tikira

I absolutely do not believe for one minute that Nova and Willow have turned in troublesome Teens I think I need video proof of the "alledged" misbehaviour. I think they are simply helping with the housework I certainly sympathise with Jaws of steel though, Tip would give for a treat, Kira just does not tug at all (If mum wants it, she can have it)but Jingo will not drop anything, and even though we never chase him, he still runs with it. Di

Can Rusty come and bake me some biscuits? He makes less mess than I do! Well done to Rusty for thinking of Santa, and a special thanks to Brandy for thinking of Santa's waist line! Di

Sares It is a relief when the dog and puppy begin to interact- I know that that is when I actually breathed again :) I just love the spotty belly. Di

Jingo had a blast, and particularly liked the biscuit. He won several and yesterday when I gave him one at home he buried part of it- in the safest place possible in his opinion, in Kira's bed ..... after all, his big sister is going to keep it safe for him to come back to later..... He allso loved the trifle Wayne gave him for dessert- on a paper plate and all... the look of envy on the other dogs was priceless! Di

Welcome to the thread Sares, Mila is the cutest little thing, and I am sure there will be lots of adventures to share here. Lhok- You got Nala cuddles? not fair for teasing us Aliwake- Poor Nixon, not only does he have to hav had "that procedure", you are adding embarassing photo's, tsk tsk. You would not see me adding embarassing cross-dressing photo's of Jingo, OR would you??? :laugh: Meet Miss December, sporting "her" best Lingerie for all the world to see at our Christmas Party on Sunday. It was hilarious seeing people wrestling with their excited dogs as they tried to get the underwear on and race to the finish line. All I could hear was Wayne mumbling- "I am better at taking this stuff off" - But Jingo thought it was the best fun ever, and enjoyed his second prize! Everyone's dogs are so gorgeous, getting prettier or more handsome evry photo I see, and I enjoy hearing about their antics. Di

That was great, I can't wait to see what you both come up with this year Clicker training really works!, well done. Di

Mogda, she is beautiful. Isn't it interesting how they can look at a camera and turn angellic for a split second, just to fool everyone, :laugh: ....but we are not fooled at all (well, maybe just a little bit!) Di

We taught tip to speak by the command and the exploding fist hand signal when he was about to bark.... the hilarious thing was he would "whisper" his bark, and we then had to invent a signal to get it louder... I guess we accidentally rewarded the soft bark :D . but it did make a good party trick. Di

It does sound like she is on the "more difficult" end of the scale, but hang in there. We got Jingo at 9 weeks, and at 18 weeks he is still not understanding toilet training, sometimes he "gets it", but he has made too many mistakes recently, and is refusing to go outside, so hence he is in his crate until he needs to go toilet. We have had to go back to basics. It is frustrating, it is annoying, and I do feel like crying at times, but I remember that he won't be trustworthy for a long time yet. One day at a time, and celebrate the small wins, you are doing a good job. Di

I am so sorry for your loss. The photo's are gorgeous and show perfectly how full and interesting her life was, thanks for sharing these precious memories with us. Di

for being committed and willing to try anything. Take a deep breath and relax, this stage will pass, she is still a baby. The trick is getting out of this stage with your puppy still with you, and your sanity reasonably intact.... Good luck What is working with our 18 week old mouthing machine is "time out" He loves being with us, but does use his puppy teeth. We squeal, we growl, and he still comes back for more (it is helping though, finally). So we put him in the closed up hallway for a minute. He calms down, we let him out- he bites again, he is put back for another minute. Whether it is age or training, it is working for us. We deliberatly don't crate or play pen him for punishment, we don't want him to associate these with punishment, but we do want him bored and safe! Well puppy proofed bathrooms could work too! The advice given by the DOLer's is really good, but you know your puppy, so choose what you think will work in your situation, but be consistant, and be more determined than puppy. Perhaps talk to your neighbours and explain why puppy is screaming, most people understand if they know it is for "the greater good". We use treats a lot for our dogs, and they thrive on it. Treats/food in their crate or playpen (ours is wire netting around the dining room table, and a dog door access to outside deck and grass. He loves his "bedroom" as he gets all good things in there, and now begs to be allowed in for his fav toy or treat. But treating the good behaviour have to be given in the split second she does the right thing, maybe analyse whether you are accidentally treating the wrong behaviour, and that is where someone who can watch your interactions can help. We crate trained by putting puppy in the crate with a bone/kong, and we slept on the floor next to him, touching him through the bars when needed. This calmed him to sleep. We did this for several weeks, so we could hear him when toilet was needed. Right now Jingo is chilling in his day crate right next to me at the computer. While researching crate training and crate games I saw a video on crate training by a vet who actually put the crate on his bed next to him, and slept with his fingers in the crate- I guess he didn't have a partner though! The point here is "do whatever works for you and your puppy" and I feel a trainer is a great idea, well done for taking the step. I look forward to more updates, we do mostly all feel the way you are right now, it is natural, as your whole way of life is in the process of changing- for the better in the long term :D Di

Beautiful phoot's. We took family photo's this year for a couple with a nine year old boxer. They have been told his breed only average 10, so wanted photo's while he is still healthy. It was hard as dog loving photographers, seeing the underlying sadness in his people's eyes, as they thought about why they were having the photo shoot. I can only imagine how extroadinarily sad and emotional a "last day" shoot must be for all concerned, but how special. Thanks for sharing Di

My childhood companion was Snippy, my Grandparents working border Collie. He saved me from a snake when I was 5-ish, by blocking me and not letting me move forward and barking to alert my Grandfather, he protected me from anyone or anything else too, including an uncle who startled me by grabbing me (in fun), and as he grabbed me, Snippy grabbed him, leaving my uncle with a ripped pair of trousers for his efforts. :) I know Snippy would have defended me to the death if it had ever been needed. Di

We call it "bark O'clock" around here, and our Jack Russell Tippy was a master of that timeslot. He always got special time locked inside with us at that time of day, it would drive us batty otherwise, we had to manage the situation, there was no way we could train him out of it.... With him it was definitely the birds fluffing around preparing to roost. Di

Candy is gorgeous, and it looks like your son has a brand new bestie- thanks for sharing, I love the photo's. Di

Good to hear both the boys are home , being spoiled I am sure. Lhok, I know nothing about Addisons Disease, but I am happy that it is treatable, and that Treble can continue to make you smile. Di

Poor Nova. "birdur's" are sad things, I can still remeber how shocked I was when Tip presented his first soggy birsd at my feet, I was not happy with him at all that day! I hope the little dove recovers. Poor Nova, I hope he feels better as soon as the grass seed is removed. Funny how these things never happen in normal opening hours. Di

Ours is lined with a soft comfy bed, and covered with a blanket if it is cold, but given it is warm here at the moment he appreciates the air flow, and most definitely likes to watch what is happening. and as others have said, we might think it looks scary/prisonlike, but to him it is his den, and a safe place to chill out or find a nice bit of food\, or a toy not snaffled by our other dogs. It is also his hidey hole for "ill gooten gains" such as pegs, coat hangers, socks, which he buries there. I was going to upgrade to a soft crate in future, but not now that I know how much he enjoys his "bedroom" Can't wait to see more piccies! Di

I don't think Kira has ever killed anything that was ever alive, but Tip did kill penny lizards, mice, rats, birds,frogs (oh the poor screaming little frogs) and several snakes- yes he was a terror (umm Terrior, but neither ever even looked sideways at a human or another dog. With luck that will continue. Di

Lhok, I am so sorry to hear this. I have no words to express how I feel for you and Treble, and the breeder, but I will be keeping you all in my thoughts. Di

With regards to the crate issue. Our Jack Russell loves his crate. He feels safe there, and chooses to sleep there. We feel more relaxed knowing he is not chewing, peeing etc, and so can enjoy him more thoroughly. Obviously crate time is only a part of his routine, when he needs a break from other dogs, when he needs to eat, when we are in the shower or cooking and at night. We soon re- arranged that the the pen and crate are open for him to come and go from, except at night, when his pen is closed and he sleeps in there in his open crate. When he is toilet trained he will be a free range dog, but the crate will be available to him. Consider the other long term advantages of crate training- easy to take away,a safe travel option, always has a safe bed, vet stays are less traumatic. Truely all dogs I know that are crate trained properly love their "bedroom" after the first little while. I bought a cheap $49 Bengo brand off Ebay. It arrived promptly and is all I need for my Jingo. Good luck with your puppy. Di

My Border Collie chooses to sleep on her foam bed in the dining room corner, Jingo pup sleeps in his crate under the dining room table at night. Right now Kira is in her usual daytime spot, two feet away from me on the floor, and Jingo is under my computer table on his day bed, draped over my feet. .... my warm furry slippers with a heartbeat- life is good in our house! Di

We too have a fanclub with Jingo. He is the smallest puppy at dog training, and whenever he does something he gets cheered. "Yay, good little Jingo you sat" :laugh: and all the dogs make a beeline straight to him.... so we have found out Jack Russell's can be popular! We are flattered, and Jingo is getting a big head :rofl. Di

"groan", our boy is a "woos" when it comes to wet grass. He has not seen it much, and yesterday decided that he really was not going outside in the rain, and the corner of the lounge room was a good alternative. He had only gone under an hour ealier too. So today he is chilling in his closed crate next to me until he decides he does need to go, no matter how wet it is. What is he going to think when we have inch thick frost on the ground? Is there anything I can do besides playing/treating him in the wet to show him all is good. He simply bolts back inside as soon as he feels damp ground- yet he loves water Oh well, the joys of toilet training- just when you think they have the idea..... Zereuloh, we get that all the time from well meaning people who think fat equals healthy, even though our vet keeps telling us our dogs vould lose a little weight. Jingo is a lightweight yet, as he does not eat a great deal, but his appetite is picking up now You know your puppy better than anyone, so keep to your routine, smile and then ignore the advice. Don't let people's remarks hurt you. Di

How exciting Hannah. It seems you have the main stuff sorted for now. We bought a special toy for Jingo that we gave him when we picked him up- He sleeps with it each night. The bulk of our purchaseshappened a week or so later. Crate training is truely worthwhile, Jingo settles immediatly. We have a "play pen" set up in our dining room. We removed chairs for a while, and fenced the dining room table (lucky we eat in the lounge room or entertainment area. It is so good knowing he is safe and not in mischief when we can't be watching him. My wonderful hubby made him a little dog door into an outside run too, so he has part of the deck and lawn as his own space, and his toys and treats are safe from our border Collie. We now have this pen partly open in the day time, so he can come and go. Empty toilet rolls with kibble and the ends folded in , Tissue boxes, or cereal boxes with treats or kibble inside, and small holes to allow the bits to fall out are still his favourite toys. If you have an opportunity, take an old towel or a toy, and rub it on Mum and the other pups, and then bring it home for his crate, the familiar scent is soothing. We had trouble encouraging Jingo to toilet at first- he was stubborn. So after he did his first "business" we left it for a few days, as we found he would sniff it each time before toileting. It seemed to remind him to go. Enjoy the "crazy" upheaval in your house, it is the most fun time wasting time in your puppy's life. Keep a newspaper tightly rolled up nearby- Use it when needed to belt yourself over the head when Puppy makes a mistake. This works best while repeating the mantra- "I am silly, I let puppy make a mistake" (Yes, I have newspaper welts from "forgetting" to close doors, put slippers out of reach, and not noticing him "locking" himself in the lounge room, and needing to toilet..... I swear, it was for like 2 minutes... aarrgh.) I can't wait for updates. Di