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Are you able to tell me how you did take it? :D I just had a go, I think I took about 100, the majority of which were terrible Some were nice of the dogs but appalling of me. Thanks BB :p My patience has certainly improved with photography, hehe.

Awww, fabulous self portraits everyone! I don't know how you do it, all my attempts with Chelsea were abysmal I should try again now that I have a tripod. CM, the wagging tail and his expression are so cute.

Oh yeah, I can definitely see Kelpie in there. We think Scarlet is crossed with Greyhound. 4 today, gotta make the most of the last day - Bloody butterfly landed 2 metres above my head making it really hard to take :D Trying something different- Scarlet escaping from the heat- Chelsea lying in the direct sun, stupid dog :p -

Here you go, let me know if you'd like anything changed -

When she's gotten a bit playful with Shmoo and Mike we've attempted to get her involved in a game a couple of times but mostly it's just freaked her out or put her off. Often you can tell she'd really love to approach them or have a game/pat with them but she's just too scared to. She'd even relax around them and get all bouncy and start wagging her tail occasionally, but she still never approaches them - for fear something will happen to her if she does I guess. The only person she's really warmed up to and had cuddles with was my aunt who's 4"9 so I think height must be a big factor for her, and gender. ETA: Sorry, we haven't tried really tasty foods, we will next time.

Okay, thanks Haven....as I said I'll talk to the vet about it and see what they suggest. MSOM, it would be a toss up between food and prey drive but I would say food conquers. She does love her toys, but she's much more likely to take food from Mike than to have a game with him.

Sure thing, will get onto it now Amme is absolutely divine!

Thanks for that Cordy, that sounds like it could be promising. She was prescribed Valium once before but I don't think I was consistent enough with it. I'll talk to the vet about it again. Do you think regular rescue remedy would be of any use? Thanks again.

We haven't actually - I talked to Steve about it a year and a bit ago and he said he'd see her but if she wouldn't let him near her there wouldn't be much he could do. It would be worth a shot though I guess. ETA: I guess there has been a lot of inconsistent flooding over the past two years. It's just difficult to be consistent with it, or to not do it at all, as it's hard to revolve your life around your dog. Also, because I've been sick for the whole time we've had her, having guests or people staying with us is a very irregular thing, so I guess when it happens she does get flooded all of a sudden and then it won't happen again for another few months. I hope that makes sense.

Awww, that's fabulous BB, really gorgeous shot What cross do you think she is?

Rofl, that shot is hilarious CM! Another final one for the day - trying to play tug-o-war and take a photo at the same time isn't easy-

Yeah, that's exactly it - people often can't grasp the reality. Midol has stayed here for longer periods than my dad, but not regularly. Only three times in 2 years I think, and Shmoo's only ever stayed for one day/night. God Michael's memory is bad Not 6 days, it was an evening and a morning - I'd guess about 12 hours if that. She ate half her dinner, but when we got back we don't think she'd had anything to drink the whole time hence why we don't want to leave her alone with him for a larger period of time.

Mag, absolutely love that flower shot! Really stunning Steph, that third one of Darcy is awesome Love the focus. Thanks CM! Think the third is my favourite

This could very well be part of the problem if she is picking up on your stress. How is she when you are not around, or when it is just her and your Dad? Sorry, I should've worded that better. I just mean that I get upset when I think about not having been able to help. Generally when he comes around I remain very relaxed and casual. When she's left with my dad alone she remains very anxious and gets stressed to the point where she won't eat or drink - when he's around she mostly gets too focused on him to care or worry about anything else. Not that I am aware of unfortunately. It explains a lot if it is the case because I know with Loki there are so many behaviours and reactions I see in him that just can't be explained because he simply doesn't have normal responses anymore. I've consulted with some very knowledgable trainers and behaviourists and despite having lived with him for 8 years or so now he's still a mystery in so many ways and he probably always will be. That's how I feel about Chelsea really. I understand one side of her, the side I get to see when it's just Mum and me in the house, but when strangers are around she's a completely different dog and I really don't understand what's going on in her head that makes her so terrified and act the way she does. I would truly like to know what happened to her before we got her. Thanks again for your input.

Oh if it's the second last day I don't feel so bad about posting 5

Much happier with today's photos. Sorry, couldn't decide what to upload - Montall, that water is really bizarre! Kirislin love that shadow shot

No, it did - sorry, I didn't word my post well. I was just agreeing with you that flooding isn't always effective. Would you mind expanding on your last paragraph? For instance, what could we be doing to flood her subconsciously? Thanks for your help! That's interesting to hear, is there anything that can be done about it? I don't think we'll ever see complete rehabilitation but I remain hopeful that she can improve. I mean, she already has improved with Michael, Shmoo, my aunt, a family friend, just never with my dad. Thinking about it, she definitely is better than when we first got her - I guess I just feel very disappointed that I haven't been able to get her used to being around my dad. It upsets me to see her reaction every time he comes over and every time I attempt to do something to help. I feel very helpless about it all.

Thanks CM I've felt very meh about the last two lots of photos but everyone has their good and bad days. Am very determined to get a sharp, focused shot of Scarlet playing though. Love your shots today, the first is my favourite. Your use of shadows is brilliant.

Cosmolo, I guess that's mostly directed at Mike, but as I stated above I won't be flooding her - as you said, when not done correctly it can be counter productive. I think I could do properly but even then I don't believe it would improve things. It's just not a method I believe in. Kelpie, I hadn't heard that before, I'll keep it in mind. So far she absolutely refuses to take any food or treats from my dad's hand, but has eaten a small amount of dinner in his presence. She will take treats from Mike and eat in his presence though, the fear is definitely at its worst around my father.

Pretty bleh today-

Exactly, there's no point having her out if she's going to pace and hide the entire time - and when she is in her crate and covered up, she's missing out on all the attention and interaction the other two are getting, so I look at it as her loss. I still honestly don't think she uses it to her advantage, we have tried to have her do things with my dad and none have resulted in anything positive. It's a difficult situation because while we do try to get her to push herself a bit, forcing her too much just freaks her out. Obviously my dad does do very little with her, and while I don't like it, I'm not going to force her to be near him because she simply gets her self into a state of panic. Anyway, as I said we'll give the feeding idea a go - it's not forceful and it makes her decide whether she'll get over it and go near him. Thanks again.

She's been ignored by everyone for the past year or so - she only ever gets attention when she makes the effort to approach people. The fear around my dad is definitely genuine. She doesn't have any say in anything - if she wants to be reassured or comforted by us when strangers are around, we ignore her - we never reinforce her fear. Her 'shying behaviour' never gets her attention. If she decides that she doesn't want to be near strangers, she gets put in her crate and gets left out of everything - yes that's her decision, but it's also her loss. Honestly, and I don't mean to come across as rude, but I don't think you understand how fearful she really is - it's not an act to get attention and it's not her trying to manipulate us, it's a very genuine fear. Shmoo, Midol and a few others have experienced it and agree. I'll get my dad to feed her for a few weeks and see what comes of it anyway. Thanks.

Thanks for that Sam. Chelse has now been around my dad nearly daily for two years with essentially no improvement, so I really can't figure that one out. She's improved with Michael, Shmoo, my aunt, one or two family friends, but will have nothing to do with my dad. He's a very gentle guy and has been willing to try taking her for small walks and also tried offering her food/feeding her on and off for the past year or so, lying on the ground (to reduce his 'threatening' appearance) and waiting for her to approach him, but there's been no improvement. The only reason I can put this down to is that he's very tall and quite sturdily built - I guess she could also have a bad association with a man like that. We'll definitely keep doing what we've been doing in regards to Michael, but I'm at a loss as to what to do with my dad - I don't think she'll ever warm up to him at this point.

I'll just add that when we move out together we might think about bringing Chelsea to live with us for a few weeks - unless anyone thinks that would be a bad idea? From my perspective she improves just by being around people. We just had my aunt down from my 18th and Chelsea got very comfortable with her, she had lots of cuddles and pats and would come to her when called.

Thanks a lot for all the compliments guys! :rolleyes: Scarlet does look quite similar to Bindi, BB. -- Lea gorgeous shots, love the first. Montall, gorgeous kookaburras! PPS, gorgeous mist Kirislin, such a cute shot AM, love that one of Kodi Huga, gorgeous shot, love Harry in the background Steph, that one of Darcy is so cute Tlc, that rose is stunning! ETA: Overuseage of gorgeous..