Genabee

We had a bit of a problem with nipping/mouthing also. I found timeout in her crate seemed to calm Genevieve down rather quickly. I also looked for other possible reasons, like was it meal time, did she need to toilet, were her toys accessible etc. If I knew all the other boxes could be ticket (she had been fed, toileted and nothing was preventing her to get to her toys), I would give her time out. She learnt pretty quickly that she wasn't winning any points by getting nippy! We notice now she is most like that just before she is due to be fed. When we are playing with her we try to have a toy in our hand if she looks like she might want to mouth. That way we can shove the toy in her mouth when she goes for the big chomp! I have to watch that she doesn't go for my engagement ring though. Now that she is a bit older and can be walked, I think that has helped too. I am probably wrong, but I have interpreted nipping to be more like biting (often in an attempt to get attention), where as mouthing is where they are playing with you as if you were a toy.... it might not necessarily always hurt (us bigger people) or be deliberate, but I guess it encourages them to have human skin in their mouths. We try to avoid it as much as we can, as we don't want her biting our kids, or perhaps worse still, other peoples children. I too would be interested to know other peoples thoughts/interpretations on this, as like I said, I think I have interpreted it wrong.

I have read a few different books about raising puppies, both specific to my breed and pups in general. One in particular had lots of helpful advice on a range of different issues, house breaking being a major one. I think it is against the rules to mention the title, but I am sure if you visit the library or book shop, there will be books available. I guess raising puppies is similar to raising children, in that there is all sorts of advice you will hear/be offered, but you have to take on board what is right for you and what fits into your daily routine. You can read all the literature in the world, raise as many as you like, but it still won't make you an expert... Genevieve has access to water all day, it is just the evening that it is removed. She gets ice cubes if she goes looking for her water bowl. This was suggested to me from several sources, including my vet and puppy preschool teacher... we also did a similar thing with a previous family dog. Several books I have read also suggest this. It doesn't make it right for everyone, but it has worked for us.

We have had similar issues - Genevieve completely severred my mobile phone charger... Luckily my cable-fix-it-man Husband was able to solder it back together. We have our lappys on the bench and dining room table also. When I'm not actively on it, I leave it on the bench with the cable coiled up on the bench (still plugged in). No cables hanging down attracting the attention of Little G! That way when I go to use it, I unplug it and usually has enough battery to let me do what I need to do. However she has still managed to crack my keyboard as she tries to climb over me on the couch! We have pretty much set up a work station at the dining room table just to avoid that problem. I also stuffed a ball inside a pair of thick (really thick) stockings and tied it to the leg of the table. This keeps her busy when I am on the computer.... she can be in the same room playing but is distracted from the things I don't want her playing with!

Hello, I have a 15 week old Cavvie and we don't let her drink after 8pm at night. It was the best thing I read!! We put her to bed (her crate which we leave open, in the laundry with the door closed) at about 10pm (toileting her first). I leave a wee mat down for her on the laundry floor. We have had much success with this, as after night three, she slept the whole night without waking me up. In the morning there would be one wee on the mat, but in the last two weeks, she has been holding on and she wakes us up about 7.30am, asking to be let out! I open the laundry door to a mess free zone! Which I can assure you is much more pleasant first thing in the morning!! She runs straight outside and does her business. I am also finding that when I put her in the laundry while I am at work, she tends to hold on also (even when she has access to water). It would appear that she has an aversion now to going inside the laundry (Which is good!!). We are getting there with the rest of the house, having the odd accident here and there. I have also found that feeding her in the rooms she would have an accident, has reduced the occurance of them dramatically. We rotate feeding her between the lounge room, bedroom and family room areas. My advice is to make sure you stick to a routine. If in doubt, take the little one outside. After every feed, play, chew, snooze, walk etc. I am sure you will be relieved of the daily washing soon enough!!