Lazy Daisy

Oakleigh Central Vet on Warrigal road do the 10 week old vaccine so you can take them out at 11 weeks

Forgot to ask what kind of dog you got??? ☺ We got a lab puppy. I heard about the book from Pippa's labrador site- which has heaps of excellent articles

Hi I've read it. I think it's very good for absolute novices like us- it includes preparation, transport, crate etc. It''s a bit UK focused. I have referred to it quite a few times so think it was good value for us

Yep - we ignored a problem for longer than we should have and now, 18 months / 2 years later we're really paying for it. If you can - find a good trainer you like and click with and get them on board nice and early. Yes I'm over the embarrassment. It's a learning curve and I think the fact that we have multiple people 'training' her needs immediate attention. And it would be good to know from an expert whether her reaction to being alone is extreme or not

This is very true. We love labs for their people focus and intelligence. We still think she's the right dog for us but we need some routine and practical suggestions. We will have her sleep in our laundry long term. It's actually heated- no external door and is right between our bedroom and youngest sons room (he wants her to sleep in his room but the size of the crate precludes that. When she is out of the crate (18 months) and less chewy she can sleep in his room if they both want that still. We seem to have progress last 2 days so I think we just needed to toughen up and bit and maybe she just took longer to realize we always come back :)

Thanks for those. I agree we need some help. I was going to contact a dog trainer in a few weeks for some tips on the kids and dog etc so it was in the plan. I guess I was resistant at doing it on day 10 out of embarrassment- I thought surely we can work this out ourselves? But I think we all need to be on the same page so early help may be better. We've regularly dog sat adult dogs with no problems but I think we obviously didn't train them.

Oh dear. No. Probably 45 mins top. She clearly has us wrapped around her little paw already. Will call breeder asap Thanks for reality check lol

Good suggestion re kids will start that asap The problem re waiting for her to settle is she never does! And doesn't eat or chew in this state. She just gets worse (panting whining barking) with the longer time. She has worked out I won't let her out of crate while barking so has little pauses but not much. And she never lies down, only sits. When locked outside she gets more and more hysterical scratching glass door etc. We have a vet check tomorrow so will ask then if she seems over the top anxious

Thanks Roova- I'll be home most the time for the next couple of months, then at work 2 days. We have a shady concreted area we can section off which we were planning to use. Unfortunately no grass in this area, just an edge of garden bed with established trees. But we think this would be better for long days away in future as there is zero chance of digging out. We do have a large kennel here. Haven't attempted to leave her in this part yet but maybe I should try that too? It's just further away from us again so didn't want to stress her more! It's delightful that her favour it's place is at our feet but I wasn't quite prepared for her level of attachment to us or her continued distress in her crate

Hi some advice needed please. We have a 9.5 week old lab puppy who we got at 8 weeks. We are besotted with her (3 bigger kids, 2 adults) and she seems to like us.... too much. She can't stand to be apart from us (I'm talking crying, whining, barking, howling) if she is left alone for a few minutes. With 5 people in the house we've managed this by having someone with her all the time but this can't continue when school goes back so I'd like advice on three possible options. Background first: we have a large crate with a divider that we cover back and sides with. She hates it despite 12 days of all meals etc in there but does tolerate it at night - she was in our room first 3 nights now is just outside our bedroom with door open (crate closed). She settles after 30-60 mins of howling, panting whining etc (this is progress as she cried all night first 2 nights). Daytime she is not frightened of crate and wanders in there occasionally- knows she gets fed in there so that helps- but if I close the door she panics. She won't eat the treats in there while door closed - she seems too stressed. I tried a few days of very brief shutting her in, dropping lots of treats etc and feel like I've read everything I can get my hands on but nothing working so far. Have tried leaving her outside (secure yard) and she is equally distressed (panting, howling scratching glass back door). I realize there is no quick fix and we will need to work on long term solutions but for my sanity to take youngest child to school next week (45 min round trip) I have 3 options: 1) Crate - which we've been doing. In living room with crate door shut. 2) Outside 3) move crate into small laundry and leave crate door open Taking her in car is not an option as I can't fit the crate in the car. When she's able to go for walks etc we can walk to school but not for another 2 weeks at least.