Michelleva

This has been bugging me. We saw some friends last weekend who have a golden retriever, I think she'd be around 18 months now. This dog is totally hyperactive, it is obvious they have no control over her. The owner then proceeded to tell me that the vet told them to wait till she's at least 2 to start obedience because she's too excited. A quote from the vet was "let her enjoy her puppyhood". I don't understand that at all, this dog is crazy and lives with three kids under 6. I'd be changing vets.

We've been thinking of doing this too, it looks like a fair amount of mixed reviews. We only have one sheltie pup BUT she definitely likes to dig... I'd be really peeved to spend several thousand dollars only for it to be destroyed 6 months later. Surely you have some comeback on the company Adnil. Surely it has some sort of warranty.

Yep, same sheltie pup!

I saw an episode of the dog whisperer the other day which covered the exact subject. If you have foxtel, I'm sure they'll repeat the episode. He started out by giving the dog pats with a squeaky toy. He didn't squeak it at first, but he got the dog relaxed with it. Then he progressed from there to having the toy shoved in the dogs collar and let her go about her business. Then he started walking the dog, and squeaking it every so often. Gradually the dog got over the fear of it, and ended up playing with the other dogs and the toys. Its probably better if you watch the episode yourself and see if you think it might help your dog.

Thanks, we love her to bits. She's pretty well behaved overall for a puppy. I find that at obedience I can keep her focus on me fairly well. When we go for walks I will practice different things, like sit/stay just in the middle of our walk and to make it extra challenging I'll do it outside a school. I do the same thing at obedience, ask her to do a drop when all the other dogs are mucking around and 9 out of 10 times she will do it. I don't think I'm an expert dog trainer, but we do practice a little bit everyday. I figure she's a smart dog and I want her to use those brains for good and not for trouble. Sheltie ears are a funny one. We got Georgia when she was 4 months and her ears were pretty good then because she was going to be a show dog. So I think the breeder taped her ears down or something. From what I'm told when they're teething it really effects their ears, so your boys might be ok once he's finished teething. You'd be better to ask that advice on the sheltie thread, the showies/breeders will know more. As for excercise, I walk her for about 30mins most days. I'm just about to go now while the sun's shining. Oh and I'm in Narre Warren, we attend Berwick Dog Obedience on Saturdays. Georgia is an only doggy at this point, but she does share her life with two skin kids and three feline friends. So she definitely has no excuse to be lonely. We're off for our walk, talk later. If you want to PM me feel free, I'm happy to chat.

Awwwe your boy is beautiful. I love the pic of him with one ear up, and one down. Here is my girl, her name is Georgia. When Georgia was not sitting when asked, I asked once and waited. She knew what I was asking, so I just didn't move till she'd done what was asked of her. Georgia has been very easy to train so far, I've been attending dog obedience with her since she was 4 months old and she's very eager to please, especially when I have a tasty treat on me. Are you attending regular obedience classes or did you go to puppy preschool? What area of Vic are you in? I'm no expert but in my experience this stage does pass. Georgia is really back to doing whats asked of her now, whether that keeps up I don't know. I think you just need to be consistant with them, they're really just like little kids. I don't know about the saying yes thing you've been taught, my dog school doesn't teach anything like that.

My sheltie pup has gone through a similar thing in the last month or so. At one stage she wouldn't even sit when asked to. She's now 7 1/2 months and does appear to be improving thankfully. I put it down to teenagehood, I've just tried my best to be positive and reward her when she does what I ask. Any chance of a pic of your pup Prag?

We have a 7 month old sheltie pup who has since day one been over the top excited by the vacuum cleaner. So everyday I've been training Georgia to leave the vacuum alone. Its been a hard slog, and obviously I could have taken the easy way out and just put her outside when I do it, but I wanted her to learn the house rules, whats ok and whats not. I'm half way through vacuuming and Georgia just took herself off to her bed to lie in the sun WHILE I was vacuuming. Thats the first time ever! I've just been asserting my authority and remaining calm, and in a way claiming the vacuum like Caeser would. I'm relieved we seem to be getting to a happy medium. I know she'll probably always be excited by it, but she's starting to learn to not let the excitement escalate....... Yay for Georgia!!! PS - hubby told me a while ago I'd NEVER get her to this stage, you know what I was on a mission to prove him WRONG!!

The last of Georgia's baby teeth fell out today. A few weeks ago I got them checked at the vet, because she had the top "fangs" next to the sharp curly baby teeth.... One fell out a week or two ago and today the last one fell out on its own..... phewwww now she doesn't need to be put under to have it pulled. The vet said they normally do them at desexing but our breeder already had her done before we collected her. Neither the vet or I wasn't keen on her being put under twice in 6 months.

Thanks for the input. It looks like I'm on the right track. I'm not worried about the "fear period", just trying to help her cope with it as best I can. So if I find myself in the position I was in yesterday, where she reacted to a dog walking towards her, what is the best way to handle that. The guy walked away from us when he saw Georgia reacting. I was thinking today, maybe if I went up and said hello to the dog and showed Georgia that he was ok, she would have felt more comfortable. But that could potentionally have the opposite effect. She only barked/growled for a minute or so, then she realised the dog was no threat and relaxed again. The dogs she was playing with at obedience, was after class in just a social setting. We were standing around chatting while the dogs were interacting, and she was fine with that.

She was on lead both at obedience and obviously today. Ok, what you're all saying makes sense. I think I better do a bit of reading up on this fear period, so I can help her get through it in a positive way. Thank you for your input too Erny, it does make a lot of sense to me. ETA - another thing I've just realised she's done the last few weeks, is be scared to walk over metal grates and stuff that are in the footpath, she was never worried about them before. When she does it, I make an effort to get her to focus on me and walk over it without realising it. And very much lead the way. I've also got her to sit on them for a treat etc. This sounds like what you're talking about with the fear period. I read the puppy development calendar which is on the puppy forum and it sounds spot on, at least I know and can work with her. Any other tips are appreciated.

We have a 7 month old sheltie whose been to obedience since she was 4 months old. So she's been exposed to all sorts of dogs and in general gets along with most of them. We were at obedience yesterday and she was having a ball playing with about 4 dogs who were all much bigger than her, she wasn't scared and just wanted to play. Today I took her for a walk and then went and grabbed a coffee. I was sitting outside and a guy started walking towards us with his labrador. The lab showed no aggression and just wante to say hello. Georgia started growling, and then bark at it. It wasn't terribly aggressive, no teeth or anything. Then someone else with a dog walked past and she reacted the same way.... should I be correcting this behaviour? Do you think she's protecting me? I find it strange that at obedience she's not "on guard" and happy to relax and play, but when I'm just sitting there she feels I need protection, or thats what I suspect...

The one I met yesterday the parents were asking us if we wanted to look after her when they go on holidays. If I didn't have such a little dog I would have jumped at the chance. Another thing this one did, she backed up to the couch and rested her butt on the couch, like she was sitting but she's so tall she was actually standing... it was hilarious!!

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwweeee Shelbyville your pupper is drop dead gorgeous!!! Her feet are massive too. I agree with others, if I were ever to get a BIG breed, it would definitely be a bernese.

I just met a bernese an hour ago too, OMG what a divine creature. This one belongs to my daughters friend, she was massive. But what a love bug, she did this thing where she would lean on you and nearly push you over, she just wanted pets and attention. When they put her outside you should have seen the sad puppy dog eyes... The one I met was 5 and still pretty excited and bouncy, she was nearly as tall as my 5yo son. The Mum said she's a great dog, but the vet bills are nearly as huge as she is.

Awww he's cute, even when he's muddy. My puppy is 7 months old and loves nothing better than getting out in the backyard, now known as The Swamp. This was taken a few weeks ago. Pleading to come inside... After a bath and blow wave..

Thanks Cosmolo.

Does anyone know of any good puppy preschools that are operating in the narre warren/berwick area? Thanks in advance.

No way could I have passed up a cuddle with Isaak, he's adorable. I often get chatting with other dog owners, it doesn't necessarily mean I pet their dogs though, it depends on the dog. Don't worry Georgia got over the disappointment in a milli-second.

I agree, aren't they just the cutest. I think I need to research this breed... then buy a tattslotto ticket.

We just back from our walk, and around here most people are at work during the day, so it was very quiet, we didn't hardly see anyone, or any other dogs. About 3/4 into our walk Georgia spotted an older lady walking towards us. Georgia pricked her ears up, put on her best doggy grin and walked enthusiastically towards the lady. And what did the lady do, smiled at me and gave Georgia a wide berth. Poor Georgia was devestated, her face dropped instantly, it was almost like she sighed with disappointment. I just gave her a pat and reminded her that not EVERYONE loves a goofy puppy.

Good work Sal, you'll get there, consistency is the key.

I'd never wake a sleeping baby, human or furry for food. If they're hungry, they'll let you know.

I just wanted to update.... One of those pesky baby teeth fell out today... hopefully the other one isn't far behind.

I couldn't agree more. That was such a sad thing to watch, those guys from Rescue Ink looked SCARY! Good on them for sticking up for the ones who can't talk, they clearly have hearts of gold.