wuffles

I went and checked out the park today. I only went in the bigger section. My dogs are both too big to fit through the gaps under the fence, the biggest gap I saw was maybe 5-10cm. I didn't have a really thorough look but Satch is usually pretty good at finding gaps in fencing :D The bubblers seem to be in really weird places, and there are no bins actually in the enclosure which is a bit annoying! Satch couldn't find the water himself which he's always been able to do at other places we go. There also didn't seem to be any signage about the big/small dog areas, it doesn't mention which is which anywhere... there were all kinds of dogs in the big dog area ranging from a toy poodle up to my big boofhead. Apart from that, we enjoyed ourselves... the doggies and owners were well behaved and the park is huge Lots of tree and sniffy places although I think I'd probably be careful of snakes in summer as there are lots of hidey places, branches, leaves, etc.

Welcome jrm88! I just love standard poodles Personally I think they are a great "man's" dog: big, intelligent, active, fun and noble. It's a pity more people don't see it that way!

Once a day here as mine only gets fed once a day

dog geek I would be soooooooo up for roadtesting or purchasing an unkillable bed, I am in the ACT We are going through $5 hessian covers for the trampoline bed about once a month at the moment... they've already eaten the feet off and I wouldn't be surprised if they manage to mangle the frame soon

Seriously guys, when did this thread turn into an argument over god knows what? Maybe some of the issues here are better of discussed in a different thread.

Vets always say that our big rescue boy has "tight" hips, he can't extend his legs all the way out the back and doesn't like them being manipulated. He's on Joint Guard and we took weight off him so he is probably slightly underweight but not massively so. He doesn't show any signs of pain even after exercise, maybe he stretches more than other dogs. We don't limit his exercise but he naturally quite lazy. He gets a 30 minute walk every day plus the dog park maybe twice a week for an hour. And he runs around like an idiot with the puppy each day. He never seems sore afterwards. If he was exhibiting soreness we would rethink :D

I sprinkle the Joint Guard directly onto kibble :D Or how about just using a bit of water to mix up the Joint Guard and putting that with the kibble? It would only be a tiny amount... Edited to add: You can get Joint Guard chewable liver treats instead!

My show-bred Aussie is definitely still intelligent and keen

This thread has gotten a bit crazy, I was looking forward to hearing people's ideas on the differences and what was good about each but it seems to have gone a different way You would be welcome to come meet my Aussie haylz if we lived in the same place!

Our boy used to wear his in the yard unsupervised as he just slept all day, but now we have two they are nekkid. My dogs mouth each other around the neck a lot, they also squeeze into small spaces when playing, so it's not worth the risk. I don't bother with breakaways because they'd most likely come undone anyway if they somehow managed to escape. Or they'd pull them off each other and eat them :p

Despite slight differences in the GENERAL temperament of the two breeds, from what I have seen there is a lot of overlap between them and big differences between individuals. I chose an Aussie because I like the stockier build, I like that they tend to be clowns, and I like that they don't seem to have the intensity that most BCs have. I want to do obedience/agility but as a beginner, don't care if it's not the most competitive dog in the world, I just want to have fun and learn. And my girl sure is a lot of fun and LOVES to learn My girl gets on fabulously with another DOLers BC of the same age and they seem to have similar energy levels. To be honest I think you'd be happy with either, they are both lovely breeds and are a joy to train.

As long as I don't think YOUR bouncy dog will piss him off? You have met Ava right? He has to put up with that 24 hours a day He is great with crazy puppies and has met plenty of them, so when you feel comfortable give me a buzz and we'll arrange something. I'll make sure I don't get Elbie all excited too

Yep, our Satchy is a funny boy Interestingly, the puppy seems to have learned what distance Satch will tolerate, and she lies next to him juuuust beyond that boundary

My Aussie has a big fluffy tail and is not a big barker (she does bark, but not much, she is more likely to whinge) She has to be the cutest little thing you could ever lay your eyes on... But she is a naughty little so-and-so.... so it evens out We have two tollers in our street who we see all the time. Our Aussie girl is very similar to their Toller boy in terms of temperament.

Hrmm, I don't know whether Elbie needs the same approach as my dogs as they are really different to him personality-wise. Satch is a naturally dominant dog, but was under-confident when we got him - so all we did with him was take him as many places possible (markets, shops, parks, soccer games, etc) and not make a big fuss. This might be a bit too exciting for Elbie! The first time I took him to a soccer game we sat in the car the whole time as he was scared of the balls. The second time we sat on the edge of the field. The third time we watched the game on the sidelines and now he gladly watches the boys run right past him :D Similar thing with Ava, we just took her everywhere with us. She's naturally confident though, and having a calm, older dog around has helped her - although she's still a little idiot I'd be doing one-on-one encounters with other known dogs rather than the rowdiness of the off leash area! I even removed Ava from there the other day because it was just too busy and she was getting over-stimulated. Ava's probably too boisterous for him but I'd be happy to let Elbie meet Satch offleash as he will most likely ignore him.

Awww, this is lovely. My big boy is funny about his personal space and won't let other dogs lie near him. We squee'd lots when he came and lay down next to our puppy!! They still don't do it often but it's gorgeous when they do.

Ava does the whole body wag when she is happy, too -- but she also does it when she's unsure and as an appeasement gesture to people and other dogs. When she's been told off by our older dog she wags her bum like crazy (once he pinned her down while growling and her tail was going nuts) but promptly slinks away from the situation when it's over. So wriggles can mean more than just happiness I'm not an expert by any means but I wouldn't have thought that occasional submissive urination was a huge problem... someone please correct me if I'm wrong. Some dogs like Elbie are just naturally submissive and how they deal with that is pretty individual. Maybe confidence building would help? One of mine is very dominant and the other somewhere in between, so I may be completely off the mark...

I drove past it the other day and it looked great! Haven't been in so haven't seen the issues you've described though :p Mine would think it was a game getting through the fence The Belconnen one didn't open until months after advertised as they were "waiting for the grass to grow". The grass lasted maybe a month :p

Ours are frozen with Nature's Gift tinned food.

One of mine is really fussy about his "spots" and occasionally deems his bed unsuitable for sleeping on He's been known to turn about 20 circles on a bed before deciding it's not right and going and sleeping somewhere else. I'd probably just give the bed and blankets a wash and see if that helps.

You can get bowls with a bit in the middle that are designed for fast eaters. Feed bigger bones than chicken necks - wings or frames for chicken. We freeze ours so they are forced to chew them. Also I feed mine bones separately as the puppy gobbles hers if the older dog is around. If fed in her crate she chews them all up

I got the same, Anatolian Shepherd, Black Russian Terrier, Doberman, Great Dane, Greater Swiss Mountain Dog. I said I wanted a dog for agility, medium to large, active and trainable, don't care about fur. The breed I actually have (Aussie) was result number 37 I loooove Black Russian Terriers but they are too much dog for me... maybe one day Edited to add: It looks like they are just recommending in alphabetical order which is why we are all getting Anatolians...

Our dogs get no bedding except a trampoline bed as they destroy everything else. Even when they did have beds, they preferred to lie in the garden beds, in the middle of the yard, on the concrete in the sun... They do also have a kennel and a pergola for shelter, but they lie in the rain anyway

Here was the face I got. If you stick with it they usually get used to it, our boy did.

This is a bit random but I initially thought this thread said "How many toes should a puppy have?"