The ABC website has a great new section, called Wagging School, which gives some excellent training tips.
Here is the whole gang, Cody with Pixie in the front and Buddy with Pablo in the back. All of these pups came from Annie, and you can see that they somehow realize that they are related.
We gave Buddy a bath today, he doesn't look very impressed, but at least he smells nice now. Because he is mainly an indoor dog he doesn't get very dirty or smelly. So far we have found that if we bath him properly about once month it is enough. Although if he has played in mud at the park we give him a quick wash in between times. We also have a professional groomer once every three months, so he gets a really thorough washing then.
In the park today Butterscotch met up with his brother, half brother and cousin!
Before we got Buddy our kids read a couple of excellent, simple books on how to train and care for a puppy. It was good to be prepared in advance and to educate the children on the best ways to interact with a dog.
We are trying to teach Buddy how to walk on a loose lead, so that he doesn't pull at the lead as he walks. He is pretty good at it and a quick learner.
Butterscotch is a pretty easy dog to care for. He doesn't shed at all but he does need grooming regularly. We have bathed him at home a couple of times and he seems to enjoy playing in the water. And we have also used a great mobile groomer called Your Critter Sitter.
Making sure that Buddy had his own toys was a good idea. He has a little collection of about 6 things and we rotate which ones we leave out for him. Usually on any given day 5 toys will be lost under the couch. We also gave him a decoy shoe, an old sandal that belonged to the kids. But he prefers recently worn shoes, and can often be found asleep with his head inside an ugg boot.
We haven't really had any problems with Buddy chewing up things. He will rip up any paper that you leave on the ground though, but he has his own toys to play with, like Mr Squeaky here, which was a present from Cody.
Our kids have wanted a dog for years. We finally gave in, but only after extracting promises that they would all help us take care of the new puppy.
At dog training we were told that it is good to have a word that you use to calm your dog down when they are getting a bit carried away or if they get upset.
Some people use the word "gentle" but we say "settle". You can train your dog every time you stroke him. We use long gentle strokes and say in a calm voice "settle Buddy settle".
Buddy is an inside dog (he is allowed on the couch) and toilet training was something we were a bit worried about. It was a lot easier that we thought! Dogs pretty much toilet train themselves because they have a natural instinct to want to keep their den clean. This means that they actually prefer to go outside to the toilet.
The dog trainer at the Dog Training Club that we belong to says that every dog should have one good trick. Buddy's trick is to dance on his back legs. But in this photo he got a bit too excited by the training treats (bits of cheese) - he loves cheese so much that is actually air borne here!
What is Buddy's temperament like? Well as you can see, he is quite a placid and tolerant pet. He is easy going and puts up with a lot, including the children carrying him around like a teddy bear at times and then ignoring him at other times.
When Buddy first came home, we just made sure that we took him outside each time he woke up from a nap and after food. When we make the effort to do that he is very good. Realistically puppies don't gain full control of their bladders until around 6 months or age, sometimes older.
We were concerned about whether Buddy would cry at night. We didn't want him to be distressed and wanted him to have a smooth transition into our family, to bond with us and to feel loved. So he wouldn't feel lonely we put his bed in the kids room at night. In this photo he has decided to sleep behind a suitcase in the office ...
