Comment

Comment by Kimberlie on January 26, 2010 at 10:23am

Well so far so good, there is no sign of blockage yestarday, and a saw i little piece of the yellow plastic in her last potty brake last night. Though im not counting her out of the woods yet, there is still more plastic unaccounted for. We are not using the pee pads anymore, as in the after noon my boyfriend dropped a pee pad she went straight for the pad and started scratching it and tried bitting it. Then a little later she tried getting at the bag of pee pads. Man does she hate them! My boyfriend has now comited to taking some time off from each day him starting his company so she will not be alone for long periods of time. We were using the laundry room because there were times she could be alone for up to 6 hours. So we are going to start crating her, and have a new schedual where he can come home and take adora out for and hour or two 2-3 times a day. Mind you me saying he can pay for all the vet bills from now on gave him a good enough scare.

Comment by Kari & Jackson on January 25, 2010 at 9:21pm

Jackson really liked shaking the pads, but a strong and consistent "NO!" has kept him away from shredding them.
Many people say that pups do not like "going" near where they eat. Our set up is mostly in my bedroom - and I have a pad in the middle of the floor near his food bowls. Apartment living doesn't really allow my dog to take over the whole house, it's a long store haha.
BUT Jackson prefers 100% of the time to go on his pad in the living room.
Praise and discipline go hand in hand and consistency pays off!!!

Comment by John Wolff on January 25, 2010 at 8:39pm

Are you talking about an plastic absorbent pad, like a plastic diaper? That stuff is polyacrylamide, I think, so it swells up a lot when it hydrates, could make an intestinal blockage. It does not dissolve (we're really careful not to put it down the drain in the lab). I'd go for newspaper. Or algebra homework.

I encourage you to make a careful training plan. Make a list of all the commands you want to teach. Keep a notebook. Then work your plan.
Especially make sure that everyone in the household is on board and on the same page. Lori and I made this mistake, so we were using slightly different command words with slightly different expectations and criteria for success. Wrong. It should be a fun thing for the household/family to come together around.
Our dogs are now 3 1/2 and 6 1/2, and I'm just getting around to trying to repair some of my mistakes.
Lots easier when they're puppies. And fun, fun, fun.

I especially recommend teaching an Emergency Recall: A magic word never heard in casual conversation, used sparingly only when you really need it or in training, lavishly rewarded with cordon-bleu treats and shameless flattery laid on thick. We've had great success with this, without much effort. Introduce the word 1st time when you KNOW they'll come (dog is hungry and sees the bacon in your hand). Lavish praise, then let them go back to their play. 3X a session, coupla times a day for a couple weeks, then fade off. Al & Gwynnie think "venite" (Latin for "come") means "Bacon, come and get it!" and they will actually forsake their soccer ball for this command.
All your training effort will be repaid many times over. I'd spend a lot more time/brains on it if I had it to do over again.
Have fun.

Comment by Erin and Diego on January 25, 2010 at 8:11pm

Diego has been fine with the puppy pads (I don't use them very often), but he liked chewing on the mat i have at my front door. I guess he liked the carpet "fibers" that he could unravel! I decided to get rid of it and get something different so that he wouldn't be tempted to chew it. It's unbelievable what they find appealing. I hope everything goes alright with Adora! Hopefully she doesn't need any surgery!

Comment by Alex on January 25, 2010 at 8:01pm

You'll have your days but do take time to enjoy having a puppy. Before you know it, she'll be all grown up.
In regards to the issue that you're having, I would wait and keep and eye on her poo as suggested by your vet.

Comment by Bev Levy on January 25, 2010 at 4:13pm

I would think newspapers would be better if you have to leave your puppy for a long time. As far as eating I would give her a certain amount of time to eat and then pick her food up until the next meal. Puppies should be fed 2 or 3 times a day. I hope she is OK too Unfortunately puppies are prone to chewing and eating things they should not just like babies so they need to have a very puppy proof environment. Good luck with her, trust me the puppy time is very short although it seems like forever when you are in it!