Adele

This thread is getting busy, yay for western australians I grew up in the hills too so helena valley, stratton and the likes are all bringing back memories! Don't live there anymore but I do still work in Darlington. Very cute pics there valleywa, he looks so smoochable!

Although we don't camp I know there are dog-friendly campsites in Dunsborough. We take our dog down when we go all the time and you always see dogs out and about - even see dogs with owners at cafes on the grassed area. I know the Shire of Bussleton has beaches that are designated off leash areas but you are also allowed to take your dog to other beaches as long as they are leashed.

Sooty is happy to play with anyone who will play with her but I prefer her to play with larger dogs to be safe. She does like chasing and being chased so any dog that is up for a goofy game of tag has her attention.

Wow the things you learn on DOL Have only ever owned females so who would have known!

Yikes that sounds so scary! I honestly don't know what Sooty would do in a situation like that but also hope we never have to find out. Luckily Atlas did his job so well that nothing else happened!

This was also a problem for me. Having a bull breed I was very conscious about socialising her but think we over-did it and our puppy pre-school was a bit of a free for all. What resulted was her getting highly excited around other dogs and having no manners which took a long time to train her out of. I also wish I knew about crate training. Sooty isn't particularly good in new situations and can take awhile to settle but I think if we were able to take the crate along to places with us in over-night stays she would settle a lot quicker - thinking that this could still be done, just need time!

Hi When I first started with Sooty we were also recommended a 'gentle leader' and purchased one from the club but I decided that it just masks the problem it doesn't teach her how to walk so I didn't use it. No-one said anything about her not having it on and I made the decision that we would just use a flat collar. To help keep the leash loose I stopped everytime she pulled (like bedazzled said 'become a tree'!) she would turn around and think why aren't we walking which also made the leash loose and we would start walking again. Yep very boring and time consuming but she now understands that to move forward there has to be no tension. Also to add... I can see why we were recommended it as she used to get so excited and dart towards other dogs but working on focus helped a lot as well - I gave a lot of praise and rewards for 'watch me'. Recall - I did a lot of long line work and used the Really Reliable Recall DVD. She has gone from ignoring me to having a pretty good recall...not 100% but a lot better than before. I soooo understand where you are coming from because they were my feelings as well but what ever you do make sure you are consistent which will help Mason understand quicker what is expected of him.

What a lucky girl! Hope everything goes well

Love the bucket head look! Ravyk your first one looks a little bit like one that was on lolcats that was riding the invisible bike!

Snot looks so enthused

I wish I knew what I was doing with taking photos and also editing as my photos never turn out very well I have this one as my facebook pic

Sooty does similar to what Morty does but she doesn't whine so I don't really know what she would do if she got to the point of busting and we still weren't paying attention! It took quite a long time to toilet train Sooty (wees only) but once she got it there was no looking back, we haven't had an accident since.

So the bumps all over that first spider are actually babies? :D Think I might be having some nightmares tonight!

Loving all the photos of everyone's pups! Tried to get two photos that were a bit similar This photo of Sooty would be around 3-4 months old Big girl now, taken a few months ago and she will be going on 2 in December

I use 'come' for our formal recall and found I was ruining it by using it everyday so save that for obedience and use either a whistle or 'now' for get back to me right now and I don't care how. I use 'heel' for attentive walking and for an informal I use 'by my side' which doesn't mean she has to look at me but does mean she needs to come a lot closer and walk by me.

Lovely pics, it's would be like have a mini-me!

I take my dog to our local oval to practice our obedience training. It's a fairly busy place with lots of dogs which is one of the reasons why we do our practice there and also during soccer season has lines that we can use for our heeling work. I get so involved with what I'm doing that I don't realise we have people watching until I look around! I've had a few people ask what I'm doing and I'm happy to talk to them but generally we get given a wide berth and I'm happy with that too!

My dog dreams quite a bit and can be quite vocal but she won't move from the spot where she is sleeping. She will do a range of things including barking, whining, tail wagging and slightly moving her feet which we think is when she is running. No harm has ever come to her and I would think this is all part of the sleep cycle. You never know your dog might be whimpering because in her dream she has come across a big fat rabbit and just can't quite get to it!

I do think some of this behaviour comes down to age but you also don't want this behaviour to become a learned habit - he sees another dog = he starts to be silly. My dog is exactly the same in that she would play all day with any dog whether they want to or not! Like charleswentworth my dog will NOT be let off leash if she is exhibiting high excitement and I tend not to let her off around dogs we do not know. If she pulls I do not move so she knows that she will not get any nearer by pulling. We go to a local park every morning to play with dogs we know and to get to have a play I put her in a sit then to get released she needs to look at me first. I know it is nowhere near as fun but you might just have to recognise that you have a highly excited dog and crowded dog areas are not for you. I live so close to a busy dog beach and when I got a dog it was my dream to walk along the beach with my pooch, what I got was a very excited, crazy dog that did not listen so no more beach walks for us. I would rather not put her in that situation where she learns that behaviour and have her in a more controlled environment. Going to obedience helped A LOT because she has to work in close proximity to other dogs without playing and interacting with them.

When my pup was growing I was a little hesitant to go all raw mainly due to being inexperienced and she is a large(ish) dog. Now that she is over 18 months I feed kibble in the morning and raw at night with no problems - again I haven't got rid of kibble totally because I still feel unsure but am totally happy with her appearance and energy levels. The only thing we did notice is if we mixed kibble and raw together she would get a lot of gas that could clear a room

;) Ahhh glad I'm not the only one!

Thanks - Officeworks might be the place I start! Leema - I have bought craft bells before and I had a few on a string but they just weren't loud enough that's why I thought the dome bell might give us a better chance of hearing it.

My dog is house-trained but when we are in our lounge room (where we spend most of our time) we can't see when she asks for the door. I wanted to try and train her to ring a bell so we could hear regardless where we were in the house but the bells I bought were too small and didn't make enough of a noise. I'm hoping to find a bell that is more the type that is found at the reception desk - one that is like a dome that you make 'ding' by pressing down. Can any one point me in the right direction on where to purchase from and also any tips? (I am in WA)

Maybe the sweet potato masks some of the kangaroo taste? I think kangaroo does have a particular taste that they have to get used to as Sooty is normally a guzzle guts but she will pass up kangaroo tail. She eats kangaroo mince if I mix it with something like egg or yoghurt.

When my dog reverse sneezes it sounds AWFUL, it does sound like she is choking and she seems to do it out of excitement because it happens mostly when we are at our obedience club. The other dogs don't seem to like it when she is near them so I take her off to the side and calm her down then she is fine. Her attacks never seem to go on for too long - maybe 30 secs...long enough for a few odd stares from other people and dogs