Tuesday 1 May:
OK..So this is new territory for me - I don't really know what I'm doing here.  Went to the vet's to fix up the account for poor old Kerin and told them about Crawford and they gave me a 'Puppy Care' sheet.  Decided to go back to the petshop and ask all the questions that had suddenly arisen, such as "How do I get him to get used to being left alone?" and "How do I train him that the garden is actually his toilet?"  The lady at the petshop kindly wormed him for me - don't have to worry until Aug 1st now...Bought him some dried pigs ears which he loves to chew on and spent $13 on a toy that he has shown not the slightest bit of interest in...Tonight he stayed in his basket until 4am and then I let him on my bed.

Wednesday 2 May:
Decided to go to the local library and pick up some books on training dogs...Picked up 4 which I hope teach me some tricks.  Reading all the info so far, it looks like we're doing OK.

Friday 4 May:
Went shopping tonight for 2 hours & asked my mother to babysit..Dropped him off and away we went..Upon our return 2 hours later, my mother was drained as he started crying and howling as soon as we left, running around her house and pulling cushions off sofa's etc...He finally settled not long before we returned - might have to wait a while til we ask mum to babysit again...

Monday 7 May:
Well it's back to work for me on Wednesday, so I'm trying to get him used to spending a couple of hours in the laundry.  He's been in there for about 10 mins, and is howling incessantly ...

Tuesday 15 May:
It's been over a week since I added anything here - as you can see.  Well, so far no complaints from the neighbours, so I can only assume that Crawford is reasonably happy when I'm at work.  I decided against the laundry and keep him outside when I'm not home as he gets rather distressed being locked in a room alone - I bought one of those door barriers so he could see the rest of the house, but he didn't like that either.  Now that we're getting some cold weather, I purchased him a kennel today and I'm pleased to say that he seems to like it.  I coaxed him in there with some of his toys and left him outside for a couple of hours after his dinner and eventually he went inside it on his own...

Wednesday 16 May:
Yes he is happy with his kennel as he had a good couple of hours sleep in it today...Then it was time for his first bath - after initially trying to escape and with lots of "Good boy"s, he finally seemed to accept and possibly even enjoy it - can't say the same for when it was time to blow-dry though! Sat him in front of the heater for most of the drying and then held him securely and did the final touches with the blow-dryer.  Popped his jumper on him - something else he didn't particularly like at first - and now he's sleeping like a baby (which he is!!!)

Wednesday June 5:
Have found a local person who has kennels and runs obedience classes.  Took Crawford for a 90 minute assessment and it was most interesting to watch him respond to somebody who actually knows what they're doing with dogs!  He was a bit scared of her dog though, but that's something we'll be working on at training sessions which we start next week.

Friday August 31:
Well it's been some time since I updated this diary, and I received an email today from someone who just got a pup and thought I must get back into it...Crawford is doing really well...He loves his weekly obedience class and just when I thought nothing seemed to be sinking in I was outside one day telling him to sit and stay when it just seemed to click! So my advice to anyone starting out at dog training - just persevere and it will eventually pay off.
We still have a problem with toilet training though - he's not always inside, but when he is he will just pee on the carpet if I don't see the telltale signs that he needs to go, so any advice re: that would be appreciated..He also jumps up and down at the glass sliding door nonstop sometimes when he is put outside and I just don't know how to get him to stop it..I was expecting that he might cry a bit but I certainly wasn't expected this - & it's driving us all nuts!! I'm also selling my house  and although I don't expect to move for 3 to 6 months, any  advice re: making the move as pleasant as possible for Crawford would be greatly appreciated...Something else to report, he's started getting carsick sometimes and although I'm yet to try it, ginger has been recommended - anybody have any comments re: this? If so, why not post them on the messageboard...and that's all I have for now - bye