Our new puppy
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| Welcome Mabel and her Mum! There's lots to read on here but if you need any help just ask and you'll get lots of helpful advice! |
AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW Miss Mabel is beautiful!! Welcome to the Forum  |
| Look at that mask! Take many pictures because the grey hair will all but eliminate Zorro's, er, Zorra's mask. Welcome Mabel and Mum! |
| Welcome Mabel, I love your markings |
| And she has a tail. |
Cute! Enjoy the cute quiet puppy stage, she's so small! I love her name  |
| Cute Batman markings!!!!! I want a puppy so bad. Congrats! |
| She is such a pretty girl with a very pretty tail |
Welcome to Mabel baby and her family!  Where are you guys at? |
| welcome from fl what a cutie |
| Thanks everyone, what a friendly bunch . Yes she is adorable and full of mischief. And yes she has a tail . Ankle biting is her thing at the moment. We will have to nip that in the bud. Her house training is coming on well and she is sleeping through the night. Thank goodness, it has been a long time since i had a puppy in the house. Exhausting. Questions. I will ask a cople of things here. Food. Breeder started her on Purina Supercoat puppy. Should I change to a large breed puppy food so she doesn't grow too fast? Or am i over thinking. And the biting. Yelping is working well with the hands. But while it is cute to have her dance round my feet and grab my legs as i walk around when she is little I really have to try to nip it in the bud now. Any ideas knowledgeable people. PS we are in south west victoria Australia. |
| Congratulations on your new furbaby! I do love a mask (and a tail!) Enjoy every minute.  |
Welcome! She's adorable!  |
| We did the "yelp thing" and "got really boring" (stopped moving/playing/paying any attention to him until he calmed down) and eventually replaced the yelp with "Sheepie NO" (never yelling just firm and serious). It took a couple weeks of consistent work but he is almost 6 months now and he doesn't nip at all and hasn't since he was a baby. It is amazing how much they learn, most of which if frustrating to teach at first. My suggestion is repeated practice and lots of patience; they get it eventually Sheepies are generally quite intelligent. As for food, speak with your vet. Our breeder recommended Eukanuba Large Breed Puppy for our guy and he is still on it (because his breeder started him on it as a puppy and our vet said to keep him on it until he is a certain percentage of his total weight and it works really well for him). But your vet/breeders usually know what works for your puppy so if you are worried about it that's a question to ask on your next visit. (Puppies get lots of fun vet visits for their check ups and shots I actually hunted for weeks for the specific food he was on because my local store had a supply shortage; good food is so important! |
| Welcome and Congratulations! Mabel is adorable! |
| Mabel is adorable! Welcome to the forum! Cindy |
| Thanks bruuruu. We will be at the vet for a weigh in on Friday so i will ask then. And thanks for the advice re the biting. I know it is going to be a long haul but we will put in the time. She is such a good girl. |
| And thanks Cindy, sheepiezone,Baba, Jonsey,suzptcruise, got sheep,monster Celyn, Joahaeyo, Camval.Little Lizzie and sheepie boss for all the welcomes too. |
| OMG, What a beautiful little baby. Exhausting, oh yeah! But very much worth it. The biting and nipping are part of the little bundle of joy Toy in hand or pocket at all times and stuff it in her mouth when she nips. My "baby" is now 6yrs old and still grabs a toy before he greets.I know everyone says it but tons of pictures. You don't want to look back in a few years and think you should have. Welcome and look forward to hearing about all the mischief little Mabel(love the name) gets into. |
| Welcome from Long Island, NY! Mable is beautiful! My baby boy is now 9 months old. We got him at 12 weeks. He was the WORST nipper around. My arms were like chop meat. He used them as a chew toy. They do grow out of it. Just be patient and always offer a chew toy. I feed my baby Nutro for large breed puppy. Am just going to switch to adult Nutro as per my vet. Enjoy that little girl..just like kids...they grow up way to fast! |
| Thanks for the welcome's ladies. And the advice on the biting. I think she is getting a lttle bit better until we try the lead again. Hanging off my ankles it seems is much more fun than walking like a good girl.  Yes i am quite sure i will go to a large breed puppy food. I will see the vet this week for a weigh in so I will have a chat to her then. She is happy on the Supercoat but I just want to make sure I do what's best for her. We have the camera out all the time. You dont mind if I share a couple?  Oops dropped my brush  Watching a bit of tv  Aaw how cute am I |
| Welcome, what a cute puppy |
| Welcome! Mabel is sooooo cute. Carley will be 6 soon and I still remember those days of nipping at everything. Others have given you great advice. I know we always put a toy in her mouth. She really has not chewed up much. She does like to empty trash cans. Enjoy her, they grow up so fast. Bonnie/ Carley's Mom |
| Wow she is lovely - We are getting our new pup on 24th he will be 12 weeks old. Your girl is sooo weee!!!!!!! She is so beautiful !!!! I am excited over our lad as I never had a small pup before. Maybe we can share as they grow? OES Welcome!!!!!!!I am sorry I can't post a pic of our baby but Vance posted him on the gallery. I don;t know how to post pics yet!!!!! |
| Thanks everyone. Schoolmarm Carley is just lovely. What a beautiful face. Oesdog do you have a name for your boy yet? Would love to see a pictre of him. Yes we can share tips on how to handle the little monsters too  Sorry the pics are so big.Cant seem to work out how th make them smaller. |
mabelsmum wrote: Thanks everyone. Schoolmarm Carley is just lovely. What a beautiful face. Oesdog do you have a name for your boy yet? Would love to see a pictre of him. Yes we can share tips on how to handle the little monsters too Sorry the pics are so big.Cant seem to work out how th make them smaller. I am sorry that I have no pics of him on my thread but Vance put one into the gallery and if you go to this thread and scrole down you will see him. He is the one with the red teddy and black ears! We thought about Baily as a name but you know if and when he comes he might tell me different? viewtopic.php?f=14&t=39358&p=528049#p528049 |
| Your pup is so lovely I just love those eyes!!!!!! Pitty it all lightens down isn;t it? Our Old english x wolfhound stayed very dark all over except a blaze of white down the front so she looked like an inside-out OES! I hope we get Baily and it would be good to keep in contact and see how they develop - How old is mayble now? Baily will be 12 weeks on 24th Nov. I guess he will be big by then - but smaller than any other Oes weve had. Oes |
| Yea, Leonard's black eye patch is fading and he is looking less patchy every day. So far his bum and his face are th only parts going grey. Maybe I just notice it less? he is still really cute though... Just looks less like the pirate he used to. Enjoy your little muppet! |
| I only have two days until pup arrives!!!!!! I am soooo excited counting the hours I so hope all goes ok and he is really mine? It is lovely to see your mable enjoying your home and settled in. I wonder what Baily will make of this mad house. I am sure the cat will have something to say about a new Pup on the block! What was Mable like when you first got her home? We have a mad house with the little Schnouzer, disabled lad of 25yrs and our toddler grandaughter who loves to torture small furry critters! Then there is the cat who seems to enjoy being tortured by a toddler? He also likes to torture very large woolly mammoths so a pup will be nothing to him! Mearly a small irritation! He has a special trick for unsuspecting dogs he doesn't like. He waits until they are out in the yard and then he hops into their pen and pees in their water bowls! He is completely evil (garfield cat!) I do hope Baily will be ok? Then we have 10 chickens as well so it will be an interesting time for Baily - the settling in period? How did it go for Mable, did she settle ok or did she cry at night etc?? |
| I know it will be such a shame when the black eyes go. Oh that is so funny. A cat with issues Mabel will be 10 weeks on Tuesday. So she gets her last needle next Friday and then we are good to take her out around town have her meet some other dogs. We had a friend bring her little terrier round to meet mabel and she was so scared she peed.  But they were great pals after 5 minutes. I guess she had only seen her litter mates until then. Mabel was 7 1/2 weeks when we brought her home. But she was great even though she was so little. She slept in her crate in the kitchen. A comfy blanket, some water a cuddle toy and i threw in the t-shirt i had been wearing that day for comfort. She sleeps till 6am every night. But i still have to trow in something that smells of me. If she has a bit of a cry when i put her in it helps to settle her. And when she wakes at 6 am its not so much to pee its for her breakfast. She is a hungry girl. Always. Where are you in the world oesdog. It is already the 24th here in Australia. I am up with the hungry monster. I am guessing you are in the US? How exciting for you. Baily will settle in fine. Ps. Took her to the vet to make appointment for next week and we weighed her. 6.6 kilos. Not sure what that is in pounds but she has put on 2.1 in 2 weeks i think that is about 4.5 poounds.  |
| Hello - It is stillt he 23rd here - I am in Ireland! It is 8pm on Friday evening 23rd November so we are quite a bit behind you! Thanks for the tips on settling baby in. Oes |
| I've got the fur ball!!!!!! Its been a bit mad here so I haven;t posted in all the threads yet! Bailey is doing good but he is much bigger than your little mable I think! We are very pleased with how little man is doing but of course he is up to mischief like any pup! Oes |
| I. Know i popped over to your thread. Congrats. Looking forward to sharing our challenges. Mabel is turning into a monster bit hopefully all the wonderful tips on here will pay off. We have had some really hot weather recently which has made her wonderfully sleepy. It sounds terrible but sometimes you are just happy for the peace. Cant wait to see a pic of bailey. You must be so happy. |
| Hi I sent you an Email I am really pleased with Bailey. What issues are you having - It might be good to post them up when we are "helping eachother out" that way others can chip in ideas and we might also help others in the future! What is mable doing that is bad???? Our Bailey is a sweetheart and appart from the odd puddle he is adorable and good!!!! Oes |
| It is nothing new. Still the biting when she gets excited when playing. We have been consistent with putting a toy in her mouth and leaving the room but she just doesn't seem to be getting any better. Maybe it just takes time. But most of the time she is adorable. Dont want to speak too soon but we have had no accidents inside for over a week. |
mabelsmum wrote: It is nothing new. Still the biting when she gets excited when playing. We have been consistent with putting a toy in her mouth and leaving the room but she just doesn't seem to be getting any better. Maybe it just takes time. But most of the time she is adorable. Dont want to speak too soon but we have had no accidents inside for over a week. It takes awhile for them to get it. Be patient. Just keep being consistent and she will. Congrats on the no accidents! She is absolutely adorable |
| hello and welcome a lovly Baby I love markings and a very lovly tail all our 3 Tia,Lincoln,Esher, have tails as here in the UK we are not allow to dock ,  |
Thanks ladies. Well I did speak too soon about the wee accidents inside. My fault. We came home after a couple of hours shopping and let her out of her crate but instead of going straight outside we had lots of cuddles. I didn't even see her go just saw the wee puddle. Poor girl lol. But then today she actually barked at me to let her out for a poo. I was so proud lol.  Also with the biting of the ankles. I have discovered that if a walk over the top of her when she is doing it. Like keep her right under me, she hates it. She gets really quite annoyed its funny. So thats what i did every time yesterday and now today when she starts i just stand over her, sort of keep her between my legs. And she gives up and walks beside me. RESULT!! I really hope this keeps up. Just have to work more on the hand and clothing biting. And no docking here in Australia also Val. and why take away hours of fun chasing those lovely tails. and aren't your three just beautiful. |
Hi from Victoria Ozzie land too to you both  Are you in the OES Club of Victoria, if not then PM me. They have fun days at Surrey Hills, every second Sunday for obedience, fun, general advice on the breed if needed and greet and meet other OES.  Where did your pupper come from? Enjoy OES are the best |
| Glad your getting a result witht he nipping. Bailey is going through that stage too. I push him away or gently hold his snout shut and say a firm NO. He is "getting" it too. We are also struggling with the odd Wee Wee. Mostly its outside though so he is doing grand. Bailey doesn't have a tail - he is a true Bob tail - we got ours from Southern Ireland so they still Dock. He was Docked already so we didn;t have a choice about the tail issue. I have had them with and without tails and there is good and bad for both. - My first OES x wolfhound had a beautiful tail but she would get so excited that she would hit it against things causing really awful sores on it as she aged. We ended up having to bandage it up which was a bit sad because then you didn't get to see it much anyhow. She was also incontinant after her Cancer op when she was 10 yrs old. For the next 6 yrs I struggled with "the tail" - it always got wet and dirty and when she was sick she used it to litterally "spray me with crap!" - Not good. Then Murphy had his tail docked really short and I ended up with similar issues. He died of Cancer too like Molly but a different type. Now our cat has a docked tail - he started chewing his own tail off and the Vet said he had brocken the tip and the bone became infected so now he has a short stubby tail - I am not bothered about tails that much now. I just think if the have never known one they don;t miss it. Animals are incredibly adaptive. I kind of quite like the wiggly bum - movement that you don;t see much with the tails on. But then Murph and Baily haven;t had tails. Molly and Pollyanna did have tails. Jury is still "out " in my camp. Oes |
mabelsmum wrote: Thanks ladies. Well I did speak too soon about the wee accidents inside. My fault. We came home after a couple of hours shopping and let her out of her crate but instead of going straight outside we had lots of cuddles. I didn't even see her go just saw the wee puddle. Poor girl lol. But then today she actually barked at me to let her out for a poo. I was so proud lol. Also with the biting of the ankles. I have discovered that if a walk over the top of her when she is doing it. Like keep her right under me, she hates it. She gets really quite annoyed its funny. So thats what i did every time yesterday and now today when she starts i just stand over her, sort of keep her between my legs. And she gives up and walks beside me. RESULT!! I really hope this keeps up. Just have to work more on the hand and clothing biting. And no docking here in Australia also Val. and why take away hours of fun chasing those lovely tails. and aren't your three just beautiful.A tail is just a little more to LOVE my friend who ive know since school years now lives in Vic Aus |
| Mabel is adorable! |
| Hi Lisa. Not in the club. I did email them a while back when i was looking for a pup but got no reply. I will have another look. The fun days do sound great but we are in Camperdown, so a bit too far to travel for us im afraid. We got our little lady from a lovely family in Narre Warren South. Well the little monster had her vaccination today. She was an angel for the vet. Nails trimmed, needle, hair trimmed round her eyes, temperature checked, stuff squirted up her nose. Treats and everything. She comes home and she is devil pup.  chasing my feet, stealing washing, biting, growling jumping on furniture.  And now asleep at last. Just when we were getting somewhere lol. Tomorrow is another day. Oh and she peed in the car. Its a five minute journey.   |
Oh poor you that sounds awful! - Little Bailey is giving me a bit of bother too. He ate the lagging off the water pipes outside and then he headed up to the oil tank to have a chew at the nobbs on the top of the oil measure! Dh had to cordon it off. They were way too quiet in the yard!!!! The terrors. I am working on Washing - for example the boys sleep and stay mostly in the laundy room at home so I always drop something on purpose and as Bailey heads for it I say a firm LEAVE! He is getting the drift. As for the biting and growling I have been very firm with Bailey and everytime he growles I give a firm NO - and everytime he tries to nip or bite I hold his snout firmly and say NO then I give him his stuffy to chew. It's not easy - I feel like I have been taking one step forward and two back. Yesterday was raining and cold and the wee man was a weeeee man litterally all day not wanting to put his little bottom on the cold ground! So I got poos and wee wee in the house and got up this morning to more. He got shown the poo poo and a tap on the snout and a firm NO then dumped out in the yard with the Giz - it was fine cause I thought if I really told him off he would weeee the other end and I would get more mess to clean up but he didn't thank god he went out the yard as good as gold and weed and pood out there today - not convinced it will last though? I have a shaker I used for training Murphy which is just an old plastic drink bottle with dried beans in. If your pup is really bad with the nipping and biting try that but only shake it when she is doing something bad never any other time ( Oh yeah and she may pee pee if is scares her!) Give it a good firm up and down shake once and a very firm NO! You have to be boss!!! If she has your good top in her mouth and she thinks its a good game to tear a few holes in it - the only thing you can do is a little tiny not hard tap on the snout and a big NO Or LEAVE IT!! or use the shaker it is just to reinforce your authority!!!! She has to get that your boss and somethings are out of bounds. You must reinforce this now while she is little THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS PLAY NIPPING!!!!!! Neither can you afford to have your good soft furnishings shreaded! I am sooo with you all the way on this one!! UNFORTUNATELY! ugh!  These are terrible !!!!! Mischief is all over them both! HA ha Bailey is for the VET friday!!!! OES |
| Some good advice there oes. we seem to be getting there with the biting most of the time. but she has this nuts period in the evenings when nothing will stop her. Devil dog lol. I bought a spray bottle for this reason. Will let you know how that goes. Bailey is huge in that pic. So cute.   |
| Bailey is enormous compaired to your little monster! My monster is huge! There is only 2 weeks between them right??? I am not well and feel really tired so I have not been my usual targe when Bailey steps out of line. He has taken full advantage of this and has pood and peed his way round his pen. He has also learned how to undo Gizmos collor and then sit chewing it!!!!! I grabed it off him and put it back on Giz only to turn my back and he had the darn thing again - after the third time the expensive leather collor ended up in his mouth it is now on the kitchen unit NOT on Gizmo!! UGH! Why does your girl look sooo adorable and my Bailey looks constantly like he is up to something? Anyhow I am going to have to start being hard again once I feelbetter and more able for my devil dog! Funny he gets a bit crazy just when its time for bed ????? Oes |
mabelsmum wrote: Some good advice there oes. we seem to be getting there with the biting most of the time. but she has this nuts period in the evenings when nothing will stop her. Devil dog lol. I bought a spray bottle for this reason. Will let you know how that goes. Bailey is huge in that pic. So cute. I am in |
Not so big looking in this one though!!!!!!! OES. |
| Mabel is getting so big now. And she is behaving so much better. She got a wee bit sick after her kennel cough vaccine. Just a cough and runny nose but getting better now. Poor Mabel. You wouldn't know anything was wrong otherwise. Still full of beans. Gathers all her toys for a happy nap.  Loves her new paddling pool.  Wet puppy all tuckered out.  Worked out how to get on the sofa. Had to take a pic before "down Mabel"  Cute as a button   She is right at this moment lying on my feet after a major zoomy episode. Right on schedule just before bed. |
| Ohhhhhhhhhh she is adorable - BUT SOOOO TINY!!!!!!!! How old is she now???? I have tried to keep up with Bailey but I am starting to work on months rather than weeks now once we are past 14 weeks. He is massive compared to little mable She is lovely - her feed bowls are bigger than she is! I love the "nesting instinct" - all the toys in a big pile! I am having a bit of bother with my dear darling. He is getting the wee wee outside 98% of the time but then comes in and promptly poos on the floor! No matter how long I stay out in the cold trying to encourage him to put his little botty to the frozen ground! It is like he is saying ARE YOU CRAZY!!!!!? Try putting your pink toosh on this ice lady?!? Drat more mopping! I wonder if he will ever "get it!" Oes |
| She will be 14 weeks on Tuesday. And about 11 kilos. She seems to be growing so fast. We just want her to stay a little puppy for as long as possible lol. We are really almost over the biting. Unless she is super excited then she gets a bit snappy. 'have to work on that one now. But generaly her wee bites are gentle and a firm "no bite" stops her completely now. What a relief. I feel for you oes about the pooing indoors. I had a German Shepherd that did exactly the same. She was a nightmare with that. But trying to watch him like a hawk and lifting him out mid poo with a firm no should help him realise its wrong. And when he does go outside, lots of fuss and a tasty treat. I know you know all this already but it can be draining being consistent. I remember it well. Mabel is like clockwork lol She pees as soon as she wakes and right back outside for her poo right after breakfast. Same at lunch and usualy a bit later than after dinner in the evening. And lots of pees in between. She will try to pee everytime she goes on the grass so we really have no excuse for accidents inside. If she does have a pee inside it is because we haven't noticed her at the door. Which really hasn't happened for a while. Hope he gets it real soon.  |
| She is absolutely adorable.... cutest puppy I've seen in a long time |
| That is one cute puppy! So glad everything is going smoothly. She is most adorable! Our dogs have all been on that same pee/poop schedule since their puppy hood training. Sure makes life simpler when you are on the road traveling... same routines same results, no second guessing or having to make extra stops at roadside rest stops. Linda Z |
mabelsmum wrote: She will be 14 weeks on Tuesday. And about 11 kilos. She seems to be growing so fast. We just want her to stay a little puppy for as long as possible lol. We are really almost over the biting. Unless she is super excited then she gets a bit snappy. 'have to work on that one now. But generaly her wee bites are gentle and a firm "no bite" stops her completely now. What a relief. I feel for you oes about the pooing indoors. I had a German Shepherd that did exactly the same. She was a nightmare with that. But trying to watch him like a hawk and lifting him out mid poo with a firm no should help him realise its wrong. And when he does go outside, lots of fuss and a tasty treat. I know you know all this already but it can be draining being consistent. I remember it well. Mabel is like clockwork lol She pees as soon as she wakes and right back outside for her poo right after breakfast. Same at lunch and usualy a bit later than after dinner in the evening. And lots of pees in between. She will try to pee everytime she goes on the grass so we really have no excuse for accidents inside. If she does have a pee inside it is because we haven't noticed her at the door. Which really hasn't happened for a while. Hope he gets it real soon. Our little man is getting really big and I see him growing daily. He is bigger than giz now but he drags giz round by his stump of a tail. We are thinking we may have to spray giz with puppy anti-chew!!!! lol I give Bailey loads of praise when he wees on comand outside and thats really great but its the darn elephant poo in the house!!!!!! WHY???????????? I left my DD in charge while I went to the mainland for a few days. Bailey was terrible when I got back so I don;t think she remembered to put him out which has put him backwards in his learning. It is most frustrating. DD told me she had not got a clue why the house smelled - UGH!!!!!!! The puppy bed was a toilet!!!! Why don;t your kids ever listen to instruction??????? She told me she would have the puppy trained by the time I got home? I think she needed more time maybe 7 yrs! Oes |
Not been on for a while. We had visitors here from the UK for the last month and been very busy. Mabel is doing great. We just love her. Her baby teeth are now falling out now she's 19 weeks. So she has gone back to that nipping stage. But if we can keep her occupied with bones and chews she is good as gold.  This is what my wee girl gets up to when we're not looking.   |
| I Mabel she is just gorgeous. Debs |
| What a pretty girl!! |
| she is precious!! |
| She is adorable, and the picture of her sitting on the chair at the dining table is priceless. |
| She is lovely - She is sooooooo big already and glad that she is still keeping those eyes! Bailey is big and bad too! Bless him I gave him a chewy and it was covered in blood when I checked on him. I haven't seen any baby teeth comming out though???? I wanted to keep one? But I guess he is eating them! The breeder phoned up the other day to check on us and ask if we would like to go to a dog show in the future they are attending to watch? I think I might like that as I never showed a dog before and it is nice to make friends and get to know like minded folk. Though I am pretty sure my puppy is not even close to the well behaved well trained ones in the show ring! Lead training "nightmare!" So wanted ot get it done while he was little and easier to manage but it rained solid for weeks here and was freezing cold. Too cold for a pup to be out in. So weve done only short walks which arn;t giving the best results yet! He is a darling though - I so wish Bailey and Mable could have met up but shame we ar miles and sea apart! Oes |
| Thanks everyone Mabel appreciates the love Oes, I know. I think Mabel has been swallowing her teeth too. The dog show might be a good place to get tips on lead training. you tube is great I think. I've got lots of tips from trainers on there. Im sure Bailey and Mabel would've been great chums if they could meet |
| Mabel is getting so big! She's adorable and beautiful! Cindy |
| Oh dear it has been such a long time since I have been on here. The Mabel monster is so big and mostly good except when she is reallly naughty lol. We have had some issues with lameness over the last few weeks. Nothing serious I hope its just growing pains. But like the worrier I am we had her x-rayed. Once end of Jan and then a month later to compare. Nothing obvious so thats a relief. We don't over excercise her, we try to keep her calm (as we can obviously lol) but every time she has a crazy run around she can be limping for a day or two. So we been pretty much under house arrest for the last few weeks. Although she does get to the lake for a wee swim at the end of a hot day. She seemed to get over the puppy biting a while back, but she has since found that nipping bums thighs and toes is much more fun. These nips leave bruises. Everywhere. So every night its time out after time out. But we are determined to be consistent with this one. Trouble is I really dont think she is getting that its naughty. She seems to love it. Anyway. Overall she is just a lovely girl. And i am sure she will be an angel . One day.. Mabel loves a swim.     Another not so small issue we were having is food aggression. Dont know where it came from. One day she was fine next day she nearly took my hand off. This also moved a bit to guarding treats,sofa, stolen items but to a lesser extent. All teeth and no bite. It was so strange. She was just so anxious when her food was down, you could see it. But we are getting there. Its a slow process to undo something like this. I just wish i knew what we did wrong to start with.  Off to see what everyone else has been up to. |
| Oh I feel for you. Food Agression is something to be working through right now. Give her food but before it touches the ground take the bowl back and stir her food with your hand work at allowing her to take the bowl with your hand in it. I eventually put less food in the bowl and when Murph took the bowl with my hand in it I had a treat in my hand or more food to put in the bowl. I got to the stage of being able to lift the bowl from him whenever I liked and putting my hand into the bowl while he was feeding. It is important you take possesion of things and food not her! You are boss ! I am struggling with issues too! OES |
| Teaching "leave it" and "take it" really helps. Leonard was starting to be defensive of his bone and we worked in this command and it nipped that babit in the bud. Also we make both our dogs sit stay in the kitchen while we mix their food in the other room. We put it down and they have to wait for the "take it" command before they can wolf it down. If we reach near their bowl they will back right off now. Daily practice! |
| Thanks for the good advice guys. Been doing the hand feeding for a couple of weeks, then small amounts in her bowl, lifting it between each bite for two weeks and we are now on the add a tasty bit of cheese while she is eating from her bowl. This is all going well. And we also got her one of those slow feed bowls. This seems to work very well. She knows the leave it command and she is great in practice sessions but when it counts like with a chew if we want to take it off her, there is no chance. The urge to guard is so strong sometimes. But it is not all the time. She will guard a bone one minute and come and give it to me five minutes later. We are starting obedience classes next weekend. There is nothing in our area but we found one within traveling distance on Sunday mornings. Looking forward to it. I think she will love it. We are trying our best and she does learn fast but I just think she needs more structured training. She is a stubborn wee girl. In the mean time we are trying to get the leave it command working.  |
| I do hope your doing better than us!!!! Bailey is a right old pain in the whatsit - he is barking and crying now just when I want to sit down and relax. - He has taken to needing to go for a poo at 2am!!!!!!! Yeap a moonlight puddle but I am not so keen on the idea as you can imagine! I have been feeding him earlier and earlier just to try to get him out of it. He also has a guarding instinct. He thinks the cat and the hens and gizmo and well everyone and everything in a 5 mile radious are his problem! Agh!!!!!! Anyhow I found this a while ago and thought I would post it - It made me smile! AGGRESSION: A Case History with Harry T. by Suzanne Clothier This case history is taken from an actual case; "Harry T." is not his real name - it seemed kinder to keep the names of the real people & dog out of the story. "Harry" agreed that this is a pretty accurate interpretation of his tale. I found her wandering on the streets so I don't know how old she is or where she came from. Her background is a mystery, but she seemed very sweet and looking for someone to love. I did wonder why no one had claimed her. For the first couple of months, we didn't really have any problems. I thought she was perfect. Looking back, I can see some signs of trouble brewing but at the time, they didn't seem important. I guess it was all just so new to her that she was being extra good, extra careful in all her dealings with me. Now, I'm afraid of her. Her aggressive behavior is destroying our relationship and I don't know how to stop her. There was a little incident with the food bowl, but I let her know in no uncertain terms that her behavior was not acceptable. I guess she's pretty smart, because after that she let me do whatever I wanted to with the bowl whether there was food in it or not. We also had a "discussion" about the couch and the bed - it took a while for her to understand that when I was relaxing, she had no right to disturb me. She forgets every now and then, but I just yell at her a little and she gives up. We live in a pretty quiet neighborhood, which is a good thing. I don't think she'd be able to handle living in a city. I've lived in a city and can handle all the commotion and people and loose dogs, but I think she'd just flip out. Anyway, I take her for lots of walks every day - good exercise for both of us and sometimes I've just got to get out of that house and breathe some fresh air and clear my mind. On our very first walk, I had noticed that she was pretty high strung and it hasn't gotten any better. She seems to worry a lot. If a car is coming our way, she'll panic and drag me to the side of the road, making high pitched sounds and frantic motions. The best I can do for her in that situation is reassure her that everything is okay, though I'm not sure she even hears what I'm saying she's so excited. She calms down a bit, but I can tell that she's still pretty jumpy. The worst part of the walk is when we encounter someone on the street. She wasn't always like this - I think it started one morning when we were walking and we met this really rude teenager. I saw him coming a block away and figured he was probably going to hassle us a bit, but decided to ignore it if I could. As we got closer, I could hear him saying some pretty rude stuff. His body language was very insulting. When we tried to walk past him, he crowded right into us. Well, that was all I was going to take from this punk. I charged right towards him and began hollering and yelling like I was nuts. At first he yelled back, but then he got scared and ran away - I guess he figured I was a lot tougher than I looked. I was pretty proud of how I handled that punk until I looked around and there she was. Shaking like a leaf, eyes all wide with fear. I started towards her and, poor thing, she somehow thought I was going after her! She backed away from me, whining - I thought she'd pee on herself she was so scared! I crouched down, thinking that would reassure her, but eventually I had to lie on the ground and look totally harmless before she'd approach me. That was probably the first time I found myself really wishing she spoke my language so I could tell her that all my blustering and yelling wasn't aimed at her, and that while I wanted to scare the kid, I wouldn't actually have hurt him. I think she never expected that kind of behavior from me. After that, it just got worse. It's like she went nuts. It used to be that I'd see strangers coming before she did, and I'd say something quietly under my breath to let her know what was coming. Pretty soon, she was seeing them long before I did. Now, my first clues that a problem is brewing are her pulling on the leash for all she's worth and growling at me. I'll look up and scan the street and sure enough, here comes somebody. I don't know how to handle this, so I'll yell at her to calm down and then I'll start yelling at the stranger to back off, go away, vamoose! I ask them, "Can't you see how freaked out she is? Why do you keep coming closer?" The whole time, she's still hysterical. Let me tell you, when she starts hauling on that leash, it's really painful! And it's getting worse - fast. She used to just pull really, really hard on the leash and scream and make a lot of noise. But now she's attacking me! I'm starting to think that the only way to stop her is to inflict some pain on her to get her to listen to me. Last week, she started a whole new behavior. We were walking along when she saw a dog coming down the street toward us. I had just enough time to think, "Uh-oh, here we go again..." and start yelling at the dog when she leaped on me and tried to push me to the ground. I was so stunned I didn't even react - what could I say? She'd obviously gone crazy. I wasn't hurt too much physically, but my feelings were very hurt. Thanks to this new behavior where she pushes me to the ground, I'm beginning to really hate walks, at least with her. Even though I am very upset (and I'll admit, scared) by what she's doing, I've kept my cool and I haven't hurt her. I could, of course, since I'm much stronger than she, but that seems so wrong. After all, she's just a helpless creature. When she tried pushing me around this morning, I wrestled with her a bit and yelled a lot. I did threaten to hurt her, and that seemed to scare her enough and she stopped. But how much of this does she think I can take? And you know what really burns me? She seems completely bewildered by the fact that I don't want to spend a lot of time with her anymore. I mean, who would want to hang out with someone who leaps on you for no reason at all? Can't she tell that she's hurting me and scaring me when she does that? I know we speak two different languages, and that she only understands a little bit of what I say. But this is really destroying our relationship. What can I do with her? I'd hate to get rid of her - most of the time she's a pretty good owner. OES - hope it made you smile too! |
| Haha, very good OES. I really feel your pain. Its funny. Toilet training was something I was worried about because of my experiences with previous pups. And little Mabel almost came home toilet trained. We thought we'd hit the jackpot. I didn't for a moment think we wold have aggression issues. I suppose we should have been more aware of this sort of thing. But I have never seen it before. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I really hope Bailey setttles into a more acceptable routine very soon. It is very frustrating. It just shows they are all very different little doggies. And what works for some wont work for all. Obedience starts on sunday. My vet recons the guy who takes the class is the one to help with the other issues too so we are looking forward to bombarding him with questions on Sunday. |
| Ohhhhhhhh - goody I can get you to ask him all my questions while you are there! - lol! Oes |
| Hey mabelsmum, I’m in Perth, WA! So glad to hear of someone from Australia with an OES puppy (well…. Almost a full grown OES now!) Can I ask how you find found your breeder and how long you had to wait for a puppy? |
| OF course you can. I originally emailed some of the breeders here http://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/breeders/old-english-sheepdog.asp and one of them eventually put me in touch with someone. I guess I was looking for a year or so. Worst part was people not returning emails or calls. But be patient. Its all worth it. Mabel is a bit over eight months now and full of mischief. We wouldn't have it any other way |
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