Kitchen Garden Forum

Photo taken yesterday and she's a little monkey.

Yes, I bet she is, and she's going to keep you pretty busy. I can hazard a guess your gardening may well be a casualty as you try to keep her out of mischief.
Don't wish to rain on your parade, but is she house trained? if not, your carpets may well be a casualty of her habits too, if the antics of a friend's recently acquired puppy is anything to go by !

What a beautiful face....lovely little Betti

We did house train Molly as a puppy so we know what is about to happen, we only have oiled oak floors downstairs in the barn but carpets upstairs. The upstairs carpets are always cheap types though they survive well with my cleaning routine.

I just re-oiled all the oak floors with an extra heavy duty coat that I hope will cope with pee stains when we have accidents. For the first two or three months she will mostly be under control in a puppy pen enclosure that is five foot by six foot though only fifteen inches high so it won't be long before she can climb out. We are very house proud and didn't find it a problem bring up a puppy though the accidents can occur even after full grown. Some dogs get excited about something they forget and then there is involuntary urination sometimes bought on when they are being fussed.

We are aware, we are ready and it is worth it.

I have found that the biggest help to get them house trained is, as soon as they wake up, pop them outside until the have done their thing.

Glad you have got another dog Richard and she is very lucky to have found such a loving home.

Thank you OH.

Molly never got used to traffic and people, that is always going to be a problem together with my daytime and early to bed routine.

Molly used to just follow me about during the day as i did my daily work routines, occasionally she would escape for a two/three hour sniffing or chasing pheasant when she got bored. The only danger is the occasional tractor, they don't see dogs and farmers often accidentally maim or kill their own dogs.

Betti will also become a country dog unused to traffic and people and whilst we will do our best to socialize her this place is a paradise for a dog, villages, towns and the city will have the take the short straw.

Betti looks as if she has been hit on the nose with a snowball and is why her kennel name is Snowflake. Or rather, Peggylicious Snowflake. Mo keeps wondering if we should call her Snowflake instead. Or Snow for short. I like Betti but will leave it for the girls to decide. It's a black dog mostly.

I hope she doesn't get a taste for fresh carrots straight out of the ground, and radish together with beans.

She is beautiful Richard! So much fun to be had together, particularly where you live with all the smells & wildlife.

I've never had a problem with house training. I just popped them outside after every meal until they went & they soon got the hang of it! I used puppy pads overnight right by the back door, although some say near the cage first then move them closer to the door over time. Because I had read the signs of an imminent puddle I just threw the first pad down there & there they stayed until they could get through the night.

Westi

Aw Richard....Betti is beautiful! I'm so happy for you both. xx

Elaine wrote:Aw Richard....Betti is beautiful! I'm so happy for you both. xx

And it's why I'm sharing the experience with you. Thank you.

Westi, my only problem with housetraining will be expecting a dog to hold-for 12 hours.

Just to reiterate, I have to get off my legs by 6 or 7 at night so I go to bed with fairly strong drugs. This means I sleep often for 12 hours though in four hour sessions. When Mo is home she takes our dog out for a pee at what we would consider a normal time to go to bed and whilst I don't consider myself abnormal my habits are often inconvenient.

What are puppy pads ? Not a nappy, surely ? Ok, I'll Google.

When I get the puppy pen built and Betti comes home on 7th August I'll post more photos and I'm always up for listening to the way others have solved problems.

Right now I'm reading a book by Bruce Fogel (Bens dad, a vet) called the dogs mind. A lot of very interesting stuff about the differences between us and a few similarities like touch.

Puppy pads are a more absorbent replacement for the newspaper placed strategically by the door, or in a specific corner of the puppy pen.

The dog is trained to relieve itself on the pad, before being retrained to ask for the door to be opened.

Using newspapers always seemed risky to me, put the paper down to answer the phone, then find an opinion had been expressed on the editorial!

Even though I had trained the puppies I had years ago on paper, then advised the owners to use the method I can see that it's a doggy substitute for those dreadfull smelly trays with cat litter. Whilst both have their place with some owners I can see the error we can make as a convenience.

We may have to use puppy pads to deal with my inability to stay up until ten or eleven, it's still a long night for a puppy.

A friend uses what I consider a crate that is far too small on the basis the puppy won't soil it's bed, we may use something like this but a larger version with a sleeping corner and a puppy pad.

Peter, I meant to say but forgot. Dogs Trust vollanteers had set up a crèche at Kate Humble farm on the Big-Day-Out so owners could leave their tired, thirsty and hot pets for a few hours rest. It was fabulous, I was very impressed by the service but we already send money to RSPCA monthly Which is a shame because I bet they get their donations much more easily.

Peggy, Mummy to Betti.

I'm just hoping that isn't an"I love carrots" look.

Don't know about anybody else but I am struggling with .tiff with Chrome or Firefox, works with IE.

I think I can change it from a .tiff to a easier format. Let me try, though I am a bozo.

Sorry, I hadn't realise. I did a screen grab and just posted before realising. It shows on my Safari browser.

I just bought a PetzDen puppy pod for Betti, it's a modern take on a crate and very much like an Eglu.

I can't believe I spend close to £300 when a cardboard box would have been fine, also, I just found out that just about everyone is calling their dog Betty or Betti. Is this a good excuse to revert to her KC name of Snowflake, or Snow for short ?

Whats happening to me ?