WeimMe

Where does she sleep Charlotte? If you are happy to have her by your bed in her crate you can put your hand on the top of the crate to reassure her during the night. The first few weeks with a new puppy are not great for sleep as they often need to go out to urinate once or twice during the night until their bladder is big/strong enough to hold until morning. Don't worry though, it only lasts a few weeks (although they do feel like forever!). Just be sure to be all business for the night time toilet runs - quietly pick her up, on with the leash, pee, praise and straight back to bed - no play or other attention. She'll get the idea that night time is for sleeping soon enough.

Can you ask what will happen to him OP? I would be struggling to decide what best to do as well, it's not an easy decision to have to make at all.

Does he do it in the crate as well? If he is OK in the crate, but not in the laundry perhaps he might need to do some remedial toilet training until he gets the idea. It must be hard if he has no problem at all sleeping in his own waste...

Kirsty, I don't think there is any shame in admitting that you are out of your league with this fella. I think that he might need an owner who is prepared to work with difficult dogs (eg. someone with a dog training background). From what I have read you have given it your best - perhaps the best thing for both Eric and yourself would be to return him to the shelter while that is still an option. And now I shall don my flame suit....

People laughed scornfully at me when I paid several thousand $$ for my dog to have expensive but lifesaving surgery too...I think that as long as the animal is not suffering needlessly, and you can afford it, why not?

I really wish there was something like this here. Toad proofing would be very handy as well.

I never realised that there was any controversy over this before coming here. I've had my vet give my old girl the injection for years and years (so long, I can barely remember giving her the chew) and we have been lucky enough not to have any reaction. There are lots of mossies here in Brisbane, and I can be forgetful so the yearly dose seemed like a great idea at the time. I'm not sure if I'll have my puppy dosed with this or not...the vet is keen to give it to him as soon as he is old enough.

I would like to own someday.... Standard Poodle Italian Greyhound Afghan Hound (ok...I probably won't ever own one of these beauties as I have cats...but I can dream!) Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Pomeranian Shetland Sheepdog Boston Terrier But when my darling old girl goes...I'll probably get another Weim because I can't imagine life without one.

I voted yes - why not make responsibly bred quality puppies available to the average person? Lots of people who are able to provide dogs with a wonderful pet home for life will buy their dogs from the paper, it would be a good thing to at least make this option more easily available to them.

And if the cupboards were bare you could eat it yourself!

Stay strong Donatella! It is a very special thing that you foster carers do :)

I quite like kids of the well raised variety who don't scream in public, climb on furniture and will listen to adult instructions. I have one of my own and find her endlessly funny, crazy, entertaining and cute. I'm not so keen on babies though. Babies are crying bundles of poop and sick and dribble, wrapped in a haze of sleep deprivation. I kind of dread it when people invite me to hold theirs and can't really imagine how they think others might enjoy doing so. I love kids, but I'd rather hold a puppy than a newborn any day!

I am going to guess Ridgeback X with maybe Bull Arab. She's very sweet! Maybe her new owners will get a DNA test so that they can know for sure.

I hope that the OP isn't put off asking another question about her new puppy, after the furor that her feeding question caused. Regardless of where her puppy came from, it's her new dog. She obviously cares about it and wants to give it the best possible start in life and came here looking for advice from experienced dog owners. I don't think some of you realise how hostile and judgemental some of these comments come across as to new forum members.

If I had the opportunity to get a well raised Weim rather than a pup next time, I'd grab it with both hands!!

I know you really don't want him in your bedroom, but is there a chance that you'd consider temporarily allowing him to be in the crate in there just while you are training him? The howling for your neighbours, lack of sleep for you and stress for him would be doing my head in! I just don't think that it's worth it, to save a few weeks of the dog being present in your room as you slowly accustom him to being alone in the crate at night. I think that Stitch's advice sounds like a great plan to try - the dog is reassured that you are close by at night, learns to love his crate during the day and gradually you can move him out to wherever you'd like him to permanently be sleeping. I did this with my first dog and it worked really well - in fact, from the first night we put her right by our bed she was quiet and slept right through without crying. The only downside was that we decided we didn't mind her being in our room after all so that's where she stayed! We have a new pup and while he's a holy terror during the day, we have no issues with him at night while he's in his bed in our room at all.

So sorry to hear this

I voted free yard access, but if it's really hot, cold, dark or raining then she stays inside. Puppers stays in his "area of confinement". I am looking forward to him being big enough to put in the backyard too. :laugh:

What a jerk. I hope they catch him. Makes you wonder that he doesn't get attacked while trying going into people's yards to get the dogs out.

Hard to tell from the photo but they could be either tiny baby ticks (my dog got covered in them when we stayed at a rellie's rural property - shudder!), or bird mites. You don't happen to keep chooks or have a lot of doves/pigeons visit your place at all do you? Warm humid weather seems to bring on an outbreak of these little nasties. If they are in a nest/chook house on your property they are a PITA to get rid of.

Sounds like they want the ideal family dog....is there really such a thing? Every breed has something that you have to learn to live with imo.

What a sick and cruel kid. I feel terrible for the poor dogs who had their lives ended so horribly for his amusement. Clearly the kid is mentally ill - the fact that he took video of the dogs he tortured and showed his friends is just sickening. I sincerely hope that it was one of them who alerted authorities to his activities and that he is never allowed the opportunity to harm another living creature again.

Thanks for your responses to my earlier comment. It would have been great to be able to call her to ask for help as she was our first dog and we were rather naive about what to expect! I was just kidding about returning her - we always adored her, just not so much when she tore the irrigation system out of the ground etc. :laugh: I'm surprised that Afghans are hard to find homes for - they are STUNNING! Then again, I guess there is a difference between available homes and suitable homes...

I think that sometimes people have ever so slightly unrealistic expectations of what "their" dog will be like, while not actually wanting to put in the time and work to make him that way. I'm wondering OP, if they have ever had a dog before as I don't think that there are many of us here who can claim that their dog never destroyed anything/barked/howled/dug/annoyed them/embarrassed them while it was still in that goofy young dog phase. It's a shame that these people aren't willing to persevere a little bit longer.

For all of the hoops that the blog author made her puppy buyers jump through, the amount of support she offered throughout the life of the dog seemed incredible. Is that normal or did breeders here think that she went truly above and beyond what was expected of her. It would never have occurred to me that I could have asked Daisy's breeder for help or advice during her very trying puppy/adolescent phase and I'm pretty sure that the offer to take her back if things didn't work out was not on the table (probably a good thing or my husband might have been tempted to take them up on it in that first 12 months!).