Billie, the diary of a dog...

[sovietsong]

We picked our German Shepherd puppy up early due to some unforeseen circumstances with the owner, she was the last pup as most were collected after 6 weeks, last Wednesday.  On Sunday we went to buy a few last bits, including a hot water bottle and the same puppy food used by the breeder (the most expensive - fml) so Billie's digestion wouldn't take too big a shock.  We were planning on getting a crate however as we had to move our plans forward we haven't had the chance and instead opted to move a few things out of the kitchen making it a good space for her.

We got to the owners around 4pm and Billie was pleased to see us, sniffing around our feet and checking out the new people.  We took a small box with us to keep her in while we drove home, couple of towels to clean up the obvious, after a few uncomfortable moments with her making attempts at barking we were on our way, 5 mins into the trip she was fast asleep!  We were more nervous than her.

We got in and tried to leave her alone to explore, the owner kindly gave us her fave toy which helped.  Right from the outset we have tried to use the puppy pads to help the housetraining however it has been tricky to catch her at the right time but we are getting better.

First night and she was quiet, excluding the odd timid bark, until around 6am then she was whining.  We went down at about 7am, michelle played with her in the living room while i cleaned up the nights 'work'!  We are going to try and keep a routine where ever possible 3 meals a day, 7.30, 12.30 and 17.30 is the aim and bed time at 10pm!  Not sure it will work out like that but thats how we are starting. 

I left for work at 8.15 and michelle left at about 9.45, I returned at 12.30 to feed her and clean up her mornings efforts, when i returned i could hear her whining which wasn't great but its to be expected in the short term, after lunch i went back to work and felt bad leaving her as she seemed distressed.  got home about 5 and she was happy to see me, we played with a rope type toy for a little while and she soon settled down after the day of barking!

I went out at 7.00 to pick michelle up from the train station, this time she didn't make much noise which was pleasing, when we got back michelle went in and I went round to the neighbours to apologise for the early morning wake up calls and barking through the day.  The neighbour had been in and said she had been whining on and off all day, not sure how long this will continue but hope she settles down soon.

I noticed she is biting things a little but does this less after playing with the rope toy, defo need to knock that on the head early as she will grow to be pretty big so a nip now is a lost finger in a year!

All in all we are really pleased, I'm looking forward to getting her jabs etc so she can go out on short walks, a little while away yet as the vet want to giver her jabs at 8 weeks and 12 weeks.

Well I will update a few pictures as Billie grows probably boring to most but I dont have kids so I can be that weird bloke who takes his dog to the pub and gets it a bowl of beer!!

Pictures

This is her on our first visit (around 2 weeks old)

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This is her at around 3/4 weeks

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Sunday night, after exploring she snuggles up to the radiator!

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She likes her belly rubbed and often shows us it to remind us!

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[Robert HM]

So damn cute! Totally jealous. More pics please.

[sovietsong]

So damn cute! Totally jealous. More pics please.

Just trying to upload some more now!

[Tonji]

Superb Sov 

[maccol]

  She likes her belly rubbed and often shows us it to remind us.


Sounds as though she is training you well. 

[GlasgowBandit]

Adorable.  But its a dog not a child

I'm only jesting mate my dog's got the run of the house but he's an old codger now the vet tells us he dimentia.  Testing times don't think he has long to go.

[sovietsong]

  She likes her belly rubbed and often shows us it to remind us.


Sounds as though she is training you well. 

She is lovely but I am getting a bit concerned by the amount of biting she is doing, its all very playful but I'm worried that if we dont knock it on the head it will get worse as she grows.  We have a toy which she can bite etc but she has the tendancy to bite feet/slippers/bottom of trousers.  We are stopping her each time but she seems to see it as a game and comes back for more.  If anybody has had puppies and can give me any advice that would be much appreciated.

[EvilPie]

  She likes her belly rubbed and often shows us it to remind us.


Sounds as though she is training you well. 

She is lovely but I am getting a bit concerned by the amount of biting she is doing, its all very playful but I'm worried that if we dont knock it on the head it will get worse as she grows.  We have a toy which she can bite etc but she has the tendancy to bite feet/slippers/bottom of trousers.  We are stopping her each time but she seems to see it as a game and comes back for more.  If anybody has had puppies and can give me any advice that would be much appreciated.

I sympathise with this so much you wouldn't believe it.

Ronnie was a real nipper when he was a pup and it was a nightmare to stop. This is what I was saying about the dog staying with it's mum a bit longer, she will stop this behaviour so much more efficiently that a human can.

I don't really know how we stopped Ronnie's nipping, it just kind of stopped when he started to realise who was in charge. This took a long time by the way because we left it too late before finding out how to let him know. Once it gets bad it then gets worse before it gets better.

I had loads of tips from people about how to stop nipping and none of them worked so I won't pass any on. Suffice it to say that once she realises who are the dominant members of the pack she won't be biting them. Right now she is discovering that she can nip and get away with it.

The good thing is that rolling on her back to be tickled is a sign that she is naturally submissive. This should make her easy to train with the correct advice from someone who knows what they are doing.

I would highly recommend the trainers that I used. I'll PM a link for you so as not to spam.

It might seem like a lot of money but if I could go back in time to the first day I had Ronnie I would've paid 10 times as much for the knowledge they gave me.

[RED-DOG]

The simple fact is sov, you're not being firm enough, you're not being the boss. Don't be afraid of alienating her, the one thing she needs more than anything else at the moment is someone to look up to.

You decide what is and is not acceptable, not her. Don't fanny about gently scolding and tippy tapping, scold her properly. Use your sternest voice, grab her scruff and give her a damn good shake, just like her mother would do. Then, when it's over, it's over. Don't hold a grudge or refuse to speak to her afterwards.

Make sure you get the timing right, correct her at the very moment she does the wrong thing. A second or two late and you may as well scold her for nothing.

[EvilPie]

The simple fact is sov, you're not being firm enough, you're not being the boss. Don't be afraid of alienating her, the one thing she needs more than anything else at the moment is someone to look up to.

You decide what is and is not acceptable, not her. Don't fanny about gently scolding and tippy tapping, scold her properly. Use your sternest voice, grab her scruff and give her a damn good shake, just like her mother would do. Then, when it's over, it's over. Don't hold a grudge or refuse to speak to her afterwards.

Make sure you get the timing right, correct her at the very moment she does the wrong thing. A second or two late and you may as well scold her for nothing.

The alienating stuff is very important. You can be dominating towards your dog just by ignoring her. Try giving her a resting place somewhere safe in the living room, if she gets up and comes over to you then move her back. If she gets up to go for a stroll then move her back. When she has been there for 10 minutes quietly then call her over for a fuss and tummy tickle. That way she gets affection but it's on your terms not hers. She'll soon get the message that you want her to stay there. If you let her have free run of your house you are in for an absolute nightmare!! I know this because it happened to me.

Also like Red says, once you have scolded her then it's done. Go straight back to being calm and quiet. You don't want to scare her but she needs to know right from wrong.

[sovietsong]

The simple fact is sov, you're not being firm enough, you're not being the boss. Don't be afraid of alienating her, the one thing she needs more than anything else at the moment is someone to look up to.

You decide what is and is not acceptable, not her. Don't fanny about gently scolding and tippy tapping, scold her properly. Use your sternest voice, grab her scruff and give her a damn good shake, just like her mother would do. Then, when it's over, it's over. Don't hold a grudge or refuse to speak to her afterwards.

Make sure you get the timing right, correct her at the very moment she does the wrong thing. A second or two late and you may as well scold her for nothing.

The alienating stuff is very important. You can be dominating towards your dog just by ignoring her. Try giving her a resting place somewhere safe in the living room, if she gets up and comes over to you then move her back. If she gets up to go for a stroll then move her back. When she has been there for 10 minutes quietly then call her over for a fuss and tummy tickle. That way she gets affection but it's on your terms not hers. She'll soon get the message that you want her to stay there. If you let her have free run of your house you are in for an absolute nightmare!! I know this because it happened to me.

Also like Red says, once you have scolded her then it's done. Go straight back to being calm and quiet. You don't want to scare her but she needs to know right from wrong.

Great advice thank you.  It is true I am not being firm enough, I have read all the books and know how it should be done but putting it into practice is more difficult than I had expected.  Today I have come home to feed her and she has been using the 'puppy pads' which is great.  Much less mess to clean up! 

I am certainly going to impliment your recommendations, putting her into her space is a very good idea.  Do you have her in the same room or would you put her back in the kitchen for example?

[EvilPie]

The simple fact is sov, you're not being firm enough, you're not being the boss. Don't be afraid of alienating her, the one thing she needs more than anything else at the moment is someone to look up to.

You decide what is and is not acceptable, not her. Don't fanny about gently scolding and tippy tapping, scold her properly. Use your sternest voice, grab her scruff and give her a damn good shake, just like her mother would do. Then, when it's over, it's over. Don't hold a grudge or refuse to speak to her afterwards.

Make sure you get the timing right, correct her at the very moment she does the wrong thing. A second or two late and you may as well scold her for nothing.

The alienating stuff is very important. You can be dominating towards your dog just by ignoring her. Try giving her a resting place somewhere safe in the living room, if she gets up and comes over to you then move her back. If she gets up to go for a stroll then move her back. When she has been there for 10 minutes quietly then call her over for a fuss and tummy tickle. That way she gets affection but it's on your terms not hers. She'll soon get the message that you want her to stay there. If you let her have free run of your house you are in for an absolute nightmare!! I know this because it happened to me.

Also like Red says, once you have scolded her then it's done. Go straight back to being calm and quiet. You don't want to scare her but she needs to know right from wrong.

Great advice thank you.  It is true I am not being firm enough, I have read all the books and know how it should be done but putting it into practice is more difficult than I had expected.  Today I have come home to feed her and she has been using the 'puppy pads' which is great.  Much less mess to clean up! 

I am certainly going to impliment your recommendations, putting her into her space is a very good idea.  Do you have her in the same room or would you put her back in the kitchen for example?

This depends on the dog. I'm lucky with Ronnie because he's happy being on his own for reasonable lengths of time. I think this comes from being left alone as a pup but can't say for definite.

He used to live in the utility room in a crate during his alone time. He's allowed in the living room but when he's there he's on his blanket and that's that.

For the last 6 months he's lived outside in a kennel and he is very content. He still comes inside with me but again it's on my terms and he isn't allowed to roam. Believe me you do not want a 7 stone dog thinking she can wander around whenever and wherever she wants.

What I'd do if I were you is decide now which rooms you're going to allow her in to. Pick a spot in each room and put a blanket down in that spot. Whenever you take her in to that room put her in her place give a gentle command, I just say "on your bed" and leave her there. If she moves give a harsh "no" command, put her back and say the gentle "on your bed" command again. After a while she'll just follow you in to each room and lay down on her own. If she doesn't the verbal command should do it. If she still doesn't then you have to move her yourself. Just make sure you do it every time so that she knows exactly what is expected and there's no chance of confusion.

If you let her have free run then she will quite rightly believe that she is allowed free run. When you then start to shout at her in a few weeks she'll get confused. This leads to stress, this makes you stressed, the dog gets worse and you get stuck in a vicious circle.

A crate wouldn't be a bad idea by the way. Ronnie was always happy in his crate and I also think that's why he's now content when I put him in kennels. Don't think of it as a cage, think of it as her own little den where she can go and be safe and secure. Dogs like to feel safe so if you can provide her with a safe place she'll be happy. They don't need too much space all day every day. A little bit of restriction can be a good thing.

[sovietsong]

Today has been much better for Billie.  She does get excited in the mornings and when I return home which is to be expected.  I tend to ignore her until she calms down which has reduced her 'playful biting' however today after work she did start biting my slippers etc so I followed Reds advice and grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and she didnt try to bite me again, even later on she didnt go for my hand when we were playing with the bone style chew we have, as mentioned throughout... a stich in time saves nine!

My parents visited today and Billie barely batted an eyelid, she laid on her bed and only played with my dad when he called her, we are making progress and I'm pretty pleased with how things are going.  Ordered a crate, we had hoped to get a second hand one but it fell through, it will be useful when we stay away etc.

Anyway not much of an update as nothing really happens day to day, when I get chance I will take some photos.  She gets her jabs next week so will be able to take her out in about a month I expect but will see what the vet says.

[sovietsong]

Latest photos...

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[Dingdell]

Soooo cute!!