wuffles

Although formal obedience classes probably would benefit you, I think things like a recall need to be taught outside of that environment. I took our dog through three levels at dog club and stopped when we got to the pre-trialling level. As a result I have a dog that is great at formal recalls (stay, come, sit in front) but flips me the bird if I call him while doing something interesting ;) Edit: I go to Belconnen and it has been good, the only issue I have is too much formal heeling as you go up the levels, but that depends on the instructor. It's great for the basics, as well as training under distraction.

Our older dog would prefer to still be by himself rather than have a playful, rough, incessant puppy bugging him to play all day. He loves other dogs, he even doesn't mind them staying in his house for a few weeks, but one that's there permanently is a different matter Sure, he's tolerant, they have their fun moments, and it's getting better as the puppy calms down, but I don't think it will ever give him that "new lease on life" that some people describe. It depends on the dog.

I really feel for you with the crying, Bluefairy! Ava has finally started "sleeping in"! I got to sleep until 7am on Sunday which is the longest sleep in I've had since she came into our lives. Hopefully Zoe will take a leaf out of Ava's book soon!!

Yay for Dragon! What a clever, waggy boy he is

jakeyjangels, I do all my training in the backyard off leash. No tangles, wondering which hand to use or distractions for Ava I wish I had done more training with my other dog off leash. She's only on leash for loose leash walking Are you clicker training? It takes a while to get used to but most dogs really respond well - Ava LOVES our training sessions. You can teach an attention cue through clicker training, this makes all the other commands much easier and is really a foundation for training! I use "watch" but others use "look" or something similar. As soon as pup looks at you, even if it lasts half a second, reward. You can build up the amount of time he's expected to watch you as he gets better at it. Let me know if you have any training questions, I'm not an expert, but I have a smart little puppy who teaches me an awful lot

My friend recently took her oodle to one in Ainslie. She got an appointment in about two weeks.

This thread is really interesting for me, keep the replies coming! We have a nearly-5-month-old who we've had since she was 12 weeks old. She just loves training. As soon as I put the treats bag on, she's right beside me and doesn't take her eyes off me. She will chase a ball and play with toys, and enjoys playing with other dogs, but she seems equally if not more happy when training. Does anyone think that I could do more harm than good doing some of the more "formal" obedience with her at this age? I've been doing short heeling patterns around the yard which she appears to enjoy and is doing reliably. We've also started obedience classes, although they are only very basic and still "fun" at this stage. I do all kinds of stuff with her, sits, downs, stays, recall, as well as tricks. Do you think a pup that exhibits such a desire to work will stop enjoying herself if I put too much work into her at this age?

In my experience there aren't usually issues with a dog that cowers or rolls over in submission, the other dogs tend to back off or lost interest. Even when I've seen dogs growl or snap in fear, the others usually back off. However, when a dog runs and runs and runs (especially while squealing), that's when things start to go downhill.

Such a cute family Love the pic of Sophie teaching Chase how to dig holes. It was one of the first things our older dog taught our puppy too

Ava is now 19 weeks old and her latest sleep-in has been until 6am :D It's a good day if we get to 6am before a tantrum is thrown in the crate It doesn't bother me too much on work days because I'm up at 6am anyway, but weekends are a pain!

Each to his own. We have one rescue and one purebreed and both are great dogs. It's hard to know which way I'll go for any future dogs, it depends on my situation in the future

Hi mumof3, I just love Brittanies and they were on our shortlist when we got our new puppy. We ended up with an Australian Shepherd instead! Do you plan on doing any kind of work or dog sport with your new pup? I think you'll find that even though people on this forum love their dogs, most of us don't treat them like four legged people at all Dogs being dogs is when they're happiest, but that doesn't mean they don't like snuggling on the couch too (For the record, ours aren't allowed on the couch, but I am tempted sometimes :cool:)

Here are a few more...

Ours put a big crack down his by running full speed into a doorway. The second one survived, though!

We have a 5yo and a 4 month old puppy so it can be a bit of a juggling act to give them separate time! Do you have a partner or housemate that could help? I often get my OH to take the older dog for a walk if I want to do some training with the puppy. Feed them in different areas. Our dogs get fed at the same time, but the older boy gets fed outside and the puppy inside in her crate.

We use one of these on our boofer, he is 37kg. It has held perfectly for 2 years. It feels way more sturdy than any other buckle collars I've seen. I wouldn't recommend locking it while he's in the yard in case it catches on something and he can't free himself.

I have a "stalker" too!!! Ours is a boofer as well but he does exhibit some other herding behaviours so we assume he does have a herding instinct. He does the head down, slow walk... then a big POUNCE as he gets close to the other dog. He is very social, loves other dogs, is dominant but very passive about it. He does have some other social "quirks" so I don't think he was particularly well socialised before he came to us.

I have two different types here, our older rescue is independent, he picks a room to lie in and pretty much stays there all night unless food is present I'm used to it and love it that he's so "easy"! He loves pats but isn't big on cuddles. We love him. Our 4 month old puppy is a velcro dog and although it's cute, sometimes it kind of annoys me! I'm always tripping over here and can't get her out of the bathroom when I'm trying to go

Aww Deb, what sweet brothers Ava has Ours both have the sulks tonight after OH told them off for stealing things off the couch (eg. a remote control which still works but whose battery compartment is dog-tooth dimpled shut). I'm glad you liked the training videos, she is such a great little girl ;) Here are some more photos for research purposes

That's right Beth ;) Her ears and eyes should be completely covered with colour. This may seem silly at first, but dogs with predominantly white on their ears and around their eyes are more likely to have hearing and sight issues. They also get sunburned easily which is not desirable in a working dog. Thankfully she has enough pigment to have no issues I love lots of white (except when she rolls in the mud), but I also understand why it's not the most desirable trait of the breed. Here is the colour standard for aussies: Blue merle, black, red merle, red - all with or without white markings and/or tan (copper) points, with no order of preference. The hairline of a white collar does not exceed the point of the withers at the skin. White is acceptable on the neck (either in part or as a full collar), chest, legs, muzzle underparts, blaze on head and white extension from underpart up to four inches measuring from a horizontal line at the elbow. White on the head should not predominate and the eyes must be fully surrounded by colour and pigment. Merles characteristically become darker with increasing age. Disqualifications: White body splashes, which means white on body between withers and tail, on sides between elbows and back of hindquarters on all colours.

It'll be interesting to see how he grows up! We have a mismarked Australian Shepherd puppy who was born with completely white head (the back half of her body is mainly black). She started developing black eyeliner at about 6 weeks old and now at 4 months it is thick and complete. At about 12 weeks, she started developing black spots on her ears (just the skin - her fur is still white!) and the spots now cover quite a bit of her ears. She has a black spot next to one of her eyes and in the past two weeks one has started to show next to her other eye ;) Her eyes have been certified clear (they are light brown) and she appears to have no hearing issues.

This is the case for us too - we have a 5yo and introduced a 12 week old puppy. The puppy just constantly bugs him, she loooooooves him and follows him everywhere She's 4 months old now and they do play quite a bit, but the old fella tires of her quite quickly, and she never gives up They do get along fine, I think Satchmo just wishes we brought him home a lazy greyhound instead of a crazy aussie shep His reaction isn't what we expected as he loves playing with other dogs, it's just having a puppy in his face he objects to! I also think it will improve when she gets older and stops licking/biting his face and jumping on his head when he sleeps :D Edit: Thought I would add that our first dog is MUCH more food motivated and willing to train with the puppy around.

Oh he looks great.. I just love shaggy dogs

We have a 5yo large mixed breed and a 4 month old Australian Shepherd pup. At the moment, OH is taking our 5yo for a walk in the morning for about 30 minutes (this is all he needs). I spend this 30 minutes in the backyard with the puppy, usually about 4 x 5 minute blocks of training with play in between (some fetch, tug, toys, running). This seems to be enough to calm her down while we're gone during the day. I take her for quick on leash walks around the block some afternoons, or out to meet our friend's dogs, or for a run around the dog park. I won't lie, it would be much easier to slap a leash on her and just take her with our older dog, but at least her training is coming along in leaps and bounds

I think there's nothing that looks cooler than a puli doing dog sports