Holly is coming home tomorrow and we want to start on the socialisation as soon as possible. Chris is off all next week so we'll be taking Holly with us on the school/nursery run and wherever we go during the week. We've got trips planned to the vets, the tip, friends and family. Is there anywher else we should take her? We're going to stand on the bridge at the station a few times so she gets used to the noise of the trains - i have to walk past the station to get to Jonathons school.

My parents want to come and see her - they'd need to bring their spaniel with them though. Ebony is 8mths old and fully vacinnated, would this be ok? Holly has had her first jab and is due her second in 2 wks time, so would it be better to wait until then?

Holly has got VERY sharp claws, what is the best way to trim them? Would it be better to get the vet to do them on Monday or could I do them? I trim the Isabelle's nails so I've got a very steady hand.

We have a fairly large garden (46ft x 58ft) which Holly will be able to play in. Would we be better to just use one area for toilet training or does it not matter. I read somewhere that it's best to leave the last 'present' on the grass to encourage the dog to use that area next time. Does that work? We've got a council dog bin 20 yards from the house so we'll be putting the 'presents' in there on a daily basis. I have to walk past it to go anywhere!!

Liver!! - I want to use liver as a treat whilst I'm training her, I firmly believe in bribary :D What is the best way to cook it so it's all dried up and crunchy?

Accidents on the carpet - My mum uses plain water to soak out any accidents on the carpet as this stops the carpet from staining. If I just use water how do I stop Holly from going in that place again (I read somewhere that puppies wee leaves a chemical in the carpet that they just have to wee over again).

That's it for now, I'm sure they'll be more questions later!!

fiona

Hi Fiona

How exciting for you with Holly coming home tomorrow, I bet you all can't wait :D

Socialising will have to be limited ie in public places until she is fully vacinated, you wouldn't want her to pick any nasty infections up :(

Having people come around to the house and taking her in the car would be good for her to get used to everything, especially car travel, as some puppies can get car sick :(

As for your Parents bringing their dog around that will be ok as she is fully vacinated.

Since you are going to the Vet I would get him to trim them and show you how to do them, especially as she is black it can be quite tricky to see where the quick is.

Most of all though have lots of fun and cuddles with her :D I've only got two weeks to go now before I come over to the UK and collect my puppy :) I just can't wait ;)

Best wishes

Derryn & The Boys ......

Hi Fiona

Bet you can't wait - i couldn't sleep the night before we picked Bailey!

As for socialising her i have been carrying Bailey around every where with me for the last four weeks. He has been to the train station with me as i have to pick up husband up every day and i just carried him and well the station staff love him now! He has also been to our local shopping centre etc but boy am i glad he is having his second injection tomorrow as he now weighs 9kg and i can't carry him for very long anymore!

We try to get Bailey to just use one part of the garden for toileting as hopefully when he gets older he will still just use one bit and it will make it easlier to clear up and will have a dog poo free area to sit in the summer (if we ever get any sun :( )

But above all else enjoy her they grow up sooo quickly :)

Tracy

Hi Fiona

Soon be time :D

I think Derryn has answered most of your questions Get her out as much as you can - but try not to overtire her.

Liver - gosh - she'll LOVE you - I have tried several ways and am always open to suggestions on it - but I find frying it off in the frying pan first till it is well cooked then cut it up into large treat sized bits - it shrinks as it dries, then put it on a try in a cool oven for yonks, just like drying out meringue. It takes ages and stinks the house out, but the dogs will de almost anything for it. You can tell when it's done as it is hard. If you have the oven too hot it burns as you would expect - lol.

Wee on carpets - and other "presents". by all means rinse it with water - but then use biological detergent to help rid the smell. Try Febreeze or other odour removing sprays. Don't use bleach or products containing ammonia as she'll just go back to that spot.

You can encourage her to use the same spot in the garden - can ruin your grass - but if you've got a hard area or sand etc then it's well worth it. It's no fun trudging round tha garden clearing up when it's this yucky. If you only have one spot - it's much easier.

For Cockers - UK - send me a private e-mail and I'll pass it on to the list owner, or go via the web-site, click here

hth

Pam n the boys

Hi Fiona

No reason why you shouldn't do Holly's nails yourself if you have a good, steady hand - just take the tips off on a regular basis & you'll have no problems. You could get your vet to do them but some seem to charge rather a lot for this small service which only takes a minute or two with a young pup :-)

Re the liver - you could try making a liver cake as most dogs love this! You can make quite a big cake, then chop it up into little bits, bag the bits in small freezer bags & pop them in the freezer for future use (they defrost v quickly) Ingredients vary according to what recipe you follow but it's usually a mixture of flour, garlic, liver & egg to bind it all together. Here's a recipe for the cake for you to try out (if you can bear the smell!)

Jane

Thanks Jane, I'll make some on Sunday. My parents always used Liver with their blue roan and she would do anything for a piece of liver!! She once stole a leg of lamb that my mum had just cooked and wouldn't drop it. As soon as we got the liver out she dropped it straight away and went mad. She loved her liver more than anything else.

I just want to take the very tips of the ends of Hollys claws, they are very sharp and I don't want her to hurt the children at all. I am covered in scratches from where I was playing with her at the breeders.

Thanks for your help,

Fiona

Fiona ask the breeder to trim them before you take holly home. and then you will see for yourself how it is done , mari

Jane,
Thanks for that recipe. How did you make that link ??
Ted (trying to improve computor skills)

Ted,
Hope you don't mind my answering! First you have to type [link then 1 space then start the url at http:// then the rest of the website address then ]whatever you want to call your link[/link] Does that make sense? So take champdogs....I would type
[linkhttp://www.champdogs.co.uk]champdogs[/link] except that I would put 1 space between link and http. :) I didn't this time so you would see what it would look like except for the space.

champdogs