YvonneM

Done

It's interesting to read all of the comments. I am hoping that Banjo will be comfortable with his brother when he meets him again on the weekend - they will be the same size (more or less) and will "sound" similar! When we go walking and I see other people walking their dogs I will ask (if their dog seems calm) if it would be okay for Banjo to "meet" their dog - I would like him to be more comfortable around other dogs.

Banjo ignores his breakfast and dinner on a regular basis, but will graze on it over a couple of hours .... Got the can of sardines and am going to mix that with his kibble tonight and see if he changes his attitude!

LOL .... We learned this the hard way with our dearly departed Winston and swore that Banjo would be crated from day 1 - best thing we ever did - but gotta admit sometimes on cold nights I want to have him snuggled in our warm bed with us too - but so far have resisted the temptation .... Don't want to start bad habits!!!

I might take a wander up to my local continental butcher in my lunch break tomorrow and see what they have ....

Banjo doesn't have many "friends" because he is still quite nervous around other dogs - not sure why because he has not had any bad experiences and we did puppy preschool with other doggies - I guess I am hoping that he might have more of a "connection" with his brother!

Just wondering .... Banjo came home to us at 8 weeks and is now 20 weeks. His brother went to a lovely couple about an hours drive away and we have had several phone chats about the progress of our respective babies. Anyway this weekend we happen to have to travel close by to them and have arranged to visit and wondered if Banjo and his brother Murphy would "know" that they are related or would they just be another dog to each other.

What kind of bone did you get? I've never given Banjo a bone yet- so wondered what was the "right" kind? He's a maltese, so tiny mouth and I am paranoid about choking. Our last Maltese X nearly choked to death on a chicken neck that gave me such a fright that I was never confident to give another bone EVER, but I think he'd love it!

So talking about what to put in kongs I see that some are using sardines .... Now I am sure that banjo would LOVE sardines but me - well I've never even opened a tin of the things .... Can they eat,the whole sardine? Are there bones in those things and are they soft enough to eat?? I guess I'm looking for a bit of variety to put with banjo's kibble for breakfast and dinner. Ay T the moment he gets his kibble with some steamed chicken a bit of grated cheese and plain Greek yoghurt all mixed together - but probably a bit boring every day! What else can I mix in with his kibble to keep it interesting?? Not sure i want to stick sardines in his kong though!!!

I don't get to pop in here too often lately .... but read a lot! Gotta say, Tank is looking absolutely gorgeous - I love seeing his photos. I really must post a couple more of Banjo - I took some on the weekend. I have to remember to keep taking pictures because they grow so fast .... I was looking at some from when he first came home and, although he is still quite small (almost 20 weeks and just shy of 3kg) he was oh so tiny then!! Banjo gets a kong every morning that I leave for work. I put either peanut butter or philly cream cheese in it - it's only a small one. He loves it! DH had last week off work and I think quite secretly Banjo was a little miffed - he didn't get a kong once last week! He didn't want to know about me leaving for work this morning, just interested in getting a hold of that kong :laugh:

Banjo too!! It's hilarious watching him digging up the mat just to sniff the drain :laugh: He has a thing for the fabric tags on the bath mats and towels as well - he's not satisfied until they have been torn off ..... tags on anything really - including his toys!

I think what I will do (initially) is use the panels to block access into the bathroom area - because that seems to be the place he wants to go if he doesn't go outside ... see, the funny thing is he WILL go outside on his own because I have seen him do it - and are are always taking him outside as well because we wanted to establish that from the day dot. If that doesn't work, them I will look at making his access to the "wider house" more limited - his crate is in our bedroom and he goes there to sleep during the day, so I really didn't want to restrict his access there. Anyway - thanks again .... will come back with a progress report in due course :)

Too true - what a wonderful gift!

Would wider baby gates help? The problem with saying something after he's toileted is that he's already done it - the horse has bolted. This is what I mean by "if you can't watch him, crate him". It wont be forever but every time it happens, it reinforces the behaviour. So you have to make so that he can never make a mistake. If you are absolutely vigilent about this for just a couple of weeks, the worst will be over. I think the idea of setting up a pen around the door door is a good one. Access to the wider house will be a privilege he will have to earn I"m afraid. THanks Haredown - yes, wider baby gates would help - Shapeshifter has suggested the fencing panels from Bunnings which I think might be the perfect solution - for now! I do appreciate everyone's suggestions and input - I feel like I have some options that I had not thought of :)

Ah-ha! I never thought of the fencing from bunnings .... it's compost fencing or something isn't it? That might solve the problem given that the house is so open plan and the doorways wide - being able to clip together the panels would work

x2 Or use a play pen if you want him to have more space. Peeing is self-rewarding so every time he makes "mistake" it reinforces the behaviour. So he either toilets in the main bathroom or outside, no where else inside? Obvious but - shut the bathroom door? I would expect one of mine ot be virtually perfect at 18 weeks but different breeds house train at different rates. Time for a bit of tough love IMO - what do you do when he toilets inside? THere is no bathroom door to close! He is using the vanity area of the bathroom which is directly off the hallway - all open plan with large door openings so no option to close it off, otherwise I would, believe me ! If I see him coming out of the bathroom and he has toileted in there I say a firm and loud NO! and then proceed to clean up without any further fuss. If I see him heading to the bathroom I redirect him outside .... however, having said that he has an obsession with the floor waste drain and will often just sniff around the drain and wander away - he does that in our ensuite bathroom too ... and I have spoken to some other friends whose dogs seem to have a liking for the drain

The difficulty you have is that you don't have forever to sort this out. As Sandra has said, its time to make positive steps to remove any capacity for mistakes. By around five months, you really need to have it sorted. That doesn't leave long. Time to eliminate ANY chance for him to do it where you don't want it. If that means crating him when he cannot be carefully supervised, then that's what you need to do until mistakes are no longer an issue. I can't crate him for 8 hours straight in one stretch!

Our house is quite open plan so no option to lock him in only the room that has access to the doggy door, although I have closed off some rooms and there are baby gates on all bedrooms except for our bedroom because his crate is in there and he goes there to sleep during the day. Baby gates are mostly for his own safety so he can't get near power cords etc. He has access to doggy door at all times - I guess I too am confused because I have seen him take himself outside to toilet - so I know he "gets it". Haredown - the reason we used pee pads to begin with was because our breeder had used them - we felt that we didn't want to change everything in one hit when he left the security of living/sleeping with his mum and litter mates so having none of that familiarity so thought maintaining something he was used to was important for him. Perhaps we should have never used them in the first place - hindsight though!!

Outside only is the goal. He is fabulous with the doggy door - has had it down pat with absolute confidence since day 1 - teaching use of the doggy door was an absolute priority when he first came home and he had no problems whatsoever with it and happily uses it as he pleases. What do you mean by changing the goalposts?

Okay, so I see I missed some important info :laugh: When we are not at home he has a doggy door so he has access inside/outside 24/7. Minimax - no, the pee pads are not in the place that he is currently toileting inside, they were in the family room so we could see if he headed there to pee, which he did often, and we would then redirect him outside - now he goes in the bathroom - where there have never been pee pads. Now every time we see that he heads there we redirect him. I guess our downfall is that we are not home during the day, so he can go wherever he likes. You have all confirmed it for me then, that I AM expecting too much - I just thought that by now we would at least have a 50% success rate!! Perhaps I need to put back the pee pads (again!), but I guess I worry that he will come to depend on them forever. Having never had a puppy this is all new and a steep learning curve for me. At what age would you consider a puppy no longer a "baby"? He sure doesn't PLAY like a baby - those teeth :laugh:

I feel like I am at my wits end, but please tell me if I am expecting too much from my pup - Banjo is almost 18 weeks old - we have had him from 8 weeks. For those who may not know, Banjo is a Maltese and he is just the most adorable little fellow, but I am having some problems with our toilet training. He has slept right through the night since day 3 of him coming home to us - he is crated in a soft sided crate in our bedroom at night. We get up early (4am!) and I have been taking him outside as soon as we get up for a wee. Most times he will go, but he is easily distracted - wanting to play with leaves/sticks. Breeder had him using pee pads, so we continued using them for about a month after he came home, but removed them - toileting went backwards so we put them back and have just taken them away again last weekend. The weekend was good with no accidents in the house and he was alone several times over the weekend. We have always taken him outside to toilet after sleeps, meals and play times with pretty good success and he has also taken himself outside to toilet as well. Trouble is, he is still toileting inside - he is choosing our main bathroom - one that is never used and is easily cleaned up thankfully and following advice from knowledgable DOL'ers, I use vinegar to clean up with, but it seems not to deter him from going there. He is home during the day from about 8am until 3.30pm alone and has adjusted quite well to this and we have no separation issues - just toileting. We monitor his behaviour and direct him outside when he looks like he is showing signs that he needs to pee or poo, but sometimes we miss those signs. So, am I expecting too much from my 18 week old pup? I am finding it quite frustrating that I have to watch him almost every minute of the day when I am home. How are other puppy parents going with toilet training? Are your babies trained?

All these puppies - they are so adorable!

I haven't posted on this thread before, but have been reading through - that first video broke my heart to see little Chester struggling to much to breathe - so glad you have some answers and a course of action. Chester is lucky to have an angel like you to help giving him a fighting chance - I wish there were more like you!

Ooops - meant to post a photo too ...

Oh Steph - that yoghurt nose is sooo cute! Banjo gets yoghurt face - sweet sticky yoghurt smothered all over his nose, cheeks and chin .... saving a bit for later I s'pose, but that's what a fluffy white face will do :laugh: I'm trying to keep track of whose puppies are whose and their names ..... since I haven't been posting in a little while .... work all day and then puppy to keep me working when I get home!! Banjo sleeps nicely all through the night - by the sounds of some puppies I have it easy - he has slept through from about 8.30pm until 4.am (which is our usual get up time anyway) since day 3 - but he likes to continue to wake us up at 4pm on the weekends too ... but this morning we had our first sleep in until 6.30am which was lovely. We have working our way through toilet training and have this weekend removed all pee pads. We are having to redirect because he wanders off to the bathroom and likes to pee on the floor in there sometimes, but this weekend no accidents as yet - and he was left alone for about 4-5 hours today, so I see that as a success so far. This week will tell more when we are both at work all day .... glad hubby gets home before me to find any "presents"!!