SparkyTansy

I would suggest doing a search there are a couple of topics that have covered this in the puppy problems forum... do you yelp and then ignore her completely? the worst thing for a pup is being ignored and sometimes they will realise this type of nipping behaviour will not get them the attention they require... couple this with attention and praise when the pup is quiet and she will soon realise.

I would not take him back to the dog park due to the fact that if there are dog fights and he does happen to be unlucky enough to be attacked, this would do way more harm than the good that may come out of socialising him there. You could try to perhaps attend a place where they are well behaved dogs like obedience training? Just walk him around (try not to disturb the dogs doing obedience) and interact when you can with some other dogs. As for the preparation thing, i didn't actually do much before i got my new puppy, but i made sure that te older dog got a lot of attention, food first, hello's first etc. I think i left my bub alone for the first time with the other dog about 2 weeks after we got him. It took spartan a week to get used to the puppy and was quite nervous during that time... he soon got over it.

My boys are outside during the day. Spartan, who is 4, spent the first part of his life predominantly indoors as my mum was home most of the day. when i moved out and took him with me, he started out inside and we gradually moved him outdoors. Well we soon got complaints that he was barking during the day, so we got him a companion and he has been fine ever since. The youngest boy, now 7 months, has spent the majority of his daytimes outdoors. He has not had a winter yet, but they have a shell pool, a lot of shade and undercover and comfortable beds. I would say, start as you mean to go on unless you want another dog to keep your confused one company!! Oh and my boys sleep in the house at night... in our room... on our bed... edited to add about the night time bit

I agree 100% with all the recommendations above. To make this work you have to make your dog part of the family. Gundogs thrive on human company and your research should have told you that. no good reading about a GR being a great family dog if you don't involve it in the family activities. No matter what people say I do not think it is necessary to keep a dog outdoors all hours, otherwise what is the point of having a companion... canines are a pack animal afterall. I have a young puppy of 7 months who is starting to go through his destructive, defiant stage. It happens a lot of people, but you can minimise the damage by doing much of the above. I think it is great you have given your dog a lot to do to keep her entertained, but mental stimulation in the form of obedience and extra walks would be great for the dog, and yourself. Having your companion indoors with the family for part of the evening would be great too.

The only thing i think i could recommend is perhaps some things that will keep her entertained enough during the day? perhaps a treat ball or a kong, a purpose made sand pit filled with hidden toys etc? I do not have your problem of fence scaling but i do have a 7 month old puppy who likes to dig. Ever since i bought one of those shell pools and a treat ball he has stopped entertaining himself by attempting to dig to china. I am yet to fill the other half of the pool with sand but he entertains himself in the water. This is a very difficult problem i am sorry i can't offer any other suggestions... P.s your pup is beautiful

I agree with poodlefan here. I think that you should concentrate on leadership heirachy away from the dog bowl. I am guilty also for allowing for too long my dog to assume leadership... He has never had a problem near his regular food but bones are another story... still he usually runs away rather than guarding. We are working on it, slowly...

Although much harder to treat, inhalant allergies are more common than contact. However, I would suspect contact at this stage but it is hard to tell. I went through months and months of trying to find out what was wrong with my dog but in the end i went to a specialist who asked a bunch of questions and narrowed it down to a food allergy. Turns out he was allergic to chicken... yeah great chicken is in most foods he is now on a lamb based biscuit and doing great. i would recommend a specialist who deals with dermatology problems every day and can pinpoint much more than a vet of a common practice. Does your dog suffer from ear problems at all? is the skin red and dry, or does he come out in moist type spots? I also had a T-shirt on my boy for months which eased his scratching he also had boots at one stage... gees he hated those!

reassurance is good, but surely too much would cause puppy to think that to whinge and act scared is acceptable? I would not let any harm come to the puppy, but i certainly wouldn't enforce the behaviour by fussing it when it acts scared. I agree a couple of strokes and a reassurance that you are there is good. My pup takes his time getting to know dogs he meets, and will mostly run the other way for the first 5 minutes of interaction. Eventually he will end up playing with them although he is not a big fan of boistrous dogs, even though he tends to be one himself.

I also used to freez the necks in bundles. I found this worked until pup got bigger. I am always careful with lamb only because it is quite rich and can upset tummies... i have found this in most cases anyway.

I have been following this thread and my opinion does not really vary a lot from what has been said, however being fairly unfamiliar with BARF, I was wondering if anyone could tell me a good place to get Billinghursts books?

They bark because they want you to respond... any reaction from you at any time will give them permission to bark... they will see this as the way to get a reaction, it doesn't matter what reaction it is... I know it is very hard (i have a very vocal English setter that I didn't ignore as a pup) but you need to continue to ignore until the pup settles... tryto repond after about 5 seconds of silence to start, and gradually build up... My new pup has also discovered his voice but is quickly learning that barking non stop will get him no where.

What Harleydog said...

I agree that it is more of a dominance thing in puppies, and I also agree with the ignoring aproach... simply if you watch other dogs interact with humping puppies, they usually ignore it... another thing that works is to pull them down (gently) and hold them next to you without saying anything until they calm down... then let them go... if they do it again, do the same thing. When my puppy was about 9-10 weeks he started with the humping of everyone, but now he only humps other dogs and no humans... I think it depends on the puppy. the funny thing is that he learns what it is like when my sister's 6mth OES humps him!!

Personally i would try and stop it... try and distract him with a toy and praise him when he stops... Sometimes this can turn into a habit and doesn't stop into adulthood...

Agree with above there isn't much you can do. My 4yo boys ears are all ratty now because baby hangs off of them!! If he gets hurt he will do something about it. I just let them do their own thing. Dogs will generally be tolerant of puppies up until the age of about 6 months, which is where they start going through adolescence and they need to be put into their place more! My puppy is 5 months and spartan still gives up his toys (and his ears) for his younger companion.

Ok, well it is a few days after his necks and i haven't given him anymore as he has developed a little diahorrea... is this common in puppies? I weaned him onto them slowly and he didn't seem to have much of a problem for a few days... I am worried because my other boy is allergic to chicken and we didnt figure this out until he was over 6 months of age and had already had many vomiting and diahorrea episodes before we madet he connection.. How long does it usually take before it firms up again, or should i be worried since it has been about 4 days? He is not lethargic or depressed and seems to be acting the same in every other way including his eating habits... Any advice?

That is so poor! What a shame you cant find a new vet! It makes you want to throw out vets advice and take most of what is said on here as gospel doesn't it!

Hello, you have a very cute puppy! Good luck with him... you will find many people will help you on here. Make sure you do searches on past posts too, it is amazing the amount of information you can find on this forum. Crate training is great and works a treat if done correctly.

Oh so i Tried three chicken necks frozen together - he pried them apart and chewed a little bit more on one than usual, but then swallowed it and then swallowed the other two!! It looks as if i will be switching this little hoover to carcasses!!

He also wasn't told off for going in the house (not to my knowledge anyway) she used to just clean up any inside toilets without saying anything and praise when he went outside..

Spartan went through this quite severe problem of diahorrea at a young age. The vets were never quite certain why but he was also vomiting. We eventually figured out that he had an allergy to chicken, which he had been eating since we got him! Poor bugger...

I can speak on behalf of OP (my sister) and say that the puppy is from a reputable breeder and was raised inside before she got him. He also always has water both inside and out... One thing i can say is that he won't be getting any kisses from me anytime soon!!

This happens to me too... the puddles just magically appear! I have found the best thing to do with my boy is praise with food as he is food motivated (rediculously so). Before that i was having huge troubles with him going non stop inside (even a couple of minutes after going outside)... one thing i do have though, is a crate, which has helped me a huge amount.

Thanks everyone for your replies... I will try freezing them and see how we go... if he still tries to swallow them whole, i might try him on a carcass... I have had trouble before with my other dog on any types of bones... sensitive stomach and allergy to chicken... i wanted to start this pup on something mild and chicken necks seemed the general consensus...

Hi Everyone! I just wanted to ask advice on feeding my pup chicken necks. He is 12 weeks today and last week i gave him some chicken necks for the first time. following the advice on DOL, I bashed them first and made sure i was there to supervise while i gave them to him... When i gave it to him, he picked it up chewed it maybe twice and then swallowed it... well it totally freaked me out! He didn't have a problem but i stopped giving them to him because i am afraid that he will choke! He loves his food and wolfs down his meals and i was hoping giving him necks would slow him down a bit... I really want to keep giving him this type of thing but i am worried. My question is, should i change and give him something larger? Is he still too young to have frames. I would love some advice on what you would recommend... Oh, he is an English Setter...