Puppies

A chicken named Mabel has taken its love of extreme sports to the max, and has adopted a litter of Rottweiler puppies. This it did after losing a fight with a horse that resulted in it injuring its foot, causing its owners to allow it to sleep inside the house – where it found the puppies.

Mabel, and her puppies, live on a farm in Shrewsbury. Mabel keeps her new charges warm by ‘sitting’ on them while they are asleep in her basket. Mabel is dicing with death because the puppies aren’t actually orphans; they have a mother named Nettle. Mable waits for Nettle to leave them before entering their basket and sitting on them.

The owners of the courageous chicken, and the Rottweiler puppies, are Ros and Edward Tate.

Edward Tate explains the bizarre situation:

Mabel was hatched here about a year ago. She would have gone onto someone’s dinner plate but we saved her and brought her into the house.

Unfortunately, she got into an accident with a horse, which accidentally trod on her foot. Because of that, she gets terribly cold during the winter so we decided to bring her into the house.

And then we had puppies about three weeks ago. Mabel observed Nettle’s behaviour and, as soon as there was a chance, she [read more]

Toilet training a puppy is the one thing that can take the shine off your new dog. However, with a bit of patience – toilet training is not as bad as it first seems.

If you have a kitchen floor with tiles, or cushion flooring, then mopping up puddles after a puppy has done his business is not too much of a problem.

When mopping up puddles it is essential that you use a non-ammonia disinfectant as they are highly effective against certain viruses and bacteria that can cause your puppy to become unwell.

Pet stores will stock puppy training pads, which are a [read more]

A couple were so desperate to find a puppy that they agreed to take a bulldog puppy that they saw in an advert on a website. The puppy, named Holly (pictured right), was advertised as needing a home and was set to cost the couple £200.

The couple, Karen and John McGuiness, paid the £200 for the puppy to be shipped up to their home in Edinburgh through a special pet courier company, however the dog never arrived. The so called courier company then attempted to get the couple to pay a further £150 so the dog could stop in a hotel room on its way up to Edinburgh.

Sadly, there was no dog and the advert, and courier company, were simply scamming the couple out of as much money as they could.

Karen has only recently overcome her struggle with breast cancer, and dearly wanted the bulldog puppy. She stated:

They told me the dog had become anxious so they stopped off at a [read more]

Puppies are adorable, with their appealing ways and high energy levels. As an owner it is hard to stop them from forming bad habits when they are so incorrigible.

Some of the bad habits that you will find easier to stop include barking, biting, chewing furniture (which can be a big issue if you happen to have some expensive items, such as an old antique bookcase) and, when they are allowed out of the house, lead pulling.

At an early stage in their life a puppy will want to build up a rapport with their new owner. Vocal commands are essential and warm praise and commands in a deeper tone will be recognised by your new pal. Smacking a puppy or shouting at him is not good as it can cause him to become upset, and your dog will [read more]

When you take your puppy for his first injection with your local vet the first thing they check is his weight, followed by an inspection of his body, eyes, ears and mouth.

The vaccines that your vet gives to your puppy will add a small amount of disease in his body. This will help your puppy’s immune system to kick in and defend him and will remain at full strength for about a year. [read more]

When you bring home a new puppy or a new dog you may find that he or she cries at night. It is not surprising that a dog would feel upset with the change of environment.

A new puppy has had to leave his brothers, sisters and of course his birth mum. Whatever you think you can do to help is not going to ease his pain in one night. [read more]

A mother dog will clean up after her litter of newborn babies for up to about three weeks; after three weeks she will stop and the breeder helps to take charge.

A puppy cannot hold himself at this time of his life and puppies could relieve themselves up to 12 or more times a day.  By eight to ten weeks old, a puppy is ready to go to his new home but may not have been toilet trained yet. [read more]

As recently reported in The Times, there are moves in progress which could alter dog breeding standards in Britain. Controversy about stud dogs and dog breeding is not new, but some of the ‘great and the good’ are now wading into the debate.

For example, Sir Patrick Bateson is [read more]

When you are teaching new puppy new behaviour skills they should be carried out every day and with a huge amount of patience.

Ideally keeping your training short is better than expecting your puppy to have a long memory.  Short sessions stop boredom setting in; three minutes is about the time a puppy can focus on what is expected of him. Training for three minutes and then a leisurely walk or playtime will help him to associate [read more]