LilyW

My girl sleeps outside - we have never had an issue with the barking thing, i have never really heard her bark, except for when she is playing with her toys. But we do spend all our time with her in the evening before putting her outside - when home from work she is walked and then inside for a few hours, i will sit on the floor with her for a play and most of the time she will fall asleep next to me. She is then put outside and goes straight to sleep. Every situation is different, every dog is different - just try out different things to see what works best. Spend as much time with your pup before it is put outside - dogs love to be close and feel secure so maybe look at the bedding arrangements outside? But in the end if you know your dog is not barking that much - then it shouldn't be an issue - I have a dog behind us that barks for hours, non stop - sometimes still going after midnight - I have never complained, but others are different. Most dogs bark - thats life - if it is not constant and going on for hours - then don't be too concerned.

Get a clicker - it is such a great way to teach the correct behavior. And they pick up on it so quickly. If your pup jumps - ignore. He may then eventually sit... when he sits you click and then treat. If you work on this for a couple of days he will work it out in no time. The dog associates that when they hear the click they have done something right and they get either attention or a treat for it. The clicker has also been great for our lead training with Lily - she is getting big, so she is strong and by using the clicker when on her lead she continues to work beside you as you continue to click - it is great! Also - the clicker is a great method to faze out treats - they understand the click sound as they have done something correctly so you therefore eventually don't also need to treat...

My OH was there, i dropped him off and he was quite impressed with the class yesterday - and said the next couple should be good aswell...

Our vet said that pups will eat anything and everything they can, well at least chew it. When they are young they explore with their mouths - so that is why they pick up so many different objects. My OH cleaned up our pups business on the weekend before he mowed and he said the stuff that was in it - she has been eating everything!! Including her mattress from her kennel - so alot of fluff...

Yes i have wanted to know the same thing. We take Lily out every night, but not for too long. We have too, she has so much energy and needs to get out - but if we want to do training or something, we take her next door where there is a reserve. Have a play and bring her home.. i assume this is ok??

Will do...

Yeah was near the 11am class... funny, he stands out a mile.. can't miss him!! Small world...

I saw a dog that looked very much like Leo - i am assuming it was probably Leo??

We did the 11am class on Sunday, will be back next week, though my OH did it, he is the one enrolled with her, i come along and watch

Croydon District... i think thats what there called??

Cats food is so rich in fibre, cats usually don't break down their food and by the time they go it is still full of fibre, which dogs love.... It is extremely common for pups to eat cats poo - though still gross....

My girl goes for the duck poo at the lake next door - ewwwww! Anyone got any suggestions on good toys - she has so many, but we would like to get some new ones and take away some of the old ones - keep her entertained. But is there anyones that you have found really good??? I got up this morning, looked outside and Lily was sitting on our swing chair, just staring at the world swinging away. We have never taught her or let her on furniture, so not sure how she got up there, with it swinging and all. Pity i didn't have a camera, it was pretty cute...

It could work - though this is the first time she has ever touched the washing, we have had a heap up before this, just had to laugh that it was my OH shirts and not towels or anything.. always the way i guess... I will give it a shot next time, will just have to make sure it isn't a extremely hot day - it might be refreshing for her and she will go for the washing for relief...

Yeah, we are waiting for it to all happen now as we have been fairly lucky. She is testing the waters a bit at the moment, being a touch disobedient.....my OH is starting her at Obedience School on Sunday and that happens each week - so it will be good for her to get out amongst it and back into the training.

I was told by my vet that every eight weeks is a good timeframe. There is a apprantly a vet at the clinic that would say once a year... I do Lily probably every 2 months - she gets to a point where she is a bit smelly so we give her a bath. But i don't bother if she doesn't smell or seems clean - though she is black so who knows how dirty she really is??

I have been so lucky with my puppy, she is extremely well behaved and we have had no issues. Nothing has been distroyed, the garden is still intact... But then we get home the other day and every single business shirt my OH had put on the line was now all over the ground, with a guilty looking puppy sitting in the middle of it all... they were covered in grass stains - haven't checked for rips yet, just put them straight in the wash... Expect the unexpected as they say, we might avoid the clothes line for a little bit... might be a cheaper way to go..

Thanks JBC - i hope she is very well behaved for us when she has her first class next week....

Its all too cute... http://www.myspace.com/scottietails Even has a myspace...

I mix Pauls Natural Yoghurt through Lily's dry food and she just loves it. It acutally makes her dryfood look like cookies and cream... perhaps i was craving something sweet at the time, but it looks appealing??

Bed i got from like a bargain place, was only $15. And the collar i got from a big petstore, can't think of its name, but it just one of the big franchised places...

We had to do this for my girl when we first got her as she got the runs a couple of times - it does wonders. Just put a chicken fillet in boiling water and cook until cooked through and soft. Boil up some rice, just a cup full, we have a microwave rice cooker which is much easier. Cut up the chicken and mix it together, perhapes give her quarter to a half of what is there and put the rest in the fridge for next feed. I found with the runs it was best to just keep it simple, she enjoyed it.

This Sunday my girl is getting enrolled in doggie obidience school - she will love it!! So hopefully i will have no problems to report on here...

My girl is starting to discover her bark, so this has been something i have been worried about. There is a dog behind us that just barks and barks and barks but she doesn't really seem to respond to that, so hopefully it won't be so bad. No idea what she does when we are at work though.. but no complaints. Wouldn't your obidence school have some answers on this?

I am no expert on this, but from experience my sister has two dogs - an Amercian Bulldog and a Staffy x Maltese, she got the Staffy x when the Bulldog was 12 months and for the first few months all the Staffy would do is bite at the Bulldogs face but now it isn't a problem, she grew out of it. I took my pup over there a couple of months ago and all she did was bite at the bulldogs face and mouth, he didn't seem to mind at all. I just assumed it was a normal thing for pups to do....???, just playing for them. But i could be wrong and usually am on this forum. As long as they are not being aggressive about it, or doing the same to humans i believe they grow out of it.