Naomi

We've raised an Australian Shepherd puppy before, but I guess all are different. This girl's herding instinct seems a lot stronger than our first Aussie.

She is much better when it is just walking with her (and no pram), but still a bit bitey with the leash. We had a dog trainer come down and check out our situation. She has advised to teach our pup 'leave it' and 'look at me'. We have started these commands and teaching her to 'leave it' with treats. She's picked it up really well. Our plan is to get this solid inside and then outside in our yard. Then we will introduce the pram while someone else is getting her attention to 'leave it' and 'look at me'. Does this sound like a good start? I just don't know how to progress from her not reacting to the pram going past her to actually getting her walking alongside the pram? Seems like a big jump. What's the middle step here?

My four month old Australian Shepherd puppy is biting the pram wheels so badly we can't walk at all anymore. The moment we start moving she starts going for them. Once she is in this mind set she will also play with the leash by biting at it and walking along with it in her mouth. So far we have tried using a chain leash, but she still bites this. And we have tried putting a bitter spray deterrent on the wheels. Someone even suggested putting Vicks on the wheels, but she still bites them regardless. Any advice would be appreciated as I love taking my toddler and my dog for walks and not being able to do so is affecting all three of us!!

Luckily I don't think I've had to deal with vom on the carpet. Our boy gives us way too much warning. It's only happened a few times .. He smiles. His lips pull up at the side and he gets this hilarious sleezy smiley look on his face. But at the time OH and I are usually going "he's smiling!!!! Quick get him outside!"

Because I work as a graphic designer for a plants company, I'm pretty lucky to get to photograph new varieties. These are a couple of our new hellebores.

I'm using PS too. :)

I actually copied the eye from another photo I took of him during that session and replaced the squinty eye and made sure to blend the fur around the eye using the clone tool. :)

Wow Snooks! You did a great job getting rid of the bed. Here are some of mine:

Well my Aussie is the opposite of lazy, so OH and I have taken on board all your suggestions and we think we will get another adult Aussie. We both love Bernese Mountain Dogs, but I think it would be best if we wait until later in life for a Bernese. Besides, you can't stop at one Aussie! :laugh:

How big is the whole where the food falls out? Would it be big enough for Advance all breed kibble to fall out? ETA: if not, will it cope with some drilling or will that crack the plastic?

Hardwood Floorboards are definitely the healthiest and easiest to clean flooring option. And they look the nicest in my opinion. Even with scratches. Including the dog as part of the family will most likely result in scratches but that is all a part of living. I think someone has mentioned it gives the floor 'character'. That's how I like to see it. :)

I'm just so glad that things have worked out so well for Ned. :)

We are putting bamboo floors down in our house. It's meant to be the hardest wearing. I've only lived in carpeted places before.

Archie - 6 weeks old Archie - 10 weeks old Archie - 7 months old

Haha! When Archie was a puppy I had a lot of people asking if he was a Bernese Mountain Dog? :laugh:

Yes Archie loves to play, to the point of not knowing when to stop. His best friend is a lab cross who keeps up with him and they both seem to tucker out at the same time, which is very convenient. This is why I had originally considered an adult Bernese, but they would obviously be very hard to come by. I think if I was going to go the Bernese route, this would be the way to go. I'm assuming that crate training works just as well for Bernese as it does for other breeds. Archie sleeps in his at night, so I would have to be fair. :p Thank you. Archie wants to be friends with every dog he meets. :) Lots to think about.

Beautiful shots. You've captured some perfect moments. Did you see any lions? :) What is South Africa like to visit? Is it a safe place?

OH and I are hoping to start building a house soon. It is on a 3 acre block of land. Our current housing situation only allows for one dog but we were planning on another when we were in the new place. We are trying to decide between getting another adult Aussie or our other dream breed, a Bernese Mountain Dog. To me, an Aussie and a Berner are completely different breeds and I'm wondering how much that should factor into the decision. That's why I had originally thought another Aussie would be the way to go. Same requirements, energy levels, etc. Do you own two different breeds? How does it work for you. Just thinking ahead because if we decide on a Bernese I understand that there can be a long waiting list.

My Aussie boy was often confused with a Berner as a pup. As an adult people call him a BC.

I had a similar thing with Archie the other day. Our street is a new sub division. There was a lady who protested the idea of the sub division and now she walks her large dog and tiny dog up the street everyday. I was going past with Archie once and the larger dog lunged at Archie and pulled the lady over into the grassy ditch. I am so glad she didn't let go. The dog was way too large for her to handle. Pretty scary.

I've just put a Sony tx20 on layby. I'll let you know how it is when I get it. My main reasons for getting it were the seamless panorama option, waterproof, and the hd video was in mp4 format (which meant I could edit it in iMovie). Basically thought it would bd great for our upcoming Fijian honeymoon but it will be interesting to see how it goes in everyday scenarios as well as indoor shots.

With Nemo, when did you make the next step to making him 'come' when he was with other dogs? I have a similar issue with Archie and I don't want to go up to this step too early because he already ignores me enough when he is with other dogs. But like Nemo, he will come away from scent distractions, etc. Just not the dog.

I've always wondered this as well!

Archie has very nice crate manners now thanks to the crate games. I haven't gone too far with it, but the basics were enough for me.

I can't afford to buy presets at the moment, so I'll stick to what freebies I can find. But the Pretty Presets look soooo nice. I'm use to working with layers in photoshop, so I might test out the onOne plugin. See how I go. Huga, when you saw find something specific for RAW, should I only be downloading presets saying they are compatible with RAW? Because I often edit photos while they are in RAW. Here is the first photo I had a play with last night. He is our neighbours dog. A bit overdone maybe. Ha. More purchase presets: http://www.rebeccalily.com/lightroom-presets.php http://lt-photography.org/lightroom-presetss/colour-recipe-maker/ Free presets: http://hochzeitsfotografin-in-owl.de/index2.php?v=v2#!/Freebies http://www.flickr.com/groups/presets/discuss/72157612664073371/