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Hi there I was wondering whether it is common for poodle puppies to change colour. Although I have posted this in the 'puppy problems' section, I only did this to focus the discussion on puppies- its not a problem at all and my puppy is healthy. I'm just curious. When I got him at two months he was a very darn brown but he has since started to get lighter. he's now a little over four months old. thanks!

Did these dogs never leave or where they taking outside on walks to the park every day?? walked everyday, some of them twice a day.

Thanks for your comment It will get better don't worry. When we first got the little guy we had him a confined area the whole time and had paper everywhere. we gradually reduced the paper and he started to go just in the litter area. i think i let him out into the house too soon though because after a few days he started to pee on the carpet (although he still poos in the litter area for some reason). i confined him again and so far there's been no problems. anyway keep at it! if you like, i can recommend a trainer that i've found to be really great to work with. i totally recommend him. he helps you find a solution that works for you. i chose an in home consult because a lot of the group training/ puppy school sessions teach you stuff for people with gardens. i still recommend doing them for the socialisation and the ongoing learning, but i found it really helpful to have someone come and see my set up and help me work out something. and don't worry about the whole no-backyard thing. i'm not a breeder or an expert but i grew up in a city where heaps and heaps of people had dogs and everybody lived in an apartment. i knew heaps of people with dogs in apartments and they all lived/ are living long, happy and healthy lives. i did consult a few experts before i bought my little guy and they said that while it is more challenging it can definitely be done. so take heart, get good advice, and keep at it!

Okay, just to reiterate what I said before, I am not feeding him weetbix, schmackos, luncheon and chicken. I am feeding him kibble. Thats why I had an issue- because he wasn't eating it. I have given him the other stuff, but only very little. I don't think its true that dogs cannot eat human food or they'll be unhealthy. I had a mongrel for 17 years who ate human food and never went to a vet a day in her life except for vaccinations and regular health checks. I know of two other people who have dogs in similar conditions. Also, two vets have now told me to give him human food if he'll eat it within certain constraints which they have let me know (eg no onion etc). That said, I do want him to eat kibble, its healthy for him and easier for me. Given what I read about toy poodles, I thought I'd ask the question to see if anybody had any further details. I've tried some of the suggestions that have been posted here over the last couple of days and he is eating his kibble better- I bought a semi dry puppy kibble and he seems to like that. Thanks for all your suggestions- appreciate the advice. My questions are answered now.

Thanks very much for that. I do tell him to 'go wee wee' everytime i take him there or he goes there- i doubt its making much traction right now but i'll keep trying!!

Thanks Stitch. How do you suggest I correct him? Is saying 'No' okay? Should I do more/less?

Neither of which will assist with teaching him where he needs to go. You'll just confuse him. My guess is that the accidents started happening when you gave him more free rein and supervised him less? Go back to basics and only give him more space when he's reliably going on the paper. He's still a baby with a pretty unreliable bladder. You will need to be vigilant for some weeks yet. Just out of interest, how much unfiltered sunlight does he get in a day? Hmm not sure about that one. He doesn't go in the wrong place when I'm not in the house; only when I'm there and watching him. I think he knows where to go, based on his past behaviour. I tend to agree with someone else's comment earlier- I think he's testing the boundaries a bit. I'm trying going back to basics- hopefully that works! Re sunlight- he gets as much as I do I guess , about 2 hours a day during his walks. My place is north facing and he gets a lot of sun indoors though.

Neither of which will assist with teaching him where he needs to go. You'll just confuse him. My guess is that the accidents started happening when you gave him more free rein and supervised him less? Go back to basics and only give him more space when he's reliably going on the paper. He's still a baby with a pretty unreliable bladder. You will need to be vigilant for some weeks yet. Just out of interest, how much unfiltered sunlight does he get in a day? Hmm not sure about that one. He doesn't go in the wrong place when I'm not in the house; only when I'm there and watching him. I think he knows where to go, based on his past behaviour. I tend to agree with someone else's comment earlier- I think he's testing the boundaries a bit. I'm trying going back to basics- hopefully that works! Re sunlight- he gets as much as I do I guess , about 2 hours a day during his walks. My place is north facing and he gets a lot of sun indoors though.

Hi all Thanks for all the advice. I don't fill him up on schmackos, I only give him tiny bits as treats when i'm training him to sit, sleep, come etc. he never gets them unless its in that context. He was on Eukanuba when I got him, that's what i tried first. He definitely is getting the better of me, because i tried taking the food away one morning, and at night when i put it down again he still walked off- and I felt so bad that he hadn't eaten all day! I'll try outlasting him

Thanks for all your suggestions! Today I confined the puppy in one area near his toilet while I was at work, and it was fine. I let him out when I got home, and he didn't go on the carpet, but he peed near his water bowl! I'm even more baffled now- he's NEVER gone anywhere near where he eats, even when he was an 8 week old. He did it twice- the first time I didn't catch him, the second time I did. He really does seem to be going backwards! I told him off and now I'm ignoring him for a bit. I think he's definitely going to need to be confined tonight!

My little 13 week old pup barely eats anything. He's happy and appears healthy, and he's full of energy. Yet at mealtimes (I feed him twice a day), he takes a few mouthfuls of food and then walks away and continues to play. It's not that he doesn't have an appetite. I train him at meal times and he loves his treats (I use schmackos). I give him a combination of soft and dry food. he likes the soft food better, but he still doesn't eat much, and i'm lucky if he takes more than half a bite of dry food. I've tried heaps of brands- Eukanuba Innova, Purina, Nature's Best and My Dog. He likes My Dog soft food the best but I was told to stay away from supermarket brands and from soft foods if possible. Is it okay to give him people food? he eats luncheon meat and chicken, and i've given him tuna on occassion (although i read this should be a minimum). it goes down a lot easier than the dog food. and he loves weetbix- i give him a tiny bit of damp weetbix as a treat (no milk). I know I should stay away from onion, garlic and chocolate. I wouldn't give him just meat, i could add rice and yellow and green vegetables. I read online that toy poodles are better suited to people food anyway. If anybody has any experience I'd be grateful to hear from you. Thanks!

Thanks guys. Yeah he does have to be an indoor dog unfortunately because I don't have an outside area! i know its harder for the poor little guy but he seemed to have learned it so well- I guess he never really was trained at all.

My pup is an inside dog, and when we got him we used newspaper training to train him to go to the toilet in a certain spot in the spare toilet. this was working great for a few weeks and i would see him go into the room of his own accord and do his business on the paper. however, over the last couple of weeks he has been going all over the house. he does go on his paper in the room too, but he now also goes everywhere else (except his bed and feeding areas), which he never used to do before. I'm completely baffled and don't know what i'm doing wrong. some other info which may help: - my puppy is now 12 weeks old - he is now let into the general area of the house (but not bedrooms). i thought about whether it was at this point that the toilet training went wrong (we originally used a baby gate and he was confined to one area of the house), but i'm not sure. there was a transition period where we started letting him into the rest of the house for a few hours and then putting him back in the confined area- i think it may have started then. - i trained him by taking him to the papers and telling him to 'go wee wees'. - when he does something wrong, if i catch him i say 'no no', and take him (sometimes midstream) to the papers. if i don't catch him i just clean it up. i never yell at or slap him. am i doing something wrong? any advice would be much appreciated.