Simply Grand

How heartbreaking I would be devastated if that happened. I'm sure this owner was. Saxon has always been strapped in, even the very first day I got him he was in a carry cage with the seatbelt around it. We are now trying a harness that clips to a lead looped around the foot of front seat, he sits in the rear footwell. But until recently he had a booster seat on the back seat so he could see out the window. He still wore the harness and was clipped to the seatbelt. He LOVES having the wind in his hair so I would open the window a bit so he could feel the airflow but I always worried (and still worry when I see dogs with their heads out the window) that some random thing might blow past and hit him in the head and hurt him He's on the floor now coz he's too noisy looking out the window. I've also seen a small dog jump/fall out a window in the carpark of the local dog park when the car was moving, I hope it was ok, the owners scooped it up and drove off I also worry about a dog going flying within the car in a sudden stop or accident, injuring dog and/or human passengers. I just totally agree - restrain your dogs!!

VERY lucky girl that her eye wasn't damaged, those injuries are close!! What an absolutely stupid news story, it's told as if a horrible, unappreciative dog over-reacted and rejected a kind offer of help from a concerned citizen, instead of a situation where an unknown, unaccompanied dog reacted unpredictably! No mention of how the humans involved in the story should have acted differently to prevent the "attack" - ie. owners ensuring dogs are contained, and even more importantly, parents teaching their kids NOT to approach strange dogs, especially on a busy street! Seriously, what was the mother thinking??? ETA - I'm still annoyed at the dumb report, it's not like dogs are going to see that news story and think, "oh I really must behave better if I'm out wandering and a small human approaches me!". Geez.

Ooohhh I am SOOO sorry to have missed the party!! KTB, I just loved the video! Unfortunately I was in bed with a migraine all Fri and Sat, made it out of bed this afternoon. SUCH bad timing, I really wanted to come to the party and Saxon would have just had a ball Hopefully we can have a get together that I can actually make it to some time in the not too distant future. I do have to say that it was lovely to see everyone at BDOC assessment on Thursday night! For the first time we got to meet Kuma (OMG ), Nugget (what a little cutie - he and Saxon had a good play, when they were meant to be focussing, whoops) and, FINALLY, ELBIE in the flesh, yay!!!! Happy Birthday to Ava and Kuma, you certainly celebrated in style

Jed, articulate and rational as usual! Like you say, it's a tv show - I can't believe people are complaining SOOO much about tv producers and presenters trying to make entertaining tv... um what do you think their job is? You're talking about a half hour, prime time, commercial channel tv show... where does it ever claim to be the source of all truth on everything? The show provides some good information, with exposure to millions of people, that's much more than I've done, at least. Like Jed says, if you don't like it, don't watch it. The Chi last week may have been revved up, but I would place blame for that squarely on the owners, not the vet or the show. If you watched it, you would have seen the owners laughing, not helping at all and finding it all quite amusing that the Chi was so worked up about taking a pill (well at least the male owner). There is absolutely no way I would a) allow my dog to be worked up to worse behaviour than usual for a tv show or b) to react to a vet, or anyone else, like that, without serious intervention from me. So I do blame the owners. I'm sure many a vet has to deal with badly behaved pets and owners who don't do anything about it. How many owners would complain if a vet physically restrained their pet when they found their pet's behaviour simply amusing? And, the trip to Fiji (not Bali) was quite clearly in the interests of helping the people and animals of the country - as well as making good tv, and raising awareness. They said there is only ONE qualified vet in the whole of Fiji, so with Chris, Lisa and Chris's dad, they added three more, for a short time at least. They did a lot of surgeries, including desexing, and explaining to the locals what the benefits of desexing are, to try and avoid more random litters. The locals seemed quite receptive, and concerned about the best interests of their animals. Without the show, they had no chance of seeing a vet at all. They may have had the odd surf, but seriously, do you work 24 hours per day, every day? Why shouldn't they have some time out, and support Fiji tourism on Australian tv at the same time?? Stop being so negative everyone!!

Emmy's just going above and beyond her sisterly duty to understand what Charlie's been through... or maybe being a more typical little sis and saying "you're not so special Charlie, I can have things happen and need lots of attention and cuddles too!" Just kidding, I'm pretty sure she gets just as many cuddles as Charlie anyway! I'm so sorry you all have to go through surgery, but Emmy's tough, she'll be just fine

oooh thursday will be fun! I'm not really expecting us to pass this time, but we've been practising lots and improving in the last couple of weeks, so we may fluke it. I really don't mind if we don't pass though, at least we'll get a sausage!! Poor Hoovey at home alone Just kidding, he won't know what he's missing, and Elbie will love the attention. Hoover can come next time And I'm pretty sure once Saxon realises he's at a party surrounded by dogs, people and food, he'll be perfectly happy!

KTB, I'll stand next to you in photos so I'm photoshopped out too! Lots of doggie pics will be good though. I'm not going away this wkd after all so Saxon and I will be there. Yay, can't wait to see everyone! Hmm, I just asked Saxon if he wants to go to a party on Saturday, he looked at me then rolled over and went back to sleep I'm sure he'll be more enthusiastic on the day

Oh BF, you had to give little Zoe up?? I'm so, so sorry You obviously loved her very much. You did what you had to though to look after her health. Big hugs to you. I'm afraid I don't know the answer. Maybe with time, and the knowledge that eventually you will get another dog, it will get a bit easier... I suppose you could get a kitten and keep it indoors with your other cat... not the same as a little puppy-shadow, but kittens are fun (probably more fun than herb plants anyway, corvus ) ETA - BF, if it doesn't upset you too much, stick around DOL and let us know how you're going. I'd love to eventually hear all about a dog you get in the future, your Zoe stories have been great.

I don't agree that you have the right to use that as a justification for allowing your dog to pester them without making any effort to control him. Wuffles, I totally agree with you. The dog parks in Canberra are very clearly off leash dog areas. They are not huge spaces, and there are areas around them, outside the fence, for people to picnic/bbq/eat etc, where dogs must be on lead. The fenced dog parks are definitely for dogs, and the expectation is that the humans are watching the dogs, not hanging around eating or entertaining themselves when they're in there. I understand that in other places it may be different, but it's pretty well understood here that you don't go into the fenced dog parks and eat people food. Treats are different though, from what I've seen a lot of people bring them in for training, me included. I don't give them to Sax unless there are no other dogs around, and I move him away from the other dogs to do training. Having said that, if other dogs approach looking for a treat I just pat the, tell them "no treats for you" and carry on. Saxon has a nose for other people who have treats and often runs up to them, I call him away, they generally notice that and tell him no, or sometimes ask if they can give him one, I say if they want to and he has to sit for it. They do that and again, we all just carry on. No dramas. I think we generally have well behaved dogs and humans in our dog parks here, we're lucky, apart from the odd problem of course. But there are some accepted "etiquettes" which are easy to learn by watching, and I've found that people are pretty good at chatting to new-comers and filling them in too. I think maybe we are helped by having specific fenced off-leash dog parks, while every where else, including bbq areas, kids playgrounds etc, are on leash, so it's very clear where the "dog" areas are.

Is it wrong that I'm sitting here giggling at doggy fetishes. I'm giggling too How funny, dogs are so weird! CrazyCresties, your Indy is a bit more feisty then my Charlie cat, Saxon doesn't normally try to hump the cats but must have been feeling tough one day because I looked around to see him on top of Charlie slow motion hip thrusting away, having a great old time. Pathetic Charlie was just sitting there looking half annoyed, half scared I wish I'd had a camera.

Hmm, so I started a response but am too tired now to think properly, sorry. I agree with Corvus about watching the kikopup videos on YouTube, and whatever else you can find, they are helpful. My first comments are though: 1. Step 1 of the clicker is to "charge" it, which means teaching the dog that click = reward, so when the dog is just hanging out watching you, you click then treat immediately lots of times, so that the dog automatically associates the click with a reward. 2. You mentioned that Dory came running when she heard the click, that's not really what you want. The click itself isn't meant to elicit a response, it is just an indication that whatever the dog has just done is what you want her to do, so when she does a behaviour you want, you click exactly as she does it, then you can treat within the following seconds, and she should understand that it was when she heard the click that she was doing the right thing, even if the treat came later. See how you go, I'll come back to the thread and see if I can be more useful during the day time!

This may be too simplistic, but have you tried strapping him in down on the floor, in the footwell? I saw this on Better Homes and Gardens (what do you mean I have no life, at home watching that on a Friday night??) I noticed it because Saxon is really noisy in the car, he gets excited and goes "ruff ruff ruff ruff ruff ruff ruff" most of the time. He's better when the window is open and he gets the wind in his hair. He also gets extra excited when we get near home, or my mum's house, or the dog park, or training... he definitely knows where we are! I have him in a harness with the seatbelt through the canvas loop and clipped in as normal. He also has a booster seat so he can see out (spoilt much?) I can tune out his noise pretty easily but it's really annoying for everyone else apparently, and now I'm planning a second pup, I'm thinking about how to manage two - one being noisy is ok, but two may be tooooo much! Anyway, on BH & G Dr Harry met a little dog who was really noisy and unsettled in the car, he looped some chain with a spring-catch thing on the end, like the thing to clip a lead on a collar, around the foot of the front seat, where it bolts to the floor of the car, then clipped the dog's collar on - I didn't like that in case of a sudden stop yanking the neck, but I thought it would work well clipped to a harness. The dog then lay on the floor and because it couldn't see out it was MUCH calmer. I don't know if that would work with Elbie at all, or if you've already tried that. I think I will try it with Saxon, before or when the new pup comes.

Aawww Happy Birthday beautiful girl! :D What a sweetheart.

How cute! And what a gorgeous dog :D

I don't know why the dog can't stay at the boyfriend's when my friend stays there! I initially dog-sat because it was a new relationship and she didn't want to force her dog on him (I can understand that, but I have to say, I would be expecting to take my dog to my boyfriend's house after not very long, if I was spending a lot of time there - but I'm single so don't listen to me...) Apparently the boyfriend doesn't mind the dog now, but I'm not sure, the dog still doesn't spend much time there. I said to my friend today that the boyfriend's house shoud be the first option, if they are to have a long term relationship, not the last - as in only if she and the boyfriend are away or something should she be looking for her friends or flatmates to take the dog. I do feel bad, she is really a great friend to me, and I think she does care about the dog in her own way. I just can't get my head around leaving your dog with other people so often :D

Yeah... that's what I thought :D I feel really sad for the poor dog. She is actually a very sweet dog, and quick and keen to learn. She learns really quickly when I teach her things, quicker than Saxon. With the right attention she could actually be an incredible dog (not that she's bad at all, she just doesn't know where she belongs, I think she's just trying to get whatever attention she can). My friend definitely isn't horrible, I think she just isn't ready to give a dog the attention it really needs, especially a companion dog (the dog's a Pug x so she loves her people!) My friend was given the dog as a gift so it's not like she chose to take it on, but I guess I think if you choose to keep the dog, you need to make it a priority and give it what it needs.

The situation is, my friend has a 3 year old dog. The friend (and dog) live in a share house with two flatmates. She (my friend) has a boyfriend of about 8 or 9 months, who lives by himself. My friend stays at her boyfriend's house most nights - at least 5 nights per week, sometimes every night of a week. The dog spends most days/nights at my friend's house, either with my friend when she's home, with the flatmates, or on her own if they are out. She spends 1 or 2 nights a week at the boyfriend's house. She spends an average of 1 or 2 nights a week at my house - not consistently, sometimes it's 1 night in 3 weeks, sometimes a weekend or a week at a time, depending on what my friend is doing. I generally don't mind having the dog, and Saxon loves her, but some of her behaviour, as well as how she and Saxon interact sometimes, is not what I'd prefer from my own dogs. Nothing bad, just my friend and I have different training philosophies and acceptable behaviours, and without having her consistently here I can't get my ideal behaviour from her and Saxon. That's a bit annoying but not a big deal. Over that last couple of months though, my friend has started to complain about her dog misbehaving. Apparently she is less affectionate towards my friend, not coming over to her voluntarily for cuddles, not coming over when called, not making eye contact with my friend, and she has apparently run away from my friend at both her own house and her boyfriend's house - as in front door opens, she bolts off, run downs the street and won't come back . I think the dog is totally confused about where she belongs and who she belongs with, given that day to day she could be staying at any one of 3 houses, with any of 3 different groups of people. She's a clever dog, and affectionate, but can be stubborn and defiant. I think she needs a clear leader, clear rules and consistency to be a happy, well adjusted dog but I don't see how that can happen when she effectively only spends maybe 2 nights per week with her owner :D Hmmm ok now I read this back, I know the topic is a question, but I think I know the answer and this is really just a vent... any comments would be interesting though, I'm quite willing to hear that I'm being a drama queen

Tooo sweet! Pia looks so serene, while the tiny kitten struts around like he owns the place.

Ooooh, this sort of inference may be too logical for the anti-oodles. And no, I do not own an oodle Just amused by the potential syllogism here. Let's see if I can frame it correctly - it has been a long, long time since first year philosophy in which we studied logic. All oodles are unpredictable Some oodles have a fleece coat Conclusion: Not all oodles definitely have a fleece coat I'm always amused at the people who say "all oodles are ugly" or "all oodles have a bad temperament" because I thought that the major downside of an oodle was that it was a cross-breed and therefore by its nature unpredictable, so all those who purport to generalise about the nature of all oodles are thereby contradicting the fundamental premise on which anti-oodlism is based because as an oodle is unpredictable, it could end up with a nice temperament or a nice appearance and it could also be ugly with a bad coat and temperament. Just saying... Again, I am not promoting oodles, just saying that the argument is more logically sound and robust when people simply say that an oodle is unpredictable. People undermine their own oodle argument if they purport to posit a theory of certainty of oodle characteristics. You philosopher you! I may be on thin ice saying this here, but to me that is THE most convincing argument for the average person who wants a puppy to get a purebred over a x breed - with a purebred you have a good idea of how your dog will turn out, with a x breed you really don't know.

Breeder is best of course, but if you're interested, I'd be very happy to meet you and Kuma, have Akita lessons, introduce him to Saxon, and if everyone gets along, happy to dog sit at either my place or yours, or at least visit and walk daily (depending on the timing and if I'll be in town of course, but I should be). I have plenty of time at the moment and would love to meet a new dog. I don't think either Saxon or I have come across an Akita in real life, but I'm confident with handling spitz breeds, and Saxon's favourite breed ever is the Husky, so we may be ok... PM me if your breeder can't do it and you're interested

Saxon (at 16 months) sticks close to me in general, especially in unfamiliar locations, whether on lead or off, and has very good recall. We do Obedience and Agility training. He is small, and very good with other dogs, children, adults, other animals, etc etc. I have a 5m extender lead for walks, he generally wouldn't go further than that away from me anyway, and being trained, he doesn't try to pull when he's on leash, and responds well to my voice commands. BUT regardless of all that, when walking in public I DON'T WANT him more than 5m away from me so why would I not just keep him on the leash? Even though it's unlikely that we need it, it's really no problem for me to have him on it, so why not just do it, just in case? I really don't get why people feel the need to have their dogs off-lead in public (other than high level training), when there is any possible chance they could cause a problem OR be hurt themselves. I don't see the need for well behaved pet dogs to have everyday walks at large distances from their owner. If they are well behaved/trained they will stay close in public anyway and if not, they shouldn't be off lead when being walked in public. I hope that makes sense. To me, distance training is beneficial, under certain conditions, but is not as essential as all dogs being under control in public, and IMO any dog that is under control and comfortable at a distance can also be under control and comfortable within leash length.

Do you know what I love most about this story, well from what I've heard from you on DOL CW_EW? Your whole family (Charlie, you, OH and Emmy :D ) have never seemed to feel sorry for yourselves or each other, you all seem to just accept that what has happened, happened and you make the best of it... From what I've read, Charlie has always been a happy, Zen little fella, you and OH just take Charlie for what he is and do what needs to be done, and Emmy came in going, :"Well Charlie we're here for a good time, not necessarily a long time so let's just have fun together!" So far it's working great and you're all an inspiration. to many more happy years!

Oh my goodness, could you stop! Some of us are trying to resist puppy-cluckiness! How cute is little Mischa with her tongue out while her babies are climbing around ETA - don't really stop, I LOVE the pics and updates, keep them coming!

That's just what I was thinking. After an hour or so Saxon ends up looking clean to me after a run in the dirt/mud/dust, or a swim, but if I don't choose to ignore it for the sake of not bathing him every day ( ), I do notice that he seems to be a slightly darker colour than yesterday, and a bit smelly eventually, even after a brush... I don't mind putting in a bit of effort with Saxon's coat, it's worth it, but I do envy those Teflon dogs! I think the important point is that many dogs need effort to keep them clean, healthy and comfortable, it would just be great if people were always made aware of that when they got their dog, or at least not told otherwise. I just feel bad for dogs (and the owners) who need the care but end up with owners who were looking for a dog that wouldn't need regular grooming and either don't know or aren't prepared to do it :D

I love these stories! Dogs are so funny with their little quirks. Saxon does lots of funny little things. My favourite is his dinner time routine. When I say "dinner" he jumps up and heads off to the kitchen, looking back to make sure I'm coming, then he goes and looks for Charlie (the cat) in all the spots where Charlie sits until he finds him, then he jumps around and licks Charlie until Charlie follows him back to the kitchen. It's like he's so excited about dinner that he has to share it with his friend - "Charlie, Charlie, guess what, it's dinner time, we get dinner, hooray!!" He also knows several of his toys by name and if you say "Where's Tigey?" or "Where's Kong?" he'll go searching around looking in all the spots he knows until he finds it. He's a tail-grabber too, he chases his little friend Laila (Pug x) and grabs her tail in his mouth then catches a ride behind her :rolleyes: