Maia

My darling Sophie. Eight weeks old little baby. Around 10 weeks. 16 weeks. And now - five months.

Sophie (now 18 weeks) started out in a crate by my bed. She needed to be taken out a couple of times a night. I liked having her close because she seemed to settle much faster. When she was around 14 weeks I felt she was waking me up too often through the night (and I never knew if it was for attention or toilet) and was waking up and carrying on too early to be up and about so I took her onto my bed. She now sleeps through the night on my bed and well into the morning and I love the cuddles. :-)

FranCQ I thought I might get flamed too. :-D It seems such a common thing - people getting attached to the idea of a type of dog and ending up with a really bad match. I had seen lots of very placid adult staffies who were moslty (fat!) couch potatoes. I naively thought that's what I would be getting. Mine might have been a super energetic example of the breed but any dog breed quiz I have done since tells me to stay away from terriers because of their high energy. And yes, cavaliers can be very bouncy too. Mine is quite a handful at times (though getting better) and not nearly as placid as a cav my friend owns who at 8 months old you'd think was 8 YEARS old! She was also quite the terror in Puppy Class. LOL. The good thing with her now though is that a half hour walk and she's happy to curl up on my bed for a good long sleep. FrancCQ - what breed do you have now?

I am responding to a comment made on another thread where cavaliers were mentioned as being gentle little puppies. I have to agree. Years ago, when my children were very young, I was in love with Staffies. I had been since I was a teenager. So, after a good long search, I found myself the most gorgeous little black Staffy pup. Now, I loved that little girl to bits, but I can tell you, we were NOT a good match. She was just so so full on. I had two young children and this pup had no off switch. She was high energy all day every day, chewing everything in sight. I used a crate for periods of the day and took her to months of dog training. We could do all of the obedience stuff, but it was her energy I just could not handle. Looking back, she probably needed hours of walks to burn off some of that energy - something with two small children I just didn't have time for. In the end, at 18 months, I rehomed her with a tradie who wanted a high energy pal to hang out with him all day every day and to take surfing on the weekends. I know it turned out well in the end, but it is still something I get really upset about when I look back. I was not the right owner for that dog and I was constantly frustrated with her. I should have done more research to save both of us from ending up together. It was just not fair on the dog. Her start in life, with me, was certainly less than it should have been. A while later, still wanting a dog, I did some research about matching dog breed with owner temperament. I am a very laid back, quiet, and not very energetic person. The pup I found this time around was a little fluffy muffin - a shihtzu cross. And from the moment we laid eyes on each other, it was a perfect match. He was gentle and quiet and responsive. He house trained quickly, he wanted to be by my side all day, he was gentle with the kids. It was so clear to me then that everything they say about finding the right breed is true true true. He wasn't a perfect dog by all means, we still had the odd issue to overcome, but I could manage him and we had such a great bond. Now, years down the track I have just recently got myself another pup. This time, again, after very careful breed selection and discussion with my partner about what is right for us. We have chosen a gorgeous little cavalier girl. Again, it has not been issue free. She is a pup and all pups are hard work. But her temperament is so sweet ang gentle and responsive. And she has an off button - long sleeps during the day. :-) It is my relationship with her that makes me recall my poor staffy all those years ago who just found herself in the wrong home. With young children I did not have the time to give her the owner she deserved, and her high energy made her simply not a good match for me in general. I always tell people now who are wanting a very quiet gentle dog to go for a nanna dog :-) (If a nanna can cope, then I should be able to as well.) Just something I wanted to share. Maia :-)

How would you go about teaching a dog "shhhh"? Is it just telling them to "shhh" when they are barking and then when they stop barking you treat reward? Thanks, Maia

Wizzle, my partner and I don't share a room due to me being a VERY light sleeper and him being a VERY bad snorer and also a shift worker. We get more sleep in our own rooms. So I love having the cats, and now Sophie, sharing my bed. And i agree, the more love and cuddles she gets, the better behaved she seems to be! And yes, a play date would be lovely. Which dog training school do you go to, btw. I am planning to take Sophie to Knox Obedience Club.

Well I originally didn't want her in my bed because I didn't want a dog-smelling bed. But other than that, I am not fussed by dogs in beds. I have two cats in bed with me (when they so choose) and the kids (teenagers) always said they wanted a dog to sleep on their beds. But it turns out I like the snuggles I get more than being worried about having a doggy bed. And yeah, the kids are teens, so I won't be kicking her off my bed now. :-)

Sophie is 15 and a half weeks old now and I thought I'd let people know how she's doing in case it helps anyone and in case anyone can help me. :-) Problem: We had trouble with her sleeping through the night in the crate next to my bed. There was always at least one toilet break where I had to take her out and she would wake up early and cry and scratch and carry on wanting to be UP. Solution: She now sleeps on my bed. Ha! She sleeps through the night and happily until at least 7 in the morning. I love the cuddles so I am not complaining. :-) Problem: She hates being in her play pen. We don't leave her for long periods and do lots of rewarding her for being quiet in there, etc. But if she wants out she barks and whines and scratches. Solution: She is better if she is worn out from exercise and goes into her bed after minimal fuss and sleeps. But when we are eating dinner, she just carries on. We ignore her ... and eat our dinner to the sound track of her displeasure. No treats are delicious enough to distract her. Not sure what to do about this. Problem: Taking her for walks and her getting hyped and crazy on the way home - pulling, etc. Solution: We are starting obedience in 10 days but in the meantime I took Wizzle's advice and bought an Easy Walk Harness. Brilliant! She still pulls a bit but listens when you correct her. Problem: Our free range chickens that run away from her in the back yard which is simply too exciting for her to ignore. Solution: A temporary fence. Anyone with advice on how to get her to stop chasing chickens would be much appreciated. (My partner thinks it's just a matter of letting her get used to them. He might be right but input from others who have done it would be good.) Problem: Barking. She has started barking a lot in excitement when she sees the cats (who totally ignore her) and barking in her playpen. I have heard people say you can teach a dog to bark on command and then shush on command. Anyone with thoughts on this? In general though, she is an absolute delight of a puppy. We have no toilet issues as we are still doing that thing of taking her out on a leash regularly and telling her to "go potty" and then inside she is always supervised. She has hyper times where she can get a bit out of control but we had methods to settle this down and often just putting her in the playpen for five minutes calms her. She is very loving and friendly and cuddly which we love. She is responsive and learns fast when I teach her new things. She is great at playing "Fetch" unless I tell my partner to watch how clever she is, in which case she suddenly has no idea what I am talking about. :-) I think that's all. Maia and Sophie.

http://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/mature...C&Submit=Go Hope the above link works... :-)

Sadly true. I have free range chickens and was turned down by a breeder with an older dog for sale because of this. (From dogzonline.) I was looking for an older cavalier rather than a puppy but when I saw Sophie I caved. I have seen a few older cavaliers advertised in the trading post and on gumtree in the five weeks since then. (When Sophie is being a mental puppy I say they are the ones I should have got instead of her. - She knows I'm kidding. :-) ) There was also a guy selling off some of his older cavaliers but he just kept them in pens in the back yard as breeders and I thought that was a horrendous way to treat a cavalier so didn't even go look at them. Good luck with it. My Sophie is a lot of work, but such a little bundle of love, I can't imagine being without her now.

I have a 15 week old cavalier and, while she is just the loveliest thing, she is a lot of work. At present we make sure she is never alone more than 3 hours at a time - I think she would be so so sad if she had to be alone all day. Also, there is so much training to do - house training for instance. Would you consider an older dog? Maybe not as needy or high maintenance as a puppy.

Wizzle, how does Genevieve react to the Easy Walk harness? I was looking into different leash/harness options and thought the Easy Walk looked good, but then I read that a lot of people don't like them and think they pinch them under the arms. What is your opinion having used one? Cheers, Maia

Reading all of this stuff has been so helpful to me. There was also a thread on another forum here that helped. Today has been a great day with Sophie. Part of my problem is that I am working a lot at the moment and while my partner is usually there with her when I am not home, and gives her lots of love and care, he doesn't do the things with her like I do. So today was a day off and we just did heaps together, walks, playing in the back yard, games, training... and the time she has been alone in her playpen she has been okay. Interesting and a bit depressing about them being ready to be up and about at 5 am! Yikes! Still, we will work our way around it. :-) Thanks all, Maia

Thanks sooo much everyone. I am going to try the rewarding for quiet, etc. Shorter times in pen, interspersed with play. See how we go. Wizzle I had a look at some of your older posts. Interesting to see how Genevieve has developed and things you have gone through with her. I am finding Sophie has just got more intense in general at the moment - I guess it's an age thing. We are starting obedience in a couple of weeks. Looking forward to it. Thanks again. Maia

Thanks for your reply. Her pen is full of stuffed kongs, chew treats, raw meaty bones and the squeaky toys she loves. Often I am in the kitchen cooking, while she is in the pen, so right where she can see me. She is rarely in there for more than an hour a time, and usually twice only during the day.