Finally bought her home yesterday.. General Chat

The title says it all really, now back to raising a puppy, I’d forgotten how much ‘fun’ this is . Crate training at the moment, wowzers.

Anyway, I’ll keep this thread updated in case anyone is interested.



And she already has that wonderful ridgeback trait of sleeping and owning the sofa

What a little beauty. Yes, please keep us up-dated on her progress.

Congrats! A few months of puppy hell (hide your shoes!!!) then years of happiness!

Welcome little one. She is very cute, and looks a well reared puppy. Does she have a name yet?

What a beauty! And a very special girl as she has that little white mark on her chin.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention her name .... We've called her Lyla

She's absolutely barmy but adorable at the same time. She's nailed house training much better than I thought she would, she's only had 2 accidents and one of those was totally my fault as we had people around so I completely lost track of time. Every hour (or hour and a half depending on what she's doing) I'll take her out, off she trots to the same place, goes to the toilet, gets rewarded and then goes back in again. I missed a poo this morning (well, I saw her do it, and I had to take my eyes off it for a second whilst I grabbed a poo bag, then I couldn't find it again as it was camouflaged in the leaves). I'll find it tonight.

Crate training is well underway - during the day she's fine, she goes in there completely of her own will and naps. Last night we put her down at 11:00, she woke up at 03:00, went outside, then back in her crate at 03:30 until 06:30 which hopefully wasn't just luck.

It's nice to come to work for a break though, but I'm getting constant updates from the wife so I'm not far away from the action.

Lyla is just too special - a really special bubba!

Please keep the photographs coming Tim and let us know how that gorgeous pup is getting on.

What are you feeding her?

Tim, Lyla looks adorable
It sounds you have got attitude towards training which helps her to be a good girl
Keep us posted with stories and pictures, not only the good stuff either. Let us know when things are going wrong, firstly because there are a lot of people on this site with great advice to help you and secondly just to let me know it’s not just me when things aren’t going to plan, it will make me feel better
Philippa

Beautiful!

We're taking a completely different route with Lyla - We're going feeding raw and chemical free. We're taking this opertunity to take a look at our own well being and take the 'journey' together.

We're feeding a product called Nutriment http://www.nutriment.co/ - initially because that's what the breeder always feeds her dogs, and this is what Lyla was raised on. It's all human grade meat and bone, mail order and delivered frozen, and it totally natural. We're planning on adding chicken wings/carcasses raw (when she's a bit older), sardines, liver, tripe, heart etc. Tonight we're going to put a raw egg in (incl. the shell for calcium) and see how she tackles that. We're going to be using Nutriment as a base and working around that.

The same natural / chemical free goes for other areas: For worming and vaccination we are treating homoepathically for Hardpad, Distemper, Parvo, Lepto, Hepatitis, and Kennel Cough via drops that are dropped into the side of the mouth. 2 drops once a week for six more weeks (to 14wks) then two drops fortnightly for life. Personally I like this as pup will have no harsh chemicals injected into their bodies.

Same goes for other internal and external parasites - We're using DE (Diatomaceous Earth) http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/benefits-diatomaceous-earth/

I'll update agin, but I'm completely knackered today - I was on 'night shift' for crate training yesterday. Bed at 10:30, then like clockwork every two hours, she was up and wanting to go to the loo. Needless to say, it's been a long night

As I am a raw feeder - my bubba having hers either frozen [chicken wings/chunks of turkey necks/whole ungutted large sardines for her breakfast although the meat and vegetables are defrosted for her evening meal] - human food bought fresh, the same as I eat although I cook mine - and it is frequently a bit time-consuming when I do not feel good - I do not think I could change to dog food now.

Not that I have anything against commercial dog food, it is just what I have been doing since maybe mid 2011 when I first learned about raw feeding.

Well we're now underway with this new chapter in our lives. Even though it may only be 3 weeks, it seems like Lyla's been around forever. I've got a few photos that I've downloaded onto a website. My sister is interested in how things are going but we don't live very close, so this is so that she can see what's going on.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/CaQIqespEpU3Au7e2

We went to our first puppy class at the weekend - she was great for about the first 1/2 hour, then her concentration went and she was an absolute terror ... but that's all part of the fun with a puppy.

We also took our first trip to the puppy-park on Sunday morning. I think that she was a little overwhelmed with the other dogs being there, but it won't be long before she's joining in. We ended up just walking around the perimeter a few times which I think worked. We also had some friends over yesterday with their two dogs (boxer and frenchie). She was more confident in her own surroundings although still rather cautions. The pic below is her being scared and viewing from a safe distance.



We gave up on crate training her over night after 2 weeks of utter hell - it just wasn't working, and we just couldn't keep it up. She was howling like every 2 hours. Now we've bought another basket and put it at the end of our bed, and every night since she's going from 23:00 to 06:30 - which is a lot better for everyone. It shows that she can hold it it, and only wanted to be near someone. This morning actually when she woke at 06:30 she clambered onto the bed with us and my alarm woke her at 07:30

She's still a bit 'nippy' when she goes into full on play mode which is hard to deal with, but that's normal, she'll grow out of it. Sometimes she's almost possessed and nothing can get her out of the zone. I think a few visits to youtube and views of how to calm an over-excited puppy are in order. When she does become the devil I do give her the command to stop, and try and remove myself from the room - but when you've got a puppy hanging off your Achilles whilst trying to cross a room it becomes a bit of a mission, and not to mention very painful.

Great and well written account of your early days with Lyla. I think you are doing a great job with your little alligator.

I loved reading your post.
Our puppy is 10 months old and we are now over the major puppy traits
So, I read this smiling and remembering as we were going through everything that you are going through we thought it would never end and we wouldn’t survive
How can something so small cause so much disruption, we used to wonder
I loved the fact that you outwardly admit the parts that aren’t going as you planned, most people only want to post the good points.
So, well done you and your helpers/team and keep us all entertained with more posts
Don’t be afraid to ask advice as there are some people on this site who have great advice to learn from

@Witm8 - Lovely post Tim - thank you for your update and please keep them - and the pictures of gorgeous Lila, coming. She is so adorable

I love your puppy! Wonderful breed.

Right then, quick update time.

She’s still persisting in enjoying the puppy biting stage, as much as we are discouraging it. It is getting better though – it’s not actually ‘nipping’ more ‘mouthing’ to be honest. I clipped her toe nails the other day, which are now almost as sharp as her teeth which wasn’t the desired outcome. I will try again tonight (best done when she’s completely zonko on the sofa) to get some of the square edges off. I refuse to use the wife’s emery board, even though it has crossed my mind. I’m NOT going to give my dog a pedicure under any circumstances, she’s spoiled enough already.

Pupply classes are going well – She still finds it a struggle to concentrate on anything for longer than 45 mins. We’ve nailed ‘sit’ ‘lay’ ‘stay’ ‘drop’ ‘here’ etc, you know, the standard stuff. She’s got more confidence now – when the other dogs were playing she would just watch, but last Saturday was the first time that she actually joined in. She was getting chased (without running away and hiding like a whuss) and was even doing some chasing as well. She was barking and kind-of pawing the other dogs. Ok the barking and extra-confidence was with a teeny-tiny terrier about the size of the palm of my hand, but it’s a start hey. I was getting the other ‘mums’ (I’m the only ‘Dad’ at puppy class) saying “Ohhh isn’t she doing well”, “Ohhhhhhhh look at her, bless her”. I kinda felt like the Dad of the ‘slow’ kid at school that finally did something correct.

Lead walking is the bane of my life. Don’t even start with Loose Lead. At puppy class, all the others were zipping in and out of cones. I sloped off to the back, then the teacher asked me to have a go. I politely refused and pointed to Lyla who was flipping out as she couldn’t explore and said “Look!!! I can’t even get her to stay still on this lead, yet alone try and walk anywhere with her!”

Now – on a long lead (I’ve got a 15m/50ft nylon one for training purposes) she’s a dream. Ok, I know she’s on a long lead but whilst walking to the park it’s looped all together and must be just slightly longer than the ‘normal’ lead there’s no pulling at all. And when she’s at the park she’s loving the freedom, and actually never gets far away enough to get to the end of the lead. We went for a walk the other day, across the fields, in the middle of nowhere. The wife said that we should let her off – I was sceptical – but as normal I did as I was told. She never went further than 10ft from us the whole way. It was fantastic.

My guess is that she’s just wants to explore – I’m going to pop into the pet shop on the way home and see what ones there are (somewhere in the 6m / 20ft region). Lead number 4 I think.

Sleeping – she’s smashing the 23:00 to 07:30 every night. She’s upstairs in our room now, on a double duvet folded in ½ in front of the radiator. It’s probably more comfortable than our bed to be fair. Around 6:45 I get a nudge and she jumps in with us, but that doesn’t last long as she wants the whole bed to herself so we both get up and she comes downstairs.

People – she’s doing great. We have a large extended family – the older ones (8/9/10yr olds) are fine and I’m teaching them how to act around dogs. The younger ones don’t really understand. The youngest (3) just cries whenever he get licked, and falls on the floor and curls into a ball when the dog comes close. This seems like a great game for Lyla! The teens don’t really seem bothered, and that’s vice-versa actually.

My parents came round at the weekend – this is the second time they’ve ‘met’. First time was on the first day so I’m not even sure that counts. A bit of sniffing, and nudging – and realising that she’s not going to get anything from them even in the form of a gentle stroke on the back (I can safely say that they are not dog people) she wandered off and did something else.

Putting up the Christmas decorations turned into almost a 3 day task with things going up 1) when she was asleep, and 2) when she wasn’t looking. She’s eaten/chewed/taken off/ripped up pretty much most things at her height, so we’ve since moved everything into the conservatory where we can view our Christmas through glass doors.

She’s eating like a horse – but it’s all weighed out and she’s on track for the age/weight charts. We’re feeding raw – expensive at the moment, but when we start buying in bigger qtys then the price/Kg will go down. I just need to eat the Christmas stuff from the freezer to make room first.

I’m sure there’s other things that I’ve missed, but this will do for now.

Oh, I think that I’m going to try and give her her first bath tonight – wish me luck on that one!

Many thanks for another update Tim, and that lovely picture of Lila - and good luck with the bathing her!

Re freezer space - even though I have a very large upright freezer and a large size one on my f/f, I still ended up buying one for Pereg, as I like to keep the two top fast-freeze shelves in my big one free if possible, ready to freeze the next lot as all the poultry and meat is bought fresh. And I still call it Pereg's freezer even now, although of course it now holds Tikva's meat.

Quick monthly update time.

She's growing rapidly and visually she's very much turning from puppy into dog. Mentally she's still a puppy, and those teeth still remind me that she's a puppy.



She loves being outside, and like every other ridgeback she loves being on the sofa. She's started coming into work with me a couple of times a week for a morning which she's coping with really well - this is mainly a human socialisation exercise from my perspective, to date there has been no issues with it (yeah ok a few jumps here and there, and a puppy nip whilst playing). We have a very dog friendly office which is amazing.

She's eating really well, and putting on the weight and is on the line of the weight/age graph (@Malka : thanks for that raw feeding explanation you posted previously, very very informative). She's having 330gms x3 times a day. I've started adding in ground up egg shells, sprats, hearts and she's loving it.

Off lead she's a dream - I call her back when we're out and a jogger is imminent and put her on the lead until they've passed. She never (touch wood) goes any further than 10 meters max away from me and to date I've never had any issues.

Now, the not so good part - on lead. My god she's a nightmare. Sometimes I absolutely dread taking her out when she needs to be on her lead. She pulls like a train, she loses all concentration, then goes absolutely crazy flipping around like a fish out of water trying to bite the lead. She grabs the lead and gets herself all tangled up - god help you should you decide to put your hands down at her level to release her leg that's got all tangled. She's completely possessed. Now I just stand still and let her get it over and done with. Even a treat can't snap her out of it, no command will make her stop.

I've tried a no-pull harness - that worked once, but then she doesn't like the feeling of the straps under her front legs so she flips out at that, when she's not going crazy for that, then should the lead touch her on the back she flips out at that. It's taking all my energy not to lose it with her when we're out - I have to keep telling myself that it'll get better, and that even though she's as large as some fully grown dogs, she's still a puppy.

Last night a 10 minute walk to the corner shop (down the road, across a park) to get a bottle of wine and some milk turned into a 45 minute constant battle.

I'm doing what they say - when she doesn't pull, l then treat, when she walks next to you, then treat, when she gives you eye contract, then treat. Just as I think that we can go further than 10 steps she's off on one again.

I don't know if actually I'm taking her for off-lead walks too much ? Maybe

Luckily i understand that lead walking is not 'exercise' for a dog as we walk really slowly from their perspective so we're pretty boring and mostly walk in a straight line - I do understand that walking is essential for their well-being - adding to their social skills and giving them mental stimulation so I'm treating every walk as a training session, rather than exercise. I also understand that this is another new skill for her to lean, so I'm not to expect too much too quickly, but wowzers it's hard work.

But here, have another picture

Lovely pictures, she is making a very good looking dog.
Have you tried a headcollar on her? It can take some time to get used to them, but I find they are very good for scatty dogs - in fact I still put Merry back into hers for a week or so when she starts to get giddy when meeting other dogs. I'm not keen on the way that they can be hard on the neck muscles, so I use a 4 metre double ended lead and attach one end to a flat leather collar, and the other end to the ring on the headcollar. This allows you to keep a balance between forward impulsion, and controlling the direction - just like using double reins on a horse.