Simply Grand

I agree with this. I do think that it is your house and he is a puppy and it's no one else's right to tell you how to train him. But having the kids there is a great opportunity to do the above and teach the puppy what you want him to do. And from what I've seen kids love seeing a dog do what they ask it to then being able to give them a treat! He won't be able to concentrate for all that long though so maybe he could have a play/training session for a while then go inside with you and have a rest away from the kids. Agree with the others that if someone hit my dogs, or told their kids too, none of them would be at my house again!

Oh get out of town! How can puppies be sooooo cute!?!? seriously, they make the world better

Oh they're so cute!!! Look at Spats's purry bliss face in the last photo I have to admit the dogs are much more enthuiastic about being friends than the cats are, although I think they're only pretending to be annoyed sometimes, Saxon gives both cats a good lick sometimes and they both get all purry and love it hehe. I think dog/cat snuggles are even cuter than when they snuggle with their own species.

...cept no one told mine :D (just wanted to share some cute pics )

That is very detailed!! Have you thought about this before? I can't think what mine would sound like... I can imagine what they say, just not quite how they sound - it is widely agreed amongst those who know him that Saxon doesn't swear, even when he's annoyed he's too innocent. And it's becoming clear that Riley probably will swear, and be a bad influence on his big brother

I don't think a dog would have any idea whether he was being awarded ugliest dog or most beautiful dog! All they'd know is that they're getting attention and as long as they enjoy that ETA - hmm, how I look back at the pic of Yoda it's hard to tell if she is enjoying the attention, she doesn't look thrilled. Sam on the other hand looks quite happy!

Sunday afternoon is good for me too. Did we decide where? Yes, Riley will be starting Beginners on Sunday mornings at the next session (which I think is August?) as long as I get out there to enrol him Poor old Saxon has been missing out on training for quite a while, I'm planning to get back into something with him in the August session too, probably Obedience, the class times for Agility are hard for me to get to. Gotta do something though, I don't want him to forget everything we worked so hard on!!

That's great! The picture in my head of a chicken jumping through a hoop is hilarious!! You can take them on Australia's Got Talent once you've got them doing an agility course. That's really sweet, how nice for him to feel like he's doing well and getting things right, not worrying about getting in trouble all the time Now for a silly question... do different clickers make different sounds? I'm assuming they do, so I could use a different one for the new dog so they know who's being trained...

I think Sheena meant you gave him a full tablet when you possibly only needed half, meaning going through tablets quicker, meaning $$$ for the vet ;) (correct me if I've misinterpreted) Don't worry about it, you asked for advice, considered it and made your own decision. Your dog, your money, your choice

I'm very happy with Riley and would recommend his breeders! I wanted one of their Shelties particularly because they are quite outgoing and playful whereas some/many Shelties can be more reserved. Riley is certainly outgoing and playful!! Someone looking for a calm, reserved little dog would probably find him too much but he's perfect for what I wanted and fits in well with Saxon who at 2 still has plenty of energy to play. They've done well showing their dogs and I think they produce nice dogs conformation-wise (not that I would know ) but for me looking for a pet it was much more about temperament. Their puppies are raised inside and definitely well loved and cared for I dont't think they breed very often, and it wasn't a case of weekly photos, visits and choice of pup, but I am more than happy that they chose Riley for me I'm not sure if they'd want me posting their details so I'll PM you Atanquin.

Mmm, good point! It's hard enough washing and grooming them already without a dislike of water added in. Riley's a little barker, being a Sheltie, he does it when he wants attention and/or gets excited. I've been ignoring him, I very pointedly cross my arms, look up and away from him then turn my back and don't look at him until he's quiet. If I turn around and he barks again I give a sharp "ah" and quickly turn around again. It's slowly working (I've only had him just over a week), in the last couple of days he seems to be getting it, he stops barking more quickly now when I look away (he trails off into a little "aaarrrhh" like he's going oh, you're no fun ). He also barks at Saxon to try and get him to play (which isn't hard so the barking tends to work ) Because me ignoring him wouldn't work then I've been making a loud noise as soon as he starts to bark, I started off with a loud clap and an "ah" but I've started using a loud growly no or similar noise (sometimes it doesn't quite come out as a proper word ). It's sort of working, it distracts him and stops that bout of barking at least. I'm thinking if I'm just patient and consistent with it he'll learn that barking doesn't get him anything good Also, HGD you've probably experienced this already taking Harper out, I carried Riley with me when I walked Saxon on Saturday and he was exhausted when we got home! What a hard life being a puppy is, soooo tiring being carried around for an hour I guess it was all the new experiences though, I was very happy that it tired him out.

So very, very true Gayle. I first met Rennie at YG's a week or so after she arrived in Adelaide. With everything I'd heard about her I wasn't expecting that Rennie would let me near her, even though YG had said she could see Rennie desperately wanted to be loved. I knew she was letting YG cuddle her but I was a complete stranger to her. The darling little girl was so brave. You could see she was scared but she still approached me, tail wagging, and came over to say hello with the rest of YG's crew. It wasn't long before Rennie was curled up on my lap having cuddles and a little snooze. I fell in love with her straight away, she was just so precious. The difference YG had made to Rennie's life in just that short time was amazing. She was looking stronger, able to climb on and off of the sofa with the aid of some doggy stairs and you could see her personality starting to come out. About a week or so after her surgery I was able to introduce Rennie to Justice. The difference in her appearance and confidence was so much better again than when I'd first met her and she was so brave meeting my big boofer. I didn't expect Rennie to show much interest in Justice and thought she'd just stay close to us at the park. The little love was so curious about what was going on and seeing her have the strength and courage to go trotting off across the park after Justice was truly a wonderful moment. For a little dog that was so sick, malnourished and frightened only a few weeks earlier to be looking like she was ready to take on the world in such a short time was just amazing. I'm all teary again now just thinking about it. I didn't honestly think YG would be able to let Rennie go but that just shows how big her heart is. YG knew Rennie would be much happier with an owner who was home most of the time and could shower her with love and affection as an only dog, so that's the home YG found for her. A truly wonderful rescue story. My hat goes off to you once again YG. Ok, that got the eyes watering!! What a gorgeous little girl she sounds like, and very lucky YG saw her picture!! I wonder if the two Renbury Rennies are related somewhere back? Would be very sad if brother and sister both ended up at the pound, but both ended up lucky little pooches in the end

Ooh ooh me too!!! I keep missing the get-togethers but will make sure I get to this one... (although I may have to work on the Saturday morning , not sure yet tho so don't plan around that). Saxon can show off his new toy Riley

I don't know if Sniper is a playing type of dog but I'd look out for a reaction if he is playing with other dogs down the track, even if he's fine in general interactions. My little dog has been sort of attacked a couple of times (no physical damage was done but he was scared) and although he's since been fine generally in meeting other dogs and playing with them, if he gets too overwhelmed or especially if he gets pinned on the ground (which is what happened the first time he was attacked) he seems to get a bit aggressive to try and defend himself. The first time he did it I was really surprised as he'd seemed not to have any after-effects, but it took a particular situation to trigger the reaction. Now I make sure I always watch him closely and step in if I see him start to change his behaviour and the noises he's making. I do it mainly for his protection, because 1. I don't want him feeling scared and like he has to defend himself and 2. because he'd come off second best if a bigger dog decided to respond to him barking and snapping, but also because I don't want him to seem like a rude little dog that snaps at others (even though other owners often think it's funny :rolleyes: ). Unforunately other people would probably be more upset if your Dobe snapped at their rude dog in self-defence than when my Toy Poodle x does it. Oh and most important, like the others have said, stay relaxed and don't be scared yourself, just be prepared, with any luck he'll be totally fine

Thanks sm! Excellent choice of dog name ;)

So is it not good if their poo goes white when it dries, does it mean they're having to many bones and not enough other stuff? Doesn't happen to my dog, but I don't think I give enough bones, but my friend's little dog's poos always go white...

Sleepy boys... ETA - sorry for the multi posts, files were too big!

Attacking Saxon

Puppy belly :D

Hi everyone! My new addition Riley came home on Saturday and has settled right in He's been a good little fella so far but as he's getting more confident he's also getting more cheeky He is smaller than I expected so my other dog Saxon was a bit rough for him at first (being the scary 5kg giant that he is) but yesterday Riley figured out how the playing works and managed to wear Saxon out. Riley

Look at her face, crazy eyes!! That is soooo cute, she looks like she's going to be full of personality Edit - photo didn't work in the quote but you know what I mean

Riley is home!!! He's such a lovely little boy :D He whinged for all of a minute as we drove away from the breeder's house then settled down in the carrier and snoozed for the rest of the 4 hour drive home. He's been quite happy in his new surroundings, slightly overwhelmed by Saxon's big boofy attempts to play but starting to get the hang of it, enjoying his toys, eating and drinking ok and sort of figuring out peeing on the paper (not so much outside yet, it's too distracting out there ) He's even slept well so far, happy enough in his crate, a little bit of whinging if he wakes up during the night but again only for a minute or so, I've just ignored him and he settles down again. Saxon was a really easy puppy (except for toilet training but that's just coz I didn't know what I was doing) so I was worried that this time I'd get a non-sleeping screamer but I've been lucky again I'll move over to the new arrivals thread for photos and more updates but will keep checking back here for puppy pics and stories!

One more sleep, I pick up Riley tomorrow Finally feels real and I'm SOOOOO excited

Goodbye gorgeous Oscar Even though his life was short he spent it being happy and very much loved right up to the end to you SF

So quiet in here... Atanquin, is tomorrow the day??? 3 more sleeps for me, it's weird, I'm excited but it still doesn't quite feel real. I realised yesterday I hadn't even bought any new puppy things What a bad second time puppy mum! Today I bought a mat and a bed, a blanky and a few toys so at least Riley will have a couple of things that haven't already been half destroyed by Saxon.