aliwake

From what I understand, it's only pre-existing if you knew about it, and consulted a vet about it before you were insured. Otherwise, there's no record of anything.

thanks for that. Which collar are you using? (just out of interest)

That's hilarious Steph! Nixon still squats to pee, so it will be interesting to see if that changes. I really hope it was sleep humping - I'm not sure I can handle another health problem! For a healthy dog he's certainly at the vet a lot He's definitely got some teenage attitude going on at the moment though, and is jumping on everything!!!

Ok, I've thought of an interesting question - do any or your pups hump in their sleep? Nixon isn't much of a humper when he's awake, but he was asleep in his bed next to the couch the other night, and I thought he started humping (nothing in particular - just the air!), but then my husband got concerned he was having a fit?! He was certainly very deeply asleep, and we had trouble waking him fully to check on him. Was a little weird to be honest. I'm hoping it was just a very interesting dream!!

You're not monopolising Lhok - it's all good! Treble just still sounds very puppyish to me :) How did you find the current trainer? Were they recommended, or just local? Perhaps one of the assistance dog organisations could suggest someone in your area for training?

That's such great news! It's so heartbreaking when your baby is sick - I really feel for you. Hope he keeps improving really quickly!

OMG he's so adorable!!!

Also, we have the Electrolux sensor dryer, which is excellent, but I think the largest is a 6kg? This is the pet toilet we used when our boy was a pup: http://www.topbuy.com.au/tbcart/pc/Extra-Large-Pet-Indoor-Dog-Potty-Training-Toilet-Loo-Pad-3-Tier-76x51cm-p187234.htm It was great, but definitely a PITA to clean

There's a great deal on a wet/dry vac today via clickfrenzy - not a vax though: http://www.clickfrenzy.com.au/diy-cleaning-combo-3-amazing-products.html?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=FD+Deals+EDM+3&utm_content=FD+Deals+EDM+3+CID_971c1c80189421e59bbb8a8510ee34fc&utm_source=EMAIL

Fingers crossed!! I'm sure he'll be fine

Hmmm, I know cooked bones are bad because they splinter, but maybe chicken bones being small won't be as much of a problem? I'd be calling the vet for some advice to be honest though.

This is brilliant! totally describes Nixon too :laugh:

OMG Nova is gorgeous! Love that last pic Lisa.

For anyone that's interested, Nixon slept a lot better last night! I was the one who woke up at 12.30, but apart from moving to outside the bathroom door temporarily, he went straight back to bed when I did, and slept until 5.40am, which isn't bad... After a quick trip outside, he then went back to bed til a slightly more reasonable hour. Such a relief! Hope he keeps it up. I'm wondering if the full moon had anything to do with his unsettled sleeping too. Does anyone else's dogs go a bit feral when the moon is full? Also, I weighed him this morning, and he's finally cracked 20kgs! Such a big boy! Must say he was noticeably heavier to lift onto the scales, so he might not be getting weighed too often after this!

That food seems hard to find anywhere! I just had a quick google for you. This was the best hit I got: http://www.mypetwarehouse.com.au/ROYAL-CANIN-DOG-MAXI-STARTER-MOTHER-AND-BABYDOG-15-KG-p-19378 I've ordered a bed from them before and it was pretty quick...

p.s. clearly I haven't worked on his recall enough, and you guys are all putting me to shame!!

That sounds pretty good, but I'm fairly sure wheels would trash our floor. Our hallway is quite narrow too which doesn't help. Nixon is now outside whenever we go out, so it would really only be useful at night, or if he got injured. He's spent enough time in his smaller crate that I think he would take to it pretty well. but having said that, up until a week ago he was sleeping through the night in his normal bed without any troubles, so it's hard to know how long this 'unsettled' stage will last. I think he would sleep outside too - maybe, but there's a good chance he'd spend the night stalking possums and other wildlife rather than sleeping :) He'll often wander off after a late night pee, and only comes back in for treats.

I meant to say the other day, that I realised later I'd used lactose free trim milk by mistake! Oops... Have bought full cream to try next time, so that should help...

yeah, that's true I suppose. I guess it's more that our room isn't very big, and at least with the soft crate it's easy to move out to the living area during the day, but a metal crate wouldn't be moving. Do you know what size crate you had for Sam? I've read varying suggestions of 36" or 42". I think he will be a fairly big boy, so I'm leaning towards the 42"...

Argh, don't talk to me about chasey!! I feel your pain! The number of times I've had to stalk him around the yard wearing one shoe while he runs around with the other... sigh.

Treble sounds hilarious! I'm so glad he makes you laugh Lhok! Sourcing an assistance dog sounds like it might be tricky... Lisa, I think you're right about crating - I've been thinking that might be the answer. I wouldn't say he's 'crate trained' because I made the mistake of buying a soft crate, and he chewed the whole front off it back in his playpen days and so it doesn't actually close. But, he does like being in there, so I think he is certainly crate trainable. We do need a bigger crate now though. I would like another soft crate though, cos the metal ones are so big and ugly (and heavy!), and I think he would be ok if he wasn't left unattended with it, but you never know. It's a bit of a dilemma.

Ah Lisa, you're making me sad! I'm hoping it's just cos he's extra bored at the moment. Nothing a few good walks won't knock out of him?! and a good run around at the park?! His sleep patterns have gone to hell since he was sick too. He's now waking up sometime between midnight and 4am, then 5am, then 6am (at which point he will jump on the bed until we cave and get up to feed him or I shut him outside the bedroom). I try to avoid feeding him straight away when he does that, cos I figure it will just encourage him. He doesn't seem to take the hint though!

I just remembered that the other week, when we'd bought a new bag of food but hadn't decanted it into the storage container yet, I thought that Nixon was taking a bit too long to eat his dinner and went to check on him and he'd attacked the bag and ripped holes in it and was happily eating an extra dinner serving.... I was pretty annoyed, but then I realised we've been training him to work for his dinner, so it was entirely our fault. He has to figure out how to open all the bits of his blue bowl, and then he eats out of kongs as well, so I guess to him it was just another cheeky food hiding toy... We won't be leaving bags of food around again!! He's also reached a height now where he can easily see on top of our side tables and tv cabinet, so given he's bored at the moment he takes great delight in taking things he shouldn't off the table and taking them outside to destroy! Saturday morning's victims included half a roll of paper towels, a water squirty bottle, and the airconditioner remote... Oh, and the pizza menu. sigh. I hope he grows our of this teenager rubbish asap - it's wearing thin already!

Nixon very patiently waiting for permission to eat his breakfast: Eating from his fancy bowl: When we first tried him with it, he was still pretty small, and even without the lids it was freaking him out! The holes are pretty small and he couldn't figure out how to use his tongue to scoop his food out. So, we put it away for a few months. After we re-introduced it he used to attack it like crazy and tried to use brute force to crack it open which wasn't very successful... Now he knows how it works and it doesn't really take him long to get it all. It does slow down the whole process though, which is the idea.

Yeah Lisa, he has one of the fancy bowls, but it still doesn't take him long to empty it :) I'll have to find a pic of him attacking it. He's getting lots of play and games and training, but it's not the same. He'll survive though!