Safadao

would hate to be your milkman

i love her tail, that white streak ... Bueatiful lil pup you have

Strange .... my lil guys like it too ... makes you wonder how they intereact with the TV (if they can tell the difference). As my GSP is usually quite flighty when he hears a big dog. Although, watching footloose the other night ...... the big put bull in that "Grunt", when ever there was a bark Eddy would jump up into a defensive stance, and scan the house .... was quite funny.

As soon as you make your back yard puppy safe. Ours was out at 14 weeks. We had to put things under fences, and gates to ensure pup stays inside, and others stay outside. We just used scrap timber, bricks etc. Both my dogs love their outside time as much, if not more than their inside time :rolleyes:

you could always crate your snorer in a different room. I found my dogs accepted the crate very quickly (mind you it was an improvement to outside) ... Or better still, crate both the dogs in the same crate. Just make sure there is enough room.

Woofbix, they sound delightful .... but alas, we don't even have a big W so i have no idea.

just thought i'd add my 2c worth. My wife and I are both away from the house for 8+hours a day working, and then some nights most of the evenings. We spend as much time as we can with our dogs, and look forward to weekends etc. Mind you we were concerned about the time we are away which sort of lead us into the decision to get a second dog. For us, i really believe two dogs has worked well. We have a GSP and a dalmatian, both like to run around aimlessly, dig, jump, roll .... they do it together, and I can see Eddie (my older GSP) happier when i get home.

just make sure all shots are up-to-date, esp. pavo. Oh, be careful with young ones when swimming. My dog will swim out to you, and try to hug (usually dunking me). Life jackets are a good idea. Actually i am sure i have seem life jackets for dogs .... that could be quite a sight

i introduced mine to the river just after he got the last round of pavo shots (very young). He would only go out to waste deep, but loved it. He went in over this once, scared himself by splashing close to his head, and then ran out 100 mile an hour. A few months later we took him down again with some friends dogs who love swimming, and he jumped head long in from a 2 meter cliff :rolleyes:. Just what ever you do don't force them. They wil go the whole way when they are ready. You job starts when trying to get them out

I was an avid "outside only" dog person, but they grow so much on you, that I cannot enforce it. I still don't let the dogs sleep inside, well sort of. We have an enclosed and insulated garage, and I crate both my dogs in there over night. During the day they have free reign over the back yard, and in the evenings (when we are there only), they are allowed to come in and spend time with us (as long as they aren't too energetic). My GSP barks at everything, well everything in the sky. Clouds, the moon, shadows, birds, bats, sometimes i've caught him snapping and barking at moths. Crating has been a god send with Eddie, everyone gets a good night sleep, and he actually looks forward to going into his bed. Even when he is inside, if he wants to go to bed he will sit at the door and wait to be let out. I have not yet tried this, but I was told on the weekend that cat kibble (sardine flavoured) is apparently a creat treat to train your GSPs with. From what i was told, they love the fishy smell/taste. Personally i've found cheese the best. Eddie often turns his nose up at dried liver, smako type treats, kibble, or anything. Cheese (and sliced) seems to work. Something else, which you probably know from researching the breed, the LOVE LOVE LOVE water. Eddie would swim till he drowned if you let him. In Mildura, during summer we had a kiddies pool in the back yard in the shade, he actually lays down in it to drink. Even now he submerges his head sometimes when drinking. They are great swimmers (when they realise they can swim), and is a easy way to exercise them. GL with your GSP.

nothing better than not being able to move BC you GSP wants to sit so close to you, their little bum is on your foot They are so loyal it is amazing.

i've just recently started crate training my 14month old GSP, about a week after i started, he would wait at the door to be let in bc he wanted to sleep. Possibly helps that I have outside dogs, and they are let into the warmer garage into the crate. Also stuff some kongs and add them incase they wake up and need some entertaining. I have also added my 15week old dalmatian to the same crate (x-tra large one), and they keep each other warm. One thing i have noticed though, when they start to bark you really need to get there quick. My GSP only barks if he needs to go toilet. They hate peeing on their bed, and seem to get very frusterated if we can't get there in time (happened once or twice I think for us it has been the single best investment with our dogs. They are warm, they no longer bark all night, and valuable items/poisons/shoes are out of reach. We have our dogs inside most nights with us, and when they are too tired to louge about, they actually wait to get into the garage into their crate.

Howdy, i have a 13 month old GSP and I know your pain He is cute, but barks at everything. Clouds, birds, shadows, stars .... the moon. I have just recently started crating him in the garage with new 3 month old Dalmatian pup, and we have complete night of sleep. He actually looks forward to getting into the crate at night. I highly recomend it. I got the largest crate i could (as i wanted to keep them both in it), and they start to bark at around 7am when they need to go to the toilet. Other than that, not a peep no matter what noise goes off around them. Is without a doubt my best pet related purchase yet. By the way, i tried a citronella collar for 2 weeks. First 10 days it worked a treat, then came a full moon, in which he learnt that if he barked over the top of it, he only had to endure 3-5 sprays of it to be allowed to bark all night. Cheeky bugger

We have been using a crate now for a very flighty 12month old GSP who would bark at clouds (anything he could see in the sky i think), and was especially bad on full moon nights. Anyway, since the introduction of the crate in the garage, everything is great. Both dogs sleep until 7ish, where they let out a 'quiet' bark to remind us that they need to go to the toilet. Neighbours are satisfied, and we are over the moon I love my crate now

My vets were not in favour of the Barf diet, (i felt anyway) not becuase they prefered us to buy their brand dog food, more they were concrened that correct levels of vitamins, minerals, protiens, fats and sugars would be very hard to monitor ... especially for a new pup. Where I go, science diet is on display, and for sale however they rattled off a number of other brands that are also recommended taht they don't sell. I find this reasonably neautral stance pleasing. I still feed my dogs raw foods, I just rely on the bought dog food for a complete balance that I really think I would have trouble offering. I mean, the more research you do in even having a complete diet for yourselves, the more difficult everything becomes.