Nushie

He seems to be happier now that he is getting a walk each day again. They have only been 15 minutes but it gives him a chance to get out of the house and have a sniff around etc. He is back to the vets on Saturday to get the stitches out. So hopefully then we can start building back to our usual routine.

Another vote for leather here. Much easier to keep clean. In winter we kept a throw across the back so that when we sat down we can put that under us. I suggest not putting it in direct sunlight as it does heat up in summer and can get VERY hot, either put it somewhere out of direct sun or we just keep the blinds closed during the day on the window that throws the sun on the lounge. But yep, a big tick for me for the leather.

He is adorable!!! For treats when training we just used Jager's kibble, he is a bit of a hog when it comes to food so he was happy with that. When we go the park we use bits of meat. Just chop up some beef strips small enough and it keeps his attention on me instead of everything going on around him. As for a play pen, i second the bunnings compost bins. I got 2 for $50 and they are great! We secured them together with zip ties and used D-clips to hold the "gate" closed - super cheap and easy, we also use one section as the gate at the top of the stairs. We had the pen set up in the lounge room (with a large sheet of lino under it). It just meant that even if we put him in there while we were home he could keep an eye on us. When we went out, we left the tv on (it is on whenever we are home - i hate the quiet) so that it sounded like there was still someone around.

I agree with this as well, make sure you mark everything you can on the condition report, and yes take photos, but be sure to use a film camera not a digital one. I dont know if it has changed but when i worked in real estate (about 6 years ago) the courts wouldnt accept digital photos as they can be too easily manipulated. It may have changed since then, and chances are courts rarely get involved but if you have dispute about damage it is better to have photo on you team then just words on a page. Good luck and i hope you find something soon!

I agree with this. We were looking for about 5months for a place that would allow us to have a dog. We didnt have a dog at the time and weren't desperate to leave where we were so we were able to take our time. But was still surprised at how long it took as we were out looking each weekend and i was checking online for new properties every day. I think the only reason we got our current place is because we offered $10 more a week in rent. We were overlooked originally but we offered the increase we got it.

Dont know if it is a general rule but my breeder recommended 6 months and when i spoke to the vet about it he said thats the age he usually tells people also.

Jager seems a little more settled, went for a 15min walk around the block and he stayed pretty calm for the rest of the evening. He still had a few moments but in general he seemed happier even though that walk wouldnt have tired him out much.

Go to Bunnings if you are going to buy a pig in mud patio door. The ones in other stores start at $400 and range to $600 for the larger doors. Bunnings have then all for the one low price of $399.

He is doing really well. You would never know that he had it done by the way he has been tearing around the house. He had been really good and not licked them up until last night, i woke up and could hear him so gave him a 'No' and he went to sleep. So all is well. Keeping him calm is the hardest part. He has been going a little stir crazy i think, and today wont do him any favours being home by himself all day, so i like he will be a little over the top when i get home. Might just take him for a little stroll around the block cause yesterday he was doing zoomies back and forth up and down the hall. Surely a walk cant do any more damage than that.

Thanks for posting up the request FranCQ. It was a hoot! I had no idea how much went into film making and these young creative clever people are just unbelievable. At times I just sat back and thought how can you know so much and have such a clear artistic vision of what you want, brilliant views and idea's when you are all so young??? Inspirational! Any idea of when we can all see the finished product??

where does your dog live? In and outside: he has a dog door, but is inside unless he needs to go to the toilet or if there is something happening outside that he wants to check out. How often do you walk your dog? Jager gets a walk every morning and depending on what time i get home he probably gets out in the afternoon about 3-4 times a week. Plus he loves fetch so we play that for about 30 mins each afternoon. Do you walk your dog rain, hail or shine? He is not a big fan of rain. He gets all excited when we get him ready for his walk and then we get outside and his little feet get wet and he plants his bum on the ground, we coax him on and he will walk (not the usual happy trot that he does) so he drags his feet and we only end up going around the block cause it is just so much effort to get him moving at a reasonable walking pace. That being said, if it has rained for a few days he is usually pretty happy to get out anyway even if it is pouring.

Okay so the terror is home. Vet said that he would be drowsy and tired for the next 10-12 hours. Jager lasted about 2. He curled up for a cuddle for the first 15mins then started to get a bit antsy so we gave him a stuffed kong, after he finished that (all of 45 mins) i gave him a chew which lasted about an hour. Then the problems started. He has been going crazy! Running around the lounge, he even jumped through the dog door even though the sliding door was open and he had been coming and going for water. He is going to feel that tomorrow. So we have been doing some training with his new crate (it is wire instead of material) which calmed him down some, and then he watched me sweep the balcony and now he has crashed out at my feet. Still if he is going nuts already how am i going to keep calm for the next 2 weeks?!? Oh well i have the next 3 days off work so i think we will be doing lots of training and coming up with some inventive things to stuff and freeze his kongs. Poor little puppy.

How long does it take to 'bounce back'? Vet told me when i booked him in that he should be kept quiet for 10 days, which means no long walks. Do others stick by this or do you go off how your dog is feeling? If he is a bit bouncy would a casual 10 minute stroll around the block be too much? Jager is used to being walked twice a day plus about 30 minutes of fetch up and down the hallway. I dont think he will be able to stay still for 10 days. Not exactly worried about the operation, its something that all vets do day in and day out. Its just the worry of how he will cope with little to no exercise, how am I going to cope leaving him at home all day while i go to work? Poor snuffles. Say goodbye to those little balls you have just become attached to.

So Jager is booked in to be desexed tomorrow. I have taken Friday off work so that he will have 3 days with us so that we can keep an eye on him and make life a little easier for him. I figure that we can leave the door open for him so he doesnt try jumping out the dog door, but come Monday when we go back to work how is he going to come and go? I am not sure that he will fit through the dog door with a giant cone on his head, apart from the fact that he actually has to jump through it, i dont want him to pull his stitches or anything. What do others do during the recovery stage?

Lovely photos everyone! They grow up so fast. Jager at 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 15 weeks and just under 6 months.

Jager liked to get his mouth around everything, be it a chair leg, a shoe, a pen or your fingers. When we caught him chewing something that we didnt want we would give him a firm 'NO' remove what he was chewing and offer him something that he is allowed to chew on, usually a stuffed kong or a nylabone then praise him for chewing on those. If he wasnt interested in what we offered in exchange, we made it fun for him, and again when he showed interest in it, we would praise him. He has pretty much stopped chewing on most things - except my boyfriends shoes - but that's the BF's fault for thinking it was so cute when he was a puppy and he crawled all over them and nawed at them. So now he thinks that is okay, it is just the one pair of shoes doesnt touch the others, just that one pair. Most of the time now, if i am sitting watching tv or at the computer, Jager will disappear for a minute and then come running back with some form of chew that we have given him and lay at my feet chewing away. You just have to be persistant. Removed EVERYTHING that he can get to, that you dont want him chewing. But make sure he knows what he CAN chew on as well as what he cant. good luck

Has it been really dry at your place lately?? I found with my old dogs that during the dry months that they would change their toileting spots quicker, i just put it down to the fact that without rain the smell lingered longer. When it was raining regularly the smell would get washes away so they would continue to use the one spot longer. Maybe try giving his old spots a good hosing and then give the conrete a good cleaning and spray with some form of deterrent?

Same idea as adding thoney to the water - My horse would never drink the water when we weren't at home. So for the few days leading up to a show we would add some apple juice to his water, then the same at the show and it always worked. Maybe you just need to make the water more appetising to encourage him to drink.

Two reasons mainly. First being that he has always been so good in the fact that he only makes a noise when he needs to go out. Starts a a little whine, then a soft bark and then a louder one. I usually wake up to the whine and wait for it to get to the second bark incase he is just making a fuss. But up until the last week, he has only done it when he needed to go out. Usually by that stage he has been in bed for about 7 hours and i think thats pretty good for a 6month old pup to be holding on until then. Second being that if i dont take him out he doesnt settle and go back to sleep, i tell him to shush and although the barking stops he keeps moving or scratching and the occasional whine. If i bite the bullet and take him out, i stand around for 2 minutes while he sniffs and sits there and then i go back to bed and sleep. He then settles back down and goes to sleep. So it ends up being, do i make the effort and get up which is giving him what he wants but then i go back to sleep or do i lay awake while he fusses about in his crate and not get any more sleep? Lose / lose in my opinion. What happened to my little pup that would sleep in until my alarm went off, or the pup that even after my alarm went off i had to poke and prode to get him awake and out of bed?

I think i have jinxed myself. Since daylight savings has started Jager has been waking up at 5am. So we go out to let him go to the toilet, he never goes. So i put him back in his crate and we go back to bed until 6. I dont know why this has started and he never goes to the toilet, but seeing as he doesnt make a noise any other time i feel that when he does i should give him the opportunity to go to the toilet. Once back in bed, he goes back to sleep. I have tried ignoring him but he keeps barking until we go out. As a puppy he used to bark when he needed to go out in the middle of the night. And since then it has been the same, on weekends we used to sleep in and he would bark to go out and then we would go back to bed. Now he barks at 5am but doesnt use the toilet. Oh well. Suppose i will just have to get used to getting up for no reason and then going back to bed for another hour. Silly dog.

+1

Just a quick question - does anyone know if these a harmful to dogs if ingested?? Jager isnt really a chewer, but i would rather be safe. I know the stuff in the commerially made pet cooler beds are non-toxic.

Thanks for that. I might have a look at making one first and see how he likes it. Save me some money if it turns out he hates it

I am thinking about getting a cooling bed for Jager. Just wondering how many people have a cooling mat/bed and whether their dogs acutally use them? I have read through the threads on cooling mats and will probably end up getting one no matter what, but was curious as to how many dogs just refuse to use them.

We had lots of problems with Jager crying when left in his pen. He didnt cry for the whole time, but it was still too much and it broke my heart everytime i left him in there. We made his pen bigger and it seemed to help, although he would still whine in the mornings when i left for work (even with his kongs and treat ball). Now that he is toilet trained he has access to the lounge room and this has really helped. He doesnt make a noise anymore, i think he assosiates the lounge room with us, that is where we spend all our time so he feels secure there.