poochmad

We've bought a bag of the puppy kibble...so far so good. His stools are still soft, but that may be because we are still mixing it with the old...one good thing is that I haven't yet had to mix the kibble with mince. He seems quite happy to eat it without.

Thanks Gareth - this was the type of response I was looking for, in that you have provided a clear reason why he's reacting to the Goodo. No more Goodo, back to the liver rewards.

My 11 week old pup has started going a bit crazy in the evenings (biting uncontrollably, running around, not listening to corrections, etc). At first I thought it was due to him missing a sleep (he goes into his pen for naps), but I'm now wondering if it's a reaction to Goodo. I've started using Goodo as treats and he gets about 4 a night (yep, 4). Do you think it's just a cooincidence that he's been 'acting up' since I've started treating him with Goodo, could he be reacting to it, or is this behaviour normal for an 11 week old pup and he's just getting the crazy zoomies late at night?

Hi all. Thanks for all your replies. Henschke is a lot better now. Each night I take him to the same spot each time, clean one ear (he has floppy ears), give him a treat (and praise) then do his other ear (and repeat) and then finish with a light brush of his ears, feet, back and chest. It's just a quick brush and then a treat and praise. Seems to be working well.

My main reason to swap over is due to his stools. They are consistently soft. His constant scratching is a concern as well...and if the food stops him scratching - yay! If not, we'll have to delve deeper. However, Orijien sounds very good; I'm quite willing to give it a try, regardless of the cost.

Well, I spoke with the husband this morning about 'last night's research' and he said - quick order it! He was unperturbed about the fact we have food left over. He's happy to throw it out (does anyone want some free puppy Advance food? ) He's keen to have Henschke have solid stools and to stop scratching. With regards to his stools, they are not always sloppy, they are more often than not 'soft'. I'll be ordering a pack of the Orijien food today and see how he goes on that. If he's happy to eat the dry stuff on its own, we'll stop with the mince altogether and just give him chicken wings. (However, point taken regarding the richness of the pet mince - perhaps we'll try human grade mince.) Also, he has already been to the vets and was given a clean bill of health. The treats I give are the pure naturals dried chicken or a bit of liver. Not much, only when I've brushed him or cleaned his ears. Last question. Do I need to give him 70/30 Advance and Orijien and then 50/50 split? Or can I swap over straight away without any of his old food?

Well, even though this thread was 14 pages long, I've read through the whole of it. By the sounds of things, it sounds like a good food. Our 11 week old pup has only had 1 solid stool in the 3 weeks we've had him. He is fed 2 x chicken wings in the morning (now with the meat cut off), 1 Tspn of pet mince (lamb) mixed in with his kibble - Advance. Because he's been consistenly having sloppy poos, we've tried not giving him the pet mince in the morning (and giving him 2 x chicken wings). Unfortunately, we've got quite a bit of food left over (as it was recommended he be fed that through his breeder), so I'm hesitant to start him on something new, purely for cost reasons. (Although if I could do a swap I would. ) You know it's not a good thing, when each time he poos the other partner gives a report on it...well, it wasn't so bad this time, but it was still soft... or how was his poo? Before I change his kibble to something else, we will do trial and error. Mince, no mince, chicken wings with meat, chicken wings with no meat, no treats, treats...etc. ETA: by the time we get the chance to trial Orijen and we discover that his stools are perfect - I won't be fussed on the price...it will just be a relief to have no more sloppy poos!

I agree with Nekhbet. We had a similar problem with our puppy - he was highly distressed. After 5 days I got a behaviourlist in and he was able to observe the pup and show me what I was doing wrong and train me on what to do. It worked wonders! I think when a pup is either hurting themselves or are so distressed they can't stop, then it's time to call in the experts. ETA: this sort of problem is best suited to having someone come to your house and observe your pup in your home.

Buck is gorgeous! ;) We wanted a choc lab many moons ago...now we have a 'chocolate' spaniel... Lucy is very, very cute!

How long do you stay outside? When he goes outside, as soon as he's doing his business say the word 'piddle' or 'wee'. (Just quietly so as not to disturb him.) Then straight after say, good boy! (Very excitedly and give him a treat.) If he goes inside, just ignore him and if you were able to get to him before he went too much, take him straight outside and do the above once he goes. If he's taking a while to go outside, I find walking up and down the grass area helps. Don't play with him when you are taking him outside to do his business - just be matter of fact with him. We have an 11 week old pup and for the first week I was taking him outside every half hour; now he goes out every hour or so. However, he still goes outside immediately after playing (he does a poo - hard lesson to learn!) and after he wakes from sleeping. If you follow that rule of thumb and do the above consistently he will soon get the picture. Good luck and let us know how he's getting on.

Sorry, one more question. Should I have him on or off the lead? (If off the lead, do I hold him by the collar?) Please excuse me if you think this is a 'blonde' question...just want to ensure I'm doing it properly.

I've started brushing my now 11 week old pup every day (for less than 2 mins) and usually he's pretty good. However, last night he had a 'spack attack' when I was doing his back legs. (I had taken to holding him up under the belly.) Should I have him up high to groom while he's young? Or is there another way? Any assistance is appreciated.

What breed?

He's very cute. Is there something wrong with his eye?

Details please! (What he likes, hates, etc)

Well, when we pulled up there was no noise, not even a peep. I went into the house and he started whimpering (and barking a little), but I just ignored him. For about 5 mins I let him bark and whimper and by the time I went to him he was quiet. I didn't cuddle him or say anything to him or pat him - I just picked him up matter of factly (as I needed to let my husband in) and he was fine. The pen area was also nice and clean (well as clean as could be) and he had done a nice solid poo. (No paw painting this time.) We put him in the pen for an hour and no problems there either - not one squark. We will put him back in the pen before we go to bed so he's comfortable again... I am so, so happy!

Hi all. Thanks so much to your replies. I ended up speaking with the trainer and he advised (as others already had), that due to his barking being stress related, adding a bark collar into the mix will do more harm than good. He advised that it would stress him out even further. He also advised that we are to ignore him when we get home for a couple of minutes and then speak quietly to him. We also need to put him in the pen a couple of times before we go to bed (so it's a normal thing and so it's not just when we go to work - we were planning on doing this already). He also thought we 'over-compensated' when we got home - which we did and we won't do this either. Lastly, he is seeking an update when I get home tonight and thinks that he may be better today as he may be more used to being on his own. (Since he's been great up until now, he is not concerned that he has regressed too much; that he just needs to get used to being on his own.) I will update here when I get home. Fingers crossed!

Our house is busy with lots of people visiting (each weekend we have people staying) as well as setting up doggy days with dogs that have been vaccinated and have 'soft' natures. Once he's 3 months old we'll be taking him to obedience training for puppies.

Why do you have to do this? having him indoors , alone for a large part of the day, seems not to be a terribly fulfilling and educational time for a growing puppy ...esp. as he is of a breed originally bred to run and work all day..... We're concerned about him getting stolen. He's considered a 'rare' breed and where we live (Goulburn) there have been a number of dog thefts, especially purebred puppies. Although most people would think he was a Cocker Spaniel, because of his colouring, he would be very attractive (he looks like a 'chocolate' spaniel). We too, are concerned about this, but once he is fully vaccinated we will be taking him for a morning and evening walk/run (once he's old enough).

We got him to the stage (Monday morning included) that he would be put in his pen (matter of factly) and he was quiet straight away. He would go straight to his bed. I'm concerned that due to him being stressed last night may have set him back a bit. This morning I gave him a chicken wing and his favourite toy and when I left he was quiet. My concern of course is that he will annoy the neighbours as well as stress himself out. Considering we are now looking at having him inside until he's 9 months old, we need to ensure that everyone (us, the neighbours and the pup) are happy. I understand what you are saying with regards to him barking...however, this is at 5.30am in the morning...and the neighbour's bedroom is directly outside where his pen is... However, I do see that we made some mistakes last night: 1. We didn't leave a light on. 2. We forgot to leave the radio on. 3. We 'soothed' him when we got home - in fact we went to him straight away. Do you think getting another dog would help? The only problem is that the new dog needs to be able to stay inside as well - as our pup won't be allowed outside until he's an adult. Anyone want to baby sit a pup until he's older? :rolleyes:

Sorry, when I wrote professional trainers, I was thinking of all of you as you all seem to be so experienced on this site.

He's 10 weeks. No, there is no den. The crate he sleeps in is up in our room. I haven't yet spoken with the trainer. Edited to change the word breeder to trainer.

Hi all. A similar thread has been posted in the general discussion (what are the differences between lemon or citronella)...however, I also have a question regarding the age of when the collar can be used. Let me give you some background. We bought a pup at age 8 weeks from a great breeder. There were only 2 pups in the litter and when we picked him up he was kept in a cage (large) out the back with his brother. He bonded quite quickly to me and would whine if I walked out of the room even when my husband was with him. We set up a puppy pen for him to be kept when we’re at work. This is situated near the back door, is on tiles, has a gate across (metal) to the house and is approximately 4sqm in size. When we first put him in the pen (with his toys and bed), we were in there too. Straight away as soon as the gate was closed, he started getting distressed and would begin barking. We tried sitting with him, but he would just bark, bark, bark! We also tried to reward him when he was quiet, but he never gave us the chance; as soon as the gate was closed he would start! He would bark non-stop for 30 mins (the only reason he stopped was because the phone rang and I quickly ran back to praise him for ‘being quiet’.) After 4 days, we called in a professional dog trainer who helped us with understanding how the pup was viewing the pen. We then made the pen the best place to be, by cuddling him there, feeding, training, playing – all attention was given in the pen and outside the pen he just got pats (when he sat or dropped). Once the pen was made to be the ‘great place’, I then started to go out of his sight and increasing the time. I was able to get up to 2 mins in the kitchen (around the corner), but if I went up the hallway, he’d start whinging (and considering you need them to be quiet before you returned, it was going to be a long process). On the 4th day we also bought a crate and popped him in there and ignored his whinging. That very night he settled quickly and held his bladder. (We were impressed.) After the 3rd night of him going into the crate, I started to apply the same rules for the pen. Put him in and sat on the floor next to him when he started getting upset. I wanted him to learn that crying did not get a response, but was concerned that he didn’t get distressed like he did in the beginning. The first day I sat outside his cage, the second day stood up and each day gradually moved further away until he didn’t bother whinging and just went straight to his bed. At last after 9 days we were able to leave the house for an hour or 2 and he was fine. BUT. (There’s always a but.) Last night was the first night he was on his own – I had to go back to work and boy, was he distressed when we got home! He was shivering and whining for a whole hour! (Very upsetting for us.) So I went back to the old routine of cuddling him in the pen and then left him there for a short period – no problem. (This was so he didn’t think the pen was a bad place.) This morning however, we put him in the pen (like we had on Monday – with no problems), but he started the non-stop barking again. Due to our neighbour working from home and the fact we leave for work at 6.30am and come home at 6pm, we are looking at getting a lemon collar (instead of a citronella collar) so that he doesn’t stress himself out. Our thoughts are, if he learns not to bark, then his stress level won’t increase (he works himself up), he won’t be stressed (nor the neighbours) and all will be ok. I’m asking you as professional dog trainers whether you agree or disagree with this train of thought. Please note, I have no more leave, so staying home with him and re-training him is out of the option. Any advice you can provide, would be most appreciated.

My 10 week old pup has frequent stool changes from solid poos to sloppy poos and I was wondering whether the fat on chicken necks or bones causes it? Should I be cutting the fat off the bone or is it good for him? :p He's currently fed Advance puppy growth with a tablespoon of high grade pet mince. He also gets chicken necks and brisket bones.

We put the collar on Henschke when we picked him up from the breeder. It went on when he was on my lap in the car and has not come off. He didn't seem to mind. Regarding the lead, another way to do it is to attach the lead to the collar and just let your pup drag the lead around behind them. Most will either chew or run with it. Henschke did both of these. Once he was used to it, I then picked it up and then took a couple of steps calling me. He followed quite happily. Whenever he stopped more calling and now he's happy to trot alongside. When he's sitting if he tries to chew he gets an UH-UH and I turn the lead so he can't chew it. I make sure the lead is taut (but not choking him) so he quickly stops chewing on it as it's boring. Naturally we have only tried walking him around the backyard as he's not fully vaccinated. When the time comes for him to explore the world, the first couple of walks will be to allow him to get used to walking on the lead outside of the house and then I will start training him not to pull by stopping every time he lunges forward and only rewarding him (by walking) when he is either sitting or not pulling. The idea is that the pup will quickly learn that pulling means stopping and that trotting alongside (getting ready for the heel) means walking.