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Life with Marley and Oski - plus more questions :)

8389 Views 70 Replies 18 Participants Last post by  Echo
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!!
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Erika......we've all had accidents happen both with dogs and kids, accidents are things that we didn't mean to happen. Dont' beat yourself up over it.

Peanut was a major climber almost from day 1

Max always slept on the foot of our bed from day 1 HOWEVER peanut didn't. we'd crate her in our bedroom or we wouldn't have one left and she plays all night :roll: Sooooooo during the colder months I'd get up an extra hour earlier to allow them both to have 2-2.5hours of playtime before being crated the days i am at my job. and when my son got home he'd take them out for a 1/2 run
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. :)
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Erika, try tethering him. It really works. Give him something soft to lie on and a few toys and he'll be fine. Sometimes it took Chouette a few minutes to settle down but after that she'd sleep the whole night. And that way you don't have to worry about wandering or getting into mischief and you can sleep more soundly as well.

Leslie
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? :))
elh1015 said:
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? :))
Oh, Chouette always has those. I gently tease off the encrusted bits each morning. At least they're not as noticeable on a black dog. I think there are things you can use on their eyes for it; I've seen products in Petsmart that supposedly address that problem.

Leslie
River Rat said:
elh1015 said:
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? :))
Oh, Chouette always has those. I gently tease off the encrusted bits each morning. At least they're not as noticeable on a black dog. I think there are things you can use on their eyes for it; I've seen products in Petsmart that supposedly address that problem.

Leslie
Denver has these as well...........
Dex and Kirby both get eye crusties too.
G
Maya gets eye boogies too!!
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. :)
At least they're not as noticeable on a black dog
Ebbe's are ... yuck .... wet or dry I try to get them off as soon as I see them. She's not crazy about it, but as time passes stays more still just to get it over with! :roll:
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.
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If Marley is potty trained well - I'd take Oski out by himself as soon as you get up so he can potty, all the pups I've had needed to potty as soon as they woke

Not sure on the toy thing other than a stern NO, that's what I always used with mine
If going out early with both is a problem just take out the young one, they simple can't hold it.

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.
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.
I had a feeling this was the case.
elh1015 said:
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?
I think you can work him toward that. I know that when Chou was tethered, several times I was able to get away with getting up at four to go to the bathroom without her thinking it was potty time for her, too. Later I was able to get her to allow me to go to the bathroom right before I let her out, so that if she took forever doing her business I was comfortable. The trick with middle-of-the-night getting up is that once he's up his body's ready to relieve itself, but if you can keep him down you've won half the battle.

Leslie
Kirby and Dexter constantly steal toys from each other. Dex will let Kirby take his, but Kirby gets a bit upset when Dex is the thief and will let him know it. Dexter just goes away when this happens. I think Kirby is becoming more of the alpha dog here because Dex is always just giving in to him...

I would be careful letting little Oski having rawhide...I don't think they're the best thing for young puppies.
I wanna just chime in here about Marley's dominance of Oski, as displayed by not sharing. SOME of that is normal, but how about finding a reputable trainer and asking them to observe your dogs? I think there is a point at which the alpha thing can be carried too far, but in the natural order of dogs there is going to be one that is on top, so to speak. I just wouldn't be able to say from here if Marley is within the 'normal' range, or if there are tips a trainer could give you to work with her on this, if they thought it would be necessary.

hope that helps! There's a link on this forum somewhere about the Association of Dog Trainers....but I'll give it again:

http://www.apdt.com/default.aspx

Toys is almost like a tug of war game or a like a seesaw maneuver.

When peanut was 9 to 14 weeks old max would share ALL his toys with her , teach her how to play tug of war, and sharing
when peanut got Older , that's when max started stealing back his toys hahahhaaa NOW peanut HOGS all the toys

Beau is learning quickly to take LEFTOVERS hahaha i say let them work it out as they need to establish dominancy etc

Rarely do i intervene
I would be careful letting little Oski having rawhide...I don't think they're the best thing for young puppies.
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:
I've given Cinnamon Raw hides from the first day home. I think as long as you don't let them get too short and they swallow them whole, it's ok. It's the big chunks you have to worry about.
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