Kelpie_Pup

Absolutely. Also, the better quality the food, the less they waste.. Halle was on pedigree puppy food when we first got her She seriously used to just poop everything she ate. Now she is on a much better quality dry food and poops much less of what she eats...very good value for money

A good quality dry food is *generally speaking* better for your dog.. most wet foods have a high water content..which your dog can get for free from its water bowl

Maybe try softening the food with water? When we first swapped with our dog, we soaked the food in water first for about 10 mins to soften it, gradually decreasing the amount over about a week... If that doesn't work, then yep try tough love.. He'll soon learn to eat quickly when its given to him

Hi! Congratz on getting your new pup soon.. can't wait to see some pics! It really depends on what is available to you, what you can afford, what is recommended for your pup... Our pup was on meat and puppy dry food when we first got her.. We consulted our vet about what was the best food for our pup.. We have gone with Royal Canin right from the beginning. We took a week to change over her food so she didn't get an upset tummy.. We still feed her royal canin and she loves it, her coat is healthy and given how much she eats, she doesn't poop as much (which we take to mean that she is "using" most of what she is eating and not wasting it). We also feed her chicken wings and raw meaty bones from the butcher.. you can generally get a bag of them for about $2! We always supervised her with these while she was little to make sure she wouldn't choke or anything, but once she was about 5-6 months, she was left on her own to eat them. It just involves a little bit of trial and error, and discussing with your vet and the breeder Best of luck!

HI Emmi I don't know about how to fix these things with an older pup, but I will tell you what we did with ours when she was little. The biting used to really upset me.. it was only play biting, and only baby teeth, but still. Basically, if she used her teeth on our skin, we would yelp "OOOWWWWW" and ignore her for about 30 secs. She had three chances until play was over for good. Sometimes if she was being overly cheeky we would tap her nose and then leave her alone. Just remember, YOUR attention is all they want. If they **think** they can get it, they'll try!!! You need to try and fi the biting thing soon because an adult dog, with adult teeth, who thinks its ok to bite, can do some harm. Secondly, with the jumping, I can totally relate to this. Halle was a really bad jumper for a while there, but it was basically because every time she jumped on us, she got a pat/attention from us. We became very strict and each time she jumped on us, we would say "UGH OFF!" and ignore her totally.We would use our thigh or just turn away from her to get her off us. Once she was distracted (within a minute generally!), we would then call her over, tell her to sit, and then lavish attention on her. You have to be consistent. And you need to make sure that other people who come in contact with her do this too. If it means making your visitors stand outside the door while you get your dog settled, then so be it. We used to take treats with us everywhere, and ask ppl to only give halle a treat once she was sitting still at their feet. Most people are more than happy to help! These days, when we get home she gets SO excited, its soooo cute. She knows she can't jump up cause she'll get in trouble, but she's so desperate for a cuddle!!!, but she tries to stay down on the ground but jumping at the same time... Maybe you just have to be there! Have you done any reading on the forums? or on the net? there are heaps of different ways of doing thiese things which you may like to try., Just remember to give each one a really good go, don't swap between one or the other daily..

Depends how long you work for.. if you were at work for 2 hours, perhaps... 8-9 hours, no way. It's just not fair after spending the whole night in one and then the whole day again. I've never left Halle alone at home alone in the crate- she just goes outside- toys, space and kennel are there for her. I've only ever crated her during the day on and off in the following 24 hours after her being desexed. I think overnight is fine obviously, but personally, during the day, I wouldn't crate for more than 1-2 hours.

It would be great if you could take a bit of time off work when your puppy first arrives... allow her to become familiar with you and her new environment..it also allows you to help her adjust to having no-one at home (leaving her alone for little periods throughout the day). I personally am against using toilet training pads inside the house. Does nothing but teach the dog to do it inside.. I really doubt that at an early age they have the ability to distinguish between where is allowed and where is not ie. the pad or the carpet.... I think outside would be fine, provided you had a crate/kennel with some warm blankets in there. From my experience, its not until they're about 4-5 months of age until they decide that dragging the blankets around the backyard is more fun than sleeping on them (see pic) Every day she did it!! At this stage, it would be great if you could pop in once or twice during the day to visit your pup. And, you will need to expect that any of your training-socilisation, toilet training, bite inhibition-will take longer if she is alone for most of the day. But as long as you know that going in then it shouldn't be a problem The breeder, if he/she is responsible, wouldn't have allowed you to take Maddy if they didn't think you would be good owners!!

The concept of fetch for most dogs takes a while to learn I think. I mean, you throw the ball, they chase it, have a look at it, then get distracted by something nearby. There is not, In most dogs anyway, a natural instinct to pick up the ball and take it back. For us, Halle is 17 months now and only started bringing the ball back about3-4 months ago.. she's a clever dog but it either took her a while to figure out that if she didn't bring the ball back, the game was over, or she figured it out well before and was too stubborn to bother

Oh SOOOO precious!!!

Just give it a go! :rolleyes: try it during the day-so you can see what they're doing, and hover at the window to watch what happens Spying on little puppies is so funny. Your bigger is very unlikely to hurt your pup-the only instance I imagine something might happen is if the puppy pushes the boundaries-and even then it would probably only be a nip or a growl. When Halle was 13 weeks old, we took her to visit my partner's dad. They have a 5 year old kelpie.. we were quite concerned about leaving them outside together.. and yep, our little Halle did push the boundaries and annoy the cr@p out of their dog.. but when she did, their dog would either growl at halle or give her a quick "warning" nip.. nothing serious happened and that's how they work out the order in the pack.. as long as you and your OH remain at he top

Harlosmummy I don't mean to be rude or anything but I think you have acknowledged the issue.. they are silly fears that I personally do not feel are warranted :rolleyes: Q: why can't the puppy be in the yard?

Right from the word go, we have fed our puppy royal canin. I mean, our vet sells it, and it was recommended by them, but we have found it to bo soooo good for *our* dog. She was having 2-3 small meals when she was only little and a chicken wing or smaller meat bone 2-3 times a week. She is now 17 months old and as two bigger meals a day (not quite as much as is recommended) but we also give her a big meaty bone or chicken wing either every day or every 2nd day- we try to mix it up so that she enjoys it too and its not too dull. Plus, the bones and wings etc really help her teeth remain clean and strong It really is just what suits you and your dog.

Yep let your puppy wake you! They will learn that they need to make some noise and wake you if they need something... it can also help them learn the feeling of needing to pee, rather than you making them pee before they've even got the busting feeling

It's very hard to give an exact time ... Like vjb said, it varies with each dog. For us, Halle didn't make a mistake inside after she was 5 months, and that was her first and only one anyway. It is very much about being vigilent with your puppy and knowing the signs, and also being consistent and LOTS of praise :rolleyes: If you're happy with your dog having free reign of the house/area/room during the night then getting a soft bed for them is fine. We would prefer Halle to be contained and comfortable in her crate rather than having entire freedom of the living room. It's up to you and whether you feel you can trust him

We have used two types at different times. I personally don't like the wire cages.. don't like the look of them and they don't look very comfy etc. The first one we bought, similar to the airline crate was just perfect for us. Our one had little holes all over it so ventilation wasn't a problem and its quite cold where we live so we weren't worried about the heat. It does also have a cage-like door so it can't really be that hot in there! This lasted Halle until she was almost 5 months old. We then bought this one below on Ebay. By this time, she was toilet trained and her being in a larger crate wasn't an issue. IMO, the larger soft crate would be too big for a little Labrador puppy while you are still toilet training. The only need to be able to stand up and turn around, and lie down comfortably, not play chasies with a ball ! Yes, if it is too big, they certainly can use one end for bedding and the other for toileting. We sold our smaller plastic crate on ebay for only $10- it was in SUCH good condition, but you could really pick up a good one on Ebay, like our buyer did! We also bought our soft crate on ebay, which was brand new, but it really was worth every cent. She sleeps in it every night and often takes herself in there during they day when she wants a nap.