Labradoodle Forums banner
Cancel

Life with Marley and Oski - plus more questions :)

8392 Views 70 Replies 18 Participants Last post by  Echo, 
E
Thank you all for the compliments and advice in my previous post about bringing our new doodle, Oski into our home. I didn't know much about Australian Labradoodles before getting him and I've been reading up about the history of the breed and I feel so lucky that we got him as his specific ancestry is pretty fascinating.

Night #2 was much better, I had him in the crate a few times in the afternoon and then at night around 11pm he went in and cried for about 15 min and then slept until I woke him up at 3:30 (because I had to get up for work), I am guessing he would have lasted longer had I not disturbed him. Marley did not keep us up, she settled back to her usual routine of sleeping in our girls' room.
Wednesday was the day he was to be at home alone while we were all out at work. This didn't go so well, although it could have been worse. My husband was running late and rushing and so he asked our 8 year old to close the baby gate to keep him in our master bath vanity area with his crate and then shut the bedroom to keep Marley out. He did not check to see how she did this. He came home from work in the evening to find that Oski had been busted out (Marley can often push the bedroom door open if it's not shut tight) and the baby gate was down (it's the tension kind and I think it wasn't quite set tight enough). The house was not totally destroyed but there were a few little gifts of poop. :( I know it could have been worse since he didn't chew anything up and I can probably thank Marley for that since they most likely just played and played and napped. But it definately was a set back in housebreaking since he was able to freely poop without correction.
Night #3 was even better, I put him in his crate several times in the evening when we were eating and dealing with bath and bedtime for the girls. I did miss his que when he needed to poop, but I scooped him up to correct it when caught him. Then again in the crate at 11pm but this time in the living room while I sat and watched some tv. His crying was much less than before and he went to sleep and so when I went to bed, I left the crate where it was and he didn't wake up at all until 6am.

Now for questions
Using a collar and/or leash- Some people have mentioned tethering a puppy to keep a close eye on them. But thought he was too young to wear a color or be on a leash? I feel like I read that somewhere. He's 10 weeks. Please explain.

I've been at home all day and haven't put him in his crate. He sticks close to me and we're making trips outside to run around and go potty. (Although I admit I have missed a few ques or let him wander out of my eyesight, so I have to work on that.)
He and Marley alternate between laying around napping or playing and chewing rawhide rolls. And then playing fighting over the same roll and so and so forth. Should I be crating him a few times throughout the day just for consistancy or only as needed?

I'm having trouble making Oski eat his food and Marley eat hers. They seem to like to trade. How much does this matter?

Thanks!!
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
1 - 18 of 71 Posts
E
Well...I think it was a pretty good day. We had some successfull visits outside to potty. Even though I'm at home all day, I actually work full time telecommuting for my job. But that means I'm just at my laptop all day and occasionally on the phone. This week I luckily had a fairly quiet work week and sat in the kitchen to work so that I could keep a closer eye plus be right by the back door ready to take him out. Oski basically lays around under the table dozing in between rigorious wrestling matches with Marley. Yesterday I didn't put up a baby gate to keep him just in the kitchen and family room area and that's how we had a few missed potty ques when he wandered down the hall, but today I kept him closed in and it was much better. I do have a feeling that it will be a few weeks before I would feel comfortable sitting at my desk to work. The cluttered office in our house is just not a good puppy zone right now. But the good thing is his next full day alone isn't until Wed next week so hopefully we can make more progress before then.
Of course then I was out this evening for a fun little ladies night out with friends and he was running free and I found some poop. It was maybe a foot from the couch where I'm fairly certain my husband sat most of the evening. Each time I have found a little "present" I just think about how that was one more missed chance for him to be corrected and learn. Maybe I'm crazy but I almost feel like catching him the act and quickly taking him outside gives better opportunity than the times that I just take him out to tell him to go. I think that other people in this house (husband and our oldest daughter) aren't really understanding that just being home doesn't mean he's being watched. I told them they should not hesitate to put him in his crate if they are not going to truly watch him. He still cries each time the crate door closes, but it lasts a few minutes.
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
E
Ohhh, I had not thought of that! I will try that too. Thanks!
Reply
Save
Like
E
OK...what should my expectations be when it comes to the progress you make in housetraining???

I've already cleaned up 2 poops and 2 pees this morning at it's 11:10am here. He has gone outside and we've given lots of praise and we've also had some times when we catch him almost or in the middle and correct him. So I don't know if we've regressed or if like the saying goes..."poop" happens. :p
On Friday night my parents come to visit for the weekend. My mother is super duper neat freak and not exactly a lover of dogs. You can imagine I'm a wee bit stressed about getting the house cleaned and I want so much for Oski to not necessarily be 100% trained as that's not realistic, but I am hoping to be really good about avoiding accidents and not subject her to witnessing any missed ques.
Reply
Save
Like
E
Thank you for the quick replies! They will probably arrive late on Fri night and then we'll be in and out of the house on Sat so he'll actually be either in his crate or outside playing with Marley most of the day. Or we might even bring him with us to soccer on Sat morning. So the more I think about it, he'll probably be kept "in line". But I will definately consider having him teathered while we're around the house.

We have been taking him outside about every hour as well as just after waking up or being in the crate for any period of time. We'll work on going outside even more frequently.

Thanks!
Reply
Save
Like
E
OK...I have more questions. And how this works is I post more photos and in return I get answers to questions. :D :D :D hee!!!

They are not hugging, they are in the middle of major doodle-wrestling








Questions-
Grooming- I have given him one bath and brushed him out after drying off. At this stage, does he need major grooming or trims or anything? Just baths and brush-outs? His nails hurt when he jumps up on you, how do you trim those? Marley goes to Petco for grooming, I thought I might ask them about their services for puppies.

Eating- we're trying to keep Marley and Oski seperated for eating, but Marley is a grazer and it seems that Oski is doing the same thing. And Marley is liking Oski's food and Oski wants Marley's. Grrr....
I'm also interested in raw feeding and I'm sure I want to convert to that 100% or if it's ok to do a combo of kibble and then a couple times a week treats like plain yogurt, eggs, cheese or raw bones? I gave the some raw ground beef while I was cooking the other day and Oski was all over it, Marley didn't know what to make of it and hestated too long and Oski gobbled hers. But then I offered her some more and she ate it up. So is it ok to combine like that?

Walks- Can I take him for walks on a leash? I'm not sure he actually needs the exercise (he runs all over and plays a lot) but we want to work on training and get signed up for a class soon, I figured we should work on having him be on a leash.

THANK YOU!!!
[/img]
See less See more
4
Reply
Save
Like
E
Thank you this does help. Feeding is hard because I try to feed them seperately but they don't eat at the time that the food is put out, so it's frustrating.
This afternoon, Oski's butt is suddenly caked with poop. And it's muddy outside from rain. I'm actually not sure if it's all poop or a mud and poop combo. I have not seen him have the runs, but he did struggle with taking a long time to poop first thing this morning. I thought it was constipation, but I did finally see solid poop. So...I'm nervous now about that and if his eating of Marley's adult formula food would effect that.
Reply
Save
Like
E
Thanks! He's 12 weeks old and bathing him is not too tough. I gave him a bath tonight. I actually had given him one a couple days ago when I had sleepily let both dogs go outside at 5:45am and I went back to bed. At 6:30am I let them in to discover a muddy Oski...

Anyway, it took a lot of scrubbing but I got the crusty stuff cleaned off his bum tonight, but I do think he could use a trim in that area and I know there's no way I could trim his nails myself.
Reply
Save
Like
E
OK, so today was a day where the dogs are at home alone and today Oski must have jumped/climbed over the baby gate. He had free reign in the house and managed to poop once and chew up half a baby pumpkin and part of my slipper.
So now what do we do since he can get up and over the baby gate? I don't think it's good for him to be in his crate overnight, then get out for maybe an hour only to go back into the crate for probably 8-9 hours.

Any suggestions?
Reply
Save
Like
E
Our other bathroom might work, it's probably easier to remove the bathmat and trash can than it would be to move out our shoes and such from the laundry room.
I also like the idea of trying to have him sleep outside the crate. I think hubby won't be into that, he wishes that Marley was trained to sleep in a crate. I'll have to work on trying that too.

Thanks!
Reply
Save
Like
E
Oh chairs! We have some we could use, I might try that too.
Thanks!
Reply
Save
Like
E
I tried last night to have him out of the crate and just be in our room. But I couldn't sleep, wondering if he was getting into things. I had not thought to tether him.
Just before going to bed we had a terrible accident. I was taking both dogs outside and as I was shutting the door behind me Oski was trying to go in and one paw got pinched under the door. Oh the crying!! And it pinched his skin and bled! I'm so devestated. This was at 10pm. I washed it up and tried to wrap it up, but that came off after awhile. This morning he seems to be slow and staying off of it. I'm away at work, but I think I will need to call the vet to find out if he needs to be seen of if there is something we should just be doing.
My poor baby boy! I'm so mad at myself for this.
Reply
Save
Like
E
Today happens to be a day I'm at work, but when I was up at 3:30am, I let him out and he didn't run around all crazy, since he has limping from his paw. A friend of mine going to vet school told me to just watch to see if he continues to be bothered by it or if it bleeds again otherwise it should heal on its own. It basically stopped bleeding after washing and wrapping it, so I'm hoping it feels better. When I work outside the house, my husband is responsible for getting him situated and he really wants to crate him, but I can't bear to do it for such a long time, especially since he was crated overnight. So he said he put him in the bathroom. Although I haven't spoken to him to find out if that meant the usual set up we had in our master bath with the gate or in the other bathroom where he can shut the door. I think I will try again tonight to see how it goes having him sleep outside the crate, if I don't sleep much it won't be so bad because I don't have to travel to work. :)
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
E
Thanks!

Another question- I might be wrong, but I only notice this with dogs with light colored fur...Marley doesn't seem to accumulate goobers from her eyes, but Oski does and I've wondered if I should just try to wipe it away as it accumulates or what. You know what I'm talking about? :))
Reply
Save
Like
E
I have totally never noticed it to be a problem for Marley and with black fur it's not noticeable I guess, but Oski has a lot all stuck in his face. If I can get him to hold still, I will remove them. :)
Reply
Save
Like
E
So I have tethered Oski next to my bed the last couple of nights and that has worked well. I was amazed how he just laid down and went to sleep and slept all night. Last night wasn't as easy, mostly because Marley was not interested in sleeping and was either taking his rawhide roll or wrestling with him. But I am worried that Oski did pee not on his blanket but right next to it early this morning. I noticed it when I came out of the shower. It was 3:30am, so I didn't not want to take him outside when I got up, I hoped he would just continue to lay down. And I didn't want to disturb our neighbors that early in the morning since both dogs tend to bark and run around when they go outside.

The other issue I want to work on is with Marley. She is such a loving dog and seems to play with Oski and enjoy it. Except she is not a good share-friend. She really tries to stick all the rawhide rolls, stuffed animal carcasses and socks in her mouth so that Oski can't have them. She takes Oski's toys and sometimes (and the frequency seems to be increasing) she growls at him when he tries to grab somthing from her. I can take it from her no problem. But with Oski she has either a low growl or she has lately had a much more vicious sounding snapping growl/bark. There are times when they engage in friendly tug-o-war with a rope toy (or sock), but Marley just seems really protective of her rawhide rolls. And I make a point of having a couple out so they could each lay around gnawing on them. But Marley tries to have them both.
It scares me to have her get aggressive like that.
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
E
Thanks. So I only wake up at that God-awful hour 2 days a week, and typically in his crate he never made a peep until around 6am and that's when I would get up and let him outside. So if nothing wakes him up, it's ok and he can hold it, but if something wakes him up, be prepared to go outside?

On the toys well one will end up being the alpha you can correct them but in the end the other will just learn when Marly has it she has it. It bothers you more than the dogs.
Click to expand...
I had a feeling this was the case.
Reply
Save
Like
E
I would be careful letting little Oski having rawhide...I don't think they're the best thing for young puppies.
Click to expand...
Thank you, I was unaware of this. Realistically, he's not really getting much from them, a brief gnaw here and there, since Marley takes them away. I had tiny skinny denta chew rolls for small dogs and puppies, but Marley stole it each time I tried to give Oski one (even stole it out of his crate) and gobbled them up in minutes.

Of course now I have a whole other problem....Oski pooped in his crate this evening when we were having dinner. I soooo hope that it was just a fluke and that he's suddenly lost his good hygine. First it was peeing next to his blanket this morning now pooping in his crate. I tell you....caring for a new born baby is cake compared to a puppy. :shock: :wink:
Reply
Save
Like
1 - 18 of 71 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Labradoodle Forums
A forum community dedicated to Labradoodle owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about breeding, health, behavior, housing, adopting, care, classifieds, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Questions About Your Labradoodle New Member Introductions Finding A Breeder
Top