*facepalm*

[Shadows Mom]

Micro-rant.

 

Shadow's newest favorite thing is catching the ball, she learned how just a little while ago. Problem is now ALL she wants to do is catch the ball.. screw eating or asking to go potty. Poop on the floor, play with the food and beg to play catch. ARG..... AARRGG. Guess I should use ball as a reward for pottying outside and eating all her supper. Still having a hard time getting her potty trained, she'll ask once to go out then just go on the floor. If we left her out of the crate she'd potty everywhere and then eat the furniture or something along those lines. Penny took 2 days to potty train at 8 weeks, been working on Shadow since July. *curls up in a ball and hides* Aaaannnnddd I just heard her food go flying all across the floor... guess I need to go vacuum now *sigh*

[RaisingRiver]

River was hard to potty train. Even now, at age 2, she will poop on the floor if I haven't pro actively taken her outside at the appointed times. Ie. she doesn't hold it and she doesn't tell you she has to go. She does do pretty well if she is crated. I think having loose bowel movements most of the time doesn't help my poor pup hold it.

 

So... I know how you feel.

 

 

The food issue can be solved by not free feeding (which is sounds like you are doing). Dog generally don't play with their food if they are busy eating it. I also use raised dog bowls that store the food inside... so there's no flying food because it's just not possible to do.

 

Oh, and ignore her if you don't want to play catch. I use 'go lay down' when my dogs stare at me. They learn it pretty quickly and it's a useful command at people dinner time too

[Shadows Mom]

Nah, I'd never free feed. She gets 3 cups once a day and if she doesn't eat it in 1/2 hour she loses the chance. She still plays with it, it could be a triple cheese burger and she'd play with it.... tho I might have to steal it from her if it was a triple cheese burger

[border_collie_crazy]

lol Happy was the same way when she was younger, I actually had to order her to her food, bend down and pretend to eat it myself, then block her in the area till she gave in and ate her darn food! she is 7 ears old now and only recently has she started to get intrested in food...well kind of, I think she fakes it lol because she acts like she is starving and all exited and I give her her food...she looks at it and continues on in her frenzie till I shout at her to "EAT IT" lol. she too was very difficult to housebreak as all she did was play fetch.

[bcnewe2]

How bout feeding her 2x's per day. 3 cups of food at one time is alot for a little one to eat. Don't know if it'll help with the potty training but ya never know.

 

I feed my dogs 2x per day. they get a scant 1 cup each feeding. I usually stand there and tell them to eat and pick it up within 10 minutes if they don't. My noneating dogs sometimes skip one feeding but will usually eat at least one of those feedings. my youngest really never got more than that. She's rather small but during her growing stage she was a little porker. Now that she works almost everyday she's slimmed down quite a bit.

 

Kristen

[Alaska]

3 cups of what? That sounds like a lot of food for a pup.

 

Maybe you should try the triple cheeseburger instead

[Anda]

I agree, 3 cups is a lot! At Shadow's age, Ouzo was eating 1/2 to max 3/4 cup of CA Natural a day, skipping lots of meals by his own choice. Now, at 2 years, he eats about 1 - 1.5 cups a day, split into a morning and an evening meal. He still skips an occasional meal and gets to eat it at the next... (i might add a few fresh toppings if he doesn't eat the first time).

 

Good luck with the potty training, I sure don't envy you!

[WyoBC]

I agree, uh, too? That seems like a lot. I feed Black Jack a little under 3/4 a cup twice a day and he's not on the light side. Maybe she's not interested in it because she's full and would rather play with it?

[RaisingRiver]

Diesel eats 3 cups a day and River only eats 2. They are 10lbs apart.

 

If my dogs don't eat right away, I give them about 2 mins and that's it. Bowl is emptied back into the container. I have to do this so my other dogs don't eat it, but also it gives me clues if something is off with my dog's eating or I'm feeding too much, etc. I'm right there to see what's going on. I feed twice a day.

[flrpwr52]

Could she be playing with her food because she isn't hungry? 3 cups is a lot of ood for a pup that age.

 

As far as the ball play goes we NEVER play ball in the house. It's an outside game only and when WE want to play. Keep a ball on you when you take her out to potty and when she has done the deed let her play. It won't take long for her to catch on.

[MaggieDog]

My 25lb, 9mo pup gets 1.5 cups/day of CA Natural if that gives you a reference.

 

I have heard that if the dog consistently won't eat and there is no underlying health problem, that decreasing the food in the bowl sometimes helps. I believe the pattern is something like this: put down normal ration, if not all is eaten for 3 days, reduce ration by 1/2. If not all of the reduced ration is is eaten for 3 days, reduce by 1/2 again. Rinse, repeat until the dog is eating the food consistently (even if it's only 4 pieces of kibble), then gradually increase again, stopping and reducing if the dog refuses to eat.

[painted_ponies]

I was feeding Faith 3 cups/day of Nutro Natural Choice Lamb& Rice from the time she was 8 or 9 months old till she had her first season at 12 months. After that she started picking up a little weight so I cut her back to 2 cups/day.

 

But Faith is a big girl - probably 18" or 19" at the shoulder and around 45 lbs.

 

And I divide her daily amount into two feedings.

[juliepoudrier]

The only dog I feed twice a day is Lark and that's entirely because she's a picky eater and won't eat much at one feeding. Still she gets just 1 to 1/5 cups of kibble a day. The rest is raw or cooked meat of some sort, usually.

 

I do have one I feed 3 cups a day to, but he's around 42 pounds and thin (and he's 16 months old and so can manage to eat 3 cups at one time).

 

I don't remember how old Shadow is, but I feed all pups at least twice a day until they are at least 6-8 months old. Like any other baby, they just can't physically handle a lot of food at once but need to take it in smaller portions.

 

As for housebreaking, some dogs never give a clear sign they need to go out, or it may be so subtle you don't always catch it. Take her out at prescribed times, teach her a potty command, and go back to the whole housebreaking routine of out, if nothing's done, then back in the crate for 15-20 minutes, then back outside again to try again. Housebreaking requires extreme consistency on the human's part.

 

Okay, just reread your post. When you say she asks once and then goes, do mean she asks, but then if she's not let outside immediately, she goes on the floor? If that's the case, then you need to be quick to get her out. Pups are not good at "predicting" when they need to go or holding it once they've realized they need to go. In other words, by the time she realizes she needs to go and asks you to let her out, she REALLY, REALLY needs to go. So either you must be willing to jump up and rush her to the door the *instant* she asks or you need to be proactive and take her out at about the time she would normally ask, but before she actually asks.

 

Anyway, I agree with everyone else that if she's playing with her food, then she isn't hungry and you should just pick it up.

 

As for the ball catching thing, she can't catch a ball that's not thrown. If you indulge her in this, you will at best end up with a pest that requires entertainment by you 24/7. Teach her a "settle down" command. When you don't want to play, put the ball out of sight.

 

J.

[PSmitty]

As for the ball catching thing, she can't catch a ball that's not thrown. If you indulge her in this, you will at best end up with a pest that requires entertainment by you 24/7. Teach her a "settle down" command. When you don't want to play, put the ball out of sight.

 

J.

 

Amen, sista!

[painted_ponies]

When you don't want to play, put the ball out of sight.

 

Cause if you don't, and you refuse to play, she will entertain herself by bouncing the ball off your couch-mushroom SO and catching it on the fly. Never mind how I know this.

 

I do have one I feed 3 cups a day to, but he's around 42 pounds and thin (and he's 16 months old and so can manage to eat 3 cups at one time).

 

My what a big boy Pip's become. I bet he still fits into my lap, though.

[juliepoudrier]

My what a big boy Pip's become. I bet he still fits into my lap, though.

Well he *thinks* he can fit in your lap and tries valiantly to do so, but there is this little overflow problem (oh, and be prepared for some significant efforts at french kissing as well, bleh! )

 

J.

[BC-Liz]

As for the ball catching thing, she can't catch a ball that's not thrown. If you indulge her in this, you will at best end up with a pest that requires entertainment by you 24/7. Teach her a "settle down" command. When you don't want to play, put the ball out of sight.

 

J.

 

I had to buy a wicker basket and put all the balls in there at all times (we have about 15 tennis balls right now...our neighbors unload their used tennis balls on us). That doesn't really stop a BC though...they'll bring you anything to toss. Eventually I just stopped throwing anything in the house at all. They got the idea after a little while. My b/f hasn't done that yet and so they ALWAYS bring him EVERYTHING to toss...gets really annoying after a while. I have a little giggle and just remind him that all he has to do is stop throwing them all together.

 

Good luck on the potty training.

[Bo Peep]

Usher eats a cup and a half twice a day of Nutro natural choice lamb and rice and holds his weight at 40 pds and he's 20 1/2 inches tall. He scarfs his up pretty fast. As far as toys go. I know when I'm on the computer too long as I have a pile of them next to me. I guess he figures if one toy doesn't work, he'll try another. It has never interfered with his potty habits. Usually after a meal or playtime is the time to take them out.

[TRCYGRDN]

Hi everyone!

 

Our Ed is very play orientated. He will bring his toys from the moment you get up 'til the moment you go go bed. Come dinner time I have to put his bowl down and keep saying, "No toys, get your dinner"...takes about 5 cheeky attemps from him before he'll finally go and eat. He also has a habit of plonking his toys in your lap and stare at you until you throw them. We have to just ignore him in the end...it takes a while but he gets the message eventually!

[Shadows Mom]

Shadow is on Canidae mixed with a little royal canin right now. Shes around 30-40 pounds (not had her weighed since October when she was 32 pounds) and skinny as a piece of spaghetti! Just been feeding her what the bags recommend for her age and weight. I started hiding all of the bones and toys when its supper time, and making sure no one is in the room with her. Seems to help, she's eaten all of her food the last couple days!

 

As for the potty thing, there isn't always enough time for me to get to the door from the living room before she's asked and pooped. Problem with big houses =( Usually its mom watching her when she's done it tho, mom swears Shadow only whined once then went but I'm not sure how much I believe that... mom tends to ignore the dogs unless she has a reason to yell at them BIG source of arguments in our house. Trying to not leave my girl with mom too much, but if I'm going to be ill I don't want Shadow in the bathroom with me (she gets her face in the toilet, and in my way!) Hopefully will all be okie after my exam stress is gone. Plus I have 21 days of vacation and I plan to spend a LOT of time with Shadow.

 

On a good note Shadow is doing great in her puppy classes! I can walk her on a leash without her ripping my arm out now, and she learn wait and ok this week. Amazes me how smart she is! Show her once and she's got it down almost 100%. Trainer thinks she will be awesome in agility, and she starts pre-agility Jan 10. Thats to perfect sit, lay, stay and getting her to focus on me. VERY excited!