Her Majesty Dogmad

Sounds fairly normal to me. Fighting is a lot nastier than this believe me.

And the best thing to have is a doggie door so that they can go when they need to, particularly when they are either young or old.

Oh for God's sake, people are such morons - this is just a cruel act that means absolutely ZERO to a puppy and will cause it to be fearful in the future. Please print out the following information and give it to your friend. I sincerely hope that he will be prepared to put a little effort in. Did he arrive from the womb toilet trained? No. Did his mother train him by rubbing his nose in it? I hope not. Well don't do it to dogs either. HOUSETRAINING TIPS Ok - first thing to do is decide on the command (I call it “do wees”) you will repeat over and over. You have to really focus on the dog for about 2-3 days to be successful. You have a pocketful of special treats on hand all the time for the first 2-3 days. Walk the dog several times a day and every time the dog wees, you get very excited and keep saying “Good boy/girl, do wees, do wees” – give the dog treats every time. First thing in the morning, last thing at night and every time you see the dog eat or drink (both precursors to weeing) whisk the dog into the garden and repeat the command “do wees”. Get very excited and present treats every time dog goes. The dog’s aim in life is to please you. If the dog should have an accident inside the house – say NOTHING at all. The dog soon gets the idea that when he/she goes outside you are really, really pleased and he/she gets rewarded. NB: Please note that the smell of urine must be properly removed for any housetraining to be successful. There are products on the market such as “Urine Off” but they are very expensive. A mix of white vinegar and water is a much cheaper alternative and should work for tiles and other surfaces although you should always take care with wood etc. For carpet/rugs, I use either a mixture of Napisan/water or bicarb of soda and water. I completely soak the stain using a dab on technique with a cloth. When it is very wet, I use an old towel to soak up the excess moisture. Again, be careful on any expensive carpet/rug, I have never had any problems but I cannot guarantee any method here.

GayleK - possibly but on the flip side, most of the dumped dogs are under 2 years of age. Most people work full time and I talk to people very carefully about their regimes and lifestyles. Most would not suit a puppy. This year, in spite of our best efforts and careful interview techniques, we've had 2 instances of dogs returned as they were no longer wanted. In both cases, the dogs were rehomed as puppies by us. In both cases the new owners lied to us about what they were offering for the dogs. In both cases, the dogs were loved at first, like a novelty, before being discarded into the garden. Neither dog was taken to training, beyond puppy training. Neither dog had any time spent with it at all (not even walks) and so began the barking, digging, unhappiness for the dog. I'm only sorry both lots of people took so long to return the dogs which then needed a lot of work as they were bigger breeds. The callousness of the owners in both cases, shocked me greatly. They had obtained the puppies under false pretences and who suffered? At least they are alive because we took them back. The dogs in the pounds rarely make it out because they exhibit untrained behaviour. So I would say that we can only try our best and in the majority of cases, we rehome well. I don't think we'll be changing our rehoming requirements this area at this stage.

I'd recommend setting up a regular regime of anti-flea treatment. I put Advocate or Advantage on mine, 1st of each month. They will still get the odd flea. Don't bath the dog within 48 hours either side of the flea treatment. Don't wait until you see a flea - by then there could be thousands and they won't just be on the dog!

Here are my toilet training tips: HOUSETRAINING TIPS Ok - first thing to do is decide on the command (I call it “do wees”) you will repeat over and over. You have to really focus on the dog for about 2-3 days to be successful. You have a pocketful of special treats on hand all the time for the first 2-3 days. Walk the dog several times a day and every time the dog wees, you get very excited and keep saying “Good boy/girl, do wees, do wees” – give the dog treats every time. First thing in the morning, last thing at night and every time you see the dog eat or drink (both precursors to weeing) whisk the dog into the garden and repeat the command “do wees”. Get very excited and present treats every time dog goes. The dog’s aim in life is to please you. If the dog should have an accident inside the house – say NOTHING at all. The dog soon gets the idea that when he/she goes outside you are really, really pleased and he/she gets rewarded. NB: Please note that the smell of urine must be properly removed for any housetraining to be successful. There are products on the market such as “Urine Off” but they are very expensive. A mix of white vinegar and water is a much cheaper alternative and should work for tiles and other surfaces although you should always take care with wood etc. For carpet/rugs, I use either a mixture of Napisan/water or bicarb of soda and water. I completely soak the stain using a dab on technique with a cloth. When it is very wet, I use an old towel to soak up the excess moisture. Again, be careful on any expensive carpet/rug, I have never had any problems but I cannot guarantee any method here. Looks like things have improved but Spitz types are generally yappers and attention seeking little characters. Not for me as I have neighbours who won't tolerate any noisy dogs.

Keep your dog away from the kitty litter - almost all dogs eat it. Re eating their own poo, try giving a little pineapple. Also, be more vigilant - be right behind her when she poops and pick up instantly - this will keep the flies down too. By the way, I'd have to be one of the world's busiest people - I work full time and in my spare time, I work (unpaid) for Doggie Rescue and believe me - there could be at least 5 of me and that still wouldn't be enough.

jamesanddean - pls consider contacting Golden Retriever Rescue, they are not far from you.

And I don't believe she's either lazy or doing it for attention, I feel the poor little mite is very confused. She needs good and consistent direction as in my post above.

Dogs don't speak English so saying things like "no" doesn't work for all. Dogs forget what they've just done within about 5 minutes so showing any dog an old mess just doesn't compute. Housetraining methods should perhaps be a permanent sticky as I'm always posting this method here, it involves kindness and reward but will require you and all in the household to be: CONSISTENT If it doesn't work, it is usually a lack of consistency. I normally get a new foster dog on a Saturday morning, I concentrate on the process on the Saturday and Sunday and Monday morning, quite often they've got it by Monday evening. Try this and let us know how you go please. I have had success with over 40 dogs in the last 4 years, of all ages from 1 to 12 years, including bad abuse cases. HOUSETRAINING TIPS Ok - first thing to do is decide on the command (I call it “do wees”) you will repeat over and over. You have to really focus on the dog for about 2-3 days to be successful. You have a pocketful of special treats on hand all the time for the first 2-3 days. Walk the dog several times a day and every time the dog wees, you get very excited and keep saying “Good boy/girl, do wees, do wees” – give the dog treats every time. First thing in the morning, last thing at night and every time you see the dog eat or drink (both precursors to weeing) whisk the dog into the garden and repeat the command “do wees”. Get very excited and present treats every time dog goes. The dog’s aim in life is to please you. If the dog should have an accident inside the house – say NOTHING at all. The dog soon gets the idea that when he/she goes outside you are really, really pleased and he/she gets rewarded. NB: Please note that the smell of urine must be properly removed for any housetraining to be successful. There are products on the market such as “Urine Off” but they are very expensive. A mix of white vinegar and water is a much cheaper alternative and should work for tiles and other surfaces although you should always take care with wood etc. For carpet/rugs, I use either a mixture of Napisan/water or bicarb of soda and water. I completely soak the stain using a dab on technique with a cloth. When it is very wet, I use an old towel to soak up the excess moisture. Again, be careful on any expensive carpet/rug, I have never had any problems but I cannot guarantee any method here.

You could try contacting the Club first: GOLDEN RETRIEVER CLUB OF VICTORIA Inc. Shane Addison Narre Warren Ph: 03 8794 9388 Mobile: 0438 523 526 Email:[email protected] www.grcv.org.au Another thing you might be able to do initially is "foster" a particular dog, that way you can see how it all works for you. Thanks for being open to suggestion on what is the best thing for the dog, if only everyone thought like you our pounds would not be so full of unwanted dogs. All the best!

Ahona - are you in NSW? I can provide the Golden Retriever Rescue group's phone no if you like.

We recommend dogs of 4+ for people that work fulltime. Most dogs have a lifespan of 10+ years except the giant breeds. I have referred 4 unwanted Golden Retrievers to Golden Retriever Rescue in NSW in the last fortnight. Those dogs were all in NSW and aged between 2 and 7 years of age. Nothing wrong with any of them except they had the misfortune to end up with owners that were not committed to the dog for the term of its natural life. That said, there will always be good reasons for having to rehome a dog such as death or serious illness. I don't consider moving house to be a good reason however (the reason in 3 cases). If I move, my dogs will be coming with me.

G&W, is this the Pom/Sheltie cross boy from HP? In my original assessment of him, I found him to be a problem with my male on first meeting. He appeared to either be dominant or have no dog manners whatsoever. He just jumped straight on top of my small dog without so much as a sniff. If you have only just desexed him it will take about 2 months for the hromones to leave his system. He has corgi in him I believe.

I work for an organisation that does not rehome puppies to homes where people work full time. They need extra meals and lots of attention whilst growing. It simply doesn't work but if you have the support network that might help. I don't believe in crating dogs for hours on end either. Sorry to be negative but I have fostered young dogs and as a full time worker, even though they other dogs for company and tons of exercise, it simply didn't work for me.

You have been through a rough time, I lost 3 of mine this year, I understand. I hope that your rescue girl will bring you some joy amidst the tears.

Sorry for your loss jellybean. I'm glad that Bonnie had a wonderful and loving home for her whole life but you will miss her terribly for a long time, so hard on us when we lose our loved ones.

Spot on Jed. I will just say this, I've been told many, many times by people that their dogs are "biting". There is a massive difference between biting and nipping. Biting is aggressive, nipping is typically puppy behaviour or often worknig dog behaviour.

Aren't they gorgeous?

Alloveen smells a bit like coconut and comes in shampoo and conditioner, not sure if there is a spray as well. My vet had a big selection of all sorts last week so have a look around, you might just come across it. ALternatively, why not ring a grooming salon, they should know!

Good advice has been given here. I'm not sure how you decided on a Labrador - they are a lively, boisterous breed of dog and it sounds like fairly typical puppy behaviour at this stage. Most people are best off with a dog of 4 years or older, simply because they don't want or like puppy behaviour. It is very time consuming as well and people are very busy these days. I really hope you will take the time to work this through, best to get help early on as other posters have suggested.

I take a couple of mine to the vet as they won't let me do it and at the vets they have nurses to hang on to them! Well worth $20 in my opinion! Same for the anal glands - they've offered to show me how but I'm happy to pay ....

Dogs go through this till they are about 2 - last year I fostered 2 dogs under 2. They destroyed all the plants in my yard (over a 5 month period till they found an understanding home where they continued to destroy stuff) plus books, etc etc in the house. This was in spite of me walking them for an hour each morning and another half an hour at night and them playing with each other continually during the day. They also pulled the washing off the line as well. I work full time and cannot cope with this situation, it isn't right for the dogs or me so I only take oldies now.

This is fairly typical puppy behaviour, they do nibble. You need to keep him exercised to stop him pulling washing off the line etc. Contact DOL member Catzatsea - she has 2 Shiba Inu - they are lovely dogs.

Always sad, no matter what. I cried last year when a little dove that had nested in my tree for years was killed by my neighbour's bloody cat. Her mate has been alone ever since.