Kate39

Hey I'm probly not much help, but we just got a puppy last week and on the first night she slept with us.. cuz we just felt to bad to leave her alone. And then since then she's slept in her own bed in our laundry. The first night it took her an hour of crying 8pm-9pm before she settled down for a sleep, and then I was woken again at 1.30 and she cried until 2.30 before settleing back down again, and then was crying again at 6.30 ish... the 2nd night she only cried for 1/2 an hour from 8.30pm-9pm, and woke breifly at 1.30 cried for maybe 15 mins and then went back to sleep... 3 rd night and ever since, cries for maybe 5 mins when we put her to bed, and then doesnt cry out until morning... about 5.30-6 ish when I get up to take her outside to wee... so what your puppy is doing is pretty normal. Main thing to remember is that if you go in while their crying.. their going to realise that crying brings u in. So the more you can ignore it the quicker they'll catch on that there is no point in crying, winging, barking etc. But remember to ramdomly go out there and give lots of praise when they've been quiet for a solid period of time ( quiet dog brings owner back and crying dog doesnt ) very very cute puppy by the way.. love the photo's

Haha woops. well it's either really really big, or tiny tiny small haha - here you go.

Thank you , I think so too, but am a little bit biast haha here's another of Laycie. hopefully this time not so big haha

haha sorry about it being so big, but these a my babies. Very grubby in this picture haha

How can I make my pics small enough to upload on here, it just says there too big, I downloaded a photo converter, but it doesnt seem to make them smaller just change them to pdf and stuff like that

Hey and thank you, This does seem like a good group with lots of great people with great advice. I think on all forum's (gotta love the confidence u can have online) can have people that are mean, and people that mean well.. i am also apart of a parenting forum and i am a young mum (had my daughter when I was 18) and being young and a mother on a forum you find more judgmental people on there then there are on here. (just wanna add that I'm a great mum if i do say so myself haha) Thanks for the warm welcome look forward to increasing my knowledge about dogs and dog related things

Then I guess assumptions are made Good for you in coming here- surviving your first day (your 'initiation'..:D ) and being open to suggestion . Laycie will benefit, your little daughter will benefit, and I look forward to all the stories ! thanks, I'm a pretty open minded person, and spose I just assumed (ironic) that others would remain open minded too. Maybe consider I do walk alot and wil be giving this dog plenty of exercise, how much time I spend outdoors, how often we're home, and how long the dog will be left at home alone for etc. but hey like you said, I've survived my first day, havnt scared me off so yeh, look forward to working out how to put pics up on here and showing you all my beautiful baby girl Laycie p.s just put puppy to bed, after snuggles on the lounge... left the kitchen door open (partner usually closes it) she cried so loud she woke the baby (who just cried for a min and now is back asleep) so I went and shut the kitchen door, turned all but 1 light off for her, but her in bed and said good night, and she didnt cry at all ... how strange....metal note.. she likes the lights off and door shut to go to bed... lol

Thank you MissCheevius for your reply thats very lovely. Laycie has one of those kong toys too, but she doesnt seem interested in it.. probs because of her constant allowance to food lol woops my bad. Hopefully this wil change. Her favourite toy is a tenis ball on a rope, she loves this, throws it up in the air and pounces on it. She's more like a kitten then a dog haha. yeh the breeder insists they were wormed at 8 weeks when we got her, and therefore she's due again in a week We are also getting her microchipped when she goes in for her next vacination too We have been trying to socialise her as much as possible with other dogs. My aunty is baby sitting sat night as we have a 21st to go to she has a jack russel, so we'll see how she goes lol. We also have 2 friends with staffies, and lots of friends with dogs, so she's going to be well socialised with dogs. It deffiently is a learning experience, and this is why i wanted to come onto a forum to get some advice, I really appreciate all the advice, but I hate that people jump to conclusions, I couldnt defend myself as I was as work, and everyone kinda went on after one another about leaving her outside, and not around us and evrything. spose I just gotta take it like a grain of salt and not think to much about it. :D

Thank you for the warm welcome I'll have to sus out how to post pics lol

I just find this so very very sad. Badly raised puppy sold to an unprepared person with no help or advice given. Kate - good on you for trying to find the information you need, sounds like you want to be the best dog owner you can be despite starting in the wrong place! Wish more people cared enough to go looking for help Thank you I'm feeling very overwhelmed coming home from work to all these replies on here. I do want the best for her and am trying very hard to get the information that is going to help me do this. I am trying my best and am sure that there are alot worse off dogs out there then our georgous little pup. Today I bought her a puppy dry good called "my dog" is this okay to give her? the packet sounds good and soudns like it's got all the right things in it for her

She's 9 weeks now. Or thats what they told us, and yeh I found it odd that they wernt weaned too. She never told us this, but I saw the pups sucking on mum

Thanks, she's had her first one, and she's booked in for the vet early next week for a check up on everything. We were advice on a vaccination schedule and about keeping her athome, away from beaches, public populated dog areas ect.

Thank you this is great my daughters quiet clever im sure she'll pick up on this quickly, she's already worked out how to stop Laycie from jumping up on her lol

Wow Sandra777 that was a long reply. But thank you for it. Thanks for the advice on the forum lingo. sorry not up to scratch with that yet, this is the first forum I've ever been apart of. I did research the breed before we decided to get her. I go walking morning and afternoon with my daughter every day so she is deffiently going to have the opportunity for exercise. She already has had alot of close companion ship with us since we've had her. My partner is able to take her to work with him so she's not going to be left at home by herself. And on the odd occasion where she will have to, I dont start work till midday and my partner is home by 3pm so she's not going to home alone for long. The main reason we want her to be an outside dog is because of our daughter, We are going to find the right balance of inside outside for her, but like I stated before the puppy needs a break from the toddler and toddler a break from the puppy. Since we've had her Ive kinda be alternating hours of when she's inside and when she's in the laundry/outside then she gets to come in while bubby's having a nap for some play time with me. I am happy for her to be with me providing either bub is asleep or they arnt annoying the hell out of one another (sometimes puppy wants to sleep and Indy wants to play with her, or Indy's playing by herself and puppy wants to play so I need to seperate them from one another, the puppy doesnt always like it, but if it's what I need to do for our pup to get some sleep then so be it) i like your comment about the laundry and you'd be supprised how much time I do spend in there with my little girl in cloth nappies haha. I also wanted to add that in the mornings from 7-10.30 and then afternoons from 2.30-5 (then a walk usually about 1/2) we are outside in the yard. So we're not planning on abandoning our puppy outside by herself. Having a toddler that loves being outdoors she is gonna have plenty of time to follow us around. My bub has a sleep from 11- till 2, and during that time I do the chores inside then we're back out. Thank you for your feeding guide this is very help ful i'm not sure is crying is a breed thing or not, I just made this assumsion from friends dogs that are staffies they all seem to cry alot when there owners are out as they are just such people dogs. I understand that she is just a baby and I dont blame her for not being happy i wouldnt be happy if I was taken away from everything I've ever known to some strange house with no other pups to snuggle up to. I dont like the comment u made about solitary confinement, her living conditions here are hardly anything like that. Yes she does have alot of toys plenty of them soft, lots of blankets and a beautiful nice warm bed thatn I would almost be temped to curl up in. I understand that she is baby and I do remember what it was like when we bought out baby home. The first week we all sleep in the same room together snuggled close. And the first 2 nights we had her home my softie of a husband camped out in the lounge room with her, he told me "I'll make sure she stays in her bed" but when I went out in the morning off course she was snuggled under the blankets with him. You kind of make us sound like horrible people that have no idea what we've gotten ourselves into. I feel that we are going to give this dog a great quality of life and look forward to spending many happy years with her. And to anyone else that replied to things such as having her outside, not researching the breed and al those other questions/remarks, please just read this reply because I dont wanna write replies this long to everyone. lol Thank you all for your advice and opinions, all is greatly appreciated :D

Thanks you persephone, yeh she was drinking from mum but the breeder was kinda trying to hide it. I only noticed because when we picked her up I could see mum outside with the pups on her. Yes it has made more work for us. She did tell us they were all eating 3 meals a day fine, but hey, we're getting there with her, and she's starting to like her food more and more each day

She's not too little for chicken wings? she won't chock or not chew them? The meat I mix through the rice and gravey with vegies is raw The person we bought her from said that they were eating 3 meals a day, but as we went to pick up our puppy, I notice that all the dogs were hanging off mum feeding.. ? I dunno. Had made it hard for us, but we'll get there.

Thanks for the links, We just dont want the dog to dominate the living area as our little daughter (18 months) mainly plays in these area's. We are happy to let the dog in here and there, but she needs to have her space away from our toddler and vice versa. This morning my daughter was playing in her room with her dolls when the puppy came along and was tugging at the blanket she was wrapping her baby in. Indy (my daughter) started screaming and yelling and ended up in tears because of it. I know this is just something she'll have to get used to. I spose it's just more a behavioural thing we'll have to deal with, making sure she doesnt chew bubs toys and only chews her own (but they can be easilly confused as baby toys and dog toys are quiet simlar) I'll read a bit more of those links you sent me, they seem relaly helpful, perhaps we can find the right balance of inside outside for out dog o and as for the research before we got our puppy, we did alot of research but it was more on what breed we wanted and I suppose you dont' really think of these problems that will arise until they actually arise. Glad I found thsi forum you all seem very helpful :D

Hey 2 staffys thank you for your reply. I am going to stop leaving her food out all day, we were just so lost with what to feed her/what she'd eat/ ect when we first bought her home any time she'd eat was a bit of a relief because she wasnt eating much. She's getting alot better now and I'm sure she'll learn that eating time is eating time and then it's gone. She's waking in the night and i think it's just because she's lonley and wants to play, but i spose the more we ignore her the less she will cry. I think your right with her following us outside and giving hermore confidence venturing out by her self. Thank you for your warm welcome

Rozzie thanks for your reply, Is there are reason not to feed her wheetbix, and what would you suggest at breakfast time instead? are we better off must giving her vegies meat and rice 3 times a day? Also with the puppy milk we thought it would be good seeing as the pups were still feeding from their mum when we brought her, and this seems to calm her when she's a bit upset. The breeder only told us that she was feeding them a mixture of vegies and rice and stuff, I forgot to ask what she said for brekky and no we didnt get a care sheet on what to feed her.

Hey everyone, we've just gotten an 8 week old pure bred english staffy, Laycie who is just so cute an adorble. I've never had a puppy before and just wanted to ask some questions. 1. We went her to be an outside dog, but are happy for her to come inside (the laundry/back room) to sleep at night. What age should we start leaving her outside? At the moment when we are home she's in the back room with the back door open so she can venture in and out. (which I'm happy to continue when she's older, I just dont want her in the main parts of the house, lounge room/kitchen ect) She doesnt go outside though unless we're outsdie and when we're inside she's in the back room at the gate. I know she's only little and wants lots of company but when do you think she'll start wanting to explore outside by herself a bit? When we leave (only leaving her for 15 mins here and there, and had to leave her for 1-2 hours the other day) she's been locked inside. should we just put her outside when we leave? or is she too little? We think our yard is secure but perhaps we shuold put her outsdie and leave for only about 10-15 mins and then come back and just make sure she hasnt gotten out etc? This question is our main concern, we're just not sure when to put her out when we're out. 2. Feeding- so we kinda have just been leaving food for her to graze on all day, but after reading a bit I'm thinking this isnt really a good idea unless we're leaving her for over a feeding time kinda thing? I've been reading about that TOT training thing, and this dog doesnt seem to have much of a love for food (probs because it's there all the time) So if we just kinda put breakfast out for her, give her how long to eat it before we pack it away? and then the same with lunch and dinner? Also anything good in particular to be feeding a puppy? for dinner we've been doing vegies, rice, meat with like a gravy and similar for lunch, and for breakfast I've been doing wheetbix with puppy milk? any critism here would be greatly appreciated also. 3. Training.. so we wanted to give that TOT training a go is it okay to start it with a puppy as young as 8 weeks? Also with the food thing because this training seems to be food driven she's obviously going to have to want her food, so when I feed her , if she has like 2 mouthfulls then walks off and seems disinterested, how long do I leave it there for? or do I just take it away as soon as she loses interest in it? Any recomondations with other types of training? is it necesary to do puppy school/training? or do you think we're able to train her ourselves using this TOT method? 4. Crying- she cries a fair bit, (which I think comes with this breed) We leave her in this back room (there's like a safety kids gate stoping her from getting into the rest of the house) and we come and go, inside and out she can see us when we're in the kitcehn and hear us in the loungeroom etc. She's getting better with the crying while we're home but out of site, but what can we do about crying when we leave her at home. We've given her lots of toys, chew things, she loves pigs ears they seem to keep her entertained for hours. Is this just something we have to wait out? or is there a way to stop it. I've been going in and praising her when she's been quiet for longer periods of times. And trying to completley ignore when she's crying/barking. She cries a bit at night (which I would love to just ignore her) but I'm worried about her waking the baby (18 months old) she's usually pretty good and sleeps through anything, but Laycie's been getting quiet loud, she's quiet from about 8pm-1 or 2, but then just barks and barks, so we get up to take her to the toilet, and she doesnt go. Could she be hungry at this time of night? do we need to feed her throughout the night? Anyway sorry for all the questions, a bit new at this. Thank you for your replies in advance.