NoodleNut

Hi Baileys mum, cavNrott & settrlvr, Ok,... just so you are all clear that I am not abusing my pup let me explain further ... obviously some sense is required in doing what I am doing. I did not put on the times that I use the ball (didn't think there was any need .. just the idea was what I wanted to convey) For what it is worth, I have a working dog (a Puli) with heaps of mental and physical energy to burn. I also don't want the backyard turned into a bomb site if she gets bored. 2. she does not have a huge food drive, she never eats more than her fill and does not come back for more. Yes, the food bowl is taken away after 20 minutes. 3. After obedience training she gets fed in a bowl 4. After a massive play with a friends cocker spaniel this afternoon , she got fed in her bowl tonight. 5. She is fed with the ball on the days I head off to work but at night after her walk/play/short training session she has a chicken neck/food in a bowl. 6. She has absolutely no interest in the usual treats. Her high value treats are hot dog (gives her the runs so she never gets it .. I have an aversion to wiping a Puli's butt!! and tiny bits of cheese) .. all other treats do not work at all ... one sniff and she does not touch it so no point putting them in a treat ball .. no interest at all. So, all other treat ideas during the day are not touched at all - hence using her breakfast. She does not like biscuits (I have a cupboard full of them from Eagle Pack to cottage cheese healthy ones to the el' cheapo ones from the local pet shop and supermarkets ... screws her nose up at all of them). Anyone out there want some 7. Being a pup she is still fed twice a day .. one of these feeds is with the ball (always when we are out NEVER when we are at home) unless it is an obedience morning or a day when there will be a heap of exercies/mental stimuation like visiting a friend's dog. Incidently she ran rings around the cocker this afternoon and he is only 12 months old ... she was rounding him up for 1.5 hours and had him chasing her but she is so much faster! Poor Barney he just couldn't keep up. She had an absolute ball! Where's the sheep??? Again it is up to each owner and knowledge of their breed and individual dog/temperament. I see no evidence of harm to Noodle. She wanders off like she has got a prize possession. After she is finished eating out of the ball she then plays with it as it rolls quite easily. She also has a mass of other toys that we rotate. Hope this clarifies our situation. PS: Yes she is doing obedience and I have already taught her to roll over and shake hands at home (all reward training) as well as the usual stuff at obedience so plenty of that going on as well. When we are home she is inside with us and sleep inside and only outside for a few hours of the day when I am working. Noodle 5.5 months Hungarian Puli

Great suggestion luvmycav! Have to try that one. I will try and take some photos of the ball I am using tomorrow for everyone too .... Any more ideas DOLers??

Hi, I have a bottle of the stuff and it did not seem to work at all. I resorted to getting the toilt pad and wiping som of my pup's wee up with it (not heaps justa bit to get the scent on the pad .. this seemed to help as our pup (and apparently most dogs) will go back to where they smell they have gone to the toilet before. Each time I had to change the toileting pad I always put a bit of Noodle's wee on it (just lightly wiped the used pad against the new one) - she then knew where to go when she started sniffing around. Might sound ridiculous methodology but it worked for us. There are other thread's on crate training where I added a photo of the set up we had from 8 weeks to 14 weeks inside .. Noodle is now 5.5 months ... no pen and no problems toileting outside all the time.

I did that once and she couldn't get the darn thing out .. I couldn't stand the look of it and the smell and ended up chucking the whole thing out... (I cannot type with Noodle on my LAP ... she thinks she is a lap dog and she is fast growing out of theat lap stage!! ) anyway .. back to typing funny with Noodle's head in the crook of my right arm................................... ... it was the middle of summer and I had frozen the chicken neck inside the ball .. never again .. what a mess and she couldn't get it out anyway .. groan. I must say after a good run down at the park playing fetch, reinforcing obedience lessons, or just out on a walk with lots of mental stimulation or obedience days we resort to the bowl ... there is obviously some days where working for ones food is not required. This works well when there is noone at home and perhaps we are at school/work etc.

Hi All, Ok, just wanted to post an idea that I have been doing with Noodle the past few weeks that I thought others might be interested in. Someone told me before we got Noodle that I should not feed her in her dog bowl but make her work for her food. The first few weeks (8 - 11 weeks) she was fed in a bowl and then after that this is what I have been doing and finding works really well .. so much so I wanted to share it with others that have new pups. Purchase 2 or more 'MasterPet' brand 'Chasers' Fun on the Run cylindrical (football shaped) balls .. I chose to buy the larger one. I have one bright green one and found that Petstock has thenm out for $6.50 each at the moment (check out their brochure as I am sure it is in there) so bought another one. Ok ... get the ball and place it in a plastic bag. Put in desired amount of dry food (I am using a combination of Eagle pack and Advance rehydratable) Add a little pasta, rice or vegetables, chicken pieces etc (for interest). Tonight I filled it with some vegetables (only a table spoon). Tonight I put a little hot water in the bottom of my frypan (we had Greek lamb straps for dinner) and 'swooched' it around to get all the juices and poured this into the plastic bag. You can either pile the whole lot into the bag or mix it up in a dish and then squoosh it into the ball in the bag .. up to you ... I find the former a little easier myself. Add the amount of water you would normally have for say the rehydratable food and then get the air out of the bag and tie it. Put another bag around this one and start moulding the food into the holes. Freeze bag (if you want to do a number of them and put in the freezer). When you take the bags off in the morning everything has obviously solidified and your pup will spend a very LONG time licking, chewing trying to get their breakfast out .... great mental work out. Anyway, that's my idea for what it is worth. Kongs don't work at all with my pup but these balls are great!! PS I also put the ball on the top shelf of the dishwasher and they wash up fine .. much easier than hand washing .. I must say it is 'clean' when Noodl ehas finished with it!! Anyone else out there with 'active mind eating ideas'??

Hi jr_inoz, Congratulations on the puppy!! How exciting!! It seems not that long ago since we got our pup! Must see photos when you get a chance .. make sure you have that camera handy to brag I will attach a photo of what we did with our pup when we first bought her home .. Penned, crate inside the pen, door of the crate wedged open, training pads for when I missed the sound of her waking up to toilet her. (suggest you either set an alarm or just take her out at 11pm before you hit the sack and then every couple of hours ... yes, it is very tiring the first few weeks but be sure to hang in there. Get a heap of chicken necks from the supermarket and put them into little bags and freeze them .. wonderful for when you are getting to the stage of shutting the crate door (check out the other posts on this point .. it can be a bit tiresome and stressful but again have a strong resolve and all will be well). The frozen chicken necks are great for pups to chew on .. they chew slower because they are frozen .. less likely to gulp and the cool is good for cutting their teeth in a couple of weeks). We also thought about the pet loo but to be honest the toilet training goes very quickly and it would probably be a waste of money .. our 5.5mth old has not gone to the toilet in the crate at all since we started shutting the door on her at about 14 weeks (can't remember the exact date) so even though it may seem a costly exercise of cleaning up poo and going through training pads at a rate that you are considering buying shares in them ... all of a sudden everything 'clicks' and you get left with 3/4 of a bag of 50!!! That is what has happened to us. She also has not gone in the house for about 6 weeks. Lots and Lots of paper towel,... 'Urine off' spray if you don't have any, disinfectant, baby nappy bags (100% biodegradable ones,... smell nicer than the dog ones and they are cheaper too). Room spray too. Also I have found a chamois of great use... still use it now to wipe puppy's paws and muzzle after eating, or just to wipe down the coat with Aloveen or the like (smells nice and puts off the bathing initially) ... great for wiping poop off those little paws too Easy to wash after and better than wet old towels. Perhaps an old towel in the bedding too .. much easier to wash than pillows. If you can get the towel rubbed all over her mum .. she will be able to smell this and that will be comfroting. We have a bear that made a heart beat sound I attached to the outside of the crate (our kids had it as babies). We didn't do the waterbottle thing as we got our pup when it was hot ... she had icecubes in her water instead! Take the first night pretty easy. I did not have anyone over .. just us and we restricted her movements to just the kitchen area, her pen and the lawn for the first week, The second week we introduced the backyard (in another pen) then the third week started to let her out to roam around the yard on her own. This worked well for our pup. In between times lots of little trips in the car with us (she LOVES the car now!) Lots of lovely puppy massages with you on the floor legs slightly apart and puppy between them (belly to ground) and stroking her back and head etc with long calming strokes then roll her over (belly to ceiling) in between your legs again ... playing with her paws (eventually you will need to trim the hair on her paws so this will get her used to her being touched on the pads of the feet, belly rubs etc. Over time check her ears .. smell them , check in her mouth and her teeth etc. These are things we did that worked for us but this Forum has some wonderful members that will share their suggestions with you too that may be different from mine - what works for you and your pup Best wishes!

What an absolute stunning photo of Jaeger!!

Yeah ... I heard/saw a new term yesterday in an ABC magazine ... "GLAMPING" Not quite what we have but as you can see we have the storage tent, ... next to Noodle's pen for the bikes and Noodles K9 bike trailer, the large canopy at the front and what you can just see (green on the left hand side) is our enormous Coleman tent complete with bunks, cupboard and table and chairs!! Makes life very comfy ... anyway the crate works well as it flat packs and is easy to transport whereever I want Noodle to sleep now.

Ahh the advantage of the crate ... we took Noodle camping at Easter and she slept in the crate in the tent ... worked a treat!! Must admit I occassionally had to take her out at about 4am for a toilet stop. Also took a pen and used that sometimes during the day for 'time out' from the kids rather than having her tethered. Put those camping mats on the ground to keep her off the dirt. Check out the photo..... Pens are also a very worthwhile purchase mummyofdakota for this reason. From 8 weeks to 14 weeks she was in a pen inside with the crate in the pen.

My spag bog sauce is very healthy .... I have a 6 year old daughter that wont even look at anything that vaguely looks like a vegetable but LOVES pasta!! So, I hid broccoli (a whole head of it!), 3 enormous carrots (makes the sauce really sweet) and the usual cans of crushed tomatoes and premium mince ... puree the lot so it is as smooth as baby food ... never ever know there was a veggie in there Doesn't help the 10 year old that DETESTS pasta ... groan .. he eats veggies though ..... life! Anyway before this becomes a cooking thread ;) I want to be able to put a dollop on Noodles food whenever I make it. I don't use garlic and I can easily cut out the onion. I am pleased I asked the question... thought it may have been a bit ridiculous but I thought that perhaps teh toxicity may have ben reduced from boiling to a pulp .. not so I now understand. You know how you can cook with wine and the alcohol evaporates off? Anyway .. thought it might have been the case with onions .... Thanks to all that have responded .. really appreciate the advice and especially 22 week old Noodle Karen

Thanks Audrey, As Noodle is still a pup I might give the whole onion thing a miss .. cooking will be onionless from now on ... I mean the spag bog and the soup Noodle doesn't eat anything we eat anyway .. just me thinking she might find it a yummy change and nutritious apart from teh normal fare and chicken fillet and chicken necks and the odd raw carrot to munch on .. she loves these.

Eeek ... might just be an onion free house from now on .. don't really need the onion in teh pumpkin soup or the spag bog Thanks for the advice Persephone (not sure I spelt this right .. apologies). Always good to ask I reckon.

Apologies in advance if this is a dumb question .... I realise I can't feed my dog onion .. not a problem .. however, I made a really yummy pumpkin soup (with real chicken stock, one onion and carrots, heap of pumpkin and parsley ...the really healthy home made kind) .. any way ... can I stick a couple of dollops on Noodle's dinner (rehydratable Advance ... also trying out a bit of the Eagle pack stuff too at the moment) ... or should I be concerned about the onion? Ditto for the spaghetti bog I made ... just thought a dollop of that might be ok?? What is the verdict DOLers?

Unfortunately ,this has now 'taught ' her that you don't mean what you say...and she only has to persistent to get her own way Also..to tire her out... put her on leash, and do 10 minutes of obedience work with her a couple of times ..late afternoon and evening..just heel,sit... walk- without- sniffing type stuff... You may also find that having to work for her night time meal..by filling a KONG with her dinner, helps. Have to agree Persephone ... it is hard work ... but keep in mind that it is well worth it once you follow through. A bit like disciplining a child really ... may seem a bit cruel at the time but our children also need boundaries and over time they are able to have more 'freedom' to self determine with more responsibility. Make your pup work for ALL of her meals .. ours does .. she has a large green 'football' shaped thingo that I stuff her rehydratable puppy food in, bits of raw chicken or beef and throw in the freezer ... takes her quite awhile to eat it. I did the crate thing at night although during a couple of horrendously hot days in Melbourne I did nick home from work and crate her inside as it was cool and she was your pups age at the time. When for a short walk and lots of play and training afterwards though ... did not want her to resent the crate.

Very true ShelleyLee. Expect lots of crying and 'poor me I am gonna die in here' type behaviour .. this is not a once off quick fix but it does work. Much better to go through the agony now than wait until your 'pup' is an adult ... much harder to assert yourself then. Something good to chew on in the crate to get her started is a good way of making the experience more pleasant .. when she comes up for air and even notices there is something yummy to chew on Let us know how you get on and hang in there.

Ditto .... one bottle was enough for us ... Noodle is now 22 weeks and have not needed to use if for over a month now .. the first few weeks I was wondering about how many bottle I was going to need!! Luckily on lino though.

Yeah ive tried tiring her out but it makes no difference, i think shes got her body clock backwards as she likes to sleep most of the day & when it comes to bedtime shes wide awake. I dont know how to force her to play more during the day & sleep at night. Ok,my suggestion for what it is worth ...... Try putting her in the crate and going out for an hour or so .. we did this and after doing it a couple of times Noodle accepted the crate. Put in a lovely frozen chicken neck for her to chew on and make sure there is some water (try buying what amounts to a bird bowl that can be screwed (wingnut) on to the inside of the crate but don't overfill it as she may try to stand up on it if she is upset and you will have water everywhere in the crate and a very wet pup when you get back. You could also leave a radio on or the television to give her a bit of company ... turned down low ... put her in and leave ... We did this with Noodle and when we got home she had been asleep and learnt in the process not to carry on as it got her absolutely nowhere. We went out at 7:30 and back home at 9pm (shopping) on a Friday night. When you get her out take her straight out for a wee. Perhaps a walk and then 20 minutes of training to wear her out mentally (sit, drop etc). Then back in the crate at 10:30/11 (when you head to bed) ... she may still act up but you will need to ignore her .. she is safe, she can't hurt herself, she has been to the toilet, she has been fed and now it is bed time. Stick your head under the dooner ... Friday night works well as if you are kept awake then you are able to catch up a bit ove the weekend. The first night we did this was on a Wednesday night .. bad decision!! Silly as we were so tired we did not persist and she effectively 'won' and we relented and let her out. This worked for us .. occassionally Noodle carried on but only once a fortnight and it only lasts about 10 minutes. Hasn't affected her from what I can see .. she is sitting on my lap as I type (she is getting a bit too big for a lap dog now .. no-onehas told her that!!) She has her nose nearly on top of the space bar!! Fortunately she has stopped licking me.... bit hard to type when my fands are being licked ... sweet girl she is.

Good point Cosmolo!I would agree with the holding the lead when your child interacts with your pup - she is too young to be able to move away quick enough and you don't want her to have a negative experience due to her being overwhemed by your pup. Our children are 6 and 10 so are more assertive and we did LOTS of rote practice with responses MONTHS before we got Noodle. Not only are we training the pup but also our children and often our family members friends .. I have a family member that wants to rough Noodle up everytime they see her ... GRRRRR makes my blood boil and I have had to have 'words'.

Our pup is a working breed so she is pretty active ... outside lots with us and inside when it rains or we are at home and she has been outside for while. If Noodle has been for a walk to the park, done some training at the park, been for a trip in the car to drop kids at their various sporting commitments and done a lap of the local strip shops while I am waiting she is usually much better behaved and control is much easier. Noodle is then off the lead in the house but she is now 22 weeks. When I can't 'supervise her' 100% she is on the lead ... just to clarify for Coslomo and other DOL's what I mean by this is that I am sitting at the computer and can see her all the time (she is sitting under my feet at the moment with her head lying on my foot )but I am typing (like I am now) and the kids are either doing homework etc or I am making dinner or cutting bits and pieces out for the 6 year old's show and tell book. If I can't be in the kitchen with Noodle she goes outside (I agree I don't want her getting tangled). If she is ever inside when we go out (like the horrendous rain we had the other week) I crate her for a few hours NOT on the lead. It really does depend on your house set up .. ours is very open plan and so Noodle is in literally the middle of the house where all the action is. It also allows me to monitor her need to toilet and respond accordingly (just took her outside now as she barked and shook herself .. this means 'wanna go to the toilet'.) We are currently extending our home and part of it is a large home office so Noodle will have access to this area as well as the kitchen, hallway, large open room for entertaining (tiled floor) ... plenty of space for her to go (approx 18 squares ... enough for a dog I would think). We happen to have 10 square of parquetry and Noodle has learnt she is not to go on it already (the kitchen has two entries onto the parquetry, another two to an entertaining area and hallway (both tiled) and she knows she can go there. I understand that tethering is not ideal however we felt this was the most responsible thing to do having children, least restrictive for Noodle (we did use the pen when she was really little from 8 weeks to 14 weeks and now only the crate at night) and combined with lots of activity and physical and mental stimulation I would say she is only on the lead perhaps 3 hours per day now (1 hour in the morning and 1-2 hours at night .. the rest of the time she is offlead when she is in but with our 100% attention at that time. I find putting her in the pen would be too restrictive and too 'out of the way' in the kitchen .. .up against one wall .. .on the lead she is smack in the middle of the kitchen .. just need to watch ourselves that WE don't come a cropper on her lead )

Hi mummyofdakota This was exactly what I do with Noodle and my suggestion in both of the threads. Have another read of my postings. It works well for us. Kids are home from school now and the eldest has been playing with her outside for 20 minutes .. Noodle is now inside and as she is still fired up she is on the lead attached to the kitchen drawers. The kids will play with her, pat etc if she has her paws on teh ground and does not mouth. At this stage they have left her on her own as she was trying to mouth. Usually 5 minutes later they come back and try again ... the only behaviour that is rewarded is calm behaviour otherwise she is ignored and she hates that.

Did you take a photo of the scene that confronted you when you walked throught he door???? I never think to get out the camera! Noodle was only 9 weeks old in the pen (with crate in the pen but door open of the crate so she could get used to it at this stage) with an absobent pad incase I missed the wimper/shake/bark to go out in the middle of the night. Well, one night I fed her late (like 9pm ..... BAD DECISION!! VERY BAD DECISION!!) ... I was, like you, the walking dead after a week and a half of dragging myself out of bed at 11pm, 2am, 4am and 6am and slept through until 4am ..... well, what confronted me was .. Poo flicked (and I mean flicked!!) around the pen and hanging by the wire of the pen in all sorts of places .. like stalectites and stactmites ... (sp??) you get the picture .... poo on her paws too ... what a MESS! I got her out of the pen and tethered her to the kitchen drawers on her lead and proceeded to clean up the pen (45 minutes, LOTS of disinfectant, spray, and urine off spray and heaps of paper towel ... I was thinking of buying shares in the paper towel industry!) ... after doing all this I then turned my attention to her ... Pee all over the floor and more pooey footprints ... arghhh .. wiped her down (I now want to buy shares in dog conditioner .... I put some on a chamois and moisten it with some warm water and wipe her coat/paws down when she has been outside and in this instance her paws) and another 20 minutes to clean up that spot. After that she didn't want to go back to sleep .. PLAY TIME .... Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! OH slept through all of this like a baby!!! Flamin OH!!! I went off to have a shower and wash my dressing gown .... No, I did not think of the camera at the time

Thanks for the explanation .. yes I have been doing that ... even though I didn't know it at the time LOL. Is there a good time to go from food reward to a clicker? Cold Turkey or clicker then treat is that right (I remember this somewhere in one of the books I read .. need to revisit this I think)

Hi, What does 'free shaping behaviours mean' sorry ... I am new to this :rolleyes: No she isn't clicker tained .. only using treats (usually tiny bits of cheese .. nothing else 'turns her on' unless it is bit of hotdog and than goes through her .... grose!) as she is only 5 months.

Thanks whatevah, I am mixing them up .. haven't done any training as yet today so will continue to mix the commands/signals up again tonight. I agree she is very motivated and keen to please - BIG bonus! Suppose I can't expect TOO much when I only started the roll over and shake hands in the past 3 days

Thanks Trish .. that is heartening to hear. I must admit we are putting in the time .. mostly me I must say but after researching breeds for 4 months last year, driving the breeder nuts for months visiting, questioning, LOTS of reading and purchasing STACKS of stuff (over time it didn't hurt the hip pocket as much) .. crate, 2 pens, leads, collars, heaps of good quality toys etc etc.... it is lovely to have spent this evening working with Noodle for half an hour and her now being able to sit, drop, roll over and shake hands. We are getting there and the moments like these are becoming more frequent .. less 'craziness'. I was feeling pretty down on Sunday as I met an owner of a 5 month old BC and they informed me that their dog had great recall and was able to be let off in offlead parks ... depressing .. is that dog a freak? am I expecting too much? Or have I not put in enough time or effort on this part of the training .. have been limited by immunisations (only been able to really head out on large grassed areas in the past 3 weeks.. before that restricted to pavement, road, beach (over Easter) and the backyard. Recall in the backyard is fine but with distraction still inconsistent. Wouldn't let her off lead in a pink fit. Definately not a perfect owner but willing to learn and ask questions Back to this thread ... don't be disheartened .. just have a strong resolve that you will get through the puppy stages and it is only really for such a short time before 'sense' starts to prevail in our furry family member and we (dog and owner) can work as a team.