ell&diesel

I am pretty certain I want an AK... not planning on doing any herding and health testing is a must for me. I think I might have stumbled across some AK lines that still have Black and Tan, but the breeders in those pedigrees don’t have websites that are easy for me to figure out. They breed with I just had a look online and could only find what appears to be an Italian breeder - is that the same one you're referring to? It might be worth looking at some Swedish kennels also, since you're open to importing. Sweden has quite a large AK community and you may have some luck finding breeders of black and tan dogs there. I know a few AK breeders and owners there, I am happy to ask them if they know of any breeders producing black and tan dogs if you like?

You may have some luck looking towards US breeders. There are quite a few there breeding Working Kelpies from well-known australian working lines. Be warned they're a lot more dog than the show line Australian Kelpies and if you are not prepared for a genuinely high-drive working animal, you might be best looking towards the show line AK dogs. I own a WK out of mostly Barru/Karrawarra lines and he is simultaneously amazing and horrific. If you do go down the WK route you will need to lower expectations for health testing. If testing is not negotiable for you, you are best off sticking to the AK (Callicoma would be my personal vote) and accepting that you are most likely going to get a solid-coloured dog.

Both the ANKC and WKC standards call for prick ears, however the WKC is much more accepting of dogs with one or two “floppy” ears because they’re not seen as major faults that could impede the working ability of the dog. Plenty of working line kelpies have rose ears or one-up, one-down. At 9 months I’d say it’s unlikely her ears will come up on their own. My boy (WKC) is 16 weeks and has had both properly up for a while, though some of his siblings are looking like they’ll have rose ears like their sire.

I'm genuinely fascinated and impressed at what school is fostering adult-level literacy skills in five-year-old children. Genuinely. Because from memory, in NSW at least, Foundation Level (read: Kindergarten, i.e. 4 and 5 year old children) literacy skills are focused on things such as phonics awareness and fine motor skills. Would you be willing to share the name of a school that has five year old children reading (and more importantly, comprehending what is read) at the level of an adult?

Just wondering what the relevance of your neighbojr's choice of future dog breed is to...well, anything really. You seem to have already caused quite the ruckus in the Bunnings thread with some of your... opinions. Just wondering why you felt it pertinent to mention the breed of dog your neighbour is choosing to own in the future in response to questions about your own infallible yard containment system?

Ooh I may struggle to get there by 6:30 but I'll try. If I don't get lost, that is I might just come watch one evening and then decide if it's a good idea to bring Trooper. We need to practise playing nicely (I daresay Trooper never learnt any bite inhibition) and ignoring other dogs whilst walking, before I'd feel comfortable mingling with other dogs in a setting like this. If we do end up coming, we might just watch and raise team morale (Trooper makes other dogs look great by comparison :p )

Don't worry ruthless, I'll join you. You can do all the training and I'll watch you and wonder how on earth my backflipping-whirling-dervish-demon-dog-from-hell manages to never learn a single thing I teach her. Maybe afterwards I'll try to get her to display some sort of "heel" for a distance of more than 2 feet while you die of laughter and I die of embarassment. And then after we've both died, Trooper will eat some of my corpse and then run away to find some other unsuspecting owner. Sounds heaps fun, count me in

Trooper got a lump the size of an avacado the day after she got her vaccination, it was on her rump though (that's where she got jabbed). I freaked out, rushed her to the vet (now my ex-vet) and got told it's just a reaction and that a lot of dogs get it. He said it's because there is no sterilising stuff applied to the skin before vaccinations as it can kill the things in the vaccine - I'm not sure how true that is though, because this vet also told me that one week after Trooper got her C5 she would have to come back and get it again to boost it. I'd never heard of this being done (in an 11 month old dog, not a puppy, and certainly not a week after) so rang a few other vet clinics and got told not to do it as it could kill her. As for the lump though, it ill get harder as it shrinks (Trooper's took almost 4 weeks). If it gets bigger or she's displaying other signs of illness, I'd be going to the vet to make sure all is well.

I'm so glad he's getting better, goldengirl. I went looking for the original thread one day (to add more of my enraged thoughts ) and it was gone, so I'm really really glad to find this. I'm also really glad the place is covering all the costs - and that they now use heating mats instead of hot water bottles. Please keep us updated and give Beau a shnuggle from me for being brave

At the puppy preschool we took Diesel to, we'd spend the first half inside discussing things such as diet, worming, vaccinations, socialisation, puppy problems, different training methods (the puppy preschool used positive only; the higher classes used a mix of positive and...negative I suppose, as they used check chains), advantages & disadvantages of harnesses, different collars, halti's, etc, and the advantages of desexing. Then we'd go outside and do some fun training together (sit, down, stand, stay, heel) and then on-lead interaction, with no puppy allowed to bully any others. We got information sheets each week about the topics & training we'd covered, and every puppy got a graduation certificate at the end. We were also encouraged to sign up for the beginner's obedience classes. Altogether I suppose it was a pretty standard class, nothing out of the ordinary, but I found it very enjoyable (as did Diesel). My one massive gripe was the lady who brought her (absolutely STUNNING) Dobe pup, who she was going to show. This lady wouldn't put her pup on the ground near Diesel or any of the other mixed breed puppies as she didn't want her "expensive pedigree baby mixing with those dirty mongrels". That earnt her a bit of a telling off from our instructor though. Ha

Good point about meeting on neutral territory but I'm going to disagree about meeting through a barrier. In my experience (socialising my DA Staffy x Bull Terrier), fences/barriers create a massive amount of tension. There have been situations where Diesel's met a dog through a fence (an arranged meeting, everybody, not just a random neighbourhood dog) and both dogs have gone berko because they can't carry out all their normal "meeting" rituals such as bum-sniffing and posturing. After taking Diesel for a walk around the block and then letting both dogs re-meet in the same open space, they were able to meet eachother in a civil manner. In addition to the frustration of not being able to carry out their normal rituals, I think dogs also get frustrated when meeting another dog through a fence because they can't physically get to what they want - they can't meet or play with the other dog and thus get tense and frustrated, escalating possibilities of a scrap. Aussie 3, when you get a second dog, make sure you've exercised them both (obviously no strenuous exercise for a young puppy - just playing will suffice) so that they're tired and calm. Take both dogs to a completely neutral piece of territory - somewhere that neither dog has been before. Keep them both on-lead and let them interact freely, with no leash-pulling by you or the dog. Pulling on the lead will cause the dog's body language to change and in some situations can cause a fight. Keep an eye on their behaviour at all times and if play gets too rough (or if you can tell that something is about to go wrong), step in and separate the two. Of course, I'll second what others have said here and suggest you wait until your current pup is at least 12 months old before you introduce a new one. Staffies are a pretty hectic breed, yes They can tend to play rough and some are known to have a few dog-to-dog issues regardless of socialisation, so make sure you choose carefully. Also, it would be best for you to get a staffy pup of the opposite sex to the pup you have now, as dogs of opposite sexes tend to get along much better than those of the same sex. Let us know how you go :D

No worries goldenclare, I'm glad I could help. Quite amazed that i could help actually Hiding under the chair at puppy preschool is a bit worrying, you don't want her to be that filled with fear that she feels the need to hide. Is she visibly scared or does she just chill out under the chair ignoring the other puppies? If she's just ignoring them then I wouldn't worry so much, she'll come out to see them when she's ready. If she's visibly scared/stressed, you may need to seek professional help as IMO it's not natural for a young puppy to be so fearful. Just remember not to try to "comfort" her when she's being "scared" - you'll be reinforcing the behaviour. Either way, good luck at puppy preschool tonight, I'm looking forward to mroe pictures :D

Hi, and welcome to the forum I have two dogs but they don't yet live together (they are both breeds once used for dog fighting and one of them can be a little iffy with other dogs, so we are taking introductions incredibly slowly), but hopefully I can help a little bit. I'm not sure why she could do this, perhaps it is a mild form of separation anxiety. Either way, I think you could treat this the same way as you would when you bring a new puppy home, put it to bed and it cries all night - ignore it. If you separate the two and she cries, don't give in and take her back to your other dog, otherwise she will think she's being rewarded for her behaviour. Keep taking her for walks without your other dog, playing with her and training her without your other dog around, and hopefully she will eventually realise that being away from her pal isn't such a bad thing after all. As for becoming timid around other dogs or humans when he's not around, think of it this way - you are your happy, smiling, normal self when around friends and family but are you always gung-ho about running up to random strangers? Puppy preschool will help, as will supervised play dates with dogs you know & trust (eg family members' or friend's dogs). I think if you keep walking her, playing with her and training her just one-on-one, she will eventually bond with you. You just need to remove the distractions I'm not sure if he'll lose enthusiasm with this - you may find that once the new pup has well and truly settled in (ie in a few months), he won't feel the need to assert himself so much - as long as she doesn't try to challenge him. If it's not occuring in the house then I wouldn't be too worried. Hopefully I've helped you a bit. If not, at least I tried Ps - Got any photos to share?

Sorry to hear you're feeling so down about this all, but please don't give up. Unfortunately (and I am in no way trying to be rude or mean to you), this is the price you pay with petshop puppies. If she has been in the pet shop window for that long, then house-training will be a very difficult task. The good news? It is possible. Getting a trainer/behaviourist in is a fabulous idea and you should be congratulated for going to that measure (unfortunately, too many people put it in the "too hard/too expensive/it's just a dog" basket). Just listen & learn to what the professional says, and also to the ever-helpful people here on DOL. Above all, be consistent with your training. She will get it eventually. And now to the important stuff.. ...photos?

Thank goodness you told everyone what breed it was. The Attack DOLers were about to rip you to shreds Best of luck with the little fella, looking forward to pictures