Bubitty

Here are some photos of Bubby and his Bitty: Mini Me and Big Me: Can't sleep without a cuddle big brother! Someone get this puppy off my nose! Best friends! Just chilling!

Oh MrsD I so wish they had something like this in Sydney!!! I would be there in a heartbeat!!!!! OH is going to cry when I show him this! (He's always wanted her to do doggy dancing!)

Bubby loves loves loves his Bitty! The first time he met her he bounded up to her. Poor baby was so scared of him she let out this anguish howl and he rolled over on his back straight away. She’s going on 11 months and I am still waiting for that puppy licence to run out because she wreaks absolute havoc on him but to be honest I think he loves it! He works by the “never tell her off and try to ignore all bad behaviour” principle which isn’t very successful for him because she is quite a menace and he just never tells her off for anything! He is not a cuddly dog by nature but if Bitty feels like a cuddle (she is a major cuddler), cuddle he will! He’s also a lot more active these days. A few months before Bitty came home he seemed to reach this point where all he would do was sit around and look morose. These days they are always up to something, ratting, wrestling, tugging with toys, chasing each other or lazing around looking content. One thing I am really big on is separating them so that they can both stand on their own without the other one.

Labsrule has said it beautifully in relation to the labs and I echo her sentiments in relation to the Goldie. I have two goldens and I sincerely think they are not suited to being outside dogs. Goldens enjoy nothing more than being around their family members and always having their nose in on the family action.

BooBooBear try looking into clicker training! I highly recommend it . It is excellent for tiring out little puppies and it makes the pup think and work things out for themselves. Have you also tried training him to be calm? One thing I did with Bitty that was useful was I trained her to sit on a mat calmly. I also liked this exercise where I would have her “stay” on the porch and I would be inside but she was to sit calmly outside even though she could see me through the screen door. This was useful because later on it clicked with her that sometimes, she will be in a different place to mummy and she was to be calm about it and not fuss.

I dont know if my dogs are just naturally quite chilled about being alone but since the day I got them I have done my best to make sure they cope when I am at work. In the very beginning I started by leaving the house for very short periods and leaving them with a bowl of soup or a small piece of cake and a nice bone hoping that they would associated yummy things with being alone. Then I left them for longer periods, still with treats and treasures. With Bitty, even though she and Bubby adore each other I make sure they get a separate afternoon walk every day and I make Bitty spend most days at home separated from Bubby just so that she can stand on her own and cope without "Brother" always having to be around. That said, I do wonder if its just nature. They don't get ruffled over much really so to me it doesn't seem like they are the type who will get upset over being left alone.

Never used it!!! And probably never will either! Hehehe I must confess I do like reading the more "fiery" threads!

Yeah - but aren't they clever? She can't speak English but she still got her message across to you. Dogs are awesome, aren't they? She is totally awesome! I am just so surprised she is willing to do all this stuff for a game! Not the sort of experience I imagined having with my dog!!! But its totally wonderful!!!!

I think I get it! At any rate the toy now become so helpful!!!! THANK YOU again so much everyone!!! I was so upset when everytime I tried to do something with her she would pick up a toy and playbow!

Honestly............I have no idea what this means!!!! I'm not sure what you mean by into drive. Right now I am just asking her to do stuff and when she does I play a game with her. I take it that its fine for me to train her with food if it works? Cuz I taught her to bow with food and I cant imagine doing bow with tug. Well I could play tug with her after she bows but I cant imagine teaching her to bow from scratch by playing tug if that makes sense! ETA: Heheh just read Kavik's response!!! Sort of get it now! She does go nuts playing tug and am finding it very good for when she has to run off and pick up stuff to bring to me!!! Thank you!!!!

Hi Guys! Another question! Today has been awesome for us! We've done like all sorts of things and she's mighty happy at getting a game of tug or fetch at the end of every trick I want her to do. Should I try to use food as well? Or should I only use food to teach those tricks which need a really quick instant reward? Its early days but I am getting a MUCH more enthusiastic response than I ever did with food! Even really good food!

I think if I had a Coolie now, I'd have a fighting chance at making it a happy dog, back then most likely I would have botched up the poor thing! at your border collie!

Was his breeding bad Rozzie or was it the wrong breed for you?

Wolfsong: You poor thing. I honestly at one stage thought that the way to get a Golden was to go to every pet store until I found some on display. I didn't know there were breeders as in proper people who bred purebred dogs! Didn't know there were lines, health tests, registration etc!

Oh dear what happened?

I was reading Jed's thread about the Coolie and it made me think of back when I was looking for a dog. A guy at work told me his friend had a litter of Coolies and that they were JUST like Labs and Goldens (the two breeds I was tossing up at the time). At this stage I had no idea what a Coolie was! I googled it and it didn't look anything like a golden! Rang up the people who had the litter and they assured me that the dogs temps were just like goldens! So I tried to read up on them a bit more and was really confused as they were a herding breed and I was sure goldens didn't herd anything! In the end I decided against it and two years later we got Bubby who was just the easiest first dog ever! I shudder to think what would have happened had I come home with a Coolie! It would surely have ended in tears! Any Dolers had any near misses like this?

Just wanted to thank everyone for all your help!!!! I think I have finally cracked through with my little feral!!!! Even though she has just been desexed she's been a nutter and keeps bringing me toys. So I have been going through her old, less straining tricks with her and rewarding with a tug (nothing too excitable or physical) and I THINK SHE GETS IT!!!!!!!!!! It works so much better than food!!!!! She's doing what I ask and waiting for the tug!!!!!!!!!!!

Am feeling so proud of my gorgeous Bubby! He is such a wonderful big brother and a gentleman! I feed the dogs at the same time next to each other. Bubby, being much bigger always finishes his meal first! He doesn't even look at Bitty's bones or food when he's done! He just lines up at the back door, wags his tail at me to be let in!!!! Also every time I let him lick the yoghurt lid he always licks half and stops because I give the other half to Bitty! And he always sticks to his own hand when they are both given a hand of icing each to lick (Bitty is known to sneak in a few licks on the hand that belongs to Bubby!). Also when she was a baby Bitty would sometimes protest a bit when put to bed in her crate! I'd always look at Bubby, say "Can you take one for the team Bubs?" and off he would trot, lie next to her crate which would stop her protesting straight away! I am just so appreciative of how easy he makes my life!

But I'm not!!! Everytime she bounces her daddy and I wince! She was crash tackling Bubby this morning and the poor boy was trying his best to play gently with her! Big brother is officially off limits to her for now!

Methinks I may do practices for veeeeeeery long stays She is back to being quite the menace!

Whoops! Yes I meant hop! No its her way of trying to get me to do loud noisy things with her! When she wants a cuddle she lies down and taps her tail!

She's tried to hop onto my lap a few times which is really disconcerting. I think I will brave it out for 3 full days and then do a slow walk on lead!

Looks like I am going to have to get creative with the kong!!!! I shall try to massage her while watching Up!!!

Bitty just got desexed yesterday. I am to keep her inside and quiet but she is back to her normal self again and I am finding the task more difficult. Any ideas on what I can do with her? I cant even train her because that requires a lot of movement! The next 10 days is going to drive me off the rails!!!!!

Dug is secretly really Bubby