Jarvis

A friend of mine just got a lab puppy called Dave. Love it!

My cocker pup is 6 months and I'd say about 90% trained now. I'm not the most consistent because I have 2 small kids to look after and it's very hard to find enough time to do everything! His bladder control is very good now though so no more accidents overnight. We're getting there. Thank goodness for wooden floorboards :-) Good luck with your pup, post up a pic!

Yes this is interesting. My pup is responding better and better to a whistle instead of a 'come' call at the moment.

My puppy is nearly 6 months now and has excellent recall at home, and off the lead out in public... But not yet when there are distractions (fun dogs mostly). I still let him off because he loves it so much and he gets so much great exercise playing with other dogs. Bit I admit that usually to get him back I either have to grab him or wait until he's exhausted and will just come and stand by my feet! We are working on it. And lots of people have told me that they do get it better when they're older. It's a bit stressful but he's a very friendly and mostly very well behaved dog and gets on with all people and dogs so if there's a dog that wants to play with him I just let him off!

I'm going to get my puppy a clam shell pool. He's such a water baby, lies down in the gutter if there's even a tiny drizzle of water. We had the kids paddling pool up the other week which he loved but inflatable pool and excited puppy with claws is not the best combination....lol!

Hilarious! lol My pup is like this a bit too though it seems much better now than it was - he's 17 weeks. I will keep an eye on him and look for a chiro too. Thanks for bringing it up!

Awww he looks lovely! What a smarty pants. And he looks like he enjoyed himself too. Bow or not!

I have just ordered cards through snapfish. I could put photos of my kids on the front, inside and back and there were heaps to choose from. I haven't got them yet but the other stuff I have done through them has been excellent quality.

I was worried my puppy wasn't eating enough too, but he is growing really well, and very happy and healthy. He just doesn't eat anywhere the amount that it says to feed them on the packet. I would say as long as you are feeding the same as the breeder then just be patient, she'll eat when she's hungry. My pup adores natural yoghurt, you could try her with some of that on the food?

Jarvis has a lovely donut bed But he will sleep anywhere Last week I bought him a trampoline bed from aldi for outside but he can't really see the point in lying down outside, too many things to sniff...

Thanks raineth sounds like excellent advice. The vet told me they clip nails for free and seeing as I took him for his vaccinations this week I got them done. She just took a little bit off each one and he was fine with it. I will get over my fear though and attempt it...sometime!

Love it! They look like they're in a portrait from the Victorian era. I'm half expecting Mason to be smoking a pipe :-)

Wow thanks snakecatcher that is fantastic! He is certainly beautiful. Just got a video of him disappearing back into the bush. But can't seem to post it on here. He is about 50cm long when on the move!

Can anyone identify this for me please? Found at the top of my street tiis morning. Small, probably a baby? Don't get many snakes around here that we see so its a big deal! Thanks, sarah

Hi, My 14 week old cocker pup Jarvis is only eating about half the amount of kibble that it recommends on the Eukanuba packet. He weighs just over 6kg, is very healthy, had his final vacc at the vets yesterday who said he's perfect. I'm not concerned about his weight, just confused why they recommend such a huge amount. Is everyone else finding the same thing? Jarvis gets kibble morning and night and at lunchtime gets a chicken wing or a couple of chicken necks or some yoghurt and sardines. He mostly seems to eat the kibble in the eve, doesn't get through much in the morning. Interested to hear your experiences...

Thanks Corvus. Met a boxer on our walk this eve. Jarvis is desperate to meet all people and dogs. I asked his owner if it would be ok to say hi. Jarvis went and sniffed (his nose this time!) but the boxer got jumpy so we just said bye. Jarvis was disappointed. I just think he can't understand why anyone wouldn't want to say hi (human or canine!). Anyway thanks for the info. Jarvis is obviously an 'in your face' friendly kind of dog so I will keep a close eye on him (and keep him on lead until he is older and wiser).

Don't know if you have an Aldi near you, but they have them on special from wednesday i think... Pet Beds at Aldi I have no idea of the quality, but am going to get one myself. Most of their stuff is pretty reasonable, and $25 sounds like a good price

YES! That is exactly what I'm after. A new dog owner with a 14 week old puppy. I'm desperate to do things right, and finding it hard to find out all the info. Just haven't been around dogs that much before so what may appear obvious to a long-time dog lover is a whole new language for me. Great idea, let me know if anyone sets one up... :D

Great article thanks. Leaves me with a few unanswered questions though - can people direct me to more articles which go into what the definition of a 'rude' dog is? I have a 14 week pup and have never had a dog before so have never been in a situation where I'd need to know until now. And everyone is keen to point out that what is ok for human behaviour may not be ok for dogs and vice versa but I am finding it difficult to get more info. For example it would be very rude for me to go and sniff someone's behind (!) yet it seems ok for dogs lol

Haven't done our pup yet, though he doesn't need it yet, and doesn't have dew claws. But I'm very nervous about it so think I will get the vet to do it. Just bought some clippers so I can groom him myself, not sure why I'm so nervous about the nails. But then I hate doing my kids nails too so I guess it's no surprise about the puppy really!

Happy Halloween to all my fellow puppy owners. Little devils sometimes aren't they? lol

Our vet offers a free health check for new puppies - a free 25 min appointment where they check over the puppy and talk about vaccinations/worming/ticks/desexing plans/feeding/socialisation etc I thought it was going to be an opportunity to 'sell' stuff to me, but it wasn't at all. Very good for peace of mind and a nice way to meet the vet (for us and for the puppy). See if your vet would do something similar? And good luck with your pup!

Thanks aussie3. Yep he's adorable alright. And in the past 2 weeks has definitely calmed down. Still has moments of madness where trouser legs aren't safe but I'd say it's improving. Hooray! And I do use time out in those situations. There's no reasoning with him when he's like that, and more often than not he just settles down for a sleep!

My 12 week old puppy loves to lick toes. But he gets carried away and can't resist a little nip somewhere in the proceedings so it's not the most relaxing massage experience I've ever had!

Hi and congratulations! I'm a new puppy owner and my 2 kids are preschoolers. I'd say you'd be wanting a great sling, like an ergo, so you can 'wear' your baby around the house, take him/her out on walks with the dogs. Especially useful as you won't be able to leave the baby in a rocker on the floor unless the dogs are locked elsewhere I guess. I used a sling a lot with mine as babies and we didn't even have a dog to deal with :-) Good luck with everything, I hope you have a nice smooth ride with the pregnancy and your dogs adjust to all the changes well. Sarah