Simply Grand

:laugh: Love it! I don't really want burglars knowing that pet dogs are morelikely to be friendly Any would-be intruders reading this, my dogs are all very protective and scary and will definitely attack you!! ;)

How could this possibly have been legalized?? I thought it was pretty widely accepted in the western world in recent times that sex without consent is not ok, animals can't possibly give consent!!

I'm the first to say I'm kind of a lazy trainer with my own dogs and let them on the bed and couches. They do know "off" and will get off but will often then just jump back on again For that reason I can't say this actually works, but I would take a multi-pronged approach to the jumping on the bed - I would focus on giving her the aversive (firm "no" or "ahah") BEFORE she actually jumps up. No doubt you can see when she's about to jump, or if you watch her closely you'll quickly see it. When she gets in the springing up position then give her the aversive, give her a look that says you expect her to do as she's told, and no other interaction. Once she relaxes and goes back to being on the floor, calmly tell her good girl and give her a pat. If she gets past you, as she no doubt will, and actually on the bed, I personally would calmly lift her down and place her on her own bed without looking at her, making any noise or interacting. Be super-consistent with this and do it as soon as she lands on the bed, anytime you miss telling her no before she jumps, or if she ignores you. If you tell her off or give her a command and interact with her once she is on the bed she is likely to want to make a game of jumping up, interacting with you, getting off, jumping back on, repeat repeat (exactly what mine do!). Aditionally, and at times unrelated to her jumping on the bed, I would be teaching her to go to her own bed voluntarily. So when she happens to be already sitting or lying on her bed you say "on your bed/matt/whatever" give her praise and treats. If you are going to give her a something yummy to chew or a special toy, get her on her bed, say "on your bed" then tell her good girl and give her the item. Once the words you're using click in her head you will be able to say from further away "on your bed" and she will go over to it, expecting something good to happen :) You can then use this when she's in your room to stop her jumping on the bed. As she gets older she will get used to that being 'her place' and will either take herself there voluntarily, or go there on command without the reward. Good luck, your puppy is just gorgeous!

Oh how very sad I'm so sorry for the loss of both your gorgeous little ones. Run free Mia and Oscar.

Thanks guys :) I hadn't thought of an obstruction but there are grass seeds flying around everywhere atm, I'm going over everybody every night pulling them all out of their coats but maybe Saxon does have one stuck in his respiratory tract somewhere.

Hoping for some advice please :) 1. Saxon has done the reverse sneezing thing on and off his whole life (3 years). He's always tended to do it if he eats or drinks too fast and if he is walked on a collar or even his Puppia harness sometimes (quite high around the neck). He now wears a front attach harness and hasn't had it happen too often. However over the last couple of days it is happening a lot (several times a day at least) and seemingly when he's not doing anything much. Any ideas why this could be happening, and should I get him vet checked? 2. Riley has slightly weepy eyes at the moment and has been sneezing quite a lot yesterday and today. The weepy eyes started a week or two ago and only started when we were at the dog park or training and settled down when we got home. Longer grass has sprung up and is now drying out and blowing seeds around home, so I'm thinking it is some kind of hayfever. Do dogs get that? And again, should I get him vet checked? Thanks very much for any advice!

Lovely attitude and clearly a good understanding of colour genetics *eye roll* Your post is good Lollipup, hopefully even if it doesn't get through to the "breeder" it might to some of the others who read it.

I personally think the thread title is fine I instantly thought of Quinn, she likes to snooze in front of the toilet in my ensuite :laugh: I'll try and post a photo on the computer later. I have some funny pics of the cat sleeping in weird places too, he likes to be inside the green shopping bags, in shoe boxes if he can fit, in baskets...

Oh katdogs, that has my tears flowing even more. However sad the loss is I know none of us would ever trade it

Oh Rolf The first thought that came into my head when I saw those pics was "poor little Rolf..." I know, he's not actually little! If i was at the vet for something routine and someone came in with an unwell animal I would insist they went in before me! Although I don't think I would have to, my normal vets are pretty good at fitting in priorities, when Riley got bitten in a fight I went without an appointment and they fit him in straight away.

Michelleva, when I saw your post I panicked and thought "oh no, Georgia!" Obviously your cat having to go through it is just as bad but as a fellow Sheltie owner I worried I've not experienced it personally but I do have both cats (well now just one) and dogs, and as amazing as dogs are, I still think cats are even more incredible in nature. I'm sure your puddy will adapt and have many more happy years :)

Oops dbl post

How old is he? He is just stunning!

I think they are finished now, there were six eps and I think the sled dogs was the last. Also the only one still on iView for a couple more days. ETA - oh and it was just this week that the last (?) one aired so you haven't really missed it!

I knew there would be mixed responses, which is why I posted. I appreciate the feedback and welcome more. I do wish people could have seen the interaction as obviously that makes a big difference to interpretation. Minimax, Quinn definitely did not 'flatten' the puppy. She calmly and gently placed her front leg over his shoulders and pressed him down, held him for maybe a second then removed her paw. People who have seen a well adjusted adult do this to a puppy misbehaving will know what I mean. Megan, I agree with you that it could have been a dangerous situation and is not something I would normally do. I certainly wouldn't have done it if I didn't know the owners and their other dog quite well. I also wouldn't have done it had the puppy been younger or smaller, if there had been other dogs nearby at the time (their other dog was not nearby, Saxon came over afterwards), nor if Quinn had shown any sign of reacting either aggressively or fearfully towards the pup when they first saw each other. I didn't say clearly in my first post I know but after it happened the puppy came out from the owners legs and as I said sniffed at Quinn as she sat next to me, then walked over to Saxon voluntarily and sniffed him too. I am certainly no expert but I am confident that he was at that stage more comfortable than he had been previously when he was snapping and snarling at every dog who came near him. As I said I do welcome comments but please know that I did think this through before I did it.

For those who don't know Quinn is my 21 kg Australian Shepherd. She turned 1 last week. Form the past month or two as she has matured she has become quite the peacemaker. If she hears conflict or argument between a couple of dogs (you know, the growling and posturing) she will run over and plant herself between them. She does it especially if one of my other two smaller dogs is in an uncomfortable situation but will do it at the dog park with other dogs as well. Things have never escalated when she has done this, the other dogs seem to lose interest and move away. She has always been good at reading other dogs and has never had conflict or been pushed so while I knew she was confident, I didn't know what she would do if pushed. Today at the park we ran into a couple who have a female dog the same age as Quinn, our two pups played regularly at the park when they were younger but we hadn't seen them in a good few months. Today they had a newer pup with them, a 7 month old male BC. He was obviously fearful in the situation and was sitting between his owner's feet. Quinn went over and sniffed him, he reacted by snarling and barking, their older girl dog then stepped in, stood between the puppy and Quinn and snapped and growled herself. Quinn stood her ground but didn't react. I then called her away and she came. A few minutes later we ended up back beside the owner and the BC pup. He was again snarling and snapping, standing between his owner's feet. I was right next to Quinn, she was doing the same as before, standing still and watching the pup. The pup's owner and I decided to see what happened, seeing as we knew each other, we were both ready to step in and there wasn't too much size difference between the dogs. The BC pup kept barking and snapping but not making contact and after a moment of standing there Quinn lifted her paw, pushed his head and shoulders down and stood over him! She didn't make a sound, didn't open her mouth, and as soon as she did that the pup shut up, waited til she let him up then tentatively sniffed at her, and then my older little dog Saxon. And all was well :) I've read about adult dogs doing this kind of thing with puppies to teach them manners but I didn't expect it of my just-one-year-old girl. I think I am very lucky to have her

Oh

Small investment that is so well worth it - the DVD Really Reliable Recall by Leslie Nelson. It's soooo good and teaches you how to train a really good recall (come when called) from baby puppies through to adult dogs. Is Merlin food motivated? In my experience Aussies are :laugh: puppies respond to high pitched sound as well, I'd suggest when he's within arms reach call a (very) high pitched, happy "MERlin". The instant he looks at you you say "yes" in a happy voice and shove a treat in his mouth. As he starts to respond straight away by looking at you, be standing up and take a couple of steps backwards once he looks at you. His automatic response should be to come after you, once he reaches you, "yes", treat and then lots of praise. You want to get this down at home with low distractions before you try it out and about. And again, I can't recommend the DVD highly enough :) ETA - there isn't really a "should" with puppies as they are all different but I don't think it's too much to expect him to react to his name now, once you show him what great rewards he gets when he does react.

Ahhh, Bunning's compost panels, the saviours of my puppy owning life! Well done katevin I read the suggestion about not lifting the pup out over the pen (or compost panel) just before I got Quinn so I had her sit and then opened a panel before she got out, and now at 1 year old when she is fully capable of jumping over the panels, she seems to believe that she cant so she doesn't. Very useful!

So tragic Poor, poor family.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Poor nervous doggies!

Awwww, baby hedgehogs are the cutest! I used to have a picture of a little one curled up in a ball (little pink feet and face up) stuck up at my desk, it made me smile every time I looked at it :)

Typical boy horts!

Aaaww, Floss is a cute little ball os fluff! I like the name :)

+ another 1 to the above. It's not the tradIes responsibility to keep someone's dog contained, especially a declared dangerous one. It's up to the owner to do whatever they need to do to keep the dog contained, no matter what.