deltoid

Thanks guys, I will try those tips. 99% of the time when he is engrossed sniffing something I will put a treat up near his nose and that will encourage him away and that works. I was just wondering if there was another trick to avoid having to lure him. I have been starting to teach him leave at home so I will start trying that with him. He is quite well behaved otherwise when we are out and about. I usually stop on the corner when there are a few cars around and do a little bit of training with him as well to get him used to listening to me when there are distractions around.

Now our puppy is vaccinated we've been taking him for walks. We've previously done loose lead walking just in our backyard and he is good with the idea there. In the outside world though there are lots of things to sniff. Most times he doesn't pull on the lead (he does on occasion and I simply stand still and wait for him to come back by my side, or if he is really persistant I pick him up and carry him for about 5m and put him down again which usually works). My problem is that sometimes he catches the scent of something and will just lay down so he can smell it. Standing still doesn't work because it just allows him to smell the spot for longer. What should I do in this situation? I make plenty of stops along the way on the walk to allow him to sit down and rest I'm also only taking him on very short walks (probably 400m if that). I don't really want to be dragging him along. This week is his first week walking, I've been taking him out for one before and after work each day.

I wouldn't stress too much about the pup not using his bed. Our puppy is the same. He has been with us for over a month now and most of the time he sleeps on the floor next to his crate. It took him a couple of weeks but he has learnt to only eliminate on his puppy pad when in his pen. He has never eliminated in his crate so don't stress about that. We have had a cold change these past couple of days and he has started spending a lot more time in his crate as a result. We actually leave a big ice brick wrapped in a towel for him on hot days and he lays on that to keep cool (you can buy the 2L ice bricks from Bunnings which you fill yourself. The prefilled ones have anti freeze which is no good if puppy decides to chew it) As for all the other stuff. Don't stress, he is just settling in. Our puppy was the same. They will cry when you put them in their crate / pen. For the first week I used to put on the ipod when I went to bed to block out his cries. After that first week or so he stopped crying when we put him in his pen and now he usually spends his time sleeping and playing in his pen. Even sometimes when the door is left open.

We've been waking up that little bit earlier each day so far this week and trying to mentally tire him out a bit more. We've also bought him another puzzle toy. We now leave him his breakfast in a kong, a puzzle ball and a toilet roll which I fold the ends up with in different ways each day. I also hide a tiny liver treat or two in a few different spots in his pen. As a result when we leave for the day now he doesn't notice us leaving as he is busy trying to find where I've hidden the treats and then he moves on to trying to get at his breakfast. By the end of that he usually goes to sleep. We've also been increasing the number of training sessions (multiple shorter ones rather than less frequent longer ones). Also, have been giving him more alone time at night (usually if we are in the lounge room, we have him in there with us with a door to stop him wandering around the house). He seems to be enjoying his alone time and spends it sleeping or playing with his toys. Not sure if it is related to the changes we've been making or not but he seems much more settled when in his pen. He no longer cries when we put him in his pen and is calmer when we get home/let him out. As for the no-bite on the thongs. He is a puppy, I'm pretty sure whether I did a test or not he was going to know that footwear = good eating. I didn't need to teach him that one. Does anyone have any other suggestions on something to discourage him gnawing on things? At times he like to chew/carry his lead in his mouth when I'm doing lead training. The instructor at puppy preschool said to try no-bite but I've tried two different brands with no luck.

Thanks. I don't think it was separation anxiety now considering he did it a couple of times on the weekend as well when we were home with him and had the door to his pen open. He just realised that it was a alot of fun to tear it up. On the plus side, I expected to come home to a mess but he still managed to do all his bathroom duties on the tiny bit of pad which was not yet torn up. On the whole he is pretty good with chewing. He generally will stick to chewing his chew toys. If we leave socks or footwear where he can get to them he will give them a chew too but usually we have them where he can't get to them and we don't make a big deal of it when he does chew our stuff as we know we shouldn't have left them where he could get his paws on them. I was just a bit concerned at the time as my parents had a dog with separation anxiety issues so it has made me really aware of it and as a result paranoid about it happening with our dog.

Usually we leave our thongs in a basket where he can't get to them. I was just using them as a test of the no-bite as I know he likes to chew them if ever I don't put them in the basket. I'll talk to the wife and explain the reasons not getting the second puppy. Thanks.

Thanks for the advice. The little guy was playing with his mat again on the weekend even when he was not locked in his pen so I think he might have just realised it was fun to do. I've tried the no bite spray (two different brands) but they don't seem to work on him. Any other suggestions? Say he is chewing my thongs. I'll put the spray on it, he will let it go, sneeze a couple of times then go for it again and this time not let up. I assume he doesn't mind the taste that much. Regarding the second puppy. I agree it is important for them to learn to be alone and we intend on doing things both together with the puppies and with them separated. We've have also talked about putting them in separate pens some days while we are at work so they get used to not being together all the time.

We will try and break the training sessions up to do shorter sessions but more often (generally training takes about 15 minutes each session at the moment as I break it up with play) Thanks for the advice. We usually feed him at least half of his daily kibble using a kong or toilet roll tubes. It generally takes him a bit of working to figure them out. I will try the newspaper idea or maybe even putting the chew off spray on the corners.

Doing basic obedience training 2-3 times a day. At the moment a usual training session consists of teaching 'sit', 'stand', 'down', 'give', 'come', eye contact, walking close to me, fetch and playtime thrown into the mix to break the training up (most of those commands he actually already knows but I'm reaffirming them with him / not giving treats everytime for them anymore). I do this once in the morning, once when I get home and then depending on puppy's mood another time later in the evening every day. That said, I didn't get a chance to do it last night or this morning due to a late finish/early start, which could explain the shredding this morning? I did however play with him this morning and last night. Just didn't have time for structured training.

Or boredom. What else has he got to do? Today I left him with: * 2 x Toilet Rolls with ends collapsed and filled with his breakfast kibble rations as well as 1 or two treats mixed in. Generally these take him a little while to figure out and once he gets into them he will eat the kibble. * Stuffed Monkey (his current favorite wrestling toy) * A Rawhide * Puppy Kong with the end stuffed with beef and the rest containing the rest of his breakfast kibble rations. * Kong Bone with 1 liver treat in each end. * He also seems big on chewing this week so left him with his rope and bone chew toys to give him some teething relief. From the looks of it, he hasn't touched either Kong toy. Not sure about the rest. To be honest, the shredding the puppy pad could just be that he was playing with it and not a sign of anxiety. He is fast asleep now.

I have a 13 week old Silky Terrier. When we go out we put him in a small pen inside our house. He also sleeps in this pen and we put him in there when we need him away from our feet. When we leave for work in the morning we try and not make a big deal of it. We generally will setup his pen for the day (and lock him out of it so he is keen to get in there and find his treats). Then we take him out to pee and drop him in the pen. Then we leave about a minute or two later. When we get home we ignore him for the first few minutes while we get changed, unpack our bags, etc. Then we get him to settle before we let him out of his pen and take him out to go to the toilet. Up until this last week he was always pretty good when we put him in there, he wouldn't cry and would settle pretty quickly. However, this past week has been crying more when we first put him in there and jumping on the pen. I also notice around 4pm each day he starts to cry / jump on the pen for around 5-10 minutes. I suspect the problem is that my wife has just returned to full time work (she was only working a couple of days here and there for the first few weeks we had him). During the time my wife had off she'd put him in his pen alone for long periods of the day while she was home to try and get him used to the idea. I have a webcam setup so I can keep an eye on him, this morning he has torn apart his puppy mat. I haven't seen him crying or jumping on the pen but I think generally shredding things is a sign of anxiety isn't it? (That said he has shredded his pad once before when we were home and his pen door was open). Anyway, my question is what can I do to help him along? So we go back to the start and do the whole leave and come back thing slowly increasing the interval we are gone? Generally we are gone between 10-12 hours each day for work. I have a good 30-45minute play/train with him before we leave for work and then do the same when I get home. Then he just hangs out with us the rest of the night usually. My wife is kind of using this as ammo in support of getting a second puppy (we have always planned to get one, just waiting for the right time. She wants to get another in April while we have a couple of weeks off and to be honest I'm starting to think it might not be such a bad idea to keep him company when we are not home but it can introduce other problems.)

We have an 11wk old Silky Terrier. He is great. It has always been the plan that we'd get two dogs. We are now thinking about when we should get the next dog. My wife and I have 2 weeks leave in late April and were thinking that might be a good time to get the second puppy. Our silky will be 5 months old at that stage. The silky has been very good with his training so far, the only real problem is house training which he is getting better at. Everything else he is handling well. So assuming things keep going to plan in 2 months time he should be a good little role model for a younger pup. What are peoples experiences?

Thanks for the tips. His house training is improving. Still not perfect but an improvement. When to puppy school yesterday for the first time. He was very well behaved. Did everything he was asked. He was a bit weary of the other puppies though, to be fair they were all bigger than him and very excited. He did show interest in the other puppies but didn't really play with them. Just gave them a sniff. He didn't hide behind our legs though, he was just happy walking around sniffing the grass.

We are taking our puppy to puppy pre-school this week. The trainer has suggested we bring high-value treats (not the regular store bought ones we use) as they will work better when there are lots of distractions around. At home I've been using Love 'Em Puppy Treats. The trainer suggested something like cheese, sausage or chicken. I had a look at sausages at the shop but all have onion powder in them. I'd prefer not to give him cheese as it is pretty fattening. So I guess that leaves chicken. Do you just feed them raw chicken? I'm a little lost here.

Well, we've had Thor 2 weeks today and he is lots of fun. We are still working on him with his toilet training. When inside with us he will often go to the toilet in our hallway or just outside his puppy pen (he has access to the puppy pen and therefore his puppy pad at these times). We keep an eye on him to try and catch him before he goes and take him out regularly to make sure he is always empty but sometimes accidents happen. When in the play pen he usually aways wees on the mat. However he only poos on it about 60% of the time. Is there a way for us to encourage the use of the puppy pad so he knows to use it when in his pen (or when he is out of the pen and we haven't taken him outside)? I saw you can buy these scented drops which are supposed to help but I'm not sure if they are just gimmick.

Thanks, I think I will go with them. I've talked to them a couple of times and read their website and they sound quite good. I've also found a lot of good reviews for them online.

Well, if he is fine to wait until the 24th I'm happy to wait. I was just worried about leaving things too long and missing any critical periods for socliasation. Thanks for your help

Yeah, I was worried about the Staffy which is why I thought I'd ask first. Unfortunately I don't know anyone with a puppy (small or large). The only other person I know with a dog who has their shots up to date is a 2yr old Border Collie. Another option is to take him to my local pet shops puppy pre-school as well. It only costs $50 and from what they told me it is just a session to let the puppies play with one another. From the sounds of it they don't do any training in these sessions, it is just a play date. Also these guys (http://www.teamworkdogs.com.au/?page_id=12) run a free session in a local park for young puppies to socialise. Maybe I should look at that?

Thanks, so it won't be a disadvantage to start him at 13 weeks? We have already started obedience training with him at home and he is responding well. I was more worried from a socialisation point of view. My brother has a 10yr old Staffy whose shots are up to date so I was thinking of trying to socialise the little guy with her while waiting for puppy preschool to start. Would that be a good idea?

Well, Thor is doing quite well. He seems to be a happy, content little guy and is quite well behaved (I'm actually surprised, I thought he'd be causing more trouble). Anyway, I'm trying to find him a puppy pre-school. He is 10wks tomorrow. I'm considering two places for puppy pre-school. The first one doesn't start until the 23/02 (which will make him 13weeks when he starts). This place sounds really good though http://www.cleardogtraining.com/ The second one starts 14/02 which will make him 11wks when he starts, they also sound good but I don't think the trainer is a full-time dog trainer as the e-mail she provided is for a different business. I want to take him to the first one but I'm worried if 13 weeks is too late?

Thanks guys. Our pup is 10wks tomorrow. I'm considering two places for puppy pre-school. The first one doesn't start until the 23/02 (which will make the pup 13weeks when he starts). This place sounds really good though http://www.cleardogtraining.com/ The second one starts 14/02 which will make him 11wks when he starts, they also sound good but I don't think the trainer is a full-time dog trainer as the e-mail she provided is for a different business. I want to take him to the first one but I'm worried if 13 weeks is too late to start.

Thanks for the replies everyone, very helpful. I will try the 600ml bottle with kibble in it one day while I'm home and see how he likes that. He is currently at the stage that he will hit the kong with his paw to get the kibble to drop out. He has also started chewing the kong when it is empty (I usually play fetch with the kong and he will give it a good chew when he gets his hands on it). I might try the wet kibble and see how he goes with that. Possibly the problem is that it is too hard for him to get the food out (I was putting kibble with peanut butter, and he'd use his tongue to get as much as he could but wouldn't chew it to get it out). I check his toys every other day for signs of wear / choke hazards but thanks for the tip anyway, I wouldn't have thought of it if I didn't see it elsewhere.

I've got a little 9wk old Silky Terrier. When we go out we put him in his play pen with his toys, however I've noticed he doesn't really play with most of them (I leave a webcam on when I'm at work so I can keep an eye on what he gets up to to try and make adjustments to his toys / pen to suit him better). Pretty much his day consists of sleeping (spends about 90% of the day doing this), wrestling with his bed and wrestling with his stuffed monkey (the monkey is about his size and has a squeaker in it). I have a squeaky ball, a chew ball, a rope and a kong stuffed with his food in there as well but he doesn't touch any of those. Any ideas? I want to make sure he has enough things to do so he doesn't get bored but yeah, he doesn't seem too interested in anything except wrestling. I haven't noticed him crying / barking on the camera (he does it every now and then but usually just for a minute or so) I've tried putting peanut butter in the kong and he doesn't touch it. When I'm home he generally will play with his kong, rope and the squeakily ball (he doesn't really pay much attention to the monkey when I'm home).

The lino is really good, we were using newspaper at first however the puppy was getting confused about where he should be going to the toilet. We put down the lino and a puppy pad and he uses the pad everytime now. It was cheap too. We bought 1.5m at $12/m. We just give it a wipe down every couple of days. We actually used tomato tressles for the fencing (the steel mesh and/or chicken wire looked a bit too ugly to go in our dining room). However, last night while at a pet shop I saw this nice black steel fencing they have for these play-pens. It'd do the job very well. I have only seen it at one pet shop though so might need to look around.

Our little guy either holds it or only goes on his puppy pads when he is in his play pen. However, when he is just wandering around the house with us (even though he has access to his pen and puppy pads) he seems to just go whereever he wants. We take him out every hour but yeah, he seems to think our whole house is his toilet. I don't think the toilet problem is related to the puppy pen though, I think he just doesn't realise he shouldn't be going in the house. As promised, here is a picture of his play pen. He is all tuckered out from playing.