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  • http://have-the-t-shirt.blogspot.com/ Have The T-Shirt

    She is so adorable, were she mine, she’d be out of the crate and in bed with me…not that I’d recommend that :P

  • mc

    oh, guys. That stinks. We lost our minds and ended up with THREE miniature schnauzers (two girls and a boy). The girls took to housebreaking right away and whine when they need to go out. The boy is convinced out futon is the hotspot for, uh, relieving himself (thank god it is older than dirt). He has figured out how to flatten himself out enough that he fits under there and that is his choice spot for pooping. We tried blocking his access. Well, then…one time, I was napping on the futon. I woke up to his butt right next to my head with poop coming out. Literally, there was two inches between the poop coming out of his rear and my eyeballs. Had I not been dying with ANOTHER cold, I probably would have sent him flying. into orbit.

    Good thing all three of them are so darn cute. However, we just got everyone fixed this weekend and it seems that after 4 months of doing well we are starting over again. My advice? Fix her now, while you are already miserable (or as soon as your vet says it is ok).

  • http://kiwi-kath.diaryland.com Kiwi_kath

    Jon, I feel your pain! I concur with most people’s responses about crate training, with a couple of words of caution. I assume you are already using a crate. But if not, it is certainly the way to go. I have trained 2 Belgian Sheepdogs easily that way.
    One thing about crates — usually they are too big for a puppy, so blocking part of it off can be helpful to get her to settle down. I did it with a cardboard box with both of mine until they got big enough to need more room.
    My 2.5 year old still sleeps in her crate in our bedroom. She was one to whine and fuss when she was a puppy, and my vet gave me the same advice some people here are saying: put the crate far away and let her fuss while you get some sleep. So I tried this, getting up after a few hours to take her outside. You would not believe what I found when I went to get her: it was a WAR ZONE. She had pooped in the crate and obviously become insanely frantic because poop was painted all over the inside of the crate and all over her. It was a nightmare.
    That was last time I ever had her sleep in another room. For quite a while, I had to calm her fussing by dragging myself out of bed and talking to her or putting my hand in the crate to comfort her, but within days she was sleeping through the night with no problem.

  • mc

    oh, i forgot. When we asked the vet about crate training (all three sleep in their own crates and refuse to share a bed with us…they pace and whine until we put them to bed in their own beds), she said to make sure they have only enough space to lay down. More than that and then can avoid the poop. We were absolutely horrified and gave them run of the crate. Well, they’d just poop in the crate and sleep, unaffected, on the other side. We tried blocking them off and after two solid weeks of no accidents (after one horrific one the first night), we let them have run of the crate and they are happy as clams.

    they will also happily sleep piled in the one crate (we got it as a hand me down and it’s much larger than a schnauzer could ever really need), but they seem to prefer their own space if they have the choice. However, zero tolerance on sleeping without being surrounded by bars.

  • http://www.jillshalvis.com/blog Jill S.

    We got a Holy terror on Thanksgiving in the form of a baby brown lab. I feel your pain. If I don’t get sleep soon, I’m going to go evil myself.

  • http://www.jillshalvis.com/blog Jill S.

    P.S. Our first dog is the same breed as Coco, and I can promise you one thing. If you let her walk or hike every day, she will become a great pet. She just needs to feel like she’s got a job.

  • Lisa S.

    While I know nothing about Coco’s breed, seems to me that getting her wasn’t an idle idea, she’s just proven to be more of a dog than Chuck is. Leroy (my 10-month old mutt blend of American bulldog/Boston terrier) is more of one than my last dog Braz was, so I know of which you speak. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Leroy is redecorating my dining room with his crate sheets/blankets/towels.

  • Sarah

    When our dog was a puppy we tried to crate train her in the kitchen. By night two, we couldn’t stand the yelping anymore. (she was a Rhodesian Ridgeback). We ended up putting the crate in our bedroom and never looked back. I’m sure she will get used to Leta popping in and out, at least she better, since that will go on for a bit longer. Honestly, it saved our sanity. Keep up the humerous posts, I love them :)

  • http://winecat.typepad.com winecat

    But you have to admit it’s a damn cute face!

  • jenn

    Absolutely goregous!!! I don’t believe you.

  • pnutsugar

    We got a our female yellow lab at 8 weeks old and let her sleep on the bed. It’s a high king-size bed, and she couldn’t get down on her own. Put her on a huge towel folded in half, and if she got up and started walking around durig the night, I’d take her out. This seemed to do the trick and she was trained in no time and never whined. Of course it’s like being in labor…it seems like foreve when you’re doing it but seems like nothing after it’s over. Oh, and we did somewhat limit her water after about 7 at night.

    On the down-side, we now have a 100 lb lab who thinks the bed is hers and likes to sleep up on the pillows curled up between us.…luckily I get the head right next to mine on my pillow, and my husband get the .…well, you know…even though she is definitely a Daddy’s Girl! She growls when I push her out of the way to turn over!

    And you and Heather keep up the sarcasm.…it keeps me coming back!!

  • Debbie

    I keep telling ya’: You are just at the beginning of a lifetime, yeah, lifetime, of a high-maintenance dog. Those herders are really something. My Belle is 10 years old and has been a challenge each and every day of those 10 years. Welcome to my life. And no, I wouldn’t change it for anything, but I will not do it again; next time I’m getting a dumb mutt.

  • http://www.aliceqfoodie.com Alice Q. Foodie

    The best solution to this is normally lots of exercise — the hikes are a great idea — hopefully if she’s tired she sleeps at night! Then again, some puppies just cry and cry at night, ours certainly did. In that case? I recommend the soft fleshy colored earplugs they sell at Target, in the same section with the eyedrops. Also — don’t give in — it just trains her to keep it up!

  • Patti

    Ours would get me up in the night to take her to pee, then when I put her back in the crate, she’d HOWL. I remember after the 3rd week of getting up and staying up with her at 5am, just looking at her and starting to cry — I didn’t even think she was cute anymore. I was a single mom and my son was having health issues at the time, it was overwhelming. She was the dominant one in the litter and things got better after I learned how to (gently) (firmly) become the dominant dog of the pack. A great book — The Other End of the Leash — really helped me understand her. I’m more of a cat person, I found. I am really enjoying the Coco pictures. From a distance. :)

  • http://www.snugglebugg.com/sagepixie Amy

    Y’know for the 4th of July my vet gave me valium for my Aussie. You can look online for the correct dosage. I’m not saying for all the time but for sometimes it may probably be ok.

  • Amanda
  • AnnieR

    After raising 2 rottweilers and teaching various obedience classes for 8 years, I was pretty sure I’d seen it all. Than we got an aussie. My Pixel is also a black tri, he and Coco look so much alike I freak out a little everytime you post a new picture. I’m beginning to believe that they’re cross country mind melding and sharing their evil plans to drive us all crazy. Thank god for agility classes and the dog park.

  • Debbie

    I so agree with an earlier poster who said these wonderful little souls really need a job. When Belle was younger, we went to agility and flyball, and she did really well when she had these “jobs” to do. I’ve never been an athlete, so having an athletic dog who needed the activity was really helpful to me but sure didn’t give her the intensity she needed. Still, it was great for both of us. Cocosweetieface might like to have a small pack on her back eventually. Yeah, exercise is the key to happiness and family tranquility with these little ones. Cesar Milan is so right on… exercise, discipline, then affection.

  • Brandy

    The bottom line is that your dog is unique and may or may conform to “breed characteristics”. As long as you are doing what is right for your family and taking care of yourselves and your pup then, of course, that’s all anyone can ask of you.

    Our first pup was a dream potty training wise…number 2…well let’s just say number 2 is an appropriate way to refer to her. I hope Coco becomes (is, maybe) the companion you would like her to be! Our little pooper sure has.

  • c3str

    This was a permanent state of affairs with our previous (FEMALE) border collie.

    And before anyone launches another “should’ve done your research” rant, this was a breed that we had owned previously, researched extensively, volunteered with the rescue, gone through every training class with a nationally recognized local positive-reinforcement-based behaviorist… So, yeah.

    Talk to every (reputable) local Aussie rescue for tips and tips and even more tips, really. They are often glad to help. The sad truth is we went through about 4 years of this and eventually rehomed our girl. It’s a serious issue with these breeds, one that doesn’t necessarily resolve with the end of puppy days and housebreaking.

    I don’t say this as some kind of grim reaper, I just think better to know that it’s not necessarily a temporary puppy-related state. Good luck as she grows older—you are extremely committed owners and I know you’re working hard at it.

  • jami

    My puppy is 6 months old, I got her in the Fall so I’m living your life 2 months before you.

    It got a LOT better in the 3rd/4th month.

  • http://greatdayinmaine.blogspot.com Leesavee

    I have a holy terror (unholy terror) of a dachshund. After far too many sleepless nights (Roscoe would get so upset by the crate that he’d vomit all over himself), we finally brought him to bed with us. That was five years ago. As soon as he got into our bed, he became the best sleeper ever. And yes, I know that the Dog Whisperer says it’s best not to sleep with your dogs, but WE NEEDED SLEEP! We now have a second dog, and he occasionally sleeps with us, too, but we got him as a rescue, so he was past the puppy stage when he arrived. Hallelujah for that.

    Both of our dogs do what Coco does…if they can see out a window, they NEED to be guarding the house and barking at every leaf, bird, person, cloud formation that comes within view. They are constantly on ALERT! MY GOD, THERE’S THE MOON!!! BARKBARKBARKBARKBARK! IT MIGHT ATTACK!!! TAKE COVER, PEOPLE!!! BARKBARKBARKBARKBARK!

    And yet, I love them.

  • http://www.greeblemonkey.com Aimee Greeblemonkey

    Evil comes in cute packages. It’s mother nature’s Darwinism.

  • http://www.thelisashow.com The Lisa Show

    We don’t get Australian Shepherds here. Send her my way?

  • http://susheela.tumblr.com Susheela

    Thought I’d throw my two cents in ;)

    We just got a Wheaten at 9 weeks old and he would whimper and cry for much of the night (and they’re generally quiet dogs), but after we started covering his crate with a blanket at night (and sometimes during naps in the day) he quiets down 10 times quicker. I’d try that out if you haven’t!

    Beautiful dog :)

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