Scout's little brother!

[ClareMarsh]

as soon as he starts lifting his leg

OMG I remember the first time Ted cocked his leg, I half found it hilarious, half was proud

[minkee]

my one bit of training advice that i'd give you for a boy dog is that as soon as he starts lifting his leg, impress upon him that he may only do that on natural surfaces. trees, bushes, clumps of grass.......all fair game. fire hydrants, corners of buildings, trash cans.......are not things to be watered down.

I've been meaning to ask you about this How exactly does one go about doing this? I can see praising his little behind off when he goes somewhere 'right' - but how to discourage the rest?

Our yard at the moment (we've just moved in) is concrete and brick, with a couple of long abandoned plants in pots, and a planter I made up as Scout's toilet, that at the moment only has woodchip with a layer of gravel on top (she was used to going on stones at the old house). I can make up some sort of grassy planter probably... would a small piece of turf survive long? As a toilet? In this weather?! My fingers are less than green.

I'm getting too caught up in puppy-preparation! I have lots of work to finish off before he gets here so I have a clear schedule. The best thing this time around is that Dan has saved up a bunch of holiday and finishes work on the day we pick him up. Two pairs of hands & eyes will make it so much easier, fingers crossed!

[Nettle]

Timber = leg bones. Lovely big strong legs. Puppies always fine down as they get bigger, so they are best to start with good solid legs. Mine look like rats on four tree trunks/snowshoe feet at that age

[gwd]

I've been meaning to ask you about this How exactly does one go about doing this? I can see praising his little behind off when he goes somewhere 'right' - but how to discourage the rest?

it's not as easy of a cue, but i use, 'not there' and your correct in that i'd make a big fuss over him lifting on a tree and telling him he was such a good boy in the early stages a tasty treat was part of it. when he'd sniff a unsuitable surface i'd say 'not there' and keep walking. you can tell when they are thinking of lifting their leg on something. .....i allow the sniff. heck, it wouldn't be fair for me to not let him check out the peemail left by other dogs......i just interrupt it right before he was ready to add his to the mix. i'd then quickly find a suitable spot and say, 'go pippy'.......it really didn't take long for him to figure it out and now i rarely have to tell him 'not there' .......nor do i direct him to pee on command at this point. he's figured out what kinds of places are acceptable. it was just in the begining where we had to do a lot of 'here, but not there' work. the only time i tell him to go pippy now is on his last trip out at night. both dogs know when OH says, 'well, i think i'm going to go to bed' the RUN to find me, i grab a few treats and we head out the back door. they RUSH out to pee and then collect their treat.

Our yard at the moment (we've just moved in) is concrete and brick, with a couple of long abandoned plants in pots, and a planter I made up as Scout's toilet, that at the moment only has woodchip with a layer of gravel on top (she was used to going on stones at the old house). I can make up some sort of grassy planter probably... would a small piece of turf survive long? As a toilet? In this weather?! My fingers are less than green.

how about a 3 foot high railroad tie set in some concrete? or find someone that's removing a tree and collect a 2 foot section of stump that can sit upright? wood chips are great too at the base but boy dogs generally like something to aim at rather than just flat ground.

[minkee]

I had never even considered that something might have to be vertical I will see what I can do. How old usually before they start lifting their leg?

edit: I have a doggy friend whose son is a tree surgeon. He might be able to find me a nice stump

[gwd]

I had never even considered that something might have to be vertical I will see what I can do. How old usually before they start lifting their leg?

it varies greatly. .......some as early as 5 months.......some as late as a year. .......

edit: I have a doggy friend whose son is a tree surgeon. He might be able to find me a nice stump

perfect!!!! a pee stump!

[OnceInAWeil]

Wow, I never realized how gorgeous Ibizans were! Love the look. If I could handle a hound, I'd want one in a heartbeat.

OMG I remember the first time Ted cocked his leg, I half found it hilarious, half was proud

Same here when Tony did.

[gwd]

OMG I remember the first time Ted cocked his leg, I half found it hilarious, half was proud

Same here when Tony did.

i had to announce boy dog's achievement when i returned from a walk one night! ......'let's go tell daddy that you were a BIG boy!!!'

[emmabeth]

Dill was nearly a year old and the first few times he tried he got confused as to why he was waving a leg in the air, then couldnt decide which leg would be best (still not entirely sure why he was doing it)a nd then once hilariously tried to go for two legs at the same time and fell over... silly dog!

[Erica]

Opal started lifting a leg a little while after we got Marble...She lifts a leg, bounces on the other leg, then ends up squatting anyway. Ami rarely bothers lifting a leg, even though he's 4 now...Onyx still hikes a leg up as high as it will go (which I think is probably a good sign that he isn't in too much pain from arthritis etc...his leg is often on the same level as his body!).

[JudyN]

Jasper lifts his leg about 4" above the ground, and his hips stay level so he still wees on the ground. He reminds me of a rather fine elderly lady lifting her little finger when she drinks her cup of tea

In the garden, though, he doesn't bother at all. No one to impress, I guess.

[minkee]

Remember - you don't want a puppy, you don't want a puppy!

Here's a couple of puppy update pics



And as Breeze is asleep in both of those, have a look at his pretty little sister Orla

[Erica]

He's so big! (for a puppy, obviously ) Do you know when you're bringing him home?

[minkee]

Next Saturday. It'll be a long ol' trip but can't wait

[wvvdiup1]

What a gorgeous dog, Minkee!