aliwake

p.s. I buy the peanut butter that just has crushed peanuts - not all the extra salt and sugar etc, and he doesn't seem to mind! :) It's in the health food aisle at woolies.

Does he like the kibble by itself? That's all I usually use - kibble and peanut butter. But the first few times I tried to give him a kong, or peanut butter, he wasn't that interested. It took him a while to figure out how awesome it was, and to get in the habit of chewing it nicely. If he hasn't touched it when you get home, maybe deconstruct it in front of him, so he realises where all the yummy stuff was hidden. Nixon used to bring it to me for help if I'd done too good a job of stuffing everything in there. Sounds like Tank is settling nicely during the day though :)

Exciting times! Most importantly - what kind of pup is he, and do you have any pics?!! :)

We use advocate monthly, which covers everything except tapeworm (and ticks). Once he's grown I want to use panoramis, which is the same deal in tablet form - it's just hard when you can only buy a pack of 6, and you have a growing pup that won't stay in any weight range for long... we use popantel for additional allworming (which is relatively frequent at the moment given the amount of possum poo that gets consumed in our yard...)

Ah Steph, I completely forgot to mention kongs. Nixon now hurries me out the door so he can get his kongs sooner. If he has kongs to look forward to he can't wait to get rid of me. Definitely softens the blow of leaving in the morning. I'm about to start reducing his lunchtime feeding - I think he's going to be really confused that he's only getting 1 instead of 2... will probably spend all arvo looking for the 2nd one :)

If he's confined to one area when you're out - you could set up a webcam to check on him? That's what I did :) I just used the one on my laptop. I'm pretty tech un-savy, but can let you know what I did if that helps. I'm sure he's fine though!

So glad I'm not the only one struggling to hold on to a tiny puppy when he gets excited! I finally caved and tried a halti on Nixon at basic obedience on saturday. Every other lab there (about 5) wears them. I'm still not keen, but I have to say it was an AMAZING transformation. No more pulling AT ALL! I also think he responded better and faster to commands too. He didn't particularly like wearing it, but I think he would adjust eventually, and if it means we both get to enjoy walks it will be worth it I think. The one we tried was quite a wide flat strap over the nose, so I'm going to find one of the narrower ones with a bit of padding and see what happens.

p.s Love Nova with the bunny Lisa!!

Glad Tank has responded well to a little extra calmness :) I was really worried Nixon was headed for separation anxiety when we first got him, so I know how stressed you can feel about it! Our puppy preschool said to never make eye contact when you're coming and going, and as Lisa said, make the whole thing very low key. I also found Nixon calmed a LOT when we put his crate in his playpen with him when we left him during the day. He definitely isn't 'crate trained' (given he chewed the front flap off his soft crate pretty quickly!) but even with the door permanently open, being in there calmed him a lot and he actually started sleeping while I was at work. I hope Tank goes well while you're at work today. Let us know!

That sux Lisa! I feel your pain though... It will feel like forever, but at least you know your baby will be safe

OMG I would kill for 7.30! :)

Nixon sleeps through, but sometimes needs a pee at 5- 5.30 now. He went through a phase of not settling after that, which sucked, but he'll now go back to bed until 6-6.30ish... I refuse to feed him until 7, in the hope that he might eventually get the hint and start sleeping until I decide we're getting up. sigh. hasn't happened yet, and he's 5 months old now. I would just ignore him, but he jumps up (front legs) on the bed and starts digging in the mattress until he gets me. and if I move far enough away that he can't get me - he'll bark at me instead. bossy boy. I've had some nasty scratches from the bed digging

We had C5

maybe it's just a retriever thing then Steph :) I went home at lunch and sent him to look for his ball. After he found it, he then peed twice on his way back to me! cracked me up!

This might be excitement, but it's not uncontrolled. He will deliberately stop to pee. and if I throw the ball for him 6 times in a row, there's a good chance he'll pee on the way back to me - 6 times!! weird dog.

I've just remembered something I've been meaning to ask for a while. Hopefully some of you more experienced dog owners might have some idea? Nixon seems to really enjoy weeing when he's running around with something in his mouth. He doesn't do it inside thank goodness, but if you throw the ball for him, he'll usually stop half way back to me to pee. Sometimes after peeing he'll drop the ball and forget about it, but sometimes he'll just bring it back once he's finished. He also does it sometimes when he's carrying a bone around in his mouth. He will do it repeatedly - trying to squeeze out a few drops even when he's just gone :) My guess is it's somehow linked to enjoyment? The he likes chasing balls and carrying bones and it feels good to pee so he's linked the two? I don't think it's marking because he's not really targeting anywhere useful. It not a problem, I'm just curious!

:laugh: I put a call out on fb... and took him in to work. once people saw how cute he was I had some colleagues bring family to come visit. worked out ok in the end! Still didn't have as many visitors as I wanted, but we had enough.

We just kept asking people to come visit, and bring kids etc. I'm not too worried about his socialisation now - I think we just got really lucky with his temperament! He is so happy and excited to meet and play with anyone at all - human or dog. It makes him hard to walk though - he goes absolutely ballistic with excitement if we come across anyone at all when we're walking. And the same again at obedience - extreme excitement and wanting to play for an hour straight... I always come home with sore hands... I'm working so hard at his loose leash walking but it all goes out the window as soon as there's a distraction. I should be grateful he's not fearful or aggressive I guess.

We didn't take our pup out (other than puppy preschool) til after his 3rd vacc, because our friend is a vet and they'd seen 13(!!!!) cases of parvo already this year, and she didn't want us to risk it. They usually see 4 or 5 a year. I think he ended up having his last one at around 14 weeks, and that first 6 weeks we had him we felt like complete shut ins... it was so hard not to go out and about - but worth waiting for. If there hadn't been much parvo around we might have gone out after the 2nd vaccination.

How cute Steph!! He looks so worn out in the best way :)

Just found the probiotics section of my local online vet store - holy cow it's expensive! They sell protexin?! It does sound like the rolls royce of probiotics though... might have to find out what sort or dosage they suggest before I decide. People probiotics are definitely cheaper.

Ok, I'll look into it, thanks! I just checked on the RC website, and it doesn't specifically mention probiotics - just says: This formula contributes to supporting digestive health and promoting a balance in the intestinal flora. It doesn't say how though... Will see what I can find for him. My hubby thinks I'm imagining the difference from the yoghurt, but he's humouring me so far. Not sure how he'll handle me giving him supplements :) Lots of eye rolling I imagine!

Would there be much additional benefit over the yoghurt? Are canine probiotics much different to the ones found in yoghurt? I think his food has added probiotics too? (RC labrador junior). If you think it might have some long term benefit, I'll look into it, but for now I know he looks forward to his yogurt, so it's a nice way of delivering probiotics - he absolutely loves it! :)

yeah, my poor pup had coccidia when we got him, followed by giardia a few weeks later, and the only way I can get his stools to firm up is to feed him yoghurt every day. poor baby... You can definitely tell on days I've forgotten. Hopefully one day his gut will recover enough that it won't be needed. Re feeding raw - there's no way I'd risk it at the moment, given he also had a bacterial infection that was likely caused by raw meat - feeding him chicken necks etc. Every dog is different, but there's no way I'd have the gall to come on here and shove my opinion (to the exclusion of all others) down people's throat, over and over again. Particularly when the people in question have a great deal more experience owning and caring for dogs than yourself... There are many threads specifically dedicated to people feeding raw, so perhaps you should go find one and commiserate over all the close minded puppy owners that have been posting in here

And have treats on hand! Nixon is great while being bathed, but chucks a psycho when we try to dry him :) Treats are good for stopping zoomies in the bathroom!