B-Q

Have started agility and herding with Quinn. Quite serious about getting involved but we're only starting out, in future would also like to get into flyball and mabe obedience. If the oppurtunity came up would also like to try my hand at some sort of tracking or scent detection work (met someone this week thats trying to talk me into SAR) And in future I'm very interested in some sort of protection sport but no rush on that and I'd take on a different breed. (I have an unhealthy adoration for Malinois but don't know if I could ever handle one)

Buster tells Quinn off for annoying the cat, or digging in the bed or scratching at doors but they all know not to mess with the cat...

I don't have much advice because I'm not much of a camper but I grew up in Katherine and my advice would be to not leave him loose unsupervised. One of my friends had his dog taken by a croc right in front of him when walking his two dogs along the edge of the river IN TOWN. There are massive crocodiles out there that will happily eat people let alone dogs. I used to walk Buster down through the bush near the river but not near the water, he went out of sight once and my heart stopped when I saw him down getting a drink. Sure you'd probably be pretty unlikely to have something that tragic happen (I also would often see people letting up to 5 dogs splash around and swim in the river) but you'd be kicking yourself if it did. Enjoy yourself though, its the msot beautiful place in the world up there, I miss it everyday.

I'll be watching this thread aswell. I want to start buying some equipment soon to start working more at home and would love to know more about what people find more important to have first and what can stay out in the weather and what needs to come in.

Yeah - but I found the cheese went a bit crumbly after I defrosted it so I didn't use ti this time. Oh I don't think I could stomach frying it....does it smell? Yeah - bad. I've done it enough recently though that it doesn't bother me anymore, I just do it when noone else is home. lol My family never forgave me the time they came home to find liver in the dehydrator and the entire house smelling of it. Everyone that knows me thinks I'm the most revolting vegetarian they have ever met.

I just got done frying and chopping hearts, liver, chicken breast and kabana for the next few weeks. I do enough up to last me a few weeks at a time, resulting in a couple of hours work to lead to this. I suppose Im also lucky that Quinn will work for ANYTHING. I took bits of zuchini in her treat bag yesterday and she's happy with them aswell.

I'm lucky enough to work in a restaurant so I bring home a lot of half eaten parmi's and steaks to chop up. When I don't remember to keep the leftovers I buy a mix of things, chop them up, mix them together, divide them into containers an freeze them. I just got back from the supermarket now and tomorrow will be frying and chopping up some breef heart, lamb liver, kabana and chicken to freeze for the next few weeks training. I also sometimes buy those dry liver treats and smackos and chuck them in with the wet treats, that way they soften up.

I chose the second answer. Quinn either sleeps in her crate or on my bed, ususally about half and half. I have one crate set up in the loungeroom and one in my room with beds in them. Tossing up if I should buy another one for the car... hmmm.

Well definetly don't feel too down about it yet. You've still got plenty more months of teenage fun ahead of you. lol

How old is Echo? I know you've been having issues feeling bonded with him for a while and I feel for you. Quinn has been testing me so much for the last couple of months. Its only been the last few days that she seems to have come around to her post-teen self and I know we're not out of the woods yet. She's put me in tears a few times over the last few months, I felt like we were just a bad match and wondered if getting a BC was a mistake. I do feel for you. I hope things all work out.

I'm lucky I've got lots of time at home atm. I only work about 30 hours a week and I still live at home. Plus we have a agility twice a week and herding about once a fortnight. so that keeps me on track on what I need to be working on.

It took me a few weeks to bond with Quinn. With Buster it was the second I saw him. Quinn was so new and different for me, this brand new puppy that I had waited for years to have was finally here and I kept thinking "she doesn't like me that much, she doesn't want to play, she ignores me" etc. It did take quite a few weeks and constant worry that she wasn't going to be what I wanted. She turns 12 months old in a week or so and I now love her as much as I love Buster, I truely couldn't imagine life without her.

We feed mostly raw, about twice a week they get a decent quality kibble (trying out eagle pack atm) with some egg, or tinned fish or yoghurt on top. I couldn't feed just kibble, I'd worry about their teeth.

Oh yeah. Border Collie Kelpie Smooth Collie Bullmastiff Borzoi Greyhound Pug Chihuahua More than likely I'll just have BC's and Kelpies for quite some time.

Not sure if these have already been posted but I love these clips. The working pitbull Dogs are awesome too

Doesn't really bother me, anywhere on the mainland I guess, outside that I might just have it sent to me. It might be a pain for a couple of days but you'll have the dog for 10 years+

Thank you both for your advice ;) This isn't a head collar but a gentle leader harness. I have never been to a positive only based club before and I am conflicted. I do think a lot of what is said makes sense such as working her at a distance and sub threshold but then I think surely a well timed correction could potentially sort this mess out too. The trainer did suggest I might consider a beviourist but then again that would just be one persons opinion too. Grrrr I am lost. All I know is that this problem has been getting worse - even before I tried the no corrections. This just made me think of something I was reading the other day. I'm not trying to stir anyone up or hijack the thread but I was thinking with a reactive dog, particularily one that is reactive due to fear then wouldn't using +P just teach them not to act out, but doesn't make them feel better, you're relying on the dog keeping itself in check to avoid a leash pop. Whereas slow desensitization will create new associations for what the dog is reactive to? I'm no expert but I am used to dealing with reactive dogs. Buster is DA and Quinn is having some reactivity issues that I'm trying to sort out before they become a problem. Although both my dogs are of incredibly soft temperament, as am I so very gentle training works for me. I did buy a halti for Buster years ago whenI was trying to get his leash walking better (he was a puller for the first 5 years of his life) first time he saw a dog behind a fence, one that he never reacted to anymore and with a halti on he flipped out, lunging, barking and pulling. I couldn't get it off him fast enough and wouldn't use one again. Like others have said, I do think prongs can be a useful training tool but you would have to understand them properly to use them.

remember Quinn at the seminar? not being able to handle watching another dog work? She's still like that, can't be trusted offleash around dogs tugging, doing agility, chasing a ball, working sheep etc, the little twit. Thankfully I've got some help from some decent trainers and hopefully that work+maturity will mean she'll come out the other side like a somewhat normal dog. Until then I'll just resist the urge to drop her over the fence. Although I will say, upping her excercise the last week or so hasmade her much easier to live with.

Has he been to the vet to see if there are unferlying health issues you don'tknow about? also, heres a link on Satin Balls. They are a mix that are meant to put weight on dogs fast, we looked into them when our old girl started loosing weight. but if he's refusing to eat then they may not help. http://www.holisticdog.org/Nutrition/Satin...satinballs.html

Quinn will be done somwhere between about 14 and 24 months. I was planning on doing it after 12 months and after her first heat but the more I read I think the longer I'll wait. If I can't train her to run beside my bike untill she's 18-24 months then I probably won't desex her till then.

It gets worse?! I feel like Poots entered his rotten phase at 10 weeks! What kind of dog is your mum getting? Mums likely getting a koolie. She's been keen to dabble in some sports and maybe herding, she wants something active, trainable, social and athletic. That will be atleast 5 or 6 months away though. We want to let Quinn mature a bit more.

Buster loves hunting but I don't think he's ever caught anything in his life. I was getting a rat out of one of the feed bins yesterday, I was going to walk it down the paddocks and let it go but it jumped out of the bin, landed in front of the terrier mix and scampered off. Buster looked for it for the rest of the afternoon.

This thread is great! Quinn is being a rotten teenager atm so its nice to look at all these "innocent" faces. We might be adding another family member this year aswell, although it will be my mothers baby and I won't have to be doing the 5am toilet trips this time around.

I'm so excited about it, hoping it will be a first stepping stone to learning a lot more. Will send off an email then just to make nothings happened. Glad everyone thats doing it is loving it.

Awesome, I won't worry about it yet. Give it a couple more days anyway. I'm going down south next weekend anyway so there isn't any rush for it.