Alec

These are all reassuring comments thanks She now bolts with her ears down and her tail straight, in otherword's her 'catch me if you can' run...we call her 'mighty mouse' lol

Hi All, Thanks for the replies. I think we are just overly worried parents We took her to her 2nd obedience school on tuesday and she was much better! She had a chance to play around before hand with a flat coated retriever (nice and tall) and also her brother and sister in law (the other 2 spitz in the photo) and she had a riot running around them playing once she got familiar with them. Shes started kissing her brother (weird...) and playing, albeit cautiously, with the other pup's in her class and she sniffed a bum or 2 for the first time Funnily enough the pup she was most interested in was a St. Bernard lol its paw if bigger than her entire body (almost :p) We are just being relaxed and normal, as if there were no other dogs around (but of course being careful of the big mean looking ones) The trainer said the same thing as you all have. Tassie, Join the Spitz owners clan :D Sandra, We got her when she was 8 weeks When we met her at 6 weeks the brother wasn't there, but maybe he was just in another room...we all know what they say about assumptions! EDIT: Come to think of it, Mikey (her bro) was dropped of the same day Lilly was, so they must have been together for the full 8 weeks) So our instincts to stop 'forcing' her to meet the other dogs were right then We haven't done it since that one example, it just felt wrong.

Hi All, Wondering if you can help me. Our 3 1/2 month Japanese Spitz puppy was fully vaccinated a few weeks back so we have started taking her for walks in the park and also obedience school where she meets lot of other puppies and dogs. She is such a confident pup and absolutely loves humans, shes 'everyones pet' as a nice lady said at the park, but we are a bit concerned about her behavior around other dogs. The first other dog she met was a small adult poodle, a little larger then herself. The poodle approached nicely to say hi, but Lilly cowered on the ground with her tail between her legs She got a little better after a few mins, but she was constantly hiding between/behind our legs whenever the poodle approached. For the whole walk, she met maybe 5 or 6 other dogs and the same story, perhaps with a little less cowering. Next day was a bit better, and she hasn't really cowered since the first day. Aside from hanging her head a little lower, her tail does not go between her legs and she wont cower on the ground. But she will still not approach other dogs willingly unless they have their backs turned. The moment the look at her she runs behind us! Initially we have tried to hold her in front of the other dogs to let her sniff but she tries her hardest to get away and we don't really think this is the right way to do it so have stopped. She will quite happily sit within a few feet of other dogs but only if they are ignoring her. At puppy school she met alot of dogs, mostly bigger than her, and again she was ok to walk around them until they approached her. She would sneak up on them and sniff, but as soon as they turned towards her she was off like a rocket! At the park just yesterday she met alot more dogs, both puppy's her age and adult dogs. She wouldn't go near the larger dogs and pulled away on the leash. With the puppy's she cautiously approached and ran away when they paid her attention! Shes always pulling back on the leash. She did make friends with a toy poddle which was the first pup we found who was actually smaller than her, and after a caution introduction of about 15minutes she was playing with it. The poodle was a little scared of lilly this time, but not nearly as scared as lilly was to other dogs! Below is a photo of her meeting her brother, the first time they have seen each other since 6 weeks of age. It was almost like she didnt recognise him! She hid behind us and we had to maneuver her in front of him! As you can see she sits quite happily near her bro, but as soon as he starts to show her attention she will run behind us. Same with the other JS behind them. I will point out that the way I type this probably makes her sound really scared of dogs. I am not sure this is entirely true because is she were scared, I guess she wouldn't even sit near them, and shes no longer hanging her tail between her legs unless the dog is really big, but in those cases she normally runs away as far as the leash will let her! Also, its worth noting that when she eventually started playing with the little poodle, she was off her leash. All other times she was on it. Are we worrying over nothing? It it normal for puppy to not want to approach other dogs? I would have thought she'd be eager to try something new, she is with everything else! How long should it normally take for Lilly to get used to other dogs? I will note that at the breeders she was raised with a number of other JS and also Staffordshire Bull Terrier's of all ages (and lovely temperaments) so its not like shes never seen a dog before! She payed quite happily with her sister and brother as a wee one at the breeders (not any more it seems...)

Well that worked 2am, she got up, went potty outside on command and went back to sleep! No accidents in her crate She went potty on the grass (same spot she normally does) but hopefully she will be ok, its not a spot of grass other dogs are likely to go (right in front of our door in plain view!). She went to munch on her poop but I got it in time. My next questions will likely be about how to settle down a crazy puppy lol shes going through a phase :p But I wont bother you with that until we've tried the things i've read on other forum posts

Hi Tassie, I will check with the vet Its pretty grassy around our area and pretty much anywhere we go, though your point is noted Perhaps that's a good interim solution until the parvo risk is over. I guess its better to teach her to go ANYWHERE outside than not at all! Easier to adjust her training that way too Thanks. I'm inclined to do as you suggest and wake her in the middle of the night. Good tip about carrying her out thanks as she does tend to get a little playful.

Hi Mason, Seems to jut be one dog. What do you think about the question I asked stonecutter? I appreciate any help

Yeah it is The plan is to move out before Christmas lol, but yes we plan to puppy proof it because you never know what might change. Wherever we mover to though will be puppy proofed. I've heard its alot safer on paved surfaces and there is a large concrete carpark/driveway where she can play outside and we can practice leash walking. Is this safe? I don't want to potty train her to go on pavement, so what do you think is safer. Keep potty training her entirely indoors for a few weeks, then train her on the grass when shes vaccinated while keeping outdoor times on concrete area? Or keep training her on a small spot of grass outside and play on the paved area? Or keep her entirely indoors for a few weeks until she has had her 2nd shot?

Its mostly fenced, but there are a few gaps. Its a fairly large yard (1700sqm)and there are a number of big trees on the boundarys where there is a break in the fence and the dog could get though. The poop I first found was not completely dry and I found a very dry (dusty) one also. I have never seen the dog myself so it can't be too often, but the 'evidence' suggests its not a one off occasion and its happened recently. She goes both inside and outside quite happily which is a relief We praise/treat her if she goes in the right spot inside and also when she goes outside but we make a bigger deal of it outside as ideally that's what we wan't her to want to do, but we want to get this parvo risk sorted first :/ In anxious to get her outside asap once we can determine if the risk is there or not. When we do take her outside to go, we take her directly to where we want her to go to limit the chance of walking somewhere this other dog has been (though of course we cant be sure her potty spot wasn't a favorite of the stray either!)

Hi All, A few more questions i'm hoping you can help with (Wow what a wall of text! Sorry!) Last night we had our 9 week Jap Spitz sleep in the lounge for the first time. Up until now she has been sleeping in our room in her crate beside our bed. She had a potty at around 3am (woke us up to let us know) and woke up for breakfast at 6:30am typically. She has been sleeping very well for the first week we had her and hasn't been any trouble to get to sleep (no crying or tearing at her crate) so we thought we'd move her to the lounge. Last night she fell asleep in her crate in the lounge after a quiet cuddle, so we left her sleeping and went to bed. We left the crate door open so she could get out at night to go potty if she needed to. Her crate is in the confines of her play pen which has a bit of artificial grass on the opposite side of the pen to her crate for her to potty on. We treat her with liver treats and praise, and after just 3 days of using this area she goes potty on it 90% of the time. The 10% she doesn't is usually when shes running around outside her pen and we cant get to her on time...she's like a pee ninja... She has never had a mistake in her crate, and only 1 in 2 nights will she have her 3am potty, other nights she sleeps right through. We take her outside when possible but its good to know shes learning where its ok to go inside when she needs to. We woke in the morning at about 6:30 to find a poop and wet spot just outside her crate, not on her potty area. This must have been her 3am potty. When we got up to feed her, she went potty on her area immediately after eating (which she decided would be yummy to eat) This says to me she knows she gets a treat when we're around but its not enough of a habit yet for her to go in the right area when we aren't. Would this be correct? After all the prologue about our puppy's potty habits, my questions (finally!) are: -Should we close her crate at night or leave it open at the risk of a mistake in her crate? We cannot hear her from our room in-case she wants to let us know she needs to potty in the middle of the night. -Have we moved her out too soon? -How do we stop her eating her poop!? We don't think shes hungry or overfed, maybe shes just helping us clean The next questions don't need quite as long introduction One reason we don't take her outside as often as we should is because we discovered a few foreign poop's our own lawn when playing with her outside! The landlords say there has been a stray dog wander around the backyard from time to time so we are worried about parvo as she has not yet had her 2nd vaccination (due in 2 weeks). I hope she didn't pick up anything from her first discovery -Should we worry about her and get her checked? Concerned parents talking here, probably worried too much... She let out a random loud yelp the a few days back while having a nap and woke up looking frightened We thought it could be a nightmare, but she did it again the next day while sitting down happily. I thought it was just a bad dream but when she did it while sitting (awake) we started worrying again (silly worrying parents!). It hasn't happened since then (for a few days) so maybe we are worrying over nothing, but if it happens again should we get her looked at? She has been cleared of LP. Thanks in advance!

Thanks guys

Yeah Looking forward to having a pristine white fur seal as a pet lol

Morning update Again, Lilly slept without a peep. She woke up at 1am and 3am for a potty, no playing then back to bed She wanted to play, but her Mum & Dad needed sleep! She woke up at 6am and we gave her 1/4cup mixed kibble with a little water (just enough to make them float). This seemed about right as she finished all but a few pieces. We plan to feed her 3 times per day, so this will be 3/4cup total per day, on the low end of the recommendations but inline with all of your helpful suggestions The artificial grass in her pen seems to be working. If we arn't around to take her outside every hour or we simply miss our opportunity, 90% of the time we will find shes gone on the 'grass', the other 10% she's has just missed but is getting the general idea. As a side note, I think her tear stains are slowly fading...but that might just be my imagination ;)

Hi All who have replied since my last reply, its hard to keep up lol I have removed the litter box and put down a small bit of artificial lawn, from the moment I put it in her pen she went poos and wees on it without us having to put her there! She has not had an accident all evening! Our alternative to a puppy pad seems to be working While we can supervise her, we are training her to go outside as suggested. Patience is a virtue I guess ;) The breeder topped up the food bowl when it was empty (about 1/4 cup each time, not sure how many times she had to top it up over the day though) We will reduce her food intake and remove the milk Hopefully she eats her entire breakfast tomorrow morning, which will be a big encouragement to us She's a very good pup overall, learnt to sit today :D Thanks all, will keep you updated.

Sandra, We want to train her outside, so maybe we leave an area of newspaper for accidents. I expect we will find a lot of poos and wees when we get home from work so will put something waterproof under it to protect the carpet lol Is trying all these different techniques going to confuse her? Have we done something terrible by not getting it right dat 1?

Hi Sandra, The milk power+ water is to soften the kibble a bit. That's sort of what I was thinking too, we will cease the milk and see how she likes it Id rather she get solid food than watery milk! I've read a few places which say litter trays (with litter) are good, so we thought we'd try it :/ I'll replace the litter with a wad of turf and see if it helps...homemade doggy loo Thanks for the help!

Hi All, Sorry for all the new threads and the following novel! As you may have noticed, my wife and I have a new Japanese Spitz pup, 8 weeks old. A few questions to ease some concerned parents minds... - Crate training. Our pup quite happily walked into her soft crate and slept from day one. The first night, she was exhausted and very sleepy but was a little nervous when putting her to bed (her bed is beside ours). We simply patted her softly for a few mins through the top of the crate then zipped it up when she dozed off. No problems and she slept soundly through the night with a short potty break at 3am This is all ok when shes tired, its a little more difficult when shes amped up so we just tire her out first :D My question is...We want to give her a command such as 'nap time' or something to get he to go to her crate on command, but how do we teach her a command if she willingly goes to her crate!? Do we praise her and say 'nap time' when shes just gone in and give her a treat anyway? I'm afraid once shes in the crate if we distract her she will come out to play lol - Food. We are slowly changing her food from Purina Pro Plan to Canidae and giving her about 1 1/2 - 2 cups of kibble over 3 meals per day (Canidae/Purina + Whole milk powder + water). She seems to get about 1/2 way through a meal and stops eating, usually after all the milk is gone. Every so often she will go back for a bite or 2 but never finishes her meal. Could this mean shes full and we are feeding her too much? Should we remove her bowl after she stops the first time? A few seconds after her morning meal she vomited a little (milk power water only). I've read this can be due to over feeding? We heard her tummy rumbling for a few hours after her midnight potty break, so maybe she ate too quickly on a empty stomach? - Outdoor potty training. She wont go outside even if she was planning on going inside and we catch her I think she may be overwhelmed by all the sights and smells outdoors and forget she needs to go lol. Its cold and wet outside (about 6 degrees during the day) and she shivers alot so I don't want to be outside long, but even if we give her say 10 minutes she wont go. Should we introduce her to the outside world first to get her used to it before we potty train her outdoors? We are training her inside in the mean time because there will be times when we are out and she will need a place to potty inside anyway. - Inside potty training. We have the floor of her pen covered in newspaper, and have set aside a corner (furthest from her crate) with a litter box and litter. We caught her in the act a few times doing #1's and #2's and successfully moved her into the litter box and praised her etc when she did the deed. Shes learning fast and the last time she pooped, she nearly went in it herself but missed by about 10cm (front in the box, rear end outside :p). She now thinks its a good idea to sleep in her litter box! And if she wants praise or attention she will sit in it! How can we stop this? I think this might be because on the first day she sat in it a few times and we (wrongly) thought she was going potty and praised her :/ We get the odd wee accident (only 1 poo accident) on the carpet despite moving her quickly to the litter box, she goes quicker than we get get to her. So we clean this up and spray the area with a deodoriser. Also, from time to time she takes a nibble at the litter material. Is this harmful? - Ignoring her crying. Do we have to! Shes too adorable lol...this ones my attempt at a joke ;) Thanks!

Meet Lilly, 8 week Japanese Spitz Just got her today, here she is having a nap Potty training is difficult! We keep missing her by a few seconds!

Noted I plan to change it very slowly over a week. The breeder has suggested the same as you and I certainly dont want to upset pup's tummy! That's the very reason we are getting the Chicken and Rice recipe of Canidae and not the one with all the other meats, its supposed to be better for sensitive tum's. Also noted. I'll discuss with the breeder the new food when we pick up the pup. She is very helpful and we will be keeping her updated on the pup's progress so she'll be able to notice things we wouldn't Thanks for the warnings

Tomato paste sounds interesting! Will keep it in mind also Sheena, i'd be interested to know that also.

Hi, That was a quick reply! Yes she is adorable Thats good to hear other have had the same experience (well not good but...you know what I mean :p), makes me worry less lol I'll wait off on the ACV for a few weeks I think. Thanks for the tip about the beef, will keep that in mind. When we get her ill be sure to post some nice pics taken with our SLR Much better than a camera phone!

Hi All, New to the forum and what a great help its been for far! I live in New Zealand and am picking up a 8 week Japanese Spitz girl on tuesday My question is about tear staining and diet. We went and visited the breeder last week to meet our pup and noticed she had quite a bit of tear staining, as did her sister. The breeder says it happens with all her pup's when she starts putting them onto kibble (Purina Pro Plan mixed with real meat), but it goes away after a few weeks. She also changes their water to distilled which I imagine helps alot. She had a 12 week pup in her house at the time which had tear staining at 8 weeks, but it was completely gone. She is a great breeder and her beautiful dogs frequently win best of breed. We were at one of the shows, her dogs really are nice When we get her, the first thing we will be doing is changing her diet to Canidae Chicken and Rice. We might change her to Canidae Grain free at a later date, but were told C&R is better for tear stains as it has less iron or something so will start with that. We will also use distilled water. My questions. - Has anyone had experience with Canidae and tear stains who can give me feedback on if/how it helped? From what ive read on this forum and all over the net, diet seems to play an important part. - Is it worth trying apple cider/vinegar in her water immediately? Or wait to see if the change in diet helps? I don't want to use medication (or angel eyes or whatever its called) if I can help it. Prevention rather than cure is my motto Our baby(terrible photo sorry! Not giving her cuteness justice EDIT: Haha just noticed this was the forum our breeder was talking about where she posted my wife and my photo's of her JS 'Kendra' We are the proud puppy buyers mentioned here Thanks! Alec