KumaAkita

I have photos somewhere of the aftermath of Kuma being left inside with a few pee-pads. When he was littler, we kept him inside during the day if it was raining (our backyard is dirt...) The first time he started to shred them it was like he had painstakingly ripped it into matching squares. All the pieces were the same size and shape... After that he started to shred them willy nilly. So, OH built a kennel and he now fends for himself in the rain.

Oh... honey... fingers and toes crossed for a good outcome.

;) ;) ....KTB.... the clock! you're a classic... *thinks of new whacked out photos to take* Max#1: Poor Mr Squeak! Keeping up the act when Max had quite clearly dropped him in it. If I were Mr Squeak, I may refuse to play with Max for a while. Oh - and Elbie can come stay here if you're ever wanting to have holidays! He can sleep inside nice and cozy, no problems there... Kuma has Possesive Sock Disorder (PSD). The main symptoms of PSD is the ability to sniff out socks from all the good hiding spots. Also, socks cannot be on feet, them must be pulled off and killed. Unfortunately there is little hope of a cure. lilli_star: look at those eyes... "muuuumm... why are you taking my photo.... go aaawwaaaayyyy...."

OH: "How does she get Kuma to stick to the wall?" Poor Elbie, inspired by your photograph, we shall try to stick him to the wall as his latest trick. Hmmm. Super glue... Not good for the fur, but great for sticking dogs to walls

yeah, I'll get around to it... the rest of the photos are a bit of a blur... still getting used to the camera so I ended up with a lot of bum shots I settled on a Lumix G10. So far, so good!

We were the same... thinking we should ace this class because Kuma's done it all before! shyeah right and monkeys might fly outta my butt. (in homage to Wayne's World) He was mischievous which was then labelled as aggression and turned into the OH not returning to training. YAY! I took some piccies on the weekend with my new camera... I stuck a few on a new thread, but had to share this one here: upside down super flying dog...

Pics with my new camera... no editing done at all (still at dunce at editing software) and still on automatic... but hey, gotta start somewhere. A rose at night And my very cute photographic boy

Poor Rover. Thinking positive thoughts...

I agree with Wuffles... 10 months old is a great age to start beginners - just ask Kuma! KTB - don't worry about BDOC Santa... I think he is in a permanent state of bewilderment that there are dogs out there that aren't poodles or labs. I was so surprised when we passed beginners! I felt certain that we'd be held back. ...dirt aggression...

That is one cute Shiba! I want a shiba one day... so I can have a mini-me for my Akita

Yes, you must never admit that your dog is less than Perfect. It's like our dogs are an indirect psychlogical reflection of their owners. *hides Elbie in a cupboard before anyone notices that I am bonkers* yeah, so I went home that day thinking that I've got the crummiest dog on the face of the earth and that he should be rehomed. I started to second guess everything... I think I said somewhere in that thread that I'm pretty sure that every dog on this forum has some issues... there are very few perfect dogs in this world coz nobody's perfect ooohh... Ruby's beautiful

Yes .. Sometimes DOL can be a terrifying place. If I ever decide that life is too much and I would like to shuffle off this mortal coil, I shall announce in the general forum that I am intending to set up a pet shop that specialises in purebred Akidadoodles, Pit Kelpies and DoberDoodles. These dogs are designed to be left in the yard all day, stimulated only by choking hazards and have only 3.5% recall (measured using the RecallMeasurement-ometer that I bought from Kmart). My death shall be swift and painless as I am smothered by the outrage of a thousand posts … OH decided on the weekend that he wants to breed Great Doodles. Completely agree... DOL is a public forum so there are a variety of different experiences out there and some won't suit your situation. (link been there, bought the t-shirt). Come on Lilli_star... you know you want to move to Canberra. It's an awesome place

Hey KTB - don't go to Belconnen dog park... waaaay too many drongos and their mean dogs. It will put Elbie off for life. The one time we went, there were a few mastiff-types and a huge rottie that bounced all over Kuma. Their owners were too busy on the phone organsing their saturday nights to even care that their dogs were being aggressive. Then one of them said to me "oh, it's just because he's young, he'll get over it". Yeah, how about I punch you in the face, coz that's basically what your dog is doing to mine!! we promptly left and will never go back. Forde is quiet and calm. There is a guy who goes at about 10:00 am on Sunday mornings who has an old lab and a little jug. The jug will lead the game... and as long as you have a ball in your hand, the lab is your friend For an easy, calm dog park experience, go to Forde. I plan on heading there around 10:30 on Saturday morning to try and tire Kuma out! We're also going to check out Yarralumla park, it is a bit bigger than Forde but seems quieter than Belco - and it's only newly built. But, just that little bit further to go... I am looking forward to starting obedience again. We have my brother and his two kids staying with us for a week, and Kuma's a bit skitty with the two kids jumping around all the time! I'm hoping to try and focus more time into training with him so he doesn't feel so left out! Speaking of farts... The other day we were out walking and Kuma kept dropping farts... first few times he swung around to check his bum to see what happened, then after the second or third time he just kept his eyes forward. I think he was thinking to himself "hey, if I don't notice, I don't reckon my human will either!". It was all I could do to stop myself bursting out laughing!

Oooohhh... Let me know if u want friendly company... We often head to Forde park. It's small and unintimidating... Cute pics Clastic... They look like sweeties.

Thanks Quickbrownfox - do'h... why didn't I think of youtube??? Kavik - Boba is fine around family - just cautious of strangers and non-household family members.

My sister adopted two puppies from her local pound about 12 months ago. Boba and Jango had a bad start in life and not long after they got home the dogs managed to find and eat some snail bait. Boba made it, Jango wasn't so lucky. With that in mind, my sister has let Boba stay a nervous, twitchy dog who is dog aggressive and very, very scared of people. When we first met Boba at Christmas, he couldn't be in the same room as my OH. We saw him again for the second time on the weekend and he's still shy and timid, but will stay in the same room. Boba has never been to obedience or had much socialisation, apart from fence conversations with the neighbours two westies. He rarely gets out on walks either... don't think the walk goes to well for them. He tried to beat up my 10 month old Akita on the weekend (without much success mind you...). I spent a little time with him and got him to sit for meals and tried to calm the relationship between the dogs. But we were only visiting for the weekend. My nephew really wants Boba to play fetch and teach him some trick. But doesn't really know how to do that - or where to start. So... at the end of that loooong story... what books/websites/references/trainers would you recommend to an 8 year old that can help him to help his dog? I'm going to become the crazy dog-lady aunty.

How's Kuma going in Tamworth? I imagine it would be warming up right now. I used to live there, and my hometown is not far from there. He went ok... it was only around the 24/25 degree mark, but he still has his winter coat. He was fairly sedentary during the middle of the day. He was beaten up by my sister's pound puppy - Bobba (after Bobba Fett, the bounty hunter on star wars - yep, nerds) is a bitza, think there's silky terrier and maltese in there somewhere. Bobba would weigh 5 Kg wringing wet, but had big issues... Kuma didn't know what to do! He slept most of the 8 hours home, which works well for us... he's either sleeping or just checking out the view. Lilli_star: Where'd you grow up? I grew up out at Manilla, my oldies moved into Tamworth about 5 years ago.

I thought that Kuma could pass for a lab when he wanted ... Or you could say Kuma was a Giant Japanese Poodle ... I think I'll say that next time!

Yep... He only likes labs and poodles.

Well done Elbie, KTB, Mr Koala! Well done Wuffles and Ava!!! Sounds like you had an awesome morning. Sorry we missed it... Looking forward to starting again in a few weeks. Hope it isn't too hot, don't think Kuma will cope

Hi all, made it to Tamworth, Kuma did ok in the car, slept parts of the way. Worked out that he doesn't like posties... We saw one and he started barking like a nut bag. But, we all agree... 8 hrs in a car is a long time! He's now snoozing on the floor... I don't have any destruction photos, kuma's pretty good in that area... Just a few small holes

Thanks DMA, I love his face in this shot (well all the time really!) It came with a 14-42 lens as standard, but they have 5 other lenses in the range. Maybe when I get it out of auto I can on invest in a better lens.

Both of mine started sleeping on my bed........................they still do.....................they're Great Danes :rolleyes: YIKES! Kuma started out in the laundry, behind a baby gate. Moved to a new house and he was still set up in the laundry... he seems to like it. Either there or outside in his kennel. He is a winter dog, so it was not uncommon to see him stretched out on the cold concrete patio in minus degree temps, but with the new kennel he curls up in there.

Thanks everyone... and while I appreciate your advice, I went out and got myself a Lumix G10 Micro Four Thirds. The research I saw led me down that path as the photo comparisons on dpreview.com between all the hybrids and the entry level DSLRs showed they were much of a muchness. With that in mind, I went for the hybrid for size. It has all the functionality of a the entry level DSLR with a fraction of the weight/size. I went for the Lumix as they have the greatest range of lenses with more to be added to the range. The photo quality is quite good (from my limited experience anyway). So, I've read the book and now just have to get out and take some piccies - haven't had the chance yet... this weekend... My best doggy shot is already on the forum, but I'll repost here coz I like it.

Hope everything's ok Shadow Walker...