Nushie

I'm not saying living in an apartment is the perfect situation but not everyone can afford to live in a house with a nice grassy backyard. If I had the choice (and the funds) I would. I grew up on a large block of land and I miss lying on the grass with my dogs. We were very careful choosing a breed that would suit our lifestyle and living conditions and we try our best to make it work.

We live in an apartment and I think Jager is happy. We have a courtyard which is totally useless (fully paved, 2 x 3m, gets full sun, no shelter from rain either). So Jager is always inside. He gets walked for 45 mins every afternoon and we play fetch for about 20mins each night. Every second morning he gets walked for 30 mins as well. Weekends he usually gets more. He usually comes with us to visit friends if we go over for dinner and he loves going to my mums and my brothers. He loves his walks but as soon as we get home he happily curls up to go to sleep. We make an effort to spend as much time as possible with him. So if going out with friends we try to make it places we can take him to. If we need to go to the shops we both go so he can come and one can wait with him outside etc. If I need to pick my OH up from work, Jager comes for the drive. Any chance I we get we try and get him out of the place. The weekend just past we were particularly lazy and because it was raining the only time OH and I left the unit was to vote, Jager came too of course, but for the rest of the weekend he happily cuddled with me on the couch to watch some DVDs. I hope we do a reasonable job to keep his life active and interesting and not staring at the walls all day. But I think if he was only taken for a walk once a day and left inside for the rest he would go crazy. He is a really curious dog and loves to be with you. We want a happy well adjusted dog and we try out best to keep him entertained and out of trouble.

My mums water meter is out the backyard and the guys that check them don't go out their because of the dogs. Never have. They knock on the front door and we take them out and if there is no one home. They leave a flyer in the mail box saying they came around and we fill in the reading and mail it back to them. Our dogs have never been a problem but I would think that is part of their safety rules. I wouldn't be going into a backyard with a dog I don't know without the owner so why should they be expected too. At the same time, as an owner I don't want strangers in my yard without my knowledge.

A friend recently bought a puppy and she is now 11 weeks old. We have taken Jager over twice to play and meet and give her a bit of a chance to socialise while they are waiting for her 12 week vac. First play date was fine, both were very over the top but played well, and shared the play – one would chase the other and then they would switch, both had time on their backs and they took a breather when they needed too. However last night when we went over, it started off alright but then about 10 mins in the pup started grabbing for the skin around Jager’s neck – fair enough, he has a lot there to grab hold of. But then it got the point where she wouldn’t let go. We intervened a couple of times just by putting a foot between them and that seemed to break it up, they would play for a bit and then she would latch on again. It started to get to the point where there was no play, we would break them apart and then she would jump all over him trying to get to his neck again. Eventually we had to pick her up (she was still hanging onto him while being picked up) to get her to let go. We left after that. Jager isn’t a yelper, and he cant ever seem to bite her back as she is too quick for him. So there really is no “pay back” when she does bite him. There was no broken skin, and Jager seemed happy to continue play each time. No growling etc. But just wondering if this is normal for pups to do? I have only every had 2 pups in my life and neither of them has ever done that. Am I worrying about nothing? Is it just playing that she will just grow out of or another dog wont put up with and teach her a lesson by growling etc.? She will eventually end up being bigger than Jager and we spend a fair bit of time with these friends so there will be lots of times that the dogs interact. There were using the “give” command (as in when you what them to drop a toy) and then praising her if she let go. There was no repremand like I would have given, as in a growling at her, or a strong “No” so that she knew it wasn’t acceptable. But maybe it is acceptable and I am just being a big baby…. Thanks

That is what i did as well.

Agreed! I spent hours (and i mean hours, on my hands and knees hours!) cleaning every weekend to get the hair that Jager leaves on my carpet. Got my dyson and i LOVE it! Still have to vacuum every weekend but it is so much easier. Even managed to get the boyfriend to use it once or twice! Best investment ever!

Apart from all the obvious, makes me laugh, keeps me company etc. Jager also makes me feel safe. I hate sleeping in an empty house. Whenever my boyfriend would travel for work or have a boys weekend away i wouldn't sleep, i would literally lay awake at night untit stupid o'clock in the morning and then dose on and off waking up to any teeny sounds. We have had Jager for about 10 months now and last weekend was the first time that my boyfriend has been away, 4 nights he was gone, and i slept like a baby (maybe better). Went to bed, straight to sleep, didn't wake up for anything. And the only thing that has changed is Jager. Either he makes me so tired i sleep through the fear, or he just makes me feel safe and calm. I think he makes me comfortable and safe. Mind you, if someone broke in i dont know what i would expect him to do to save me. He is in a crate next to the bed, and if i let him out, he might lick their ears until they ran away! He gives me something to get up for. Every day 6am, out of bed to feed, walk and play with him. Even on weekends, 6am. I might only be up for 30minutes before going back to bed, but there was no chance that a year ago i would ever get out of bed that early on the weekend!

I think we were lucky with Jager, we had him crated next to our bed (still is) and the first night i sat on the floor next to the crate until he dozed off (about 10minutes) and then anytime he cried i would just rest my hand next to the mesh window of the crate and he would settle really quickly. If he didnt, it was because he needed to go to the toilet. So we would go out, on a lead and wait for him to go, praise, treat and then straight back to bed. I would then leave my hand against the mesh window again until he went to sleep. After the first 2 weeks it went from having to put my hand next to him every hour or so to only once or twice a night and within the first month of being home the only time i heard from him was to wake me up to go to the toilet.

I dont know how it happens but i think i vacuum up more hair each week than is actually ever on Jager. And putting on work clothes is the last thing i do in the morning (even after i say goodbye to the OH) and it is the first thing i do when i get home. Cause otherwise there is no getting it out of the clothes and i wear a lot of black to work. Everyone that comes to our house gets a warning that they should not wear black. Wouldnt trade him for the world, but think dog for my dyson!

There are no stains on the carpet. Its just that i think there must still be a hint of a smell as he always goes back to the same area. Thanks

Hi guys, Does anyone know any details for the St George Dog Training Club at Tempe / Wolli Creek?? I found a contact number on a vet website but it has been disconnected. Thought maybe someone here knew another number / email / website for them. I am interested in starting up with my 11month old and just wanted to know where i need to be and when to sign up, what i need to bring etc. Any information is appreciated. Thanks

We havent had any problems since we have started this new routine of him being out when we arent home or if he didnt go when we first got up. I just want to make sure the area is clean and doesnt smell like it should be where he should go. So that later we can start leaving him unattended for a short period of time. Its just really hard to judge as we havent had any mistakes (and i mean nothing) while we are home for the past few months. Hi ESCS, How did you use the Bio Zet? Dilute it down and spray it onto the carpet, wait to dry and then vacuum?? Just wondering how you get the powder out fo the carpet afterwards. Thanks

Thanks for this, so you think if i just use that all over the entire area? We have been having trouble with the old fashion training methods due to the fact that he only ever goes in the wrong spot if we leave him unsupervised (ie. while we are at work, or if we have a sleep in on a saturday etc.) If we are home he goes outside 100% of the time. We have gotten into a good routine now where he goes at 6:30 when we get up, and he is then allowed to stay in the house unsupervised until my partner gets up at 9am he is then taken for a walk and then locked out in the courtyard while we are at work. Ideally we want him to have access to the house as well while we are out as the courtyard isnt really suitable, so we have a small enclosure on the inside of the dog door with a bed for him to use during the day as there is no shelter in the courtyard. He doesnt usually go during the day, and about an hour after i get home he goes and if not then, definately on our walk. But say on the odd occassion that he doesnt go in the morning and i leave him out after i head to work, he will go on the carpet. So it is impossible to growl at him when he only does the wrong thing while we are not there. But we praise him like no tomorrow give him treats and love everytime he does the right thing while we are there. For the moment it is all good, but i really dont like having a pen in the lounge room (just inside the dog door). So i am just going to try as many things as possible. I will look into the urine off, i am pretty sure i have seen it or something similar at pet barn. Thanks

We have had a few problems over the past few months with toilet training and i think i really need to clean my carpet. I clean up after each mistake (usually only poo) and none recently but we still do have the occasional mistake and i think if i can clean the carpet properly and get rid of any left over smells it will help. I cant smell anything, and he happily takes himself outside while we are there, but if we leave him inside and go out, and he needs to poo he goes on the carpet (he has a dog door to go outside). I have been cleaning up each with warm water and white vinegar. But was wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to what i can use to clean a large area to get rid of anything that may still be lingering and confusing him? I think this is the cause as he always goes in the same area, be it a 3 x 4m area, but considering when he is left in, he has the lounge, dining room, kitchen and hall and he always goes in that one part. He gets locked out with a small area inside the dog door, while we arent home and he seems happy with that, but would like to eventually be able to trust him unsupervised. Thought this is a good step forward and obviously continue on with the training that we are doing. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

*thread hijack* Nushie and anyone else who is considering work in the animal field - be aware that it is a HIGH competition area. I manage a salon and get at least 3 resumes a week and we're not looking for anyone at the moment! Every resume contains 'love dogs' 'no experience but have my own' etc. The reason I got my foot in the door was because I volunteered at the Sydney Dogs and Cats Home (ah, back in the day) walking dogs. That got me into a salon (I walked in and asked if they had any jobs, they weren't looking but Pester Power is your friend! ) bathing dogs and I worked my way up from that. Unfortunately nowadays even voluntary positions at the RSPCA et all are quite hard to come by as it's very high competition too!! I'd love to let people volunteer at the salon but can't due to OH&S and insurance issues. Of course most of the animal courses available at TAFE require hours worked in the industry... so you go round and round in a circle. Your best bet is to keep applying at places you want to work, places you want to volunteer and do something like pet sitting or dog walking while working your current job. Also keep in mind that the pay in this industry is crap crap crap! When I started I was getting $12p/h which was widely accepted (even tho it's not minimum wage!), and I've had to fight tooth and nail to earn what I'm getting now - which is still not great, but I have a FT contract which is far more important to me. Burn out is a huge risk, and you have to be a certain type of person to be able to work with animals. They poo, pee and vomit on you, bite you, there is a LOT of cleaning involved and you need to be quite active to do the work. A guy that used to work at my salon lost 10kg when he was bathing!! That being said - if you're a sad crazy dog lady like me, there's no better job. Just marry a millionare before you ditch your current job Thanks Koemi, I have been finding it hard to do the courses (even Cert I) as i live and work in Sydney and they are run during the day or at a campus that i would never be able to make it to in time after work. I fully understand it is a tough industry and i would think that there are a lot of people that join and underestimate the hard work involved. It something that i have always wanted to do and something that i should have done years ago, but being younger, money was pretty important and now i have realise that i hate getting up each day, i hate my job and a hefty pay cut in exchange for doing something i love is well worth it. Unfortunately everything i apply for wants the qual's. Guess i will just keep on trying and fingers crossed someone, somewhere will give me a chance at cleaning kennels and sweeping floors.

Jager still loves his cardboard, if there is a box of any sort left within his reach unsupervised it will be destroyed by the time we catch him. Doesnt really bother me, other than the fact i have to pick up shredded cardboard all the time He has also recently discovered the soft drink bottles, i dont even need to put kibble in them, he just jumps all over them to make them go flying along the carpet and then tackles them again. Kongs are the best investment i have ever made, he wasnt interested in them for the first week or two. I just started off with some dry kibble in them so that it would easily fall out, once he was in the habit of pushing them around to get that out, i put some wet kibble in to make a little harder, then started to pack it in so it would take longer, then freeze it, now i stuff it with meat and some veg and freeze. It only lasts an hour, but seeing as when we arent there he tends to sleep i dont think its a problem.

I have been thinking the exact same thing over the past week as i am just fed up with my job. Can i ask a question?? Do you have any qualifications? I have been looking at a few jobs in dog day care and most of them want Cert II or III in Animal Studies. Which i am happy to go back to TAFE to do but in order to the courses you have to have job placement. Im in Sydney so i was just wondering if it is the same for you up in QLD? Congratulations on the new job. I am sure you will have a blast!

I have a k9+ polar pad. I have it so that it is the size of half of his crate so he can sleep on it or off (or half on half off). I soak it for about 10mins, give it a wring out and leave it to dry flat for about 15mis, the outer material dries off reasonably quickly and it stays cool. Essentially i believe they are made from the cystals that you put in your garden (obviously not the same but the same idea) that soak up the water and then release it slowly so the ground says cool and damp. Same goes for the dog beds so that the material stays cool. If Jager is sleeping on it for a long period of time his side will be cool and a little damp, but not wet.

He was sleeping through the night up until about a month ago when he started waking me up at 4 and then again at 5am. So last night he wont up at 5am (didnt wake up at 4 this time) and he whimpered a little, which is when i usually get up and take him out, but i ignored it thinking that if he really needed to go he would continue, he didnt, after a a second or two of whimpering, he went back to sleep. Maybe i am just too soft and he knows it :D

I think now that i am back at work our routine will get back to normal and i will change his evening meals to always be at 7:30. I think will start locking him inside for the last few hours before going to bed too, hopefully that will encourage him to go prior to going to bed. Cheers guys

Thanks for the responses. I do take him out when i go to bed, but because he can come and go whenever he pleases he usually doesnt go when i take him out. He gets fed at different times depending on when he goes for his run down the park. Morning are always the same at 6:30am for his evening meal if my OH has taken him to the park in the morning then he gets dinner around 6:30 if i take him in the afternoon he get it around 7:30-8 ish (gives him about 30-45mins to cool off and calm down after running mad at the park). He doesnt seem fussed by the difference in feeding. Maybe i should just feed him around 7:30 every night? He gets fed Eukanuka 1/2 twice a day. Morning he gets it stuffed in a kong with some meat. Evening he just gets it in a bowl. He is only pooping twice a day - 5am and then usually again just before our afternoon walk around 5:30 "What have you changed that could possibly be getting him to do this?" Thats a good point.... i have been on leave for the past month, that has probably totally screwed up the routine cause i would go to bed at different times anywhere from 9:30 until 3am (he would still get breakfast at the same time) but bedtime was totally stuffed. That would make sense, we were in such a good routine and he would sleep from 11 when we went to bed and then wake up with my alarm at 6:30. Still might try again with the toileting on command just in case. Cant hurt to know it.

Quick question regarding toileting at night. Jager is 10 months now and generally he is very good at night but over the past month or two he has been waking up at the same times to toilet. Around 4am to pee and around 5-5:30 to poo. I usually get up at 6:30 and it takes me a good 30-45mins to get back to sleep especially after the 5am run. I have tried standing around and waiting at the 4am run for him to poo but nothing happens. He has a dog door to access the toilet during the day and when we are home so i am thinking that because he is able to go when he wants, he is waking up because it could have been a few hours that he went last before we went to bed. Can anyone recommend anything? I like having him next to the bed at night and eventually he will be allowed to sleep where he likes but for the time being he just makes too much noise, so he sleeps in his crate. I dont have a problem getting up during the night but if possible i would like to try and cut it down to one run considering it is one of each and he isnt peeing both times. At one stage i was trying to teach him to toilet on command, but we never really got it. Is this what others do when their dogs are able to go whenever they need to? Any suggestions on how to train it? Maybe i was going about it the wrong way? Thanks guys

Try starting with puppy sitting at your (left) side then swing around stepping out directly in front and facing him as you give the command - so you are effectively blocking the puppy from moving forward. If he stays put then mark immediately and reward, build it up gradually to add more time. Next step is to step in front and then back again (returning to your dogs side). Mark and reward if he holds the position. Gradually extend the time before returning to him, then the distance, then the distraction level. A long line is helpful for adding distance to stays in the beginning too *edited for clarity Ding ding! Exactly the method i used with Jager. I found that when we started adding some distance that to stay facing him was best. So for example once you have got them staying while you step in front of them, take an extra step backward then forwards then back to their side. Increase the steps backwards until you have a good few feet then we started training with our backs to him only a step in front of him. We found that once we started turning our back to him, he would try to follow as he thought we were leaving.

A barking dog during the day is bad enough but at night it is torture. I would keep her with you until she is happy to be apart for short periods and then build it up. She is still a pup and you and your neighbours will be better for it if she settles in and gets into a night routine. Once she has more confidence being away from you and spending more time with your other dog, she should settle down (as long as you move her outside gradually).

We got our PIM door from Bunnings as well. Great price considering what they are selling for elsewhere and it also meant that we could get the larger flap without the worry of the larger price tag. $399 for Bunnings at Rosebery in Sydney - they keep a stack on the shelf as well so no need to order