stonecutter

Hey Naomi - yay! Sorry I didn't get back to you earlier Good to hear things are going well

Thanks CW! She likes toilet rolls closed at one end and lightly folded at the other filled with kibble - maybe it's something about the rubber smell?

Ta - the kibble is really loose - shake the Kong and you can hear it - I've tried showing her to roll it and shake it - but she doesn't like putting the chew toy in her mouth - prefering soft stuff (the wubba is a fleecy material and a stuffing-free duck) I'll try the PB

Hi all, Our new 13 wk old JS pup is doing great - only getting up once during the night, getting there with toileting on command - however - the real issue is chewing. I know dogs love to chew She started ripping up newspaper in her emergency toilet (litter box in her play pen - she never urinates in there - she actually prefers sitting it it with soft chew toys!) and I distracted her with some training and tug with a Kong wubba - eventually she chewed herself out on a bit of lamb bone. I've read Dr Dunbar's book on chew toy training using Kongs etc stuffed with food while she's in her crate, but I just can't seem to get her to chew them. She doesn't have food overnight - in the morning we go outside to eliminate, play a little bit and then I put her in her playpen with small puppy kongs stuffed with a bit of dried liver at the end (which she loves), kibble and then put a bigger biscuit in the end. She's happy to chew the end of the biscuit that is sticking out and any kibble that falls out. But then she gets lazy - attempts to roll the Kong once or twice but she won't chew or move it around to get the rest of the kibble out. Even if I don't give her any more food for the day, she won't work for the food in the Kong (she knows that eventually we'll do some training for kibble). Prefering to chew a soft toy or newspaper. If I take out the soft toys, then she chews newspaper or bars of her pen (one of the Bunnings compost bins) or crate. Any suggestions to teach her to chew a rubber treat toy? Stop feeding her kibble for training for a day to force her to go to the Kong?

Thanks :p I'm only a new dog owner and the material I've been recommended to read and listen to by DOL members (Dr Dunbar especially) indicated that dogs don't want to bite people - always glad to get more information

Ta! I have them on hosted on photobucket and then post a link to the album as an image (I've tried uploading pics via the forum and message itself but often my pics exceed the size limit)

Thanks kitteh We survived puppy school last night - she's easily distracted by what's going on around her and doesn't pay much attention to us! Some pics taken by my dad over the weekend And doing zoomies yesterday

6.5 hrs was great Nadine! Happy Ziva this morning Ziva is sleeping in our laundry - Sat night 45 min barking/crying. Last night 12 min She peed and pooped during the night on her newspaper. Luckily she's spending most of today sleeping

Thanks. Named after Barney Rubble I've been calling him Barney Trouble lol. Good call! Well Ziva is home and it's certainly been interesting. She has free run of her breeder's house and yard - outside she's used to toileting on the grass, inside on newspaper. She is ok outside - but she hasn't managed to hit the newspaper inside once yet! And she escaped from the laundry last night through a baby gate (I wondered why she stopped barking/whining/crying after 45 minutes) - amazingly I didn't find anything in the house chewed but 2 poops. Like Naomi's Archie - Ziva does not like it when I shut the door on her crate!

great news DogNerd and welcome Barney! (named after the purple dude, Barney from the Simpsons or Barney Stinson?)

I didn't sleep well last night either! How early do you have to hit the road? Our appointment is 9.30am so we'll leave home about 8.30am. Then friends from high school are coming over for lunch - organised it at the beginning of the year - so I'll be cooking before we leave - luckily it's tacos! Happy puppy dreams everyone

nothing to do with the story but thats a pretty poor judgement call. Possibly - but based on the behaviour of the owners (public mischief, aggression towards people, dangerous driving) - do you think on the balance of probabilities they provide an environment that is full of positive reinforcement of acceptable behaviours? I can't imagine that these hoons are canine officers for the police force or customs in their spare time. My understanding is that dogs don't bite people because they like to. Of course, my understanding is limited and I don't have a degree in animal behaviour and psychology - so if someone does - I'd love to know how dogs come to like biting people. ETA - is it like hunting animals like lions? I was told by a game ranger in Kenya that once a lion has a taste for human blood, animal blood is much less appetising and as a result, any lion that kills a human must be destroyed.

Thanks everyone I had a feeling I wasn't crazy but some days I can't tell

Hey everyone Very excited for our jap spitz puppy coming home tomorrow We live in a neighbourhood where everyone in the surrounding houses and lot owners have dogs. There are labs, maltese x, staffy, bc x I've met all of the dogs - the labs are great and friendly, same with maltese and bc x. However, the staffy is very dog aggressive. I know: * she did not attend puppy pre-school * she did not get basic training * she does not get dog-to-dog socialisation * a lot of negative reinforcement in very loud tones is used * gets very stressed when meeting other dogs - through the fence, through a screen door, on lead (owners have not tried letting her meet other dogs off lead) - barking, very strong ridge of fur along her spine sticks up - physical restraint is necessary - she's attempted to get through a security screen door. At some point I'm going to organise a meeting between my dog and other vaccinated dogs owned by our neighbours - they're all pretty good at sit-stay with distraction - but I'm not keen at all about letting her meet the staffy. The staffy has started attempting to get into the house by chewing fences (she's an outside dog) recently and I've sent her owner details for Steve @ K9Pro - her OH is getting sick of her destructive behaviour and has raised the idea of surrendering her (and given her behaviour - I think it might be unlikely without remedial behavioural work she'd be re-homed, so PTS). So my instincts and what I've read say keep my dog away until she can prove that she can meet adult dogs without going crazy. Am I right?

Scary seeing as I've confronted hoons in my neighbourhood many a time - though not on my own - hubby has been with me.

In the SMH today http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/pitbull-bites-ma...0401-1cnx2.html This just makes me mad - and the poor dog - I can't imagine he's had a great life if he's been trained to bite a human on command :D Bloody idiots!!

They are so cute kirst!! One more sleep though I have so much to do today for work - don't know how I will stay on task :lol:

Naomi - also try listening to Dr Ian Dunbar's iWoofs program - ep 1.05 Home Alone - he talks about dealing with a lot of behaviour similar to what you've described. You can stream via his website (dog star daily) or find iWoofs on iTunes for free

Welcome AngieM!!

We'll be feeding supercoat as that's her current food, before trying Black Hawk - but I'll see if she likes the ProPlan as well.

Woohoo - I joined the Purina puppy club a few weeks ago and a 1kg sample of ProPlan just arrived on my door step

That does look awesome and I already have a Dyson. We'll see how our new puppy reacts to the sound - it's pretty loud. ETA - it says use on adult dogs only - we'll have to wait a bit to try it out

Ah - I'll pick up a 1.5kg bag - didn't know they came that small

Good idea - any know how gradually I should change over the food? Over 2-3 days ok?

Aww Jakemom - he's doing so well! Love the high 5