Michelleva

Don't worry I know its not the dogs fault. I also had the idea to go back in a few days and walk him again and see if he's the same. I know he has LOTS of energy for such a little thing. I'll walk him on his own and start the same way I started with the pup. My Nan has been complaining of a sore shoulder for months now, I wonder if its the arm she holds the dog with. hmmm I will try and help her to help him, but she's VERY set in her ways, and considers us "youngsters" don't know anything. :D

My dear old Nan's been pretty crook with the flu for the last few weeks and she was telling me that her little doggy hadn't been walked for weeks. So being the dutiful grand daughter I offered to go over there with Georgia and walk her dog with mine. WELL, this little dog who is smaller than my 6 month old puppy ATTEMPTED to pull my arm out the socket. Far out, my shoulder is still sore from attempting to get him to walk next to me. At one stage he was pulling so hard, he was almost choking himself and my pup looked at him, as if to say what the hell are you doing?? Georgia walks beautifully on lead, she also KNOWS that the leader walks through the door first. Not this little spoilt brat, he just attempted to barge through everything. He's about 4 years old and has had no training. He's ok at home, but this is the first time I've ever attempted to walk him. I just kept stopping every few steps, waiting for him to release the pressure, then we kept going. It was a very slow and painful walk. I know if I had a couple of weeks with him I could teach him some manners!

There was an article on Catalyst a while back talking about this. Researchers had found that dogs with long noses and eyes on the sides of the head had focal regions of the retina arranged in a band across the back of the eye so responded to movement all the way across their field of vision whereas flat faced dogs with the eyes oriented more forwards had circular focal areas more like humans with the same poor peripheral vision so seemed to respond to things they could focus on in the centre of their field of vision like movement on a TV. The theory is that the long nosed dogs are better at hunting, because they can see prey clearly right across their field of vision, whereas the short nosed dogs, generally bred as companion animals, may be better at focussing on and reading human faces. You can find the transcript of the article here. Thats interesting, because Georgia definitely has a very long nose.

This is our almost 6 month old sheltie pup Georgia, as you can see she's had a great day in the backyard!

Thats funny Mrs T. I've got an update on what Georgia and I watched last night. The episode which we watched featured Jillian, from the biggest loser US. A bit of background, Georgia is a nearly 6 month old sheltie whose been trying to herd my 5yo son everytime he rides his bike in the backyard. She goes mental barking her head off, trying to bite the wheels, basically trying to herd Bailey. The way she behaves very much looks like what they would do to round up sheep, which I understand is totally natural and instinctual to them. The episode last night had a dog that was doing the same thing but with horses. Caeser firstly put the dog on a lead and had the dog under control. Then he let the woman riding the horse hold the LONG lead and the dog just walked calmly next to the horse. So just now Georgia was doing her usual barking, super excited thing because Bailey was on his bike. I thought I'll go out there and try and get her to calm down, nope wasn't happening. So then I got the lead and she sat next to me watching Bailley on the bike, and was MUCH calmer. At that point I remembered what Caeser did last night and told Bailey to stop in front of me. I got him to hold the lead in his left hand and slowly start riding the bike. Well low and behold Georgia calmly ran beside the bike.............. I'm still in shock that it worked, INSTANTLY!!! Go Caeser and Go Me!!! Hubby was inside looking out the kitchen window like this.

Now that is funny.

I just turned an episode of The Dog Whisperer on TV while Georgia was asleep at my feet. Within minutes she jumped up and put her front feet up on the TV cabinet and was intently watching the show, then started barking at the dog which was on TV. We just cracked up laughing. She's barked before when the show is on, but never gone up and watched so carefully, it was hilarous! So do your dogs react like this too?

I only have a little dog, and although she's still only a puppy she walks very nicely on my left side. She does pull occasionally when there is someone/something which she thinks is exciting. But yes, I have a little dog but I have expected her to walk nicely on lead since the day she arrived. I know exactly what you mean, I see all different sized dogs walking their owners. There's big husky that lives around the corner, its the most amazing looking dog, but the woman literally gets dragged behind it every day. I often wonder who's walking who.

Thanks alpha bet, I like the idea of the bow. I'll make that the next thing we can do together. She's smart and picks things up pretty quickly, as long as I teach them the right way.

Awww Colliepaws, Luca is just gorgeous. I'd love to have a collie one day, imagine the looks I'd get walking a collie and a sheltie together. First I have see if we can get Georgia properly trained, before I even think about anymore pets. But I do LOVE the collies.

fbaudry, I think your boy is totally neglected. :D Georgia is definitely going through a chewing phase, nothing is safe ATM. So I'll hold off the squirril thing for now. And yes I understand the hesitation with the shelties. We ummed and ahhed for a long time over the breed for the same reason. I'm finding she really only barks out of excitement and I'm quickly learning how to stop it. I can now pick the signs of her building up, and if she starts getting like that I need to remove her from the situation, whether its in the backyard or the kids running around playing with balloons. I think the secret is to keep them well excercised, then some training and lots of toys to play with.

Well Georgia hasn't had a repeat performance of the humping thank goodness. But if it happens again I'll definitely re-direct her to something more appropriate.

He is co-owned with the breeder, who also bred Dusty, so eventually he may have some studly duties to do. Yep, first show is likely to be July 18 at KCC. Silvawillow has offered to handle him for me. I have decided I ike dog shows but don't like being in the ring so if I can get regular handlers, he will be shown. Oh wow, Isaak is just gorgeous Gayle. I'm not far from KCC either, so I'm going to jot that date on my calendar and come for a ogle.... and hopefully a cuddle.

Luvs dogs, thanks for replying. I don't mean she has to be at heel 100% of the time, but how do I treat it when she starts pulling on the lead. At the moment I just stop and wait till she calms down and then keep going. I just wanted to know if thats the right way to handle the pulling. She only pulls when she sees or hears something exciting.

I just came back from a walk with Georgia and just had to fill you all in before I go out again. About half way through the walk I decided to stop and do a bit of training. So I got her to sit, then said drop and got her half way and treated her, I repeated that once, then went all the way down. She did it three times in a row. And just to prove to myself that it wasn't a fluke I got her to do it again once we got home, she did a perfect drop. Woo Hoo Thanks for all the advice everyone. Now one more question, she heels very well for me except is she sees/hears something exciting, which is usually kids playing, another dog or anything else she'd like to get closer too. Then she'll start pulling. At the moment the second she starts pulling on the lead I stop and wait till she returns to the heel position and sits before we move again. Am I doing it right, I don't think the sit is really necessary, I'm just trying to get her to stop focussing on whatever is exciting to her and focus back on me. She's 5 months old.

I just stumbled on this thread and it interested me because I met a lappie pup at obedience last week. OMG, he was so gorgeous, a warm caramel/chocolated coloured one. The one thing I noticed was his HUGE feet, it will be nice to see how big he gets. I thought he was a husky when I first saw him. I didn't realise they were so rare.

I have no idea how far we'll go with the obedience. We only started a month ago, and while we both enjoy it we will keep doing it. My first priority is a well behaved pup, anything after that is a bonus. But so far I love it and so does Georgia.

What a classic set of pics. I've never seen a cat and bird get on so well, and yep Dads face is priceless!

That makes sense Alpha Bet, and I think you're right I proably have been trying too hard. I won't try anymore tonight, I'll have another go tomorrow after our walk.

I've just started trying to teach Georgia to drop. She'll sit and be focussed and I bring the treat down to ground level, but she stands up and then tries to get the treat. I know she doesn't understand what I'm asking of her yet, but am I doing it right or is there a better way. If anyone knows of a good web link that shows how to do it the right way, that would be great. We've started obedience but haven't started to learn it yet. Since I can't go this week, I thought I'd try on my own, but so far it hasn't been very successful. Thanks heaps, Michelle

Hey fbaudry is that the hide-a-squirrel in the pic with your gorgeous dog? What size is it?

I'm so sorry you're going through this Jazzie. You're a good person, I'm sure someone here will be able to help the poor dogs.

Hey Koala, This is another website which was recommended to me by someone else with a sheltie. She told me her pup has the hide-a-squirrel which her dog absolutely loves. I'm thinking about ordering one of them or the bee one. http://www.positivepawsdt.com.au/shop/cate...p?id_category=7

I"ve had success here with a plastic drink bottle, I've got an iced coffee one cleaned out, then I cut a whole in the lid, threw in some treats and Georgia fiddles with it for hours trying to get the last pesky treat out of there. Its a free toy, and kept her very smart brain occupied. I need to think of some other things to try too, so I'll come back to see if anyone has any other suggestions.

hmmmm interesting. She's obviously not the only girl thats done this before. Is it actually sexual behaviour or something else? I always thought it was dominance related, but no one was in her vicinity to be dominate over. Maybe she wanted to show the bed whose the boss?? We've had her for about 6 weeks and its the first time I've seen her do it.