kasoo

This happened to me recently only he got me on the cheekbone. Ended up with a bad black eye. Feel so stupid having to explain to everyone it was the dog!

I agree with Sheena. Having an off lead area within 100 mts of our house I knew from the beginning this would be where Hunter would get his daily exercise. His recall was always the most important part of his training and as a pup we always rewarded with treats. Hunter is now 16 months and has a reliable recall but I still take treats with me. He is now at the point where I don't reward every time but now and then he still gets one just to reinforce his recall. He also had a bad situation where a strange dog went to have a go at him. His flight response kicked in and he ran 20-30 mts in the other direction. I called him in and he turned in a big circle and came in to me with the strange dog still in chase. Lucky the other dog backed off and the owner was there. But I was so proud that even in that fear situation he responded well. Lots of treats for that.

Hi Saff, I am also at Croydon and just today we passed our Basic 2 Obedience. Next week I will be signing up for Agility too. Might see you there. :D I know Croydon has recently trained up some new Agility instructors so hopefully that means extra classes??

I've been very lucky. We met ours when we both moved into the same street after building our first houses. He lived right across the road and would always help in an emergency. We have since move house in different directions but I've always gone back to his practice. Last year when I brought my new Aussie Shepherd puppy in for his check I was pleasantly surprised he knew all about the breed.

I taught my boy to walk backward about 5 steps beside me (heal position)by luring. He starts in a stand on your left side. Held a treat with my left hand behind his left ear, almost over his left shoulder while I kept my left leg up close to his right shoulder. He stepped back with his left leg and I also stepped back with my left to keep his body from swinging around. At first he also turned his head left toward the treat. After I worked it up to 4-5 steps I phased out the lure and used my left hand sweeping backward over his left shoulder as a cue. His reward then came from my right hand at the end which stopped him turning his head.

If I ever get a little dog again I want to call it "Jellybean". I think it just suits spunky little dog.

Toy - Toy poodle based on a happy little guy we met recently at the park. Small - Sheltie I have one Medium - Australian Shepherd have one of these too Large - Lots could go here but probably GSD Giant - Great Dane always loved them

We had two sets joined when our pup was younger. Now that he's older and doesn't need the pen I bought another one and set the whole lot up around my vege patch. Stops him running through my vege's when doing zoomies around the yard;)

When I was digging through the vege patch last weekend I found a flat metal cutout in the shape of a cat. I guess it was from previous owners intended to scare away birds. I just picked it up and stuck it against the fence. Well, Hunter spotted it and began with a deep growl which progressed into a protective bark. I picked it up and showed him it was just a flat bit of metal but turning it over he went off again. I was in fits of laughter Yet to see if it will work on the birds!

I have learnt the hard way that early socialisation is important. My first girl, I kept away from public areas because of my confusion regarding vaccinations. We don't have any family nearby and few friends who visit. The puppy class didn't start until 16 weeks. Although she is wonderful at obedience she is very timid around other people and dogs. I read as much as I could before our current pup came along. I read Dunbar, Caesar Milan and The Focused Puppy. I found the Focused Puppy most helpful for what I need. At 9 weeks I took him out to the local supermarket where we waited for hubby outside. He got to see people, vehicles and tolleys. I had treats and worked on keeping his focus on me. He got to meet many elderly people there who were very gentle in giving him a pat. I treated him every time he met someone and returned his focus to me. His puppy classes started at 8 weeks too. (Different club) This pup is now 7 months and friendly with everyone he meets. He meets other dogs with good doggy manners and learns which dogs are happy to play and which prefer to be left alone. The difference in the two dogs is incredible. Im so glad I researched this time.

I also think Leo is wonderful. It was Leo who convinced our family we needed an Aussie. So along came Hunter. They really are wonderful photographs. Makes me want another Aussie

Thanks DBT thats a great idea. I might do the exercise walks separately but also do a 5-10 min short session training the tandem thing with another family member assisting. I really enjoy walking each dog and I don't want our walks to turn into a physical struggle which undermines our training so far. The end goal is to have two dogs nicely walking beside me.

Thanks PF. This is the way I've been trying it. Right now Hunter won't keep my focus and stay on his side while Chelsea is with us. He just wants to jump across me to get at Chelsea. I use a marker for when he is doing the right thing but he is only holding that focus for a moment or so. The distraction of Chelsea being there seems to be a huge one.

Background - I have a three year old Sheltie Chelsea and a 5 month old Australian shepherd Hunter. Both have learnt loose lead walking at basic obedience classes (pup is currently still in his class)and both behave beautifully on lead in class and on casual walks. BUT only when they are on their own with me. With the recent good weather this week I have started taking them both out for walks together. Im not sure if its because Hunter is going through his adolescent stage but he is constantly harrassing Chelsea, nipping at her tail, and just trying to get at her. Of course she is tying me in circles trying to avoid him and also giving some back in defence. I can eventually get their attention for a few moments and reward this but as soon as I reward Hunter he goes back into crazy mode again. At home in the house or yard they play together well. This is only happening on walks (so far). I am wondering if I should just go back to single dog walks for now and get the loose lead walking behaviour back in line? Would it be better to wait till Hunter is older before trying this again? Or is it worth the challenge and persue this?

My pup is 19 weeks now and I just realised that it's been two weeks since I've mopped a puddle. He always stands by the back door when he needs to go. Sometimes he will get let out when he is just having a look out the glass door. I'd say he was 80-90% trained at about 14 weeks. From the 12 week mark accidents happened because we missed the signal, you know those occasions when you need to do 2-3 things at once.

That is fantastic.

I have a 42" crate in our bedroom at the foot of our bed. It's covered with a quilt so it looks like it belongs. Also the quilt makes it like a cave. I've got half the crate blocked off so he doesn't pee but that didn't work. (Had 3 accidents in 4 weeks) He is almost 12 weeks old. I had a stuffed dog bed in there which I had to wash and it took 3 days to dry. So now he gets layers of thick towel, sheet and two fluffy blankets which will all fit in the wash and dryer. ;)

I have a 10 week old Aussie Shepherd and he loves his Kong Wobbler. I fill it with his lunch portion of kibble and basically he feeds himself throughout the day. He didn't quite "get" it till I physically showed him how to knock it about. Now he loves to jump on it and see the kibble tumble out. It was a bit expensive but if it keeps him interested it's worth the $$. Other good value toys came from Salvation Army store.

My 8 week old puppy started playing in his water too. Hunter gets his feet in it, swirls his nose around the bottom of it, drips it all over the place. Lucky its in a heavy ceramic bowl which I keep in his pen in the family room. I have put a huge sheet of clear plastic (from Spotlight) under the whole pen. I then just mop it up once or twice a day. I can't wait till he is old enough and warm enough to go swimming. I have a feeling he will love it.

I love the photos of Kirah. She is a real little miss. I brought Hunter home late last week. He is having a ball with Chelsea my sheltie. I have to separate them now and again so she can have a break. He is being very good otherwise though. Here are some pics.

I've seen a very cute JS puppy being walked in our neighbourhood recently. I'd love to catch up to them and say "hi". :D

Yes he is an Aussie. Its been an interesting wait. Until Feb I'd only seen and read about them online. I took the family to the Melbourne Pet expo just so we could meet some Aussies and talk to owners about the breed. From there we went out to KCC park to watch some doing agility and then another trip to watch some herding. I knew which breed lines interested me so I made inquiries and found a breeder using those lines. The next step was waiting for the litter to be born and then watching them grow. I've read lots on puppy training, crate training and enrolled in puppy classes at our local obedience club. I have enjoyed the whole process.

Shelley your puppy is so cute. Is he a Cocker Spaniel? I love his colouring. I pick mine up one week from tomorrow. Sounds really close now since I've been waiting since February. Here is a pic of Hunter from last Monday.

Loving all the puppy pics. They are all so smoochy cute. There are so many and I can't list all the names. Its great that so many of you are in your final week before pick up or have new arrivals. I thought I still had 3 weeks to go but checking the calendar just now it's just over two. Thursday 23 June is my big day. Getting really excited too. How hard is it to pick a name! We have had a list going for the last 6 weeks. Narrowed down to 10. Had one name picked out for a couple of weeks then suddenly changed our mind. The whole family are involved in this process so it's not simple.

I just looked up the last one you all did for Jed. It's really beautiful! Rainy you did an amazing job putting it all together.