stonecutter

I have my sample and am now waiting for our puppy to come home next week to see if she likes it - I'm sure she will Her breeder has her on Supercoat Puppy - I'm annoyed that I'll need to buy some of the supercoat so I can slowly switch her over!!

Us too - I have a feeling the week will pass very slowly...

Love the look in his eyes!!

I'm getting closer to having puppy supplies organised - house collar, training collar and lead all sorted Picked up a few more toys as well (good idea someone had about rotating toys each day rather than having them all out at once) All that's left is bedding for her puppy crate and dry food - her breeder has her on Purina One (which I think is at the supermarket) so I'll get the smallest bag of that and then try her out on Black Hawk Puppy. Oh - and I need to move 3 tonnes of pebbles to surround my veggie beds so that there's no exposed dirt for digging!

Aww - paps are so cute! I am also a first time dog owner and am feeling neurotic about everything. I've even taking to listening to some dog behavious and training podcasts (Ian Dunbar's iWoof series downloaded through iTunes) - I'm worried about being a terrible owner and I don't want Ziva getting into any bad habits that I might cause Our next door neighbour has a lab - somehow ended up freakishly large compared to his parents! About 10-15cm taller than any other lab I've ever seen - their owners are expecting a baby - they'll be able to use him as a pony!

Charlie was probably hiding from the new dog dryer - after watching Emmy get blown away he's sure he doesn't want to try it

Jodie - never too early! We have 10 days to go and we are madly working to complete our landscaping (new house), pick up puppy pens and dog proof the yard. I started preparing when the pups were 4 weeks (she'll come home at 12 wks) and I wish I had a bit more time. Mostly because it takes a while to find a good/cheap deal on used play pens, crates, baby safety gates etc on Gumtree/freecycle/eBay. Panzer - what breed of pup will you be bringing home? Does it seem like the days are dragging by? We have 10 days to go and it seems to be dragging!

Ours runs a FB group - but more for owners to share pics and catch up. Not so much for advertising. Great ideal though for sharing pics & vid

Thanks PF - we'll be trying Black Hawk and 1 hr a day would be easily achieved. I wasn't sure if longer coated breeds would require more access to sunlight than short coated. I agree about supplementation - since Vit D is fat soluble, excessive build up can be just as dangerous than not enough If the physiology in terms of use of Vit D is similar for canines as for humans, getting a little less sunshine one day isn't too terrible if you already have good levels of Vit D in your fat stores and you get enough the next day.

I've found the amount in iUs - 227/0.5kg of food. But there don't seem to be any guidelines on how much per kg your dog weighs. My next stop is to search some research journals to see if there is a recommendation. PoodleFan - since you brought up Vit D - do you have some accurate figures?

As I mentioned - this would be for 2 days per week. But since I don't leave for work until 9am those days, pup & I will have plenty of outdoor time for Vit D. People require 10 min/day - I do not have any figures for canines. The recommendations I have read suggest giving new pups a limited area and when they've proven their behaviour & your training has been successful and proofed, you can expand the area slowly. My eventual plan is to allow run of lower floor of the house when older and proven. Absolutely possible - but perhaps most people don't have a yard that is only surrounded by a 1.2m high, easily jumped fence in a new land release with plenty of strange people around every day - tradies, sticky beakers looking at new houses, thieves targeting areas where there aren't a lot of houses. They might not also live in an affluent area frequented by teens and hooligans who have attempted to break in to most houses before they're occupied just to cause mischief. Thanks for the feedback everyone :p I'll be sure to check Vit D requirements for my breed

She has a doggie door (though she's probably be too small to use it initially). Maybe once my garden grows a lot bigger and you can't see over the fence so easily we might give her access. Thanks CWEW!

Congrats to all those who brought home new puppies over the weekend Still another 12 days to go and there's only a few more household jobs left for puppy proofing - I have 2 puppy pens (one for my home office and one for our living area coz I'm lazy!) - we just have to sort out the dog run fencing. I have made the decision to keep Ziva inside when we're not at home. I'd love for her to be able to go outside - but there are too many cons * our yard is very open - we only have a pool fence between us and a public walkway (our house backs on to a golf course and there is a path between the golf course and us) * I have security cameras over parts of the exterior - but the main part of her dog run is in a blind spot * there is an empty block of land next door - so someone could climb the fence, grab her from the blind spot and we'd never know It was a really hard decision to make because we wanted to be able to give her freedom outside - but I think that losing her would be too emotional. I love our golf course views - but if we ever moved, I'd certainly be thinking of a fully secure yard. Maybe once she's a bit bigger and our neighbours build a house next door we'll re-consider. She'll still have outside access when we're at home - luckily I'm able to work from home 3 days a week. Anyone else keeping their puppy inside when they're not at home?

I have read in a few places that Japanese Spitz are often suitable for allergy sufferers.

Yay Bjelkier! I was just thinking about Yvengie today (I can't remember if that's the correct spelling)

Thanks MEH - was always my plan on the advice of my breeder and reading Dunbar - hopefully she picks it up quickly for when we're at work. (Unfortunately I can't bring her with me into the office or lecture theatre )

Could you get some Black Hawk delivered? I'm getting a sample pack in the mail and according to what I've read on DOL - even the fussiest dogs seem to like it.

Jakemom - awww - so cute! Quick question - I can see in the pics he has his lead on - does he ever get tangled in it? Nadine83 - haha - that was me last week - now we're waiting 19 days until she comes home (it seems like ages!)

thanks persephone! I'd already had a good read of the Dog Star Daily stuff - hence the idea to do toilet training to the same spot each time. The breeder thinks that it would be easiest to take her out the regular door at first and then when she's a bit more confident, the doggy door (apparently she hasn't had an inside accident for 2 weeks now) But definitely true about taking her out regularly - I certainly wasn't expecting her to figure it out at 12 weeks on her own! We've been told that by the time she comes home at 12 weeks, we should aim for toileting every 2 hours. If she looks urgent - just to rush her out the regular door to the spot, but if we're taking her - try to use a treat to lure her out the dog door so she gets used to it.

I had originally picked a spot in the yard as Ziva's toilet spot - but it's a good 10-12m from her doggy door. She'd go out the door in the laundry, up a granite path to a grassy/mulchy spot. After watching her trot around at her breeder's at 9 weeks - I'm now wondering if it's too far to walk. We're ok with her toileting on the gravel - but having never owned a dog before - I'm wondering whether it's a reasonable expectation. Thanks in advance

Welcome Sid!!! For some reason I look at him and think of Little John from Robin Hood (I think it's his little cap)

Yay - welcome home Archie!

Oh yay - puppy day for Huga and Naomi!

Naomi - how long did it take you to get Archer's tag made and delivered from the US? I'm wondering whether I'll need a puppy size tag and then a bigger one for when Ziva reaches adulthood

Ok - more puppy pics This was the smallest pup - a little girl we nicknamed "tiny" since she's 2/3 the size of the others - this is with her dad (Ronin)