Simply Grand

Haha, I'm pretty sure Quinn would do exactly the same, and probably be very disappointed to be left behind when the thieves left too! I wonder if anyone saw anything, it's not like you can stick a big tv and sound system in a bag and sneak out of the house.

Cowanbree, may I ask were the dogs you've had debarked your Shelties? Not that breed matters, just that jeez my Sheltie can bark! I'm working on a citronella collar with him, it definitely stops the barking when it's on him but it also goes off when the other dogs bark and after only a week or so seems to radomly go off by itself sometimes so seems unfair and confusing for him... I'm nowhere near contemplating debarking but the thing that concerns me most is an annoyed neighbour chucking poison into the yard or harming him in some other way if I can't get it under control, and quite frankly I'd rather he have a quiet raspy bark than be dead.

Hahaha I can so picture it! Her looking up at your son with those big round innocent eyes, how could anyone resist :) My little Poodle x is excellent at giving manipulative cute looks and making people who don't know better go "aaaawww" and feel sorry for him, he knows how to milk it too, clever little Poodies.

Another one, I was just quite excited to realise that even though I'd accidentally put the toilet roll on the holder, it's still intact several hours later! Toilet rolls have spent the last month or two on a shelf out of Quinn's reach so they didn't get instantly destroyed, maybe I can now return to the small luxury of normal toilet paper dispensement...

Hahaha horts, I'm ALWAYS absently stroking whichever dog is lying next to me! I don't have an OH to do it to but I'm sure I would do it too. And I hope that when/if I have kids people tell me they have good temperaments and are well socialised! I shall have to look into the lines of the potential dad to make sure they compliment mine ;)

Hahahaha I knew I wasn't alone! These stories are great, keep 'em coming, i'm sure there are more out there :D

OMG he is the most gorgeous thing ever! What a stunning boy. I suspect the cats will be bossing him around in no time :)

I was in the shower this evening and noticed that my hands were wrinkly even tho I'd only been in there a couple of minutes. I thought to myself "hmm, what's wrong with my paws?". Seriously. Other examples - Hanging out with my friend and her young baby, I twice called him puppy without realising - "hi little puppy" then "bye puppy!" Talking to a friend about the possible ethnicity of a guy sitting near us - me: "I think he might be Asian CROSS African American" and talking about a girl on a tv show - "She had an undershot jaw... oh whoops, that's a dog term..." I'm sure you who have been around dogs longer than I have have other examples!

I usually sit on the floor while the assortment of animals share the couch

Oh I just noticed his nose freckles too, sooo cute!

Oh he is just gorgeous!! Lovely little man, I love his soulful look in that first pic. Get ready to have anything not nailed down, and lots of stuff that is, investigated thoroughly (ie destroyed) by a curious Aussie puppy mouth ;)

So cute! Saxon likes to sleep there if I'm lying on my tummy in bed, he enjoys his comfy "pillow" :)

Erny, I'm reassured to hear your response, that's exactly what I would do, and have done in similar situations. I'd also be more than happy for someone else to hold on to one of my dogs until I got there to take over and I've found it to be a good way of keeping everyone calm. ETA - as you also say Polgara :)

Sorry to go OT but wuffles, do you tell Ava she's getting a chewy and she knows what you mean? I call Dentastix chewies and when I say to them 'do you want a chewy?' they all look very interested and run to the kitchen cupboard :D

Thanks Delta :) yes I did know that, the main reg would be for the options of showing and possibly breeding her down the track.

Oh that's interesting, thanks lilli. I am actually very interested in showing her, at the moment it's all about having enough hours in the week! Once life settles down a bit I'll sort out what I'm going to do with her and the other two. I'll see what I can find from DogsACT, and I need to update her breeder anyway but time just flies!

Quinn ended up being pick of her litter, when the breeder and owner of the sire did the initial assessment she didnt come up as the top girl so was available for me as a pet. When they did the puppy puzzle at 7 weeks Quinn came out as pick but I was still lucky enough to get her :) She's currently on limit register though the breeder and I did discuss transferring her to main at some stage. She's growing into a stunning girl (tho I am a bit biased ;) ) and I'm planning to work on obedience and agility titles with her so I keep meaning to talk to the breeder about transferring her to main to give us options down the track, but I think I'm running out of time! So long story short, what's the age limit to transfer them?

Oh also my male poodle x and male Sheltie get on brilliantly, and I know plenty of other 2 male households that get along great so I would look more at temperent than gender. And I've also heard that female Shelties can be a bit different to males but I haven't had one so can't say personally :)

Sheltie!! Fluffy but easy to groom, a brush every couple of days and maybe some minor trimming around foot pads and butt is all mine needs. Dirt drops off him, doesnt shed day to day although I'm still yet to experience a coat drop. He's sweet and cuddly and from what I've heard most male Shelties are. Think I've said on here before he's the one who comes over to check on me of he thinks I might be upset :) Having said that he's a big yappy barker but he's just turned one and I'm trying a citronella collar on him, which is helping. I let it go to long when he was a baby tho so I think of literally day one at home you worked on the barking it could be prevented. Oh and I don't think Toy Poodles generally have separation anxiety as a breed, it really depends how they are treated. Treating them like a dog not a toy, and being super consistent with how you want things to be with them should work but they are smart and stubborn in my experience so you can't give in to them! My Sheltie is much softer and cuddlier than my toy poodle x Maltese but not as clever, hehe.

Quinn used to hiccup now and then as a baby, she seems to have grown out of it now at 5.5 months. I asked the vet about it and we thought it was probably just getting excited and gulping air. I felt so bad not being able to stop it as I hate having hiccups!

Yep there's a new one every day or so and the more you read it the more it feels like you get to know the dog and can just picture him saying the things he says. And if like me you come home to a new form of destruction every day you can totally relate!

Just like secretkei said, I have my dream breed, in fact my dream dog, but she's also my nightmare! Quinn my blue merle Aussie Shepherd girl is definitely my dream dog and whenever I look at her I'm struck by how stunning she is, but she's such a troublemaker and has managed to destroy half my house. still I wouldn't trade her for the world :)

Has anyone been following this blog? I check it all the time since I came across it, it cracks me up!! I looove Batdog :D

Oh gawd, I was just now sitting on the couch reading the paper when I realised I could hear a suspicious "eating of plastic" sound from the kitchen - went out there and Quinn has gotten a container of sour cream i had in the bag of groceries I just bought off the bench, got it open and eaten 2/3 of it. Sigh...

I know how you feel, I hadn't quite realised how much I love having my dogs around until last week. I stayed at a friend's house for ONE night (first night I've been away since getting Riley and Quinn) and I found I couldn't fall asleep without doggy cuddles!