puppylovefor3

Thanks for the links... I’ll have a look at them. Yes, I have been needing to do mouth handling and extract stones or sticks that she tries to chew on.. the nipping and biting is not normally a problem, just a couple of times a day when she’s a bit crazy! Although today went much better.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone right now we have lots of chew toys all around the place ready to shove into her mouth if she tries to mouth us. Teething sticks, soft crackly squishy toys, rope toys, textured bones, you name it. I also use kongs stuffed with her kibble..she’s getting better indoors at controlling her mouth on us. If she gets too much we just step away outside the barriers we have put up, and a few goes of this and she snuggling in our laps after so that’s good. her crazy outdoor behaviour is the one I’m clueless about how to handle. She suddenly turns around, shakes her bum and then tries to run at you and jump up your leg! Is this her version of play? She jumps up high and lunges at our legs. When this happens, the lead gets caught in her mouth and it’s a tug of war game now...sigh! I’ve tried ignoring it and turn away like you suggested..she persists and nips the crap out of my leg! Ouch! Today i picked her up and held her a few seconds, then put her down. I did this twice, and then she seemed to reduce it or maybe that’s what I hoped for! but it’s so tricky trying to pick her up in this mood, she’s a slippery little thing! Do you think treats for when she stop biting the lead is an option? But what should I do about the lunges? If she’s biting the lead and pulling and playing then if I stop dead she pulls away thinks it’s a game then lunges... if I first stop the lead biting by offering a treat for her to spit lead out and choose the treat instead maybe we can go about our exploring and prevent the lunge game altogether? So confused as to how to deal with this one

Yes I have noticed she’s completely crazy at zoomies time I worry about her banging into things! right now I’m still not letting her off the lead outside. I just walk with her. She’s quite consistent with her wees in the one place (happens as soon as I take her out).. then she wants to go exploring so I just follow her around the yard. The lead biting may be slowly reducing...I’m just shoving toys instead or distracting her so she forgets about it. She’s only doing it during crazy time now. Also she’s more nippy and jumpy when she’s all hyped up. Do you have any advice how I should handle that? I still can’t let her off the lead in the backyard because the neighbours fence guy hasn’t finished up! So annoying! Do you think it’s ok to keep playing on the lead outdoors? Also she’s so curious she’s putting everything in her mouth and chewing on it...sometimes even eats it! Stones, bark, soil, mulch, leaves, grass.. basically anything outside. Is this ok or should I try stop it? She’s constantly gnawing on the pavers today! Just wondered as well, how long everyone keeps going with the puppy play pen concept.. the way I see it, I’d keep going for ages because it’s so helpful! But wasn’t sure what generally happens.

Mackiemad, I noticed this exactly today.. I think I’m slowly starting to read her a bit better too. Today we did a lot of outdoor play as the weather was decent,, but I had her on a lead but we walked around the garden, let her sniff a lot and run around playing. She’s consistently doing her business outside now. I was was trying to take her to the same spot in the garden on a lead so she learns to wee and poo in the one place..is that something I can achieve with consistency? Sometimes what happens is she wees quickly in that spot then she wants to play so we walk along the garden and then ends up pooping somewhere else. I guess I’d like to try and avoid having to go through the whole lawn to pick up poo later down the track when she’s let loose outside. Any suggestions on how to do this or your experiences with this? Shes learning not not to jump up on my 4 yr old now as well. Pwd are mouthy but I keep shoving toys in instead and never leave the kids unsupervised with her. Crate training is is going well.. I’m not waking her up at nights anymore. She wakes up every 3.5/4 hours now.. which is great given she’s only been here since Saturday!

Hi, thanks for the messages She's doing well. Her name is Zara. Yes I have stopped playing with her if she gets in a hyper nippy mood. She did that twice today..morning and evening. Perhaps like children's "witching hour!" She was acting absolutely nuts and jumping, being nippy, initially tried shoving a toy instead into her mouth, it distracts her a bit but she comes back. Then we just left her play area, watched her go crazy attacking her pee pad in the pen then she eventually settled and we came back. Thing is when we leave her area if she's in a crazy mood, doesn't seem to bother her sometimes! She will continue to pay rough for a while. Should we just let her be? And only come back when she's calm again and settled in one spot? she also keeps jumping at the pen and gnawing it when she's in this mood...how do you recommend we handle that? just ignoring? Has anyone experienced this crazy puppy behaviour, at certain times? I take her out to toilet on a lead and sometimes she thinks the lead is a toy and keeps biting it and playing around with it, then she'll eventually let go and do a wee. when she's calm she does one quickly.. when she's playful it's a whole other story. IF she's acting rowdy when it's toilet time what do you recommend I do? Just stand there and let her keep biting the lead and pull away at it? or try something else..surely lead biting is something I wouldn't want to encourage right? is my lead length perhaps not right? Thanks for all the advice! when she's not in a hyper rowdy mood, she's an absolute darling

Finally managed to shrink the size..here’s a pic of our new little bubba. She’s done remarkably well for her first day she’s doing all her toileting outside (no rain has helped!) has learned to sit has gained her appetite back playing nicely with her chew toys. and we left her on her own for 20 mins in her pen inside the house with a kong teething stick smeared with some puppy paste. She howls a bit when we (especially I) leave the room..but she’ll find someone to cuddle up to and fall asleep. Anyway she she whined when we all left but was sleeping in her crate when we returned. Then we all cuddled and fussed over her can I ask how long does she sleep for around this age during the day? She does a large amount.. and will it ever affect her night sleep? They still need lots of sleep right? shes had a couple moments today where she went really hyper playing with some toys..or chewing on the lead after I take her for a wee, and gets all fired up thinking the lead is a toy! Then she gets nippy and I have to pick her up and calm her with cuddles. Then she settles on a mat with a chew toy.Is that the right way to deal with this hype? Or else should I try something else? shes also in her crate with the door closed and no whining so far..fingers xx it continues! Thanks so so much once again for all the advice and support

Aaaw she’s so cute! Yes lucky people

Yes in the light of day it’s all become better. She’s such a sweetheart she’s doing wees and a poo outside too. And she ate most of her breaky too (although it was at 5 am ) the sun and better weather should hopefully help.. still trying to figure out how to post a pic! My iPhone pics seem too large.

Thanks I might try that.. she was in a confined pen when she came back in but maybe I missed the signs.. not sure. I’ll try again I guess. She’s sleeping now I took her out nothing again. . I wanted her to wee before I put her in the crate.. might wait up a bit more to see if she shows signs when she wakes up again. Also she didn’t eat well tonight. Just a bit. Must need time settling in.

She has finally arrived and settled in beautifully. Was so happy to sit and get petted by the kids and loves snuggling to us too. Toilet training is another story. It’s been absolutely pouring and windy and freezing here. I’ve taken her out multiple times this afternoon but she stands there shivering rooted to one spot. We stood there for 15 mins, she sniffed the ground many times and nothing so I went back in.. she did a wee on the floor inside this happened three times.. I’ve decided to try pee pads near the door for today and tomorrow unless the weather improves.. what do you think? She’s just scared or cold or uncertain outside don’t know.. and tries to pull away with the lead. ?? Hmmm I tried to post a photo but seems to be too large a file.

Thanks Dogsfevr. I will check with my breeder about bloat. I'll also read up about it to get more info. At the moment I"m thinking of having a small hanging bucket of water inside the crate (this is what the breeder does). and then see how it goes. My friend in Sydney had a mini schnauzer...she was an absolute darling! Puppy is arriving around mid day tomorrow. Can't believe the time has finally come!! I've got all my gear (as suggested in this post) packed in the car ready to go.

Thanks Tassie I think I'll try that as well. As BlackAsBandit, hello ! That's so exciting to hear, and thanks for your suggestion about consistency. That seems to be the key message. I"ll PM you about the puppy preschools I found and where they're located. We're getting a Portuguese water dog. Can't believe it's another day before she's here!

Thanks for the tip Dogsfevr Found out today the puppy will be coming in a crate that I actually get to keep. So that makes things a bit easier! Just pick it up in the crate itself and head straight home. Can I also ask - should I keep a bowl of water in the crate for the puppy at night? Like in one of those hanging food bowls I;ve see you can hang off the crate bars? Or would that make it need to go to the toilet more in the night...just wondering what everyone does with regards to water before bedtime, or at night for an 8 week old puppy. Thanks again!

I was in contact with the breeder today. She suggested I organise the times to suit us on the weekend, and gave me names of a contact of the animal travel company that they've been using to transport the dogs for ages. So I will ring them tomorrow to work out the details on that and that should give me a chance to sort out issues such as crate hire, sizing etc. For what it's worth I bought a cheap $20 foldable soft crate from Kmart to just have on hand in case I need to deploy it. Should fit a puppy easily in the beginning at least, given once it settles down I'll eventually be carting it up and down from school and all the kids activities and so on. Regarding the food, I have already purchased the exact same food the puppies have been eating and have it all ready to go I was actually thinking of what to do regarding the toilet break, once I pick it up before we head home. I don't think it's lead trained yet. I"m still planning to put a collar and lead on though as suggested just to be on the safe side.

Thanks for the detailed info on the crate Allerzeit! Helpful to know what to discuss with the breeder regarding crates. Time is drawing closer, I will need to work out flight details etc with the breeder this week before the weekend I'm sure. Thanks again