wuffles

One of mine gets stressed, paces and pants and tries to get in small spaces. Poor boy was a bit upset last night. The other one didn't even wake up. Someone blew up a letterbox down the road and THAT woke her up, but she was asleep again 30 seconds later!

When is the Canberra one? We're not eligible until next year boo. I'm assuming it starts later in the day because it is TOO cold earlier :D

We went to the beach today! Dogs had lots of fun. We found one that didn't have huge "NO DOGS ON BEACH" signs everywhere, they both had a bit of a paddle. Satchy is scared of the waves so it's hilarious watching him run into the water then run out again every time a wave comes :D THEN we went to Nudgee Beach (more mudflats than beach) where they had an offleash swim with other doggies. There was even a bulldog there that looked so cute but wrong when swimming

I don't really have any suggestions, but we drove from Canberra to Brisbane the week before Christmas and are returning next week. Do you just have the car or a caravan? Lots of places allow dogs on their sites but not in their cabins. For next week, all the places we have contacted have been booked out so I'd get onto it fast! Have a look on stayz.com.au and you can check their properties and their availability. For holiday/caravan parks I have just googled "pet friendly" and "dogs allowed" and you get a fair few results. We stayed in cabins in Telegraph Point near Port Macquarie which was nice but I think they might be full up!

I think it would certainly be a good start! I do think a lot of people still won't care though, and there are a lot of people who think that if a place has a nice name then they're good breeders (and some puppy farms certainly have cutesy business names).

Early morning walks, and another walk late evening just before bed if they need it.

This nearly made me spit my Coke all over the computer screen ;) :D

Awww, white heads and spotty ears are the best :D CleoJ it's a bit sad but I wish I had a trialling class last night Ava is missing the classes (Satch isn't) and it's hard to motivate myself to do training while I'm on holidays!

lilli_star: Awwww, I love the one of the tired dogs conked out on the pavers dandybrush: Great videos. You are one of the first people to capture Satch in full play mode on video!!! Here are some of my pics. I had so many to go through... most of them just blurs of white and merle fur... SQUISH Rarrrr Kung fu Ava Raz stirs up Satch Satchmo in relax mode while the two idiots play in the background

Thanks, this is a good article also for people like me who've had their DSLR since LAST Christmas but always use it on auto

Mine is the same, he has no problems being alone, but he hates missing out on something fun! That's why I usually give him a treat as I leave... the rawhide takes him about 5-10 minutes and it keeps him happy while we walk out the door

I have their litter sister and she has been fully toilet trained since 14 weeks... sometimes she is crated at night and sometimes she has run of the house but we have never had an accident

Mine get a biscuit each when they go to bed so they zooooooooom to their beds

I find it hard too I am hoping to compete in obedience and agility with my young girl, so my big boy (who gets tired faster and doesn't like training) gets left behind a bit. Mine get walked separately most mornings which I think helps give him individual time. I also try to take him out on his own outings a few afternoons a week, just a quick walk or even just to the shops with me. This probably isn't the "right" thing to do but Satch is also much happier if I leave him with a treat of some kind when I take Ava out without him... a rawhide or bone or chewy. And my OH is usually home with him as well rather than being left alone when I take Ava out.

Depends on the dog. My two both need to get out of the house daily or at least a few times a week. They LOVE getting out and about, they love the smells, the socialisation, the exercise, everything about walks. Even though my big boy would not be destructive or bored at home, he just loves walks so much that I think he would still need them a few times a week even if we were on acreage.

This is funny because I have an Aussie and get told she is most definitely a BC, not an Aussie, because she is black and white and has a tail

Welcome! What kind of activities do you want to do with your dog? Do you want to do obedience, agility, herding, other dog sports, or just basic family dog type training?

I don't know if I'll be able to keep up but I'll give it a go with Ava. http://www.flickr.com/photos/wufflesx/sets...57625694084734/

Both my dogs clean themselves to some extent, moreso our Aussie. She'll also clean any other dog that she deems dirty

My girl is the same age as yours and I noticed that she has seemed to lose confidence in a few things lately. She's also matured a lot though and has lost most of her puppy behaviours so that is good Does Lexi have a favourite game? For example, Ava loves rear end awareness games using the phone book. Before I do anything new or that she doesn't have quite right yet, I try and do something that she loves and is good at, like that game. She also loves tricks like spin, rolling over, walking backwards, etc. so if she's getting frustrated I tend to do a few of those to build her confidence again. I also know that targeting games are often recommended to gain confidence in dogs. My other dog has low food drive and isn't interested in toys. The main way I get him interested in training is to train Ava in front of him while he's crated or tethered, and use his highest value treats only... bbq chicken or raw meat.

to KTB and Mr KTB. At least you have the doggies here to ease a little bit of the pain. They are so good at that -- no words, no judging, just love and comfort I love how Hoover tries to eat the tub of treats The heavens sure have opened here in Brisvegas! Looks like the heavy rain has moved south a bit finally. I posted this pic in the Aussie thread but thought I'd put it here too. This is Ava and her mum. I just thought it was a funny pic because it epitomises their personalities. Ava is a crazy posing loon and her mum is placid and photo-hating

We went to Nudgee today and there were puddles the size of pools :D The dogs loved it but sooo much water and mud. Maybe your house would be the best, especially if the rain continues? minxy: My family were pretty smitten with my two as well They were so well behaved and enjoyed all the attention.

lilli_star: Yes my two are great car travellers! They are pretty squashed in the cargo area of our wagon but they were just so good the whole way. As soon as we got on the highway they were sleeping. They poked their heads up when we hit a town and slowed down, and that's about it! We tried to let them out for a stretch and pee about every 3 hours. Good dogs! It will feel so good with that wisdom toof out once it's all healed up As KA says, the twilight anaesthesia is great and you recover really quickly. OH needs all 4 of his out which he'll hopefully get done this year. Ham is cold and kind of soft! Stick it in the blender? Or just chew on the other side KA: We get that much fur out of Satch too. Yuck. Thankfully most of his undercoat is gone now, he's just losing a bit of topcoat now that we're in QLD and it's really muggy. Wizzle: Ohh, naughty Little G! A cav that barks, who woulda thunk it betsy: Thanks, we just loved meeting Ava's mum and siblings. Her mum is just gorgeous, calm and placid, so we are hoping Ava gets lots of that trait as she gets older. Ziggy is looking so grown up now. He has a lovely face and ears! I used to love the blue merles but seeing a black tri like Ziggy has made me change my mind... dandybrush: Yay I can't wait to see you guys. Do you want us to come out your way? Pick a day and we should be there... (except maybe the 27th which is OH's birthday...) Well, Satch is having a lovely time partrolling my parents' house and yard and scaring away the postie, neighbours and various neighbourhood dogs :D Ava is a bit stressed as there is so much going on and she's used to being in a quieter house and neighbourhood. She slept in her crate last night and I set up Satch's bed next to it, but he decided that he wanted to sleep in the study so he's claimed that as his new bedroom. I think the rain is coming this afternoon so they will be inside a fair bit..... I wonder how Clastic is going in her new house???

Mine are both on flat collars and leashes when walking them separately. When walking them together the big one is on a flat collar and the smaller one on a no pull harness. The little one wears a harness when we take her for a jog. I'd say most people in our area walk on flat collars. I see a few check chains, a few no pull harnesses, a few halters. I don't really care what tools people use, I just like to see them out walking their dogs.

Hi all, posting from a nice little cabin outside Port Macquarie Weather is delightful, but will be raining for the rest of the trip if the forecasts are correct! Dogs have been great and are having a super time! They are fast asleep on the cabin floor. Both our neighbours have dogs staying too Ava and Satchy thought The Ark's house was heaven, will post pics in a few days... Well, we are in for 7 hours of driving tomorrow so it's almost time for bed. Sounds like everyone has Xmas plans, I can't believe how quickly it has snuck up on us!