It is a franchise - they simply use her name.

http://www.puppyschool.co.uk/

Yes, I've heard of them, i know Gwen used to do puppy classes herself so wondered if the OP was lucky enough to be able to attend one actually run by Gwen.

Hiya

I never used to like the idea of a crate but after seeing one being used by a friend i saw how helpful they can be and speed up house training, as we have 2 very different breeds in puppies we will always need to put ours in crates at night and when ge go out, we have a Shih tzu and a Siberian husky and even though they get on really well they can both get too carried away while playing and need to be supervised while not in their pen, as both of my pups are not 100% trained to go on a puppy pad and the sibe has diarrhea my OH made a pen with a divide in and both sides are big enough for their bed a bowl of water and a puppy pad each, the pen is now in our bedroom as this is where we would like them to be and both have settled very well at night, we play with them on our bed on a night before they go to sleep and only use the pen for them to sleep in at night and they now ask to go to bed when time is around 10:30 /11pm, i know it will take longer to house train my puppies as we dont let them out at night as of yet but they do go out in the day and are now going outside and if caught short will use the pads yet we still have a few accidents but we are getting there, i am telling you my story with the hope it may help you see how helpful it can be for both you and your puppy, i must say that puppies can be like a toddler and if they think they can get away with something they dont want to do they will

It may take you a little more time and patience with the crate as its not something you have done from day one but it will work out in the end if ya keep at it

Hope this helps

Poor Woody!! Max was an incredibly vocal puppy - he would whine even if he was sat on your knee. The first command he learnt was "quiet", even before sit etc

I think he is probably getting 'ready' to go outside, he sounds like he is a very intelligent dog, so you'll probably have to work extra hard to keep his mind occupied!

Same with Woody, he grumbles like an old man, even when he's sleeping and relaxed and having a nice cuddle. We call him Grumble Bum! What did you do with Max to teach him "quiet"?

Your last para is spot on! We're working very hard, promise! Good news is he's booked in to his class two weeks tomorrow, yey, just two more weeks!

With reference to the school we're using, "Puppy School" is based in Chipping Norton and was "founded" by Gwen Bailey. She makes reference to it in her "perfect puppy" book and all the tutors are trained by her in her own classes.

Oh and thanks Spookle, it does help. Just the reassurance I've had on this thread has made me feel alot better and there's been some ace advice ;o)

As I remember (and Max will be 3 in February! ) when he made an 'unacceptable' noise, we said "SSHHH", of course he stopped the noise to listen to us, and we said "quiet" and then gave him a treat.

Eventually we progressed to using "quiet" instead of "sshhh" and just treating him on the "quiet" command.

Now, I can pretty much say "quiet" and both boys shut up. Of course, this doesn't work when they are outside barking at a stick or a leaf etc

THANK YOU EVERYONE who has offered advise on the crate!

Woody has now had two, full, quiet, relaxed, clean nights in it! I think we're onto a winner! Bedtime was 10pm, so we set an alarm for 1am and 4am to let him out and I've been up with him since 6am. All pees and poos were done outside!

He still wont take himself in there, but when we scoop him into it now he doesn't complain anymore and just settles down to sleep.

Phew! Now if we could just get him off the sofas ;o)))

Well done Pidge! Fantastic news. I'm sure he will go in there eventually, when Tonks was a little older I taught her " in your crate", i would guide her in with a treat, click when she was inside and then she would get the treat. She used to go in and out in and out ot get a treat. Now, at ten months old, we can say "in your crate" and she trots in. He is still only tiny.

Wonderful that all the pooing is happening outside now, you can now experiement in lengthening the time he is left before going outside. So after a few more nights you might want to do 1.30 and 5, and gradually move up like that until you are only doing once a night and then not at all.

With the sofa thing i would just make sure he is never in the lounge by himself and ask him to get off if ever he does get on, and then just lift the sofa cushion so he gently rolls off. Then get a toy to distract him and play a game with him. It's just calm persistence unfortunately! Does he have a comfy bed in the lounge? That might be an idea so he has a comfier option than the floor, Tonks has her crate in the kitchen and a comfy bed in the lounge. When we are in the lounge she want to be with us rather than sleeping in her crate so has the option of her other bed.

He looks so peacful and cute in that photo.

Thanks Catrin! It's really exciting and such a relief to see his progress from horror to responsive, pleasing pup. The sofa thing isn't jumping up and on them, it's scrabbling and chewing them, he's ripping them to shreds, but we'll just have to persevere with "leave it" and distraction I guess.

His training is amazing for a 9 week old. He can do - sit, leave it, down, out, stay, fetch it, come, heel and when we teach him something new he gets it after the first go!

Don't get me wrong, he isn't perfect and it's not as if he does them all the time faultlessly, but I am really impressed with how quick he's picking things up now and how the biting has calmed down.