Gayle.

She's beautiful and yes, perfectly normal for a puppy in a new home. Before you know it, she'll be bouncing around everywhere, chewing everything and getting up to all kinds of mischief. As far as toileting goes, try walking her gently around the yard....sometimes the body motion gets things moving a bit faster.

When I was looking into a no-pull harness for Benson, I got the feeling the Sherpa covering was a new addition......can't remember why I thought that, maybe it's in the literature or something but I have a feeling the older harnesses didn't come with the Sherpa fleece.

I have an Australian Shepherd puppy who pulls like nobodies business and it drives me nuts. It got to the stage where ANY walk with him was more hassle than it was worth because it was such hard work just to get him to walk without pulling TOO hard. I bought a Gentle Leader head collar....instant success! He immediately stopped pulling, although he did a lot of pawing at his face cos he hated it. Then I bought a Sporn harness, and he doesn't mind that at all. He still pulls a little bit in the harness but I can keep it well under control. Now I use the head collar for when I'm wanting to do some training on our walks and when I want better than usual puppy behaviour (such as in crowded areas, walking by the road etc. when I need him to walk CLOSE to me and pay attention to me) and I use the harness for leisurely walks when we're out for a fun stroll or on a Sunday outing....when I want him on a lead and expect basic good behaviour but want to allow him a little bit of leeway and more lead length. It's worked out to be a great compromise for both of us. His pulling is well and truly under control plus I have the control I need in all situations. The head collar is so small and light that I can tuck it in my pocket and take it with me just in case I need to swap him out of his harness. He does obedience training in his head collar too.

What are "satin balls"? Pardon my ignorance.

I think I have an Aussie idiot savant. Extrmely intelligent....I can teach him stuff in a few minutes. But we get to our first obedience class, and he acts like a complete nutter! LOL! All he wants to do is sniff bums and jump up and lick me (usually after he's sniffed a few bums). So much for sit, shake, shake other paw, drop, roll over, fetch, lie on your rug.....all commands that he can do with ease at home....and often does them one after another just so I'll give him a treat. He's so lovable though. I just adore him to bits.

I bought a bag of Eagle Pack puppy food a few months ago as this was what I wanted to base my new pups diet on, and having never bought it before, I asked what to do if the pup refused to eat it. The guy at the local Petstock store told me it had a money back guarantee and to bring it back with the reciept....but make sure it was still more than about 2/3 full.

That's gorgeous. Puppies just make you happy, don't they? I was driving home from doggie obedience class today and stopped at the traffic lights, turned around to see my 5 month old Aussie Shepherd puppy lying happily on the back seat of the car with his head on my 13 yo daughters knee. Both of them were half asleep and looked very content. And that made me happy.

Great looking dog! We had our first obedience class last weekend (5 month old Australian Shepherd) at the local community dog obedience club, and although it was just a run through of the very basics (walking to heel, sit at heel, stand at heel) and we were in the "first timers" class, we both enjoyed it. This weekend we go to puppy class, then once he's 6 months old we go to beginners. He can already sit, drop, roll over, shake hands and fetch, but doing it in the company of other dogs and people is very different to doing it at home with me. I was very happy about being shown how to get him to walk to heel on a loose leash and we've been practising all week and now he can do it! My boy lays down on the job too. I have taught him to sit at the kerb before we cross the road and if there's traffic coming, he gives a big sigh and settles down stretched out on the grass to wait! LOL!

If she doesn't pull, why are you using it at all? If she doesn't like it, just use a normal flat collar and leash.

I had exactly the same criticism levelled at me when I first got my Aussie Shepherd boy and was taking him out everywhere with me. I was so shocked by the suggestions that I shouldn't be taking him outside the yard that I rang the breeder. This is what she told me: "You have an Australian Shepherd puppy. They are a breed that has the potential to be wary as adults. This is unlikely to happen if you socialise him NOW and get him out to experience sounds, smells and life in general. Take him with you when you go out, take him for walks around the neighborhood, get him out meeting people and other dogs, big and small. His very life could depend on how well he's socialised at this age. THIS age (around 12 weeks) not at 5 or 6 months of age. By all means be careful where you take him and it's not a good idea to let him sniff dog droppings or go too close to stray dogs but he has a much higher chance of being killed through bad behaviour as an adult than by a disease he picks up now." I took her advice to heart, Benson comes with me whenever I get the chance to take him and at 5 months of age, he's now a well socialised and confident young man. I would imagine a German Shepherd puppy would be quite similar.

Fifi, your wolfhound went some through amazing changes! And came out absolutely stunning. But I gotta say, that photo of her at 3 months is adorable. Benson's breeder told me he'd go through an ugly stage and she commented that the uglier he got the more handsome he'd become. Well, he's pretty odd looking right now so I think he's gonna have movie-star good looks when he grows up. We still think he's wonderful though, and he was never meant to be anything other than a well-loved family pet so when it all comes down to it, it doesn't really matter what he looks like. This evening, he's walking funny too......courtesy of a day at the vets having a little procedure performed. He's not at all impressed right now!

My previously gorgeous Aussie Shepherd pup has suddenly gone from being a cute bundle of bouncy fluff to a strange looking creature with long lanky legs, a head too big for his body, clumsy paws on the end of his legs and ears that don't seem to know where they should sit on his head. Sometimes they're on the top of his head, sometimes they're lower, sometimes they flop down, sometimes they stand upright......other times, one's up and one's down. He has a topknot of fluff between his ears that looks downright ridiculous, and his coat is half baby fluff and half shiny, silky dog hair. All in all, he's an odd looking fellow right now. How long does this stage last? Do people actually show their pups during the ugly puppy stage? Not that I'm planning on showing, him, I'm just curious.

Rather than look in the pet section of the depertment store for dog bedding, look elsewhere and think outside the square. Try some cheap floormats.....either heavy duty carpet or coir or tightly woven rope. They might not be ideal for you and I to sleep on but we're not dogs and dogs don't generally need the same level of comfort you and I do.

They only do the "other" once or twice a day, but a puppy is more than capable of a good piddle every hour or so, and it's much easier to train because it's so frequent. Training for the other is pretty much a by-product of visiting the backyard with pup in tow as often as possible.

Why is he tied up over a puppy pad in the back yard? Whenever I took my pup out to pee on a cold night, I'd stand him on the wet grass. That seemed to stimulate the bladder into emptying itself The whole time, I'd repeat the word "Toilet" and now, at 4 1/2 months, he squats down and piddles whenever I tell him "Toilet".

My 4 1/2 month old Aussie Shepherd boy gets his dangly bits removed on Friday. My husband keeps looking at him saying (in a sickly, whiny, pitiful voice) "Poooooor, POOOOOOOOR ole boy!" I hope he's able to walk (dog that is, not husband) by the time I collect him cos I lifted him out of the bath last night and I don't think my back will ever be the same. How is Zorro? Recovered OK?

I taught Benson to roll over this week too, He is so funny when he does it.....he rolls over one way, gets his treat then quickly rolls over the other way and looks for another treat. He's 3 1/2 months old and already he can sit, drop, shake hands, roll over and fetch a ball. This is the first time I've ever put some serious effort into training a puppy and I'm finding it's loads of fun and very rewarding. We only train for about 10 minutes a day, sometimes broken up into 2 five minute sessions but he catches on really fast. Now that I've got him doing a series of commands, we run through all of them at the start and end of each session but he only gets a treat for the newest one.

I would start with time out. Reprimand him then put him somewhere he can contemplate the error of his ways. Does he have a crate? If not, might be time to get one and start training him to sleep in it, away from kids.

I'd use a zoom groom too. I have one for my Burmese cats, they have a very short, close lying satiny coat and the zoom groom removes the dead hairs by the handful. It would be fabulous on a short haired dog....make grooming very easy!

I have a 12 week old Ausse Shepherd puppy who sleeps in a crate in the living room. I started out by giving him chew toys or treats in there, giving him his dinner in there and just putting him in it for 10-15 minutes at a time with the door shut. He howled for a few nights but eventually he settled down and now he can go right through the night without sooking.

I have a 12 week old Australian Shepherd, I am feeding him raw chicken pieces, raw meaty bones, lamb and beef offcuts, beef mince (human grade) cooked veges, rice and pasta. I'm slowly introducing Eagle Pack puppy kibble and today I bought some Ecopet rolls and will give him some of that for variety. While I believe in a mostly raw diet, I think it's good for them to get used to commercial pet food as well, cos it makes it a whole lot easier if I ever need to have him minded.