This is just what I need! Just wondering has anybody any experience of the Kong Toys or where you get them? I think they sound like a great way to for the dog to occupy themselves.

Excellent Post SW!! Hows buddy doing??

Teapotty:

http://www.zooplus.ie/ask?query=kong&num=20&form=search

I buy everything for my guy from this site... but you can get kongs in all good pet stores...
stuff its with pate or low fat spreadable... your dog will be occupied for hours

Really good post. Just wondering if anyone has any advice to give on kongs and what type of foods to put into them. I've not used them before as to be honest I was a little concerned about hygiene (not sure why) but I am definitely going to give them a try now.

Also can someone explain this to me
These exercises are as follows: Loose Lead Walking Game Leave and Take Wait Check In / Look 15 minutes of these exercises before you leave the home is the equivalent to about an hours walk.

Maybe another dumb question but does the kong only work with sort of wet/ pate food? Can you put dry food in or is there a similar toy that works for dry nuts? Is that what a kibble ball is?

SW... glad to see buddy is a happy little cocker ... they are clever little brats at times.... thats soo funny with drawer !!

my guy used to use his teeth an the bottom corner of the drawer and pull it open.... not a good look for the kitchen ... lovely teeth marks on our drawers... thankfully in our new house he has been very good.... now when i open the dog drawer... when he thinks im not looking he runs over sticks his head in grabs a treat out and runs into his bed sitting on his treat...... when i call his name... he looks up like "what??" then when he thinks im not looking he sneakly eats his treat... like tinker

Great post, I am taking noes here! Thanks

Oh God youve scared me now! We leave our dog in the garden during the day. He is restricted to the back of the house though so you cant see him from the front. And there are high trees at the back so you cant see into the garden either. Im sure he has the odd bark during the day though. Hes quite a looker if I do say so myself Id hate if someone took him. Dont want to leave him in the house though. We bought a gps tracker for him but couldnt really figure it out, will go home tonight and take another look at it. Anyone use one of them?
Ive never heard of the safety collar, where do you get them?
Kongs are great toys. I put extra light philadelphia into his one with a few of his nuts mixed in and he loves it. Sometimes freeze it too so it lasts longer.

We're still trying to figure out whether to leave our little dog inside or outside when we're not there.

Outside: her bed, food & water are in the shed where's warm and she can come and go as she likes. The garden is a decent size (compared to her!!) and it's totally secure. No one can see her in the garden either.

Inside: would have to limit her to being in the kitchen only. Not sure how she'd be regarding peeing etc. We sort of presumed she'd be happier outside.

I'm really not sure? We only have her a few days so we're just finding our feet with her. She's settling in anyway but I always feel so bad leaving her on her own.

teapotty wrote:We're still trying to figure out whether to leave our little dog inside or outside when we're not there.

Outside: her bed, food & water are in the shed where's warm and she can come and go as she likes. The garden is a decent size (compared to her!!) and it's totally secure. No one can see her in the garden either.

Inside: would have to limit her to being in the kitchen only. Not sure how she'd be regarding peeing etc. We sort of presumed she'd be happier outside.

I'm really not sure? We only have her a few days so we're just finding our feet with her. She's settling in anyway but I always feel so bad leaving her on her own.

personally I would leave her outside. As long as she has warm shelter from any bad weather and the garden is secure my opinion is that it is better for them to be left out. It avoids the toilet issue if you were ever delayed on your way home etc
My doggie is happier outside definitely where there are more interesting smells, loves loughing in the sun etc. I always feel bad leaving her alone but she just sleeps when we are not there.
I find leaving her outside since she was young has really toughened her up in comparasion to friends dogs' who were left inside all day. I know our dog doesn't bark so there is no chance of her annoying the neighbours. I also find she sheds less than dogs which are left inside all the time (not that this would be a deal breaker or anything but its just nice )

if i left her inside she would be very destructive and I would hate to keep her locked in her crate all day.

SorrentoWife wrote: between the 2 of them they've managed to take one piece out of the fence and now spend the evening with their nose in the gap sniffing each other! And its stopped them barking at each other like they used to do.

That's hilarious!

She's actually very happy outside, not a bother on her so really we should probably keep her out. Even when we're home in the evening and leave the back door open she'll go out and chew on her bone thing out on the grass. And she's def warm and sheltered in the shed too.