually only in the wee hours of the morning though. It does get annoying after a while so I feel your pain!

Some thick opaque dancers tights with a tennis ball in the end, suspended from the clothes line - works a treat! I also have one inside tied around the leg of the dining room table - keeps her busy when I am eating. I give Genevieve egg cartons and she now stalks the toilet for used toilet rolls! Empty yoghurt containers are a good one! By far her favourite toy though is the rubber door stopper that is supposed to help keep the front door open!!!!

Some thick opaque dancers tights with a tennis ball in the end, suspended from the clothes line - works a treat! I also have one inside tied around the leg of the dining room table - keeps her busy when I am eating. I give Genevieve egg cartons and she now stalks the toilet for used toilet rolls! Empty yoghurt containers are a good one! By far her favourite toy though is the rubber door stopper that is supposed to help keep the front door open!!!!

haha. But does he like Elbie does? It's so hard NOT to laugh ;) I'm sorry.... but I laughed!! :D He is just so cute. I love his little face....

A few threads ago, someone suggested giving a ginger nut biscuit to the pooch about 10 - 15 minutes before getting in the car. Also, booster seats are supposed to help keep them still through the inersia of the moving vehicle. Open the window enough to let some air circulate. Poor thing, I get motion sick bad, so I empathise with the little mite.

Video please! :D Also, obedience classes should tire her out. Elbie seems to have a reduction in energy levels every Sunday afternoon If you ever come to Canberra, we should definitely have a play date for our puppies ;) I used to love Sundays while she was at puppy school, because she would come home exhausticated and veg out for the rest of the day/night! No such luck at the moment! I can make it to two different obedience schools on a Sunday. Do you think that is too much for one little dog? Yes, I haven't forgotten about the video updates! Every time i get the camera out though, she never does it!!! I think I might just send her to Canberra...

In another thread you'll see that wizzle's already been doing heaps with Genevieve in terms of training - see . I don't know if it's normal but in the early days, my puppy used to get sooooooooo tired after doing his little 5-10 minutes of obedience training but these days he doesn't get tired AT ALL and runs through all of his tricks in 5 minutes without batting an eyelash It means that we are constantly looking for new things to tire him out and keep him occupied - all suggestions very welcome I think Elbie and Genevieve need to have sleep overs - they can tire one another out!!! I am hoping that the new obedience classes we are going to start, will give me new material to work with her on during the week and will help to wear her mind out. We've nearly mastered 'say hi daddy' (wave) by the way! I think she is too smart for me!

Something must be in the water....

Thank you for all your replies. I walk her most days in the morning, usually for about an hour. I have been known to take her around the block at night, but lately it has been very cold and wet and to be honest, I don't like walking in the dark by myself... it's not safe. But maybe I will have to bite the bullet and give it a try. We usually do a bit of training and have a play when I get home, but not immediately before she goes to bed. By then I am having my dinner (she has already eaten) and she vegs out while I eat, shower, tidy up etc. I would love to come straight home from work and go to sleep, I am exhausted, but I don't because I don't think it is fair on her. I've been consious of that from the start. Hence my bed time has become quite late (which is fine if I can sleep to at least 7.30am!!). And I usually go to the toilet and change my shoes before I attend to her (usually she is quiet and I know she is listening to me). She is definitely going back in the laundry - I didn't really want her in our room in the first place! And given it hasn't worked, I won't be letting it continue. She is fine going to bed, she just doesn't want to be in there for more than a couple of hours! So I guess you are right, she isn't tired enough! I guess I just have to continue letting her scratch it out and work on wearing her out in the mean time. How long do I let this go on for though before if it more of a serious problem? This is now going on two weeks... the odd night in there she is good, but most of the time she has me up unnecessarily. Yes, she has some toys in there with her. Can anyone direct me to a good 'games to play with your dog' link please? PS. The idea of the metal clips could be a good one! I will investigate that!

Genevieve is now 20 weeks old. I bought her home at 8 weeks. From the first night I had her home, she always slept in her soft crate in the laundry (our laundry has central heating, so it is plenty warm enough in there for her). By the third night home I never heard boo out of her. She would toilet on her puppy pad. By 10 weeks old, she was holding through the night and would wake me up about 7.30am to be let out! Perfect!!! About a fortnight ago, she started waking me up in the night to go to the toilet. This didn't bother me greatly... I got up and let her out. After a couple of nights, she would do it more than once, but not so much to go to the toilet, but to be let out to play. She would just want to run around the yard and even once ran out the door with a toy in her mouth. I just kept scooping her up and putting her back in the laundry. I made a point of never turning the lights on either, so it was always dark. She would just scratch the door and not let up. I would hold out until about 5.30am where eventually I would get up and go into the lounge room and go back to sleep in there - and she would curl up with me and do the same!!! So, after talking to some of the savy DOLers, I decided to stop resisting it and try putting her crate in our room to see if she would go back to sleeping the whole night through again. It worked for two nights. :p She unfortunately is able to unzip her crate and let herself out. During the day if I need to have her in there for a period of time, I cable tie the zips, but I don't feel that is a good idea to do in the night (I actually have to cut them off, not practical in the dark with your eyes closed!). She has taken to pacing around the bedroom, scratching on my doors, tries to open my drawers.... in sheer frustration and desperation, I pulled her on to the bed with me to see if being close would settle her. It worked for about 45 minutes. :D Then she started walking all over the bed. She isn't able to jump on to the bed yet as it is that little bit too high and she certainly doesn't jump off it. At this point I am ready to send her to the home for naughty dogs. I always toilet her before going to bed in the evening. I get home from work about 9pm (I don't start work until late afternoon, so I am home all morning with her) and spend a large part of that time before going to bed, with her on the couch (she is usually asleep!). She gets walked most mornings. As far as I am aware, there are no cats or possums or other creatures lurking around outside. The only thing that has altered is that my Husband is away for work (but he was away for the first four weeks she was here anyway, by which time she was sleeping through. I don't think that would be too much of an impact). I am going to be starting obedience with her this weekend, as I think she could do with the mental stimulation. I want to do the right thing by my dog, but I am not getting any sleep and I am extremely grumpy and I still have to go to work and be nice to people!!! Please help me.

That is what we wanted to hear!!!! Excellent news!

Of an evening after I am home from work, we spend a couple of hours on the couch, usually G will go to sleep on me in some way or another. And I am usually patting her or playing with her ears or brushing her. When it is bed time, she follows me to the other end of the house.... Never an issue... sometimes she does this weird purr like a cat thing while on my lap. During the day, she will often sit on the couch and watch Dr Phil and conveniently dozes off just as Oprah is starting - about which time I am packing up to go to work. She is the last thing I do before walking out the door. And she will still have her eyes closed as I scoop her up and she lets out this little grumble! It is so funny! She doesn't even open her eyes to grumble at me!!!! (I mean, if you are going to take me on, at least have the audacity to LOOK at me!!!). I usually say 'Oh be quiet!' or 'Oh stop your growling' and she stops... and I put her in her house in the laundry and shut the door! It is like she knows it is coming and this is what has to happen, but she will let me know that it sucks anyway!

My pup doesn't bark in the night, but the last couple of weeks she has started scratching on the door to be let out.... So I get up and toilet her (she usually goes and that is fine) and then put her back to be in the laundry.... and five minutes later she is scratching again. I was ignoring it for the first few nights ( I would always toilet it her once though, then ignore her), but after a couple of weeks of it, I was ready to kill her. Against what I originally wanted, I put her crate in to our room and BINGO!!! She sleeps right through (until about 6amish). This is my second dog that has done this. He wants company. Is it really a major issue to have him in the ensuite at night?

I bought some Aloveen on the recommendation of the good people here, and bathed Genevieve with it the first time this morning. It is BLOODY FANTASTIC!!!! Smells devine!! I thought she had a shiny silky coat before, but you could really tell the difference after one wash (and I was using another puppy specific wash that I got at the pet shop!). I would highly recommend it! I got mine off ebay, but there are heaps of online places where it is a bit cheaper than to buy from a store. A little bit also goes a long way if you mix it with water before applying to the body.

Is Emmy a pink girl by any chance? I think she may have a bit in common with Genevieve! I love the paws on it! Yep... everything about her is pink Same!! All her accessories are pink. My OH hates it!! I think she looks more like a boy, so I want it obvious that she is a girl. Though, according to OH now, she is 'gender indifferent' because she had her hysterectomy. Men just don't get it!!!

We use a soft crate (because I didn't want the cage look), and she can undo the zips. We have to cable tie the zips now if we want to leave her in for long periods... And she has nearly trashed it, scratching and chewing on it!!!! We will probably at some point upgrade to 'the cage look'.

We use a crate all the time at home, but when I travel interstate, I hire one from jetpets. This is the Qantas/AAE approved supplier. I think they sell too. Once she is fully grown we will probably buy another one just for that purpose.

I will offer a slightly different suggestion, Hyandai Tuscon. They are short in length, so fantastic to park in small places, but give you the room of a '4WD'. It is fuel efficient (in Melbourne, stop start traffic I get about 400km to the tank, when I was living in Perth I was getting closer to 500km). It has a separate rear compartment that can be open or closed over. We have moved house twice now and we just lie the seats down and have heaps of room. We have also slept in the car over night.... I went from driving a mazda hatch back to this and didn't have any dramas (though my husband's car is very low and I drive that often too, so it doesn't bother me now when I have to get behind the wheel of a mini mouse mobile!). I like the height of the car too as I am on the short side. I like that it is compact. Has heaps of compartments. Will fit two dogs and passangers in easy.

Didn't you know? Cheese cures all. I was baking about a week or so ago, and I had put the muffins in the oven (which is under our stove). G was in the kitchen, hovering around as she does. She was staring intently into the oven while I was doing the dishes (with my back to her). All of a sudden I heard the loudest squark I've ever heard come from her - she spotted the dog in the reflection of the oven and went to sniff - I think she burnt herself!!! I felt so bad!!! Now whenever I go near the oven, she gives it the widest birth she can! She isn't in a hurry to do that again!

How on earth did he do that?!!! Six in one hit or one at a time?

I agree. When I look into my dog's eyes, I may aswell be looking at my child (or as good as). You wouldn't send your 6 year old in to fight, so why send your dog? As a parent you protect your children, not use them as cannon fodder! I really don't get the mentality... And the Rescue Ink. guy hit the nail on the head when he told that guy that he was lonely and was overpowered as a child and is now seeking to be the one in control... The guy needs therapy. And even then I don't think he could be rehabilitated. And I don't think my opinion of what to do with such a person should be put in writing on a public forum where some may be offended. But you get my point.