BrunoBella

Dogs like to be near their owners, so if outside would prefer to sleep in the rain on your doorstep than in their luxury kennels I'm not sure how to keep her in her kennel, if it's portable you could set it up outside the door and move it further away over time?? When my first pup was outside she was in a locked crate overnight under a roof with tarps to keep the rain out. She was fine with that. In my experience, dogs feel more secure in a smaller area. Bruno, for example, sometimes has trouble going to sleep in the laundry and when I move him to his locked crate (safe from burglars) he goes to sleep. He also feels less at ease in the pen which is larger than the laundry. My both sleep inside at night - big one in laundry with a dog/baby gate, little one in laundry or crate. They have no problems with switching from one to the other. I also have an outdoor pen and kennel and both dogs are comfortable in there as well. Just gotta make all the experiences happy. I don't know about crate training inside during the day and outside at night. I would reverse those two. I come from a family with outside dogs and, as my dog loving friends predicted, my dogs are spending more and more time inside with me . Re the crate, I have a chew proof metal one, not sure how the sofkrate would go as haven't tried one. Have fun!

Congrats on the new puppy. Sounds like a darling. I am on my second puppy, Bruno is now 10 weeks old. I agree with the not using No command for very young pups - it's the same as kids below 6mths who don't understand anyway. If my pup is naughty I remove him from the situation (like crawling babies really) and put him somewhere safe. If he's really naughty he is usually tired so I put him to bed. I am only teaching Come and Sit at the moment. Will teach Leave It when he gets bigger. At this age puppies have to have all good experiences - only introduce them to people who are good with dogs, don't let kids cart them around. They need to learn that you will keep their world safe for them and they need to learn to love you unconditionally. Bruno is not deliberately naughty - he just has so many rules to learn poor baby The following web site describes what ages you can teach puppies "No" - http://www.k9force.net/develop.html . I found this very usefull. Also describes when they learn to fear and when they hit the teenage years. Have fun!

Yes I think it is normal puppy behaviour. Bruno throws some lovely tanties. The other night he was sitting in the laundry with his basket on his head . I have been trying the triangle of temptation on Bella and Bruno and it works well. Bruno did a 1 second sit stay for his dinner. Have just put Bruno into his crate for timeout and am listening to some great whining/whimpering/crying

Devo What fun you're having ... My puppy is now 11 weeks old, when he occasionally goes out of control he goes into his crate for 15 minutes (or until he calms down). This is a safe non-threatening way to calm down an agitated pup. At this age you need to make sure he has happy experiences so try not to yell. I would introduce him to the house in short supervised spurts, eg, 15 minutes inside with your full attention and then outside again. I'm sure some staffy experts can give better advice on the dominance issues but don't forget he is a baby and does not know correct behaviour. It will take a lot of patience to train him properly. When my pup is in his crate he will jump at the gate for me to let him out. I stand by the crate and wait for him to stop and sit. When he does, I let him out. 2 weeks later and he sits everytime I walk past the crate in case i might want to let him out

A halti is a walking collar which ties around the dogs nose instead of the neck forcing your dog to try and pull with their nose instead of their very strong neck/shoulders. Get one and try it, it will save you getting pulled over. Even with a halti you still need to do training to teach the dog not to run over to other dogs. Halti's come from pet supply stores/RSPCA any good dog supplies place. Take neck measurement of your dog as halti's come in different sizes or get them to show you how to use it as they are a little tricky at first. My dog weighs 30kgs and I can walk her easily with the halti even if we are walking past PIGEONS . I don't know why pigeons are so excitinng. There were a few discussions in the last week about dog's pulling, have a look at what people said.

Hi Natashja Congrat on your puppy. I'm sure some very smart poodle experts will dive in and provide advice but in the meantime: It does sound like separation anxiety to me. I'm wondering about your kitchen door - can the pup see through it or not? If not, that is probably the issue. I have dog gates across the rooms I leave a pup in so they can see me at all times. This makes them a lot calmer. The other thing I've found when leaving a pup to do something that they feel safer in an enclosed space so maybe it's better to leave the pup in its crate where it can see you? My pup will certainly sleep calmly in his crate and cause a ruckus in the laundry. I think the pup feels the kitchen is a long way away and he's only little. He shouldn't follow you but should be able to see you. Good luck with sorting him out. It will all get better soon

Half Aunt really Here is Aunty Bella pulling her nephew along with a bird...

Thanks Tangerine Dream I will make sure he puts weight on slowly now. Don't want him to have any problems later. Bruno is so much fun and much more confident than his sister (aunt). Have to watch him though cause he is not scared of anything so will no doubt injure himself before too long

I have spent four months going through all my training and trying to fix anything I was doing inconsistently - lots of things when you look closely. This has made a massive difference to Bella's behaviour and improved our bond. I have a few more things to fix, like pulling on the lead when seeing birds. Worked very hard this afternoon and came back with Bella on a loose lead even past birds. Bella gets disheartened if I spend all my time correcting so now say "Let's try that again" in a happy voice and she smiles and does a better job. Sometimes we cross the same road backwards and forwards three times For pulling, I am trying to use stopping and 180 turns. Both work at different times for Bella. I'm sure every dog is different

Thanks Rugerfly I have cut down his food a bit per the vets instructions. I am not worried about him being too big, just interested to see how tall he will be! I'm renovating and the dogs will be getting a bigger laundry to sleep in so there will be more room for them then Thanks

Do any GSP owners know what their boy puppies weigh/ed. I put bruno on the scales at 10 weeks he weighs 9kgs I think he is going to be enormous!! I can't remember how much Bella weighed at that age but don't think it was anywhere near that amount. ................. Just took Bruno to the vet for a check-up and he is quite normal for his age - all GSP boys must be that big. Bella weighed 4.8kgs at the same stage!

Ruffles We've all had classes like that unfortunately. I was forced to repeat intermediate three times with Bella because "GSPs can't behave till they are 1, will always pull on a lead and can not behave off lead". I asked why didn't they tell me that before I wasted my time. I sat on the ground and sobbed (my usual response to stress and insults ). I stopped going to class after we finally completed intermediate (over a year ago). So many preconceived notions about breeds and no judgement of individual dogs. After searching through all the posts on the forum have decide to train Bella privately with K9. Good luck resolving this.

I started Bella swimming when very young. Took her to shallow water and walked in the water throwing sticks for her to chase. People looked at me strangely but it got her confident with water. They do swim by instinct and only need to know that they can. I borrowed a cattle dog who loves to swim to do a demo :rolleyes: and she hasn't looked back since. She can swim for hours and loves retrieving from the water (which is what they are bred for). I was told not to let dogs into human swimming pools as it wasn't good for them - probably the chlorine - and it certainly isn't good for the pool. May be different in salt water pools but I'm not sure. Bella swims in a pond or in the lake. My friend's GSPs love the surf as well. After 1 week at home Bruno definitely prefers the outdoors. He loves exploring my garden and gets up to mishief inside. I call Bella and Bruno my canine vacuum cleaners cause that's what they look like when they're following a scent which is pretty much all day.

I worked full time when Bella was a pup. Locked her in the laundy when she was little and came home at lunch time to check on her. Bella (GSP) has only ever been on two meals a day and so is my new puppy (Bruno). Bella was fine by herself for the day and didn't have too many problems. When the weather was good I left her in an outside pen which she preferred. They get used to it pretty quickly. I spent my lunch hours at home for the first few weeks to make sure she was happy. My friend has a husky which is an outside dog. She locked him in a fenced off area of her yard with shelter in one corner. He was fine there. Husband takes the dog for a 10km run in the mornings and my friend takes him out in the afternoon. They need a lot of exercise to stop them from barking. Her only complaint about the husky is that he doesn't like to cuddle. Re the Automatic feeders for lunch time: I think a visual check is much better. It's not about the feeding, it's that 8 hours is a long time for a dog to be alone (Bruno jammed himself behind the washing machine this morning). You need to work the pup up to this so might need some help for the first few weeks. Re the three times a day feeding. I'm not sure as my two have always eaten twice a day (till they get to once). It is hard work but well worth the effort .

Scary isn't it.

Thanks guys. I will post more pics along the way. I have 100 already!! There are such different colours on GSPs - I love the white flecked spots on my two cause they are distinct. I spent a lot of time researching to make sure I found dogs with a good temperament, and these definitely fit. Bruno is chewing on Bella's ears again, I am getting some subtle complaints . I give him a chew toy but Bella takes it off him so then he chews her ears. Hey, no-one picked up my deliberate mistake: sharing a father makes you sisters not cousins! Or half sisters in this case. That makes Bruno Bella's nephew :D .

He comes from Moruada kennels same as Bella. Bella and he are second cousins (She's from Macky (Minado American Express) and Moruada Wild at Heart.) Bruno is from Breaker and Libby, don't have the papers yet so don't remember their full names. Libby and Bella have the same father (Macky) so are cousins. Human parents is just me! Bruno is lovely - so confident and happy . I am so glad I got another dog! Dad, Mum and sibs attached...

We loved it! Learned a few tricks but mostly for Bella and myself, learned what was normal dog interaction and behaviour.

I only use the crate for bedtime or when I go out. I find it helpful to put Bruno to bed half an hour before I go to bed so he has stopped crying by the time I want to go to sleep. Crate or laundry training is the way to go. Dogs feel much more comfortable if they only have a little area to defend from burglars.

Sacha, I look forward to some photos when the pup arrives. Devo, The only way to stop the waking at night is not to play. Bruno tried this on all weekend. I let him out to wee, gave him a pat and put him in his crate. He whimpered and tried to play then slept soundly. He tried this every hour for two nights and now sleeps through. Yippee!! Good luck!

Hey Sacha I am now on my second GSP pup (as you saw in the photos). I live in Canberra where it is cold at night. Bella is an outside dog but sleeps in the laundry. She has a baby gate so the heating works in there. She comes into the lounge room in the evening now. Bella loves being outside as she can burn off a lot of energy. She rarely feels the cold even though she has a short coat. She even made me take her for a walk in the snow last year! With Bruno who arrived last week, I am doing the same. He lives outside during the day with free access to the heated laundry. He is happy as larry. When he gets a bit older and can listen to commands I will let him in the lounge room for a while as well. With crying and barking, I was surprised to hear about the barking GSP, Bella and Bruno barely bark. Bella only barks when someone walks past the house and she is probably the quietest dog on the street. The first week I got her home she howled for hours each night. This stopped and has never returned. Bruno only whimpers quietly for a minute as he's going to sleep (maybe cause he has Bella as well). I have heard that there is a lot of differences with GSP temperament so I bought mine from a breeder with good temperament dogs. Bella is absolutely lovely dog, she talks to me with her eyes and we have a great relationship. For entertainment, doing training with her and teaching her tricks makes her so happy, no doubt due to the working breed; we walk everyday and play fetch for up to an hour a day (in sessions). Fetching wears her out better than walking anyday. One thing I found with Bella is any sign that I am unhappy with her and she misbehaves terribly. If we have had a disagreement I then have to sit and give her a cuddle, then she behaves beautifully again. Good luck with your puppy and let me know if you want more information. I now have a 21/2 year GSP database in my head! I also have neighbours with 3GSPs and another with 1.

Congratulations! They are very actice dogs but a real laugh :cool: Both my dogs slept all night without complaints in their separate beds.. Very exciting for me!

Bought Bruno a little bed so he wouldn't sidle over to Bella and chew Bella's ears. Found him sleeping in her big bed and her trying to squeeze into his :cool: . Not sure who initiated that.... Both now sleeping in the correct bed as of 5 minutes ago. Would take a picture but the flash would wake everyone up :D . Bruno sitting still for a second...

He is cute! Should see him run with his huge belly and little short legs :cool: .

Having trouble with picis... Trying again...