Hi,

My name is Naomi and I'm new to the forum. My partner Grant and I are very excited to be picking up our new Puppy from Tjukurpa Koolies at the end of the month.

We've named him Brick, and seeing I've never raised a dog before (Grant has) I thought I'd do a bit of reading on the forum to get the heads up on what shinannigans I can expect in the future ;o) ...I like to be prepared, but get the feeling that the next few months are going to be full of surprises.

We went shopping on the weekend to get the little fella a bed, brush, collar, bowl...etc and have been buying up big on doggy toys :o)

I'm a little worried about how my cat will handle the new addition to the family, but am hopeful that the two will be fast friends.

Any Handy Hints on things we should be doing in the first few weeks would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers, Naomi

to the forum Naomi!!
Hope you have lots of fun with your new little fellow. A new puppy is always exciting! Toilet training is probably the first thing you want to learn!! Lots of toys to distract from nipping, chicken necks or frames to chew on for those little puppy teeth that are really really sharp! A puppy pen or crate or baby gates to separate where you don't want puppy to be (makes it easier to clean up after accidents!) Is your cat a fraidy cat or a cat that's pretty cool about things? Sometimes cats have a bit of sulk when things get changed around home, sometimes inappropriate spraying can happen. The cat should always have an escape route from the dog if it feels trapped, ie somewhere higher or another room dog can't get into.

I agree with Bluedog, toilet training first. Dogs naturally don't like to do their business inside, but pups don't know the routine, like babies. Make sure he knows the difference between inside and outside, praise when he does poop or pee outside. There will be inevitable accidents.....patience.

You kind of need to accept that for about 6 months, or maybe 9, your little darling will chew everythin (their teeth are forming at this age and they are learning how to use their mouth as a tool). Pick up EVERYTHING you don't want chewed, ie the remotes, your best shoes, etc etc. Give plenty of other options for chewing ie toys, bones etc.

Hope you have a wonderful time with him!

Welcome to the forum. You will have a ball with your new puppy. I could recommend a book to read and don't worry about the title it is not aimed at you called "Dog training for Dummies", this also has lots of helpful tips and advice in it. If you are getting her from TJ he should now his toilet training just reinforce him on it. And he would probably now the basic command of sit too. My girl did when she came from there. And another helpful tip is there any puppy preschools around where you live. This helps with the socialisation aspect, it is very important to socialise your new puppy after they get all their vaccinations first of course.

Teeth, yep lots of chew toys, and chicken necks. You will have fun and any questions and problems just pop in and ask away.

to the forum Naomi

As everyone else has said,toilet training will need to be continued and I always crate my dogs/puppies when I cannot watch them and have them with me,this means even if I am having a shower etc.That way they don't make mistakes.

Your pup will need to go to the toilet around every 2 - 3 hours or as soon as he has woken up or had anything to eat or drink straight outside.Stay outside until he goes and make a big fuss when he does (it could take 10mins).

Also make sure you tell your pup what is expected of it from day 1 - for example if you don't want him on the lounge,start the day he comes home by having a bed for him next to the lounge and putting him on it,if he tries to get on the lounge say on your bed and put him on his bed and make a fuss of him,this may take awhile but it will work.
Whatever you say you must get him to follow through with.Don't give up and have fun training.

Oh and pix are a must!!

Hey Naomi great to see you on the forum, these guys are making my job so easy, giving you all these terrific tips.

You will get a lot of help and support, they're a great bunch.
I received Bricks blanket today and they have dragged it from one room to the other so its getting a lot of loving.

Brick has begun house training and he does sit, and come to his name, but as usual it will all need to be reinforced.
He loves traveling in the car and playing tug.
I am still trying to take more photos and you have been so patient.
So and I look forward to reading more from you and Grant.
Oh was the T shirt a clever way to advertise, very clever I wonder if it will influence Brick to dig in the garden, follow his new dad into the business

yes a big welcome you will love it here lots of handy info and you can learn from me how not to stuff up or loose sheep i am very good at both of those things lol and if OH needs a garden digger i have lots of them here my yard looks like rabbits have taken over.
but we need puppy pic's lots of pic's please

You are off to a good start, a well bred pup and a member of a forum where everybody is willing to help should you need it.

Nice to have you here, enjoy the forum, and i don't have to tell you to enjoy your baby, i'm sure

Thanks for the tips guys :o)

Little Brick has settled in well. With this being my first puppy experience, I have to say, he's a bit more work than I was expecting, but I can tell already that he's going to be a fantastic companion and lots of fun. I'm looking forward to when he's big enough to take for a run!

The toilet training, now that he no longer has an upset tummy, is going well.
Only a few accidents in the house, all of which were in the first few days of us picking him up. He seems to have the hang of it now. Yay!

He's sleeping through the night, and puts himself to bed when he's tired, which is a lot more often than I was expecting. He's like a little baby!

He's a good boy, and follows Grant around at work all day, unless there are other dogs around, in which case he naps in the Ute (something I must say he is very good at). I have to say, Brick leaves the digging up to Grant, but does personally inspect each hole upon completion. Needless to say, I have a very dirty puppy at the end of the work day!

We're having a bit of an issue with him attacking feet and pants at the moment, he has a heap of chew toys but once he gets a hold of your pants, doesn't seem at all interested in them! I'm trying to completely ignore him whenever he does it, but often he catches me by surprise and I find myself yelling No! Neither seems to really deter him. Did any of you have a puppy that did this, and if yes, how did you stop it?

We found a squeeky toy he loves and have started playing fetch with it. He's bringing it back to me to toss again which I'm wrapped with :o)

He loves chasing the cat, who we put up a baby gate for, so they have half the house each. The tease jumps the fence and lies right on the other side, it drives Brick mental. We're lucky that our kitty never puts his claws out, so bricks had a few wacks in the head by a nice soft kitty paw, not enough to put him of the chase I'm afraid!

I'll take some pictures over the weekend and will post them next week.

Thanks,
Naomi

This is another thread from a while back about this topic - http://koolie.net/exons/index.php?showtopic=1394
There might be other times before I was a member that this was talked about too. It's such a common problem for puppy owners.

The 2 main points I'd make about it are that (while I'm not suggesting that you ought not try to manage it in the short term) you shouldn't worry that it 'means anything' about the future behaviour of your dog. Lots of ppl worry that it relates to aggressive behaviour when the dog is older, but there is simply no evidence that this is the case. This causes them sometimes to use fairly heavyhanded strategies to prevent it, and the ironic thing is that having used these strategies are much more likely to result in aggressive behaviour in the adult dog (who will have less trust in ppl).

The other is 'be prepared'. Expect that this will happen and be ready to respond to it. Try to divert the pup before he starts - are you teaching him to tug with toys? Effectively that is the same game, and you should be able to get him doing that before he starts on your legs. When you play that game with a pup, try to make the toy act as much like your leg and trousers as possible - move it, pull against him, at times also provide a passive force that he can pull against, 'reward' him by letting the toy move towards him as he pulls on it and by letting him pull it out of our hands. Learning to play tug (for the ppl) well is a skill - take Brick's feedback on whether the game is working or not.

Susan Garrett is one of the most amazing trainers and her dogs are really good tuggers - she wrote this about building your dog's interest in playing with a toy - http://www.clickerdogs.com/createamotivatingtoy.htm

Putting a bell on his collar will reduce the chances of him catching you unawares.

I can see where you're coming from with trying to ignore the behaviour, and I think your idea is a good one. The thing to keep in mind though is that the general advice to ignore certain behaviours that you do not want your dog to do is based on the belief that doing so will mean that the dog is not rewarded for doing the behaviour. For some behaviours that is the case, but with this one, while you interacting with your pup as a result may be a reward, it is not the only reward - he can have a good time biting you and pulling your clothes even if you keep still and don't interact with him, and that will certainly reward this behaviour (at least in the short-term - even if you don't manage to stop him doing it now, chances are very high that he will grow out of it anyway).

For times when all else fails, you can 'punish' him effectively by taking yourself away. This only needs to be very short - 10-20 seconds. I would be worried if you were using timeouts much though.

Oh nipping - just reread that thread! I need to start looking for some new pants for this summer! Paxy is now 8 months old and she plays with other dogs beautifully - I don't think she's ever made mouth contact, lots of air snaps. I can stick my fingers in her mouth and push up her lips and play with her tongue (!) provided she is not tired (the things we do!), then she will mouth me but not hard and I usually do a yelp and turn my back on her and she realises she went a bit too far. She lets other people examine her face closely (esp her eyes) and they even hold her muzzle and she takes it all politely. So there is hope - Paxy really settled down after her adult teeth came through before that I had a toy in each pocket to distract from the hands, clothes, slippers. Will post a pic of my ugg boots!

Your little Brick sounds great! pups are so much fun! exasperating at times, but great fun!

I agree with the distraction strategy others have said for the trouser thing. much better than growling at them. I like the idea of toys in each pocket to distract him! That's a good one.

I must have been very lucky - I think TJ sent me an Angel-puppy. Dice is 7 months now, and he never ONCE chewed any shoe, or item of clothing left on the floor, or any of my potted succulents, or furniture, or power cords or remotes!

He does have about 20 toys to chew instead, ranging from his own personal sitck of firewood to an old pair of socks to a fancy mooing cow toy. He likes the ones that make noise most, and REALLY enjoys pulling out the insides once they break :-)