Michelleva

We're thinking of a sheltie pup. The breeder I've spoken to I feel is very good at what they do, but I will ask about the socialisation side of it. Early desexing doesn't bother me, I just see it as one less thing to do down the track. We may want to do agility later but see how we go with obedience first. We've never done any dog sports since our old dog was a senior rescue dog. Male or female, we haven't decided, we were going to take it as it comes at the time. If a male dog picked us, then a boy it would be or vice versa. Poodlefan, can I ask why a dogs ability do to agility will be effected by its being desexed at an earlier age?

Our family are considering adopting a pup next year. I have a particular breed in mind, which is medium sized. What I'm interested in is if there is any difference in bringing a pup home at 8 weeks as opposed to 10 or 11 weeks??? Most of the breeders of our chosen breed are letting the pups go around the 8 week mark, but my preferred breeder is desexing them prior, so they leave a couple of weeks later? Will this make any difference to the pups social skills down the track. We plan to do puppy preschool and dog obedience. What are your thoughts.

Thank you OBS, you're sure to hear from me in the new year. We have a holiday planned for the early part of the year so it would definitely be after that.

Do you have any litters planned for next year OBS?

Thanks Hesa, I'm in Victoria.

Would you guys give me a rough estimate how much I can expect to pay for a sheltie pup? The pup will not be a show dog, just a much loved family member. I think its time to start saving!!!

Awwe thanks for all the extra info about the sheltie babies. How gorgous was your little one Jr, adorable. I definitely think I could handle a sheltie, in fact they sound perfect for me and my family. The reason I asked about how they are as puppies, I just visited a friend this week who has a golden retreiver puppy, she's about 5 months old and that dog was crazy. She was quite literally galloping through the house like a horse. I was a bit gobsmacked. I know the dog is a pup but they had no control of the dog at all.

Can you guys tell me what are shelties like as pups? Obviously they're going to be full of energy, but are they out of control energetic?

Are shelties generally a food oriented breed? Oh another thing are they difficult to toilet train? And what age do the breeders generally let them go to their new homes? Sorry for the 20 questions.

Thanks for all your advice and suggestions, its much appreciated. ETA - How do you think a sheltie pup would cope with a 4yo boy? I personally wasn't planning on adding an addition till sometime next year at the earliest.

My main thought about the dog spending some time outside is to teach him/her to entertain itself when I do have to go out. I'm a stay at home Mum, but even I need to go out and you can't take a dog everywhere. I would want to dog to have some independence, so it doesn't develop seperation anxiety. The water pistol sounds like a great idea. I don't mind having a little shadow, but I wouldn't want the dog flippin out when he was on his own, does that make sense?

Thanks for your reply Jn Inoz, so did you do the water squirting since she was little. Does your girl spend much time outside on her own, does she seem to enjoy it outside?

I've been interested in shelties for a long time, my husband has wanted one for years, but everything I've read about points to how noisy and yappy they are. I've seen people say they've trained the dog not to bark, how exactly to you do that? I will admit I'm not very experienced with dogs, but when we get a dog/pup it will go to obedience as I want a well-behaved family member and feel I don't have enough knowledge on my own. If we got one I'd be more than happy to have it as an inside pet, but I would expect it to spend sometime during the day outside having a run and play, no more than 2 hours, would a sheltie be accepting of that, if he was taught from a young age or do you think he would bark the whole time. On a side note, I saw two shelties yesterday out and about with their owners, its was at a market and both of them appeared to have temperments which I think is ideal. They were not scared or timid, but weren't jumping up on anyone either. They both appeared to be friendly and confident, thats what I love in a dog, it really sparked my interest in the breed again.

First of all thank you to everyone for your compassion and suggestions, its very much appreciated. I just thought I'd come back and update you all on my little Jakey boy. Mum has been down for a few days and I asked her yesterday if she would be able to care for Jake while we are away, she was more than happy to do it. I know my inlaws care but they are very nervous people and Jake is a nervous dog normally. I just think in that environment he would get worse instead of better. I spoke to the vet about the predicament we found ourselves in and she agreed letting Mum care for him was the best option. Mum is a carer for my step dad who has very bad epilepsy. So she's good at handing out medication and watching for changes in behaviour etc. So as Mum was going home last night she took Jake a few days before we leave for our holiday. He slept the entire 5 hour journey home, only lifting his head when they stopped for a cuppa. I spoke to Mum again this morning and he has not had any bouts of crying, but he did yelp when he got off her couch. I've asked her to make a rule, no more couches for him. I was going to tell her to buy one of those bunnings compost things to make a temporary enclosure in so he is forced to rest. My suspicion is that due to him loving sleeping on the couch, jumping on and off he has damaged his neck somehow. So when he returns home after our holiday its time for tough love and no more couch sitting, unless I can get him some steps. He's a senior citizen afterall. So onwards and upwards for our little man. He's in good hands and I'm finally feeling a little better about it all. Thanks again for listening and offering your advice. He's by no means cured but any improvement makes me happy.

No I'm in Narre Warren, Melbourne.

I just did a quick check on google on that disease, because I hadn't heard of it. Both vets did alot of checks for spinal cord injuries. Like making him walk on his front legs etc. The first vet was quite confident it wasn't that because he could do all the exercises with ease. Of course both times he's been at the vet he's been the perfect patient, not a single yelp or cry. He's settled down now because I was able to get the meds into him.

Fastgals - no I haven't noticed any difference in his neck/head area.

The blood was only taken yesterday, so they said they'd call me before lunch time. He just jumped off the couch and yelped. I don't know. My biggest worry is my in-laws are meant to be looking after him while we're on holidays and they're real worry warts. Its just how they are and they will panick big time if he's still like this. Otherwise I don't know who else I can get to look after him. Mum is down from Wagga at the moment, I'm considering asking her if she'll take him back home with her, but I don't think thats a great idea either because that would mean he's away from us for 2 weeks. He's an anxious dog at the best of times.

I haven't been here much lately. I'm back because I'm very worried about our little cavaliler. He's 8 1/2 and we rescued him when he was 7. He has a grade 4 heart murmur, which he's not yet on medication for, but probably will if we can get him through his current woes. On New Years day he started crying badly like he was in pain. It was just after he got out of bed and went outside to the toilet. He came inside and started yelping, like someone was killing him. After a while I got him calmed down and he slept for the rest of the day. So I took him straight into the vet the next day, and the only thing she could find was that his neck was stiff and he resisted the movement of his head down towards his feet. She sent him home with anti-inflammatory tablets and that was it. I thought it might be because of the heart murmur but she assured me that wouldn't give pain. Then for the next couple of days he was fine. Then Sunday night he woke up at 1am screaming in pain again. I rang a different vet in the morning this time and thought I'd get a second opinion. The second vet was much more thorough and checked him over completely. She even checked his prostate, which was good. He has no temperature, but I had blood taken anyway to rule anything else out. Both vets seem to think its a muscular thing, maybe even cramping. The new vet has given me more anti-inflammatories as well as valium to make him relax so his body can recouperate. We have no idea how he could have strained muscles etc, because he's a pretty lazy dog overall. He gets light exercise like having a stroll at the park regularly and is not overweight. Has anyone else ever experience anything like this? This morning he has been yelping and crying again, which has got me really worried. Today he's also been pacing around the house, walking very slowly and panting. He was also hiding under a desk, which is not normal for him. The most concerning thing to me at the moment is that we have holidays booked and are leaving on Sunday. He was to go and stay with my inlaws, I know they would not cope with him the way he is at the moment. I'm terrified I'm going to lose him before we go away. I really hope someone has some words of wisdom or hope for me. I'm really getting worried about my little Jakey boy.

Thanks for the great reply Percy, its much appreciated. I know Jake is not barking while we are out, he's smart enough to know no one is home. I've done the same as you and sneak back up. But as soon as he gets a clue that I'm here he will bark. He's a barker anyway, I'm convinced he loves the sound of his own voice. He may be old but there's nothing wrong with his hearing. He heard kids outside last night, that none of us could hear and all the doors were closed. I never let Jake inside while he is barking, he must be quiet before I will even consider it. Then he has to sit and wait for the command, which is IN. He's improved heaps already because when he first arrived a year ago, I only had to stand on one side of the glass door with him on the other and he would go into a mad panick. That is over, now he's only panicking when he can't see me. So thats what I'm trying to overcome now. I do believe we'll get there and you've given me heaps of other ideas. Thanks again.

Hi Guys, Some of you may remember me, I have a rescue cav that lived his first 7 years outside, before becoming a much loved member of our family. We've had some behavioural issues, which has improved greatly in the past few months. Our biggest issue we had with Jake is that he despised being outside and would bark continuously demanding to be let back inside with the family. This problem has almost been rectified now. I can put him outside and leave him there for a short while and he will be relaxed and calm. I've even seen him acting like a dog and barking at the little dog on the otherside of the fence, with his tail wagging happily. The only problem we seem to have now is, he will still bark if he's outside and he can no longer see me. I have to say though, the barking is maybe 25% of what it was 3 months ago. I've taken on the leadership role, and now he has to play by my rules. I now decide when he goes out, when he comes in, when he's allowed to sit on the couch, etc. In the beginning these descisions were 100% made by Jake. Simply by being a better leader, he's learnt to cope and accept that he will be allowed back inside. Where I am now, Jake can't see me, and he is letting out the occasional yap, but if I leave him he will get more worked up. When he gets to that state, he starts running to the laundry door and looking for me there. I try to avoid letting him get to that worked up state. I'm after some more suggestions, to help him stay calm whether he can see me or not. Like I said I'm very proud, we've both worked really hard over the last few months and had some major successes, I think this is the final hurdle. Thanks in advance.

Thanks, thats where I thought I put it.

Hi Guys, Some of you may remember me, I have a rescue cav that lived his first 7 years outside, before becoming a much loved member of our family. We've had some behavioural issues, which has improved greatly in the past few months. Our biggest issue we had with Jake is that he despised being outside and would bark continuously demanding to be let back inside with the family. This problem has almost been rectified now. I can put him outside and leave him there for a short while and he will be relaxed and calm. I've even seen him acting like a dog and barking at the little dog on the otherside of the fence, with his tail wagging happily. The only problem we seem to have now is, he will still bark if he's outside and he can no longer see me. I have to say though, the barking is maybe 25% of what it was 3 months ago. I've taken on the leadership role, and now he has to play by my rules. I now decide when he goes out, when he comes in, when he's allowed to sit on the couch, etc. In the beginning these descisions were 100% made by Jake. Simply by being a better leader, he's learnt to cope and accept that he will be allowed back inside. Where I am now, Jake can't see me, and he is letting out the occasional yap, but if I leave him he will get more worked up. When he gets to that state, he starts running to the laundry door and looking for me there. I try to avoid letting him get to that worked up state. I'm after some more suggestions, to help him stay calm whether he can see me or not. Like I said I'm very proud, we've both worked really hard over the last few months and had some major successes, I think this is the final hurdle. Thanks in advance.

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Thats so sad Rascal. I'm sorry. How ridiculous that they won't do it on medical grounds. Thats a completely different scenario to those overseas who do it.