neo2011

This is quite normal and some dogs are alot worse than others. Just lots of calm talking to your dog and try not to cuddle her when she whines as this will only reinforce the behaviour. Also the crying/whining when being left alone is to be expected as it will be her first time being separated from her litter. Are you leaving her in a crate of some sort? Also what treats are you using? Maybe try something smellier like cheese? ANd if she prefers her kibble, then use that as a treat. Over time, she will open up and become more confident. It might take a month or more for her to settle in her new environment, but be patient and just lots of praise when she is coming towards you. Also try to make it fun! Good luck with the new addition

That's great to hear that she's doing much better. Just out of curiosity, what causes bladder infections?

If the dog is doing it in the same spot constantly, make sure you remove all the scent from the area as well. I use water and floor cleaner plus a drop of this product called "nilodour" (purchased from Coles). Works great and eliminates all smells. Also I found that my pup kept making at least one mistake at the same spot everyday (on a towel/rug which we wash and change if he makes an accident on it) and we got sick of washing it everytime so we just removed it and it has woked out alot better. Apparently they also like peeing on absorbent surfaces so you might want to think about that too. Other than that, I hope your pup just had a bad day and its not a UTI.

Half clam shell is a great idea! Don't think I can fence off my garden bed as there's a fair bit as it goes right around my property for aesthetics and practicality reasons. Oskar, where did you go to get one of those sandpits and how much are they roughly? I know what you mean Sheena...I wish there were more strangers I can practice his "no jumping" behaviour with. I think next time we have guests over, I will have to tell them what to do before they walk in the door. Sometimes my pup will sit on all fours then when we go to reward him with pats, he starts jumping again out of excitement..silly pup.

Thanks for the inputs. The main problem is not with him jumping. We've trained him not to go in the garden bed as it is "out of bounds" and he understands this. If he lurks in there, we say "out" and he knows to move to the other side (we see him walking right on the edge of the lawn for the past 6 weeks we've had him). But this time I discovered him in the garden bed and I said "out" and he just stood there looking at me. Then I discovered he's dug a hole in there but I dind't reprimand him for that since I didn't catch him in the act. He just ran off but up and down the garden bed even though I kept saying "out". Then to top it off, he went back to his hole and dug there and I said "no" firmly and he went again running around in the garden bed not listening to the "out" command I've given him. He just kept going back and forth from running around and digging not listening to the "no" or "out" command. I then eventually turned around and walked towards the house and that's when he stopped. I figured he must've thought it was a game (that's why I didn't want to chase him around). I usually turn around and ignore the jumping anyway but being a puppy, its hard for him to restrain his excitement at times. Its not a big problem as pups will be pups..but it was a question about teaching a dog consequences in regards to disobedience and how you guys go about it (and at what age). FYI: I was just doing some reading just now on this forum and found this post by K9Pro: http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/117592-puppy-development-calender/ • Selective deafness? (5-9 Months) It's no surprise to see puppies pretend not to hear your known commands at this age. It's at this age we introduce more formal training including consequences for disobedience. I guess maybe I found my answer?

My 15 week old puppy is good at most times, however sometimes he will not listen to a stern "no". I have never smacked him or punished him as he is too young and do the whole diversion and get him interested in something else. However, I was wondering at what age should you teach a pup that there are consequences if they are repeatedly disobedient. I was told in a training class I attended with my pup that if they are constantly jumping on guests, what she does is tell the dog "no" then leash him to something and ignored for 2mins. But I'm unsure if at his age that is too young (or if he will associate the punishment with the "crime"). I was also told to do the whole rolled up newspaper trick which doesn't hurt the dog, but creates a loud noise. What are your thoughts on this??

My previous cattle dog was great and never really chewed on anything we didn't want him to. But my current Kelpie is a little different...he wants to chew on everything. I have noticed that as he got older, he is starting to prefer harder chew toys and anything that has a "gummy" feel to it. Maybe get those fake bones? I also picked up a thing called "Texan T-Bone" from Big W for about $10 and its supposed to be flavoured (but made of safe plastic..dunno how that works) and my pup loves chewing on it. Good luck and don't leave anything too valuable within reach of your teething pup!

Agree with the hot water bottle and also get a polar fleece blanket. I picked one up from K-Mart for $3..absolute bargain. Just sleep with it for a few nights to get your scent on it and you dog will like it even more.

For those that are feeding capsules and breaking them into the food..is there any research that says the omega 3's will lose their potency when exposed to air for long periods of time? My dog sometimes doesn't finish his food quick enough and some gets left for next day. I know flaxseed oil is highly reactive to light and fouls up once exposed. Not sure if fish oil has similar problems??

Today I took my pup for a walk and he was absolutely great on the leash. He was walking beside me, not pulling and very attentive. I found that the best way to train your dog is to make sure it is sufficiently hungry and try to use that as a motivational tool (make sure you have high value treats as well..in my case, I used beef mince). Of course don't do anything silly and starve your pup for days!! I even left him off leash with people around him and one dog about 30m away from him and did some sit and stay commands while I walked 10m away. He's not as good as at home, but I was pleasantly surprised. Its always good to see some sort of improvement!! However, last week I took him to the dog park not to play, but to train and walk around it and he was quite badly distracted and kept wanting to run off to play. I guess I just need to slowly build up the distractions and to also make sure he's a little hungrier so he will focus on me to get the treats. I'll stick to it and hopefully he will get better. One "annoying" thing is that alot of people (especially women) are attracted to him and have that high pitched "heelllooo puppy!!" and my dog just goes beserk trying to get to them for pats. Then the females come and pat him - rewarding his unsettled and jumping behaviour

Thanks for all the input guys. I take Neo up to 3 dog parks a week. He's cautious with larger dogs and we always scope the dogs out first before letting him in. If there are aggressive or badly behaved dogs, we don't go in there or leave early. I took him for a walk today and he's definitely better than he was say 2 weeks ago. He is so distracted by people, noises, leaves, smells, etc that it can take up to 45mins to go around the block. I'm just trying to teach him loose leash walking and also tought him the "heel" command which he now follows (big surprise to me how quick he picked it up!! - so proud). But this was all at lower level of distractions. I was just a little embarrassed how he was pretty much the only pup in training class that kept jumping around and pulling on leash to try to get to the other puppies while the other dogs just sat there quietly...either there's really good pups in my class or Neo is just out of control. Its a good idea to organise a play date with a boring dog...we tried that but the boring dog just ended up face humping my boy.. He also has a bad habit of pestering dogs that don't want to play with him, constantly pawing and jumping on them (even if they growl at him). I usually try to get in there and get him away before it escalates further. But last time at a puppy preschool class, Neo and another dog got a little agressive and I went to break it up but the trainer said I should've left him alone?

How do you know he's toileting in his crate because of anxiety then? Because we always take him out to the toilet before we crate him and when we crated him for as short as 10mins, he would mess up his crate and pee and poop everywhere. When he's calm (and we're there), he is happy to sit in there and sleep for up to 2hrs without a toilet break (sometimes even with the door left open). As mentioned in previous post, he will also do the same when left alone in the house for 15mins and we will come back with a big mess (we don't do that anymore!).

I have a 13 week old Kelpie and when we got him when he was 8 weeks old, he was fearful of people as well as dogs. We've overcomed the problem of people and now he's getting pretty good with dogs too as we take him to dog parks alot. The problem we are starting to see is that now when we take him to training classes or puppy school, he is SOOO distracted and pulling at the leash to try and play with the other dogs during training session. He is more interested in other dogs than me. We can get his attention for a little while if we call his name and lure away with food, but then 5 seconds later, he's back at it trying to get to the other pups. I attribute this problem to my own fault of taking him to dog parks too often to play and he now thinks everytime he sees a dog, its playtime. I've now decided not to go to dog parks anymore to get his focus back on me and just take him for leash walks. What should I do now to let him learn that everytimne he sees a dog, its not playtime (without my permission). And is there any way I can "reward" him if he's good to allow him a short play session at the park? (and a way for him to link good behaviour with me allowing him to play with other dogs) or should I just avoid dog parks all together? Everytime I take him to a dog park, I do get him to sit and be calm before I release him off leash and give him the release word "ok"...but I feel like I've done some damage to his training...any suggestions?

Thanks for the comments on Neo's good looks. We get alot of that when people realise he's a Kelpie and not some sort of Collie mix. Covering with a blanket doesn't seem to work for long periods as he pulls it into his cage (sometimes he just does it for fun even when he is not crying). Lately we've been leaving him outside the house for short periods of time and slowly building it up from there. He's fairly quiet if I'm gone for 20mins, but you can see him getting a little freaked out and trying to look for us. I did put more stuffed toys in his crate. I found a large stuffed toy from Coles for $5 (bargain!) and he loves it. I just made sure we slept with it for one night to put our scent on there. He's getting better as well as we have been gone for a few hours with him being crated without him making too much of a fuss and no soiling of his bed. Hopefully it was something as simple as making it more comfy. Here's a pic of his crate now that is more of a comfy nest for him: ALso as suggested by other people, we should work towards leaving him in the backyard when we're gone for extended periods of time. We have a kennel that I have assembledm, but should we get him used to it inside the house first for a few days then move it outside? Or should we just get it straight out outside? The thing is that when we leave him outside, he's not interested in anything (treats, toys, etc) as he's just pacing around looking for us or sitting by the door (very quietly though which is good) waiting for us to arrive back. My worry is that he will just ignore the kennel. Perhaps if we associate it with a safe, secure place for him while it is inside, he will notice it once its moved outside? Also to answer your question MEH, he won't soil in front of me in his crate as he doesn't have anxiety if I'm there (and he's sits or sleeps quietly in his crate if we're there in his sight/smell range). Its only when we leave him alone. He is also obedience trained from day one we had him. Also one more question...do you guys leave a water bowl in your dog's crate at all times if he is being crated for longer than an hour? Neo is a heavy drinker and seems to drink lots and lots of water throughout the day.

Crate training is supposed to speed up toilet training as well as it teaches them to soil at the right place (outside). Just make sure the crate isn't too big (just block off a section with wood if you have to) otherwise he will sleep in one end and eliminate on the other (which does not teach any lessons in toilet training). It is supposed to also teach them about accepting boundaries and limitations and if you have to leave them unsupervised to go out, wouldn't you want them crated knowing he is safe and not destroying your furniture or worse still, choking on something? Its similar to leaving a child in a playpen. I would do crate training if I were you and good luck with your new pup!

Thanks for the input guys. I'll try to "nest" up the crate a little more and look for a blanket today and might look for an old pillow we can give him (the scent on it will probably help him too). Being a Kelpie and with big ears, I don't think blankets will do much to dampen the noise. :D. I usually put an extra towel over the front to cover the light up and remove any visual stimulation (but sometimes he tries to pulls the towel through the gaps in the crate).

That picture actually does make the crate look huge!! Its actually not that big as it looks to be honest and he only has about 15cms left if he spreads right out. Also when he soils the area from anxiety, he does it on the padded mattress . I actually did cover the front, but one time when he was especially whiney, we came back home 2hrs later with the front cardboard clawed away and a big pile of cardboard pieces all over the place (not to mention a pile of other worse stuff).. I might change it to wood or something. Oh, and he does get fluffy toys as he loves fluffy objects. We have a bag full of stuffed toys for him!

Here's a pic of the current crate setup: We usually put a bone and kong in there for him when he's crated. And there is no food bowl in there when he's left alone inside. As you can see, he's quite relaxed in there. We don't have a kennel for him yet as he spends most of his time indoors and no extended periods of time outdoors unsupervised. But we will definetely get one this week and start feeding him outside as well as getting him used to being alone in the backyard.

I read from several places that to work out the number of hours a pup can hold it in is to take the dog's age in months then add 1 to get the total number of hours. So in this case, my pup can take 4hrs. I think that's way too long so that's why we take him out every 1.5-2hrs. And yes, he gets taken out after eating, after play and before and after bed. I think that's a very valid point and we do have to start leaving him outside. He does enjoy playing out there when its dry and not too cold (he's a bit of a wuss with the cold and maybe I'm worrying too much about him getting sick) but as soon as I go inside, he wants to come in as well and I can see him pacing up and down trying to find a way inside the house to be with us. He will also often start crying a little. We are going to get a doggie door in the future so he can come in and out. But yes, in the future if we are gone for long hours, he will be left outside in the backyard. He has a variety of toys to keep him busy including the Kong wobbler which he does enjoy on some occasions. I also think that maybe me working from home and spending so much time with me might also be contributing to his problem of being left alone.

To answer your questions...he's from working lines. And kept indoors by the breeder. He had terrible toilet training before as we were just constantly cleaning up his mess in the house and he thought eliminating where we couldn't see him was the right thing to do. But as mentioned in the original post, we've had him for 5 weeks and he's on a schedule to minimise any accidents. We take him out every 1.5-2hrs to toilet and he does try to hold it in when inside as he paces up and down or sits quietly at the back door waiting for us to open it (I wish he would be more vocal with that). So I wouldn't say he has absolutely no toilet training there. He also understands the command I give him to eliminate. I click and reward when he does his business at the right spot and if I catch him in the act of doing it inside, I just give him a firm "no" and take him outside. He was separated from litter at 8 weeks Tempremants of parents are good. During the time I was there, they were calm, but the mother was a little worried with us handling her pups so had to be locked outside. Day consists of training (2 sessions of 10mins or before he gets too distracted), about 3 sessions of playtime as well as a walk or visit to dogpark. We also take him to 2 x training classes per week on top of that. In the 5 week's we've had him, he can sit, stay, beg, down, spin, shake, weave between our legs as well as hopping up on boxes when we give him the "up" command. He's great with obedience training. General behaviour in my study room when I'm working is calm or asleep. Leash training he stays on my left inside the house, but when outside, he sometimes gets distracted which is expected with a puppy. I'm working on keeping him more focussed. During the day he is uncrated and spends the time with me inside as I work and I try to crate him at least 1hr a day - sometimes in a separate room and sometimes in view of us so he feels like he's hanging out with us. Neo loves spending time with both me or my partner and we both train him, but I have more patience and therefore do majority of his training. Because my partner doesn't work from home, I do most of the crate training. However on weekends, or before bedtime we both put him in his crate. We both feed him. Also with the loud noise when he is whining excessively....this was a suggestion from another trainer and there was also a water squirt to the face of the puppy (I've never done that becuase if I'm there, he is quiet). I also used to give him a firm "quiet" but it seemed to make him more nervous and not wanting to go in his crate anymore so I just use the shoe to the wall/door method if it comes to it. I was also worried that with me giving him a verbal "quiet" might be giving him attention (even though it is negative attention) which is what he may want since ANY attention is better than none. That is another reason why I go with the shoe method...he has no idea where that sound came from. I might also add that right now, he is crated with his crate in our bedroom at night and he can hold it throughout the night WITHOUT eliminating in his crate. He is also happy and totally quiet in there while we sleep (other than occasinal snoring!) Sometimes I wake up to take him outside to eliminate and he refuses to get out of his crate and rather sleep. Because of this, we decided to just leave him in there until the next morning. I was thinking of crating him in a separate room overnight to get him used to being alone. Do you think this is a good idea?

Thanks for all the inputs guys. My dog (named Neo), is more of an inside dog and when I leave him outside, he wants to come back in. (Because we're inside). Also doesn't like wet grass (at 8 weeks old when we picked him up, he had NEVER gone outsid before). However, we do try to tire him out with fetch (if its dry outside) or fetch inside (I have a large 20m open area that spans from the front to the back of the house) and he does love running up and down there now and then, but crashes and sleeps after 10mins of play. I am aware that dogs need exercise to tire out before you leave them. We do also take him out to walks as well as the dog park where he absolutely loves playing with other dogs and runs around alot. When he is inside his crate, he gets all his favourite chew toys, a kong and a large bone. I do crate him when I am at home and where he can see/hear/sniff me and he is absolutely quietand even lies down and relaxes/naps. But when he can't sniff us or hear us, that's when he gets whiney. I have owned dogs before and in the past 3 days max was the longest on the whinging but I guess little Neo needs more work as it has been 5 weeks since we've had him. We are working on potty training and he does know to eliminate outside on command (but we do get accidents from time to time inside...nothing too often.) so its not an issue of not knowing the right place to eliminate and besides, dogs do not like to soil their sleeping area as part of their instinct anyway. Right now he is crated at home with me for 30mins now without a peep so hopefully that dog bone is doing the trick!! Do you guys give your dos a frozen kong during winter? My girlfriend reckons its too cold for him and he won't like it?? I think perhaps we just need to give him things to keep him REALLY busy as I would like to go out for longer than 30mins at a time. I'm hoping this is just a phase and me sticking with this over time, he will grow out of it??

Hmmm...So what do you think the problem is? WHy is he crying when we leave him? Its not fear of confinement as he will happily go in there now and sometimes (although rarely) when we are at home and he's sleeping in his crate, I open the door and he just stays in there anyway for a few more minutes. The crying is when he thinks we're leaving (or when we actually do leave) or even when crated in the next room while I'm at home. When I leave the house, I always crate him as it would be highly irresponsible to leave a pup uncrated and unsupervised with choking hazards. One time I left him for 10mins uncrated and he did what I expected...he peed and pooped everywhere out of nervousness/anxiety (even if I emptied him right before I leave). Also when he is uncrated and I go into another room with the door shut, he will cry and claw at the door and pee there as well. Sometimes if he's highly anxious in his crate when we leave, he will also soil his sleeping area and ignore all treats in there and also clawing at the walls. Of course, we ignore all the crying and if excessive crying goes on for 10mins, I get my shoe and slam it against the house door to make a loud bang so he associates a negative thing with being whiney. We only EVER let him out when he's quiet and calm. CW_EW, thanks for the input. I will try that and see how he goes. I do occasionally give him treats through the crate, but wasn't sure about the praising. I've been told to let him out in the backyard when we leave so I might puppy proof the backyard and give that a try. Just wanted to see if there's anything else I can do to stop the whining and clawing.

lulusmummy, I suggest you stick it out...she will eventually bond with you. My pup was terrified of new people but after lots of socialising, he now LOVES people. Just introduce her to a small group of people (1-2 people) at a time and make sure they are calm and come down to her level with high value treats in their hands. Also make sure they pat her on the chest or under the neck first and not going straight to her head as that will freak her out. Lots of positive experiences with different people will make sure your dog learns that humans are friendly. 10 weeks old is not too late for socialising. Just keep showing her new things and try to keep them positive. Also as mentioned, start some basic training with her as that will help with bonding. Good luck!

We took home our 8 week old Kelpie approx 5 weeks ago (he is now 13 weeks old) and he had MAJOR separation anxiety issues. He stuck to us like velcro, always sitting by our legs and even in the kitchen so we have banned him from going in there and setting him boundaries. On the first few days, he cried if left alone for literally 10seconds. One time after I took him out to the toilet and went back inside for bedtime, I left him for literally less than 2 mins and when I returned, he had pooped and peed everywhere out of anxiousness. I started working on crating him for longer periods of time and he has successfully done 1hr with *some* crying for the first 10mins or so before settling down. I work from home and he spends most of his time inside the house. My my partner was made redundant at work recently and thats when his crate training went backwards where he would refuse to get in his crate and cries excessively. I've gone back to basics and crated him less and associating his crate as a positive place again and now he gets in there on command. However, I'm still working on his separation anxiety issues.. My question is that when I leave him in there to go out for 20-30mins and if I return, he is quiet...do I let him out and praise him?? I read that on your return, you should stay calm and ignore the dog as a praise on your return will only make the dog more anxious.. But others say that if you return and he is quiet, you should praise the dog? I don't want to do the wrong thing and want to make sure this doesn't go on for a long time into his adulthood. So do I praise him and let him out of the crate when quiet or just let him out and ignore him for the first 5-10mins? I also leave the radio on when I leave (doesn't seem to do too much, but I'll stick to it anyway). I now also give him a high value treat before I leave and take it back when I return to give him something to look forward to in the future when I do leave the house and that seems to work a little bit better. Are there any other suggestions and am I doing everything right??