Nushie

I'm a really light sleeper so maybe I don't need the alarm but the flipside of that is I wake up whenever he wakes up so even if he's just having a break from sleeping and not needing to be let out, I still wake up

Same thing happened to me, and whenever he woke me up i would take him to the toilet but made sure that that there was not play, no cuddles. Just straight out to the toilet, wait for 10 minutes, if he didnt go we went back to bed and i would put my fingers in the crate so that he would settle down. First few nights were torture, probably got up about once every hour or two but that stopped pretty quickly and eventually he was only waking up to use the toilet. I also got used to what different whimpers meant so that if he was just being restless i would just stick my fingers through the crate and he would calm down and others i knew meant that he needed to go out. It was all abit of trial and error for me cause Jager was my first puppy.

Question... I'm nervous that Tank will pee or poo in his crate so every time I wake up and see him awake I quickly run him to his pee pad. He didn't go at all last night when I wanted him to. Instead he peed on the floor (only a tiny amount) on the walk back to the bedroom :laugh:

Also, he had dinner last night around 8pm and he ATE. But he didn't poo and I watched him and waited for the sniffing for like an hour. That's why I was a bit nervous last night I think - he still hasn't gone poo at 6:45am as I write this.

Des this sometimes happen?

And should i start waking up at say only 2am and risk him having an accident? I'm sure he will wake me with a whimper or lots of movement though if he needs to go before/after 2am.

My suggestion would be to make the crate smaller if you have to by dividing off a section big enough for Tank to sleep but not to pee or poo. If he is near your bed he should start making a fuss when he needs to go to the toilet then you can take him. I didnt set any alarms to wake up at any specific times, i just let him wake me up (i am a light sleeper).

If you fed him a late dinner this will probably push back the time that he would go to the toilet. If you want him to go earlier then feed him a little bit earlier.

Vanish preen oxiaction is FANTASTIC!

I use this as well. It got black ink out of our carpet after Jager decided to chew a pen....

I dont know if this will work or not but just a thought.

Could you get some super think rubber and attach that to the bottom of the gate? That way when you open the gate the rubber will bend to conform to the hill and when the gate is closed it hangs straight down? If it is heavy enough rubber it should offer some resistance so that if he pushes against it to get out it wont just open.

Can you keep the puppy on a lead when its quiet time?? So if you are sitting watching tv or eating dinner or whatever, have the pup on a lead so that he cannot bother your dogs and you can control him and where he goes. Praise him when he is sitting or laying quietly so that he knows that is the right thing to do??

Jager was 6 months old when we went away for 10 nights, he stayed with my brother and his routine changed alot, and they didnt do any training sessions with him (just the general, sit to eat, manners etc.) and when he came home we got stuck back into the training and he picked it all back up in a snap just had to remind him and guide him the first few times.

I think you will get a solid training foundation going before you go away you should be fine, even if your pup forgets it all, they bounce back and remember it pretty quickly.

My mum moved her mostly deaf and blind dog last year and she had a few weeks overlap as well. So she would take him with her whenever she went to the new place. She had a bed (one of the many he had) at the new place so that when they were there, there was a place that smelt like home that he would settle into. She would make the trip over there at least every second day, sometimes each day. It might only be to take 1 box over or to clean the bathroom or something like that. And he would go with her and eventually he settled into the place, knew what the go was, were the stairs and walls were. Then on moving day, he went for a walk down the beach while the old place was finally loaded into a truck and he came home to the new place. From there it only took him a few days to get used to where everything was.

All other routines stayed the same on the lead up and once moved into the new place. So morning walks still took place each day at the same time. Dinner at the same time. Sleeping arrangements were the same etc.

I think make sure routine is the same, if you mess that up you might have some problems.

Good luck and i hope it all goes well for both of you.

Thanks all. I made some yoghurt up last week and within a day he was much better. I have continued to give it to him (I had made 1L so figured it would use it all) and there has been nothing even remotely smelly since. Not even the odd one that attacks after dinner :)

I think this is going to have to be a regular thing!

Petbarn online is saying they are in stock.....and 20% off ends today!

Venison ears

I have tried the petbarn website a few times and just get an error, but thinking about it now i have only tried from work, so might give it a go from home.

Hi everyone,

We moved to Melbourne late last year and I have been having problems finding venison ears. We used to get them from PetBarn in Sydney and I have been to two down here and they have never heard of them. Went to another pet warehouse type place, same thing. Is there a thing about them not being allowed in Vic or something? Just seems weird that a chain store would sell them in sydney and then the staff not know anything about them down here.

I have been online and cannot find anywhere that has them. Actually they have them listed but they are out of stock and that is the very few that i could actually find that were Australian sites.

I cant give Jager pigs ears etc as they give him the runs and i have tried the veg ones but they just dont last as long.

Any Melbourne people here that can suggest a place to get them?? I'm in North Melbourne.

Thanks

Jager is 3 and still has a crazy spurt before bed. He will be sleeping quietly on the couch with me, if i turn the tv off and start putting stuff away before bed he races up the stairs and does zoomies around the first floor, up and down the hallways, up and down the stairs. Generally by the time i actually go to bed, after cleaning my teeth, washing my face, turning lights off etc. he comes and jumps on the bed and waits for me to get in so he can cuddle up. Its like he knows thats the last chance he is going to get until i get up the next morning. He is crazy!! I just let him go for it, as long as it he is done when i go to bed I'm happy, if he wasn't, I would close my door and he would have to sleep in the lounge room. He learnt quickly what my routine was and when to stop :)

In regards to washing, I had bought some Bunnings grass and would tip warm water over it each day to rinse it, then once a week i would soak it in hot water with some normal washing powder for a few hours then rinse with cold then hang up to dry. I have 3 sets of grass so that i have spares.

All i would suggest was to put something in the middle of the grass for your boy to pee against, which it looks like you have done so good luck with that. Jager grew up using the pet loo so never learnt how to lift his leg. Even that we dont use it and have a garden he mostly squats and lifts one foot about 5-10cms off the ground.

I figured yoghurt would be the way to go but didn't to risk giving him the runs again unless it was suggested. I will pick some up tomorrow for him.

How much should I give him? He is about 8-9kgs, so a couple of tea spoons with each meal??

some natural yoghurt , yes :) or a probiotic ..to help increase the 'good' bacteria in his gut , and get rid of the bad .

Depending on what normal' food is ..you may need to decrease grain etc for a while to give the bacteria less on which to feed ..?

Hi Persephone - his "normal" dry food is Earthborn Grain Free. So hopefully that is alright.

So a few days ago, Jager was accidentally fed some meat that was a little past it. I was keeping it in the fridge so that i could throw it in the bin on collection day, but my boyfriend wasn't aware and gave it to him. Anyways, he got the runs for a day and that cleared up by Sunday but he has had the most awful, room clearing wind ever since. He hasn't been given anything other than his normal dry food since in the hopes that it would clear up on its own.

I was wondering if there was something that i might be able to give him to settle his tummy?? I was going to give him Yoghurt but i didnt want to just give him random things that might make him worse, willing to try things if people to suggest them though.

Thanks :)

We moved to Melbourne late last year, currently living in Brunswick. We did the rounds, walked up and down Sydney Rd to all the real estates and asked each office about the rentals that suited us to see if they were pet friendly. I was surprised at how many were. I guess coming from Sydney where it took us 6 months to find a pet friendly place, we found a place in one weekend here. We did do it at a better time. End of year with plenty of places available. None of the places we applied for / were told were pet friendly were advertised as so.

At inspections, try to hog the agent. I found the places that we made the effort and spoke to the agent about general stuff, why we were moving etc not just about the property, were much more inclined to chase up with the owner. In fact most of them told us to submit applications so that we didn't miss out if the owners came back with a yes.

We were lucky and on our first weekend of inspections we viewed 6 places, submitted applications for 5, 4 of those 5 places accepted us and we ended up taking our second preferred property (our first pref came back as not accepting pets).

But i believe it was the face-to-face time. If you send an email, or call them, it is easy for them to ignore you. If you are at their desks asking, or chatting away at inspections they remember you and tend to get back.

Also when going to inspections dress nice, smart casual i guess i would call it. First impressions last.

I hope you find something soon, house hunting is a b&$ch!!

Hi all,

We moved to Melbourne late last year and I have started thinking that it is about time that we got back into dog training. We are currently in Brunswick, happy to drive to nearby clubs if they come recommended. I have googled dog training clubs around Melbourne but I can only find the individual ones that cater for private lessons/puppy schools/problem solving etc.

Any suggestions would be great. We are only at beginner level, we only just started going in Sydney before moving.

Thanks :)

The dog training I went to has a game called "It's Your Choice" in which the dog chooses how long it takes to get the treat. Start with a treat in a closed fist and show your dog. She'll be interested sniffing and trying to get to the food. The minute she pulls back (even if for only a second) say "good" and reward with the food. This way, it teaches the dog that they'll get the food by not wanting or showing interest in it.

This is how we taught Jager to "Leave It". It was one of the first things we taught we him and we still use it all the time. He knows he has to wait for his dinner, don't even need to ask him to sit or leave it. Usually give him his release word as soon as the dry food is closed up so he is waiting for only a few seconds. But i like to keep it interesting and tend to walk away and turn the kettle on or put something away before releasing him, I have been known to forget and happened to wander past 5-10mins later and there he is still sitting waiting for his dinner. Always feel guilty for that!

In regards to the original poster - Jager was the same, would not settle at meal times, from day one I wouldn't give his his dinner until he was settled. It might have only been for a split second to start but his reward for standing still, sitting whatever position he wanted to be in, as long as he settled was his dinner. Generally he would settle for a super short period of time and as soon as i started to put the food down he would bounce around again, I didn't worry about that to start with as long as he did the initial settle i was happy and he would get his food. From there you can extend it. Once he knew a solid sit command, i would ask him to sit and then give dinner. Again, as soon as he sat i would give him dinner, didn't worry if he stood up again as soon as i started to bend down.

He was also a pig when it came to food, i feed him now in a 'go slow' bowl, but as a puppy he got all his meals in a kong. Started off loose so that all he had to do was bump it and food came out then i will pack it in with yoghurt or some peanut butter so that it was sticky and harder to come out, then i froze it.

Its a very slow process but works in the end.

As for chewing rocks, you just need to find something that she would rather chew on, be it kongs, nylabones, sticks etc. At 3 Jager still loves his nylabones.

I agree with the others. We crate trained Jager from the first day we bought him home. And he slept in his crate next to our bed. If you are worried about your cat being uncomfortable then having your pup in a crate where your cat can look and smell from a safe distance will help to settle it down.

Jager slept his first night in a crate and hardly made a noise at bedtime. For the first year that is where he slept. I taught him "bedtime" and he would race off to the bedroom and get into his crate. Eventually he suckered us in and he now sleeps on our bed. But we still use his crate for times when we need him to be out of the way and calm. We moved state recently and having him crate trained made everything easier. It meant that i didnt have to watch him as the doors and gates were all open, he wasnt getting under the removalists feet and he just calmly watched the goings on.

Highly recommend crating for bedtime. Made my life sooo much easier!!!

Good luck with your puppy

Really appreciate all your comments. After reading them all i think we will just drive straight through. Having 2 drivers will make it easier cause by BF will just sleep when he isnt driving. And he will happily drive for most of it anyway.

I will be sharing the drive with my boyfriend but even so, i do tend to get bored and restless whether i am the driver or not, i cannot sleep in cars.

Our cat is pretty used to car travel, as long as she has her crate and fleece blankets she doesnt tend to make a fuss in the car. However you do make a good point about the stress on the move on her. When we moved to our current place it took her hours to even venture out of her crate and then a couple of days to settle in and confidently wander around the house. So doing it all in one trip would make that part easier on her i guess, but i just dont know how i would give her the chance to go to the toilet on a 12 hour trip. She would be too timid to take out on a leash at a park so how would we manage that for her comfort?? Probably the wrong forum to be asking that question on :)

there is just so much to think about. Its driving me nuts!!

Do you need to take 2 days? It only takes about 11hrs and we always do it in 1 day. I wouldn't feed him before or during the trip, just give him watwr. And then normal dinner.

I just thought it would be easier on the animals if we took our time and stayed overnight. Do you think it would be better to just get it over with in one day???

We are moving from Sydney to Melbourne in October and i just wanted to hear from people that have done an interstate move or other long distance move. Give me your list of suggestions or what to do and what to avoid. We will be driving down with our pug and cat. Have to get the car down there and i would rather spend 2 days on the road than worry about getting them both on a plane.

Also any recommendations for a place to stay overnight midway down would be great. Jager is great in the car and i hope he will sleep the entire way, i figure we should just stop every 2 hours for a stretch and pee break for him, but i dont want to rush it so want to spend a night somewhere on the way.

What things did you take with you on the road for your pets to make it more comfortable and less stressful for them? Jager is crate trained and often sleeps for 2 hours in the car when we visit my mum but is there anything that you can suggest to help him settle for a longer trip (2.5 hours is the longest car trip he has been on in one day). Do i feed him on the morning of the trip?? can i give him a pigs ear on the drive if he starts getting restless or is that just asking for car sickness??

Any and all suggestions appreciated.

Cleaning Fake Grass

We have fake grass squares that used to hold the smell of urine. I tried everything and eventually just started using washing powder. The smaller squares i soaked in the bath overnight but the larger ones, i just dissolved some powder in buckets of hot water and threw a few buckets over the area. Gave it about 15-30 mins and then hosed it off. Seemed to work for us. Didn't even use the "good" powders just the cheapest stuff i could buy.

We use Sydenham Park (corner of Unwins Bridge Road and George St). It gets really busy around the 5:30-6:30pm time slot but we tend to go down at about 7pm and there will only be about 2 other dogs there.

Its only small but fenced (if you have a really small dog i wouldnt advise it but i have a pug and he is fine with the fences) has shelters, bins, water bowl. In summer its nice cause there are scattered trees.

Weekends we just go whenever we feel like it and 4/5 times we will be the only ones there.