wuffles

Ahhhh dogs I'd just assure the landlord that I would replace the turf at the end of the lease...

Well that certainly was an interesting drive home. Golf ball sized hail Thankfully OH was home so the puppies are nice and dry inside (although Satch is still petrified). Hope all the other Canberra dogs and their owners found a nice safe, dry spot.

Sorry, didn't mean to make it look like I was laughing at you, just the thought of comparing the two was kind of funny :rolleyes:

:D Sorry, I shouldn't laugh, but there is a slight difference between chickens and human children. My girl who has killed a chicken is brilliant with kids and small fluffy dogs.

Ok KA, Kuma HAS to meet Satchmo. I think they may be brothers from another mother. Let me know when you have some precious free time and we are going to get together, dammit. And good luck squooshing Satchmo

Definitely agree Max#1! I think because I have two dogs who are so different to each other I have had quite a range of experiences over the past few years. One hour obedience classes once a week are realistically a terrible way to train dogs for a variety of reasons. Some people can make it work for them and their dogs, some dogs will not deal with it well at all, etc.

Depends on owner perception of what's right and what's not My girl killed a chook at her breeder's house when she was about 6 weeks old. Yet at her first herding clinic she was only mildly interested in the sheepies, and she was very, very gentle with them.

Just IMO of course and I obviously have a different opinion to most people as I love obedience () but I don't see heeling as an exercise in control at all, although obviously self control is needed to do it well. I think it's an exercise in teamwork and trust and demonstrates the bond between handler and dog. Seeing that little fluffy face looking up at you attentively, wanting to move the way you move, trusting you to lead them in the right direction... :D For example a stay is a really practical exercise, but to me that's more about obeying a command. Holding a stay for a few minutes is great but it doesn't give me that much excitement or fuzziness while it's happening or even after the fact. "Good" heeling when a dog is very in tune with its owner, moving in synch, tail up and wagging, is a lovely sight. Sorry, don't mean to be the obedience brigade, just throwing my opinion in the mix :D :D In the end everyone wants something different out of their dog and that's fine. I don't want Satch to be an obedience champion so I just do bits and pieces with him and brush up on anything that is annoying me. You shouldn't go to obedience classes just because it seems like the thing to do, you should have a purpose... even if that purpose is just socialisation!

Yes, my poor Satchy wasn't impressed by the thunder which lasted almost an hour at our house! I heard the first rumblings in the sky and waited... sure enough, 5 seconds later a big black dog slipped into our bedroom panting heavily and wanting to jump on my face. I gave him a bit of a pat and he settled down beside the bed. Thankfully it was a lot of rumbling as he seems to cope with that better than the big cracks. I peeked under the bed at Ava (she sleeps under there most nights now) who was blissfully snoring her little head off. I'm jealous

The people in Petbarn gave me a big lecture about not feeding puppy food to my 10 month old Aussie. They were nice enough apart from that but weren't happy about selling me a bag of adult food

Hey, those holes are nearly on par with ours, Ava and Satch give a thumbs up to Mars and Pepper! :laugh: Glad Hoover has had a snooze because Ava is wide awake. We went to Dogs Day Out after training where we saw lots of friends including Satch's ex-foster carer and her dog which made him very excited! Little Miss isn't being naughty but she isn't snoozing either...

Thanks, I wish I had natural eyeliner like hers... although not the weird dots to the side Yep Ava gets washed in the tub and Satch outside. Both are scared of the hairdryer so they generally get towelled off, put outside to bask in the sun for 15 minutes, then inside again before they get too dirty! They have both now been brushed and Ava is so fluffy and sweet :D We bought a Furminator which doesn't work on Ava but definitely does on Satch, and it makes him look nice and smooth

Awww, I think Hoover's eyes look very thoughtful! Doggies in the wuffles household got bathed today. Poor Ava always looks like she's being tortured in the bathtub. Now they are both all fluffy and smell like oatmeal I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow too KTB. I'm considering taking Ava down the oval soon for a bit of practice seeing as we have been a bit (ok, very) slack lately...

Some dogs have allergies so bad that they need Prednisolone for short periods of time and sometimes permanently, my dogs life is sometimes a misery because of his allergies and without using some form of cortisone he would have probably been in a lot more discomfort to the point where I would rather put him to sleep then see him suffer like that. Agree, my dog suffered terribly with his allergy and I think it's a bit ignorant to think that all allergies can be managed effectively in a short time frame without steroids. My boy pretty much itched 24 hours a day even with "management" including Aloveen baths, keeping him off grass, antihistamines, etc. He didn't sleep at night, he had an Elizabethan collar on for weeks straight, he had weeping hotspots. Sorry, but cortisone was a lifesaver for us so that he could actually act like a somewhat normal dog for a little while.

I don't have a preference really, I have one of each and they are both lovely.

I am the same. My partner thinks I am bonkers, but I definitely find it comforting

I'd really like to do the TID program but alas cannot afford it at the moment. I used to envy people with "trainable" dogs so I got myself one In reality though, there are benefits both ways. Working breeds are easier to train but they are also prone to using their intelligence for mischief. And if they don't get the mental and physical stimulation they need they can be hyperactive, crazy, naughty and generally a pain in the butt! On the other hand, more independent breeds like Kuma and Satch can be difficult to train but I find are really easy dogs to live with. They are happy just to lie around and if they miss out on a day's training or exercise they just deal with it. We need to organise the birthday party so you can meet Satch who I think is lots like Kuma in many ways :D Anyone going to Dogs Day Out this weekend?

It's just the photo, but we do believe she is a cryptic merle as she has two small spots on her back which look white but when compared to her other white areas are actually darker. I am glad her pigmentation came through although I still put sunscreen on the top of her nose in summer :D

For anyone interested in white, here are some pictures of my girl at various ages showing how the pigmentation on her face has changed. Sometimes it's hard to tell what they're going to look like when they're older! She is still missing a tiny bit of pigment on the inside of her eyerims and ended up with some black splotches.

There are all kinds of funky genetics stuff happening with white dogs from different breeds... for example chinchilla can cause solid white dogs with black pigmented eyerims/nose/lips for example samoyeds (someone correct me if I'm wrong). My Aussie's nose filled with black pigment in her first few weeks, her eye rims started filling in from 10 weeks, her lips are mainly black with pink spots, and many areas around her head have black pigmented skin with white fur. Very interesting :shrugs:

So Little Miss is finally booked in to get desexed next week! Fun fun... she just turned 11 months old and I don't think she's got much more growing to do so I think it's time. Don't worry too much about deaf dogs by the way, they cope just fine! Especially if they are born deaf, they don't even know that anything is wrong. I've met a few, and they are very in tune with both their owner's and doggie friend's body language...

Yes my girl has always been very confident with other dogs and people so I guess that forms part of my opinion. None of the people in my class were rough or inappropriate either. By the time we did 'pass the puppy' most of the puppies were too big to be picked up anyway so it was more about having other people walk them on leash, get them to sit and drop, and try to get them to sit still for pats. Either way I guess it depends on a lot of factors and I can see why some people are uncomfortable with it. I just don't know if I agree with everyone's reasoning

We played pass the puppy in puppy school and I am happy to give my dogs to instructors to do demonstrations. I've had no issues and she's still bonded with me. But I'm just a beginner who wants a pet first and a competition dog after that if we both enjoy it.

Just depends how you want to do it, IMO there isn't a right and wrong way. My hand signal comes first if I am teaching using luring as the hand signal is usually a less obvious version of the lure. Verbal command is only added when they are performing the behaviour every time with the lure. Both my dogs work better using signals rather than commands, so although I give both most of the time, the signals are most important for us. Keep in mind it can be difficult for instructors who often have to fit within the club or vet's training philosophy, if you think you have enough experience to effectively train your dog in a different manner then take their advice and try their method, but ultimately you can do whatever you like. My dog will work for praise but she will work BETTER for treats

Everyone is getting second dogs! We are all crazy. Sometimes I train my two together but they learn at very different rates so I'm not always very successful. KTB, do you find that yours are more motivated with training when the other is around? Ava turns into a Nutty, Offeringeverythingunderthesun dog when Satch is butting into her training sessions. Aussies! Have you met Ava yet? She'd love Saxon. Pugs are great little characters! Having to go on Thursday AND Sunday is a pain Especially when one of the dogs kicks up a stink when you take the other one out without them... and what to do when all assessments are on one night?