wuffles

They're super expensive so they may as well be more delicate! The skin around Ava's stitches is looking a bit red today but the incision itself looks ok and there is no swelling. I did take her for a 20 minute walk this morning and she's been bouncing off the walls so it doesn't surprise me that the stitches are pulling a bit ;) Have fun in Melbourne... conferences aren't so bad

Question for those with more experience than me, sorry if it's silly! Ava got desexed on Wednesday so is acting a little bit stir crazy (only one day of no exercise so not exactly deprived ;)). Last night I took our other dog to training, and when we got back Ava went a little bit nuts She was ridiculously excited to see him, so we separated them, but she wouldn't calm down and was bouncing all over the place and trying to get to him. I did a little bit of training with her to see if that would distract her, and she was amazing and enthusiastic, and didn't want to stop. Could this because she was in some kind of drive? Is there any way I can harness this? She's only had this level of enthusiasm a few times before in seemingly random situations. I've never been able to get the same response after getting her excited about tugs, toys or food.

;) My young dog loves this game. She finds every single bit. A piece of kibble fell in a large puddle in our yard the other day and I caught her snorkelling around in the water trying to fish it out

Hehehe poor Elbie. If Ava gets too close to Satch he jumps up and goes to lie somewhere else, it's so cute to see a dog that just puts up with it

Ava would be smaller than Roo, she is 18.5kg, so that may explain the stitches. I thought there'd be more! The vet said that the tattoo is mandatory in the ACT :p I dropped her off at 8am, she was done around midday and I picked her up after work at 5pm. Apart from being groggy last night she was fine. Tonight she had a bit of a spack attack and wanted to play with Satch and bounced around and squealed and generally acted like a feral who had NOT had abdominal surgery the day before. The vet said it's fine to take her for a 20 minute walk on leash per day so I'll be doing that tomorrow to try take the edge off... KTB I just have today and tomorrow off. Not sure what we'll do when we go back to work on Monday, we were planning on keeping one dog in the pergola and one in the yard but if it rains we might have to rethink. I did some training with Ava today and she was great

White faces really seem to get a lot of attention. We had another white-faced dog in our obedience class who was always getting comments as well. When I tell people Ava is actually mismarked and she should have colour on her head people seem to get really offended even though I really don't care :D

My two spent most of today doing :D

Everything you said happened in our house Puppy screamed when our older dog came near her but by the next day she was fine. Everything became valuable as well, including sleeping spots. Our older dog is allowed to tell her off if she is being a s*** but not allowed to bully (which he tries occasionally and is stopped). Set your boundaries early -- think about what behaviour you will allow from both and what you will not tolerate. Good luck :D

Mine get exercise/training each morning but the younger working breed doesn't sleep much so needs lots to do. They get: - A frozen Kong each - Kibble scattered across the yard for them to find - Occasionally something to destroy from the recycling pile, like empty milk cartons, boxes or juice bottles - Deer antler bones - Rotated treat toys like the Busy Buddy range (Squirrel Dude, Twist'n'Treat, Waggle Bone) or Tug-a-Jug Mine don't really destroy their toys, I wouldn't leave them out if they did. To be fair they still dig holes and sometimes get up to mischief even with all the things they have to do. I put that down to them just being dogs.

They only clipped a little bit of her belly so you wouldn't know anything had been done if you didn't know! Rebellious girl went and got a tattoo I'm sure it will look nicer once the excess ink rubs off... And here are the stitches in case anyone is brave

Awwwwww, what a handsome big boy Kuma is!! They never look impressed when wearing party hats though... lilli_star: I'd probably take her to the vet just to be sure if it's really red, but I am paranoid (and my vet is just down the road so it's easy)! Also, Ava is pretty stinky as well, she almost smells like... "vet" if that makes any sense. And she's a rebel now with a tattoo in her ear When I picked her up from the vet they went through her blood tests with me and also showed me her observation sheet. Their first observation was "alert, active, vocal" She only has three stitches, I can't believe how small and neat the wound is considering the magnitude of the operation itself. She is back to normal this morning by the way, bouncing around, waggling the bum, giving Satchy kisses. Grogginess didn't last long, as predicted KTB: Interestingly my aftercare sheet says to keep the dog separate from other animals for the first night after their surgery -- not because they will be too active, but because their behaviour might seem weird which other animals can find unsettling and even start fights. Makes sense I guess, as I've heard stories about dogs attacking weaker or sick members of the pack! Satch wanted to sniff her allllllllllll over when she got home. Personally I think he was a bit miffed that we brought her back home and she wasn't gone for good :rofl;

Yes you certainly don't see many Aussies in Canberra... I think the one you are talking about is actually my girl's aunt :D I think there are a few doing flyball as well. We were originally going to get a puli but it seems they aren't that rare around here!!

My medium coated Aussie girl has a Teflon coat :D The other day she went in a creek and had mud caked on her legs and belly... we didn't even rinse her, she was just magically clean again after an hour or so!

Ava is home, very groggy but still quite happy They said she was very well behaved except when she wanted to "talk" to the two westies that were also there getting desexed. Here is a video of the sleepy puppy: Edit: Damn lipstick getting in the way of good photos eh KA :D

Only one Aussie :D Hopefully I will change that when my girl is old enough...

Do BCs have the issues as Aussies with excess white? That is, lack of pigment causing hearing or vision problems? (Edit: And also exposure to the sun)

And my Aussie isn't deaf or blind even though she has a white head. But the fact remains that a lot of Aussies with a white head ARE deaf or blind, so it would be stupid to take the risk of breeding any Aussie with excessive white

Just got a call to say Ava is waking up in her bed and will be ready to come home tonight as planned Maybe I will contribute to the photo aspect of the thread tonight, of the groggy little puppy. I can't see the pics here at work :D @ Kuma falling over. Satch pees like a girl at home as well and marks EVERYTHING on walks. Some mornings it gets ridiculous. Most of the time he doesn't even get his target but he seems pretty happy with himself anyway. We think that he was desexed as a very young puppy but obviously that has had no effect!

There are always going to be people that think like that but it's not everyone, just a tiny few We've discussed some "interesting" posters before so I know we feel the same way about that, but it's a minority really, as with any issue on these forums. And some people are just rude but frequenting a number of internet forums over the years, you just get used to them after a while I think most people are going to be accepting if a dog is bred responsibly and somehow came out a bit weird like Ava (bless her little white face :D) but unhappy if it was bred from parents who obviously don't stack up conformation-wise. And Little Miss Ava gets to come home tonight, I pick her up at 5pm They said they will call before the op, then when she wakes up. I haven't heard from them yet so I presume she is charming them all with her pretty face and waggy tail waiting for her turn.

I have just dropped Ava off at the vet's for her operation! It was a different place to our usual vet so she was very excited and a bit perplexed why Satchy had to stay home and SHE got to go for a car ride. Little does she know what's about to happen Satch was happy to have a day of peace and quiet. I don't think people care whether a dog conforms to the breed standard or not UNLESS the dog purported to be a "good example of the breed" or has been purposely bred to look different to the breed standard (eg. huge SBTs). I certainly don't have many people looking down their nose at my big mutt, but that's because he doesn't meet any standard and no-one expects him to. He has heaps of imperfections and when people bred dogs like him you get all kinds of trouble (overbite, bad hips, bad leg structure which means he's not as athletic as he should be). If I told someone, "This is my purebred Canberra Sheparoodle and I am going to breed him" it would be a different story! If I was to put Ava's pic out there amongst Aussie breeders and ask them if she was a good example of the breed I'd be asking for a whomping, but I know that doesn't make her any less of a good pet Edit: No-one's saying that non-conforming dogs shouldn't be loved... that's just silly. Plenty of people in the thread you're talking about have their own rescue mutts or dogs that look like they've bit hit by a truck and they still love :D

I'd say my big mutt is naturally well behaved (most of the time) but he is a pain in the butt when it comes to training. He likes to just lounge around the house and get pats. My young working breed is well behaved (most of the time) because of training. I don't even want to know what she would be like if left in a backyard with not enough training or exercise :rolleyes: She's very easy to train and biddable though.

My older boy stresses at thunder and my younger girl doesn't seem to mind. Neither of them react to heavy rain or even hail. If we are home he will pace and pant and find things to hide under. I usually give him an acknowledgment -- "It's ok, I hear it too, but stay calm and it will be over soon" -- then go about everything as normal. I am a worrywart so I do worry about him when a storm hits while we're out, but from all indications it seems he just takes refuge in his kennel and waits it out in there.

Ava kicks her legs when she's happy. When she's lying on the floor and you walk into the room, her back legs go KICK KICK. It's sooooo cute. Satch tries to squeak things with his nose. He doesn't squeak squeaky toys with his mouth -- he uses his nose. Every new toy he tests to see if it squeaks. He also tries to squeak random things with his nose; once he tried to squeak OH's bottom

She is still only a little baby and I would not be expecting her to "let you know" that she has to go out yet... she doesn't know what is expected of her. You need to take her out at regular intervals and supervise, supervise, supervise. It is your fault if she has an accident in the house It would be rare for a 10 week old to be able to hold their bladder all night so you need to wake up for a toilet break and take her outside even if she's not barking or crying. Mine don't ask to be let out unless they are busting, and they are now adults. One has never had an accident since we got him at 2 years and the other hasn't had an accident since 14 weeks (she is now 11 months). I put a routine in place so that they know that they will be let out at regular periods. As a puppy these periods need to be every hour or two and now that they are older it is less, but still a few times a day.

I have the same one for my Aussie who is similar in size to a BC. We only used the divider for a few weeks, and as a bed we just have a cheap doona in there Edit: She is now 11 months so pretty much fully grown and it is a good size.