Mooper

Rest in peace, sweet Jess. Remember that grin, Kaz

I bet you're your own worst critic, MrsD. Chalk it all up to experience. And have fun on Sunday Think of a dirty joke that will make you smile when you feel your nerves peaking.

I think Vehs was interested in getting Dieter started, but not sure whether "traditional herding breeds" means koolies, BCs and kelpies in this case. ETA: and their crosses, I guess.

Go Jarrah Team Fidelis looked to have some great results there, too

Oh no :D I know he's been having trouble, but I thought he would pull through. So sorry, Tess. RIP Thomas.

What a lovely tribute to a great dog. RIP Holly.

Ben sounds like a great mate, Horus. I'm sorry to hear he's no longer with us. He'll be sorely missed, I'm sure.

How is Blossom, BMP?

I'm glad you both had a great time, PM! Any pics? I bet you're both exhausted ... and you're back next weekend? :D

What? Why? When??? RIP little angel

It looks awesome, PF A little tip for those mere mortals with Breville juicers (like me ) those square silicone pot-holders/trivets you can buy make a great non-slip base

I'd be happy to visit as a complete stranger to Jester, armed with clicker and yummy treats to ease his mind I'd wager that all the Canberra DOLers would be up for that in return for puppy cuddles

As soon as I saw Victoria's name in the Rainbow Bridge thread, I knew I'm so sorry it was her time to say goodbye, Dru, but glad you were able to keep her comfortable and happy up until that point. It's good that you had the chance to say goodbye, too. Look after yourself. Does Grace understand?

Great idea, Peibe. I'll put this down for posterity, in case I find time to get more active in rescue soon. Right now, I'm not able to do much. Rescue Group: just ARF so far Time in Rescue: 3+ years in ARF Who can vouch for: Most local DOLers have been to my house, but I think the only ones who've seen my backyard and fencing are BittyMooPeeb, Keetamouse and ARFKD. Preferred Breed: Jack prefers BCs, kelpies or robust littlies. He *hates* huskies and mals He has a special bond with BMP's Piobaireachd and with my friend's dachshund Experience (if any): Only temp care, merely 3 or 4 times in three years. My husband isn't keen on fostering, and Jack isn't too keen on competing for attention, so it's easier to manage if I'm home alone. I used to be very involved in ARF marketing, fundraising, manning market stalls and organising events (party planner ) but uni takes precedence at the moment. After uni, I hope to do some fostering, transport etc. Microchip: yes Vaccination: yes Desexing: I couldn't sleep straight if I rehomed an entire dog. That's a yes. Heartworm test: yes Worming: yes Flea treatment: yes Vet work if required: yes Basic training/teach manners: yes. Thanks to my stubborn boofer, I've learned a lot about dog training House train dogs: hopefully, but I have no experience here. Each foster has come to me housetrained so far, including my own. Dogs inside the home or outside: outside during the day, inside if they want when I'm home, in a crate overnight. Oh, but Halle the ACD slept out in a kennel while she was with us, on my husband's insistence. That was a management issue -- to separate them as they would fight for attention from me. They were best buddies on walks or in the yard all day while we were at work (bloody dogs!) Are you prepared to give extra care for a submissive nervous dog: not a good idea given Jack's dominance.

Oh, Gail, I'm so sorry. I hadn't read this until now. I would have said something last night had I known. You gave Mohini more love than any other human, and went above and beyond to make him happy. You helped him, you didn't fail him. Take care of yourself.

I hope Lilly recovers soon and gets back to her usual self.

RIP Kirra, you sweet old thing. I remember bringing you to the Dogs' Dinner in the pouring rain ... you took it all in your stride. Staffyluv, please thank your sister for giving Kirra a wonderful final home

Oh, how sad :D We haven't seen you hear for ages, and now it's under such sad circumstances. But on a happy note, Gilbert-the-dashing had a heck of a good few years with you Thank you, from all the dog-lovers here

Am I that transparent? :D

The resemblance is uncanny! Well, okay, maybe not Their dog, Parker, looks intelligent and mine looks confused as usual. They do have beautiful dogs. I checked out their personal website and photography site. Check out the intensity on this little dude's face: ACDs are such great dogs :D Their are some nice pics of other breeds herding sheep and cattle on the zingpix.com pages.

I'm not familiar with the Shirley Chong method but the only way I could get Jack interested in retrieving his Slapathongs, tennis balls etc was the two toys method. It worked a treat! I'll get busy reading ... ETA: Just printed the Shirley Chong website info. Looks like a test of my patience but we'll give it a go.

Jack has finally managed to do the roll-over trick all the way. He would always roll halfway over, then back to his original position. Now that he can roll over all the way, he's offering it to us all the time, among his usual repertoire. I should try training him on a hill one day ... I reckon he'd roll all the way down

As someone else said, the free shaping did it for us. Out of frustration, Jack let out a fairly soft, muffled, whingey "woof". I clicked and treated, and now that's his was to speak. It's proving fantastic for us, because he's a real barker, but now he's learning to give this subdued sound instead My husband isn't liking it much, though, because he's started to "speak" the moment we put our cutlery down after dinner ... he knows it's his turn next, and if we ignore him for too long (according to Jack) he'll give us a good talking to We're working on "quiet", too, and that's working well with the clicker training. I find winter in Canberra is the perfect time to work on all this. It's too cold to play outside by the time we get home from work, but some clicking inside gets Jack in a total frenzy to please us. He loves it.

Sheep-herding instructors around here have mentioned to me that they often tether a pup to their belt and just calmly walk near sheep when the pup is only a few months old, as MrsD mentioned. So you may find, WDL, that your local sheepdog school is happy for your kelpie pup to watch from outside the yard/paddock to gain a bit of interest before reaching that 6-month point. It's worth asking! It sounds like you're spoilt for choice on where to go