Lucy's mama

Sorry, I actually have no idea, it is not my dog it is the neighbours. They don't want it but a friend of mine is looking for a dog and this one matches their size/coat/good with kids and other dog requirements. But their dogs are allowed inside and this one isn't an inside dog and isn't house trained so it could be an issue.

How hard would it be to house train an almost one year old dog that pees on it's bedding, and how should you go about it? Thanks, will really appreciate your input! ETA: It also pee's in submission/fear (not sure which one it is) so that may be the cause, but not sure.

No, that's fine, I must have come across defensive, I'm not offended,

Well yeah, a lot of it is lack of understanding of the breed. Some of it is going 'ýeah, I can deal with that, not allow this from the start and manage that', etc. and then finding it much more difficult than expected. Did I expect my Aussie to chase the kids and round up the chooks, chase bikes, bark etc? You bet your arse I did. I also expected that with firm guidance from day one these traits would be minimised, controlled and managed. (After all, most of the breed guides say 'require training to avoid nipping/chasing blah blah blah) I was wrong or my training was insufficient or my methods unsuitable despite researching and putting in my best effort. Things are on the up but it has been a shit load harder than I expected. I wanted to give up many times. Even though I researched, met examples of the breed, bought from a registered breeder and knew what to expect etc. So not every owner who is finding their dog a handfull is guilty of not researching, not training, not exercising and buying from a pet shop.

Banjo's was $225. He weighed 27kg and the cost included fluids, 5 days of pain relief/ anti-inflamatories and a return visit to take out the stitches. If I had opted to have bloods done it would have been $80 more, if I had decided not to have fluids it would be $75 less.

How do I know if I booked a handler space??? I just booked in, there was no mention of handler spaces and spectator spaces?

The info I was sent said they will have on-site vans and camping.

I have booked in and managed to snare the last cabin.

Yes!!! I want to go. Please please please please please don't let it be on my daughter's birthday!

I suppose I could always go for a weekend trip to check out something near where we are staying - good excuse for a weekend away!

Good idea Bertie.

No I don't I just thought if you were near TWBA I could have look after him (well depending of how he is with children & dogs). That's very kind Baxter. He is not good with children, (he tries to play rough) getting better all the time, but that is as much training my kids as it is training him. So I don't want to leave him anywhere with kids. He is good with dogs, but I think it's possible he'd be too rough, although he does leave quiet dogs alone, he will chase anything that runs away.! That is why I don't just want to leave him with friends like we did Lucy.

We are in Caboolture. Do you have any recomendations?

I'd really like to visit my sister for christmas. She has been living a 2day drive away, but is moving to just 4 hours away just before Christmas. Her partner doesn't want any dogs staying at their new place. I'm just not sure what I want to do with Banjo while we are away. In the past our dogs have stayed home with family or friends staying and looking after them, but always they do things their way, which has been fine with our other dogs, but I feel Banjo needs consistancy and routine, and the people who usually look after our dogs are not very good with him. I could put him in a local boarding kennel for a full week if I can find one I trust. I saw a dog in a boarding kennel be fitted with a bark collar without the owners knowledge though, and it got zapped when neighbouring dogs barked, and I'd hate that to happen to Banj. I could stay at a dog friendly camp ground on the ocean front about an hours drive from my sister's place and put him in a boarding kennel somewhere near there from Christmas eve till boxing day, just so I can spend Christmas day and overnight at my sisters. But I wouldn't be able to check the place out before booking in. What to do, what to do???? I need to make a decision soon so I can book before everything is all booked out.

Ohhh he makes me laugh!! I put the treats under a platic cup and he pushed it around the floor with his nose till it fell over, ate the treats then promptly chomped the cup and split it right down the side. I decided to try a low, square, clear container. I put the treats under, he picked up the container in his mouth and just as I was about to say 'ÇLEVER BOY!' he ran off with the container and left the treats behind.

I couldn't resist - I had to give it a go! I showed Banjo a plate of tuna and told him to wait while I put it down and covered it with a towel. He sniffed till he was right over the plate then licked the towl, bit at it and licked some more. I thought I maybe made it too hard so repweated the process with a tea towel - he did the same but when he bit it the third or fourth time it moved enough for him to see the tuna so he nosed it off the rest of the way. Then I put a blanket over him and he walked around backwards till he got stuck in a corner and just kept twisting from side to side till I decided it was mean and took the blanket off him. I'm off to put a treat under a cup now...

I get the comments about keeping him on lead too. One lady comments every single time I see her that I should let him off, and when I tell her his recall isn't good enough or he may play too rough for some dogs (Aussie's do play hard!) she say's it's to be expected because he is young, and no one will mind. Luckily I have read DOL and know people do mind. If he was off lead he would barrel up to dogs rudely and seem threatening.

Don't expect me to say yes if you don't have your dog focussed on you and under effective control. If there's one thing that will make me cross the street its a dog straining on its lead to get to mine. Its not natural body language, I can't read it easily and neither can my dogs. I'm with RSG. If I don't know the person and the dog, most of the time I'll say "no thanks". Like I said, I have no problem with people saying no, it's there perogotive and completely understandable, and I always have Banjo in a sit before I even think about asking. He is not under 'reflexive controll' though, but certainly I don't ask if he is being ignorant. ETA: I read your post wrong - it says effective controll, not reflexive control.

This has happened to us a few times now - Banjo will be straining towards another on lead dog, and sometimes it is straining towards Banjo. I always have him sit then ask the other owner if they can say hello. 99% of the time they say yes and they have a sniff, occasionally some one says no (and I'm fine with that) and sometimes they say yes and their dog starts snarling and snapping when they get close. The owner will then appologize and tell me that their dog is just a bit nervous of other dogs. I have no problem with dogs that are nervous. I am not going to label it vicious ór you unfriendly if you say 'No' to them meeting. These are dogs that are fine when we are standing a metre away, but not when the sniffing starts. Luckily Banjo backs out of any confrontation. But why on earth do people say 'Yes' if they know their dog is nervous? Why not just say 'No', or if you really feel you need to explain then just say your dog is frightened when strange dogs get too close? What if Banjo was the type of dog that never starts something but would always finish something? I really don't get it.

Oh my god!! What is this little guy really??? Apart from super cute??

My heart dog was a maremma/bordercollie mix that I bought home when the poor thing was only 5 1/2 weeks old. I was 17 and just didn't know any better. He protected me from a 3 year old once by leaping out from under my chair and biting her face. I was stressed out with all the kids (we were camped with 2 families who had 10 kids between them) and just wanted to be left alone and he picked up on that. Luckily it wasn't serious. He later took on a 4wd in the back paddock and that was the end of him. I guess maremma's guard and border's bite sheep to move them on...???

Yep, marremma cross golden seems very popular atm. What is wrong with having a golden if you want a golden or a maremma if you want a maremma???

I looked at organic, free range, human grade raw food for my dog. Nup, not affordable. A lot of people can't justify the extra expense of organic for the people in the family, never mind the animals.

I share your suspicions. Dog poisoners need to be caught quickly and all the dog owning neighbours of these people need to be on alert. The statement by the RSPCA Inspector is interesting though - I wasn't aware that children were now eating raw minced meat. Ugh! Souff Some kids do strange things. My daughter never ate anything she shouldn't have, my son on the other hand . I was constantly on the phone to nurse on call or the poison information centre. Nothing turned out to be terribly harmfull, but he certainly kept me on my toes.

Well said. I feel as sorry for the woman as I do her children.