koalathebear

Here is Elbie leaping into position for heel ( ). As usual he does it with great energy - I always eye the placid labradors and golden retrievers at obedience school with great envy - they seem to do everything with unhurried dignity Here Elbie gets mixed up between getting into position for heel with ummm .. peekaboo. I really hope he doesn't so that on Sunday at obedience class ( )

Haha! Elbie's 'drop dead' wouldn't win him any Oscars. I've posted asking for help over in the "dog tricks" sub-sub-forum in making it better but alas that sub-sub-forum isn't very active so for now, Elbie will just to resemble a dead bug on its back when he plays dead I think it would be awesome to see Kuma doing the 'dead' trick. If he can drop and rollover then he should be able to master the trick. Hmm .. I'd pay money to see an akita rollover

Wow, such gorgeous colouring on Maple and the clarity of the photos is beautiful.

Sorry for hijacking this old thread but I didn't want to start a new one. We've been teaching Elbie how to play dead. At first we had to lure him through it but he'll now flop onto his side but we can't make him do the "limpness" that some dogs do to make it convincing This is what we have so far. Play Dead Attempt #1: This is the version we call the "twitching death throes" (and instant miraculous resurrection) death .... Video .Play Dead Attempt #2: This is the version we call the "hesitant slightly delayed afterthought death". Video .Play Dead Attempt #3: This is "instant death". Video .You can see that even with #3, he looks more funny than dead. Any tips would be most welcome. He is six months old and can do rollover, spin, are you shy, shake hands, high five, back, touch, jump, peekaboo etc.

Elbie resting his head on my leg and making googoo eyes - he's shameless, he just wants a treat I've spent the last 3 days trying to teach Elbie how to play dead. Well that's overstating it, we had 3 short sessions, when he was doing tricks for his dinner on Saturday and Sunday night. I got him to drop and then flop onto his side without doing a complete rollover, but he wouldn't do it at the 'bang' prompt, I had to do drop and then lure to a side flop. Then when he was working for his dinner tonight, my husband suddenly managed to get Elbie to play dead. Even so, he's such an energetic little pup that he doesn't do that convincing limp death thing very well Play Dead Attempt #1: This is the version we call the "twitching death throes" (and instant miraculous resurrection) death .... Video .Play Dead Attempt #2: This is the version we call the "hesitant slightly delayed afterthought death". Video .Play Dead Attempt #3: This is "instant death". Video .I'm not sure how we get him to look more convincing

It was funny but a bit gross at the same time. I've never seen him drool while sleeping before and it was particularly elasticky drool He does drool when waiting for his food for a long time, though. Since he's been a very tiny puppy we made him wait for his food and he used to sit there and quiver but we found out that for obedience, he'll probably have to do a sit stay and wait for 30 seconds for his food as part of "mealtime manners". I practised making him wait for 30 seconds and he definitely waited but I felt so bad for him because while he was waiting he was staring at the food intently and drooling all over the floor

Oh great, hope you found the parents' session interesting. We had a funny thing this morning that one of our classmates got mixed up so showed up without her dog and then realised that it was just the beginners class where you were supposed to show up without your pooch Elbie really enjoyed his first bronze class and we have a couple of our old classmates from beginners, which is great. Not always .... here we have sleeping Elbie the Drooler I wasn't able to mop up the drool with a tissue before it hit the ground ;) See you next week! I am sure I should be able to find you Otherwise, perhaps we can meet up in the offlead area after class.

I fear everyone else's pups are far more better behaved than ours was. He was a very vocal puppy and it was impossible to tell what he was wailing about so all we could do was stick to a routine and take him out after all meals and drinks and then at night, every 2 hours. Later on when we were up to every 4 hours, it did occasionally involve waking him up when he was asleep but he'd just amble out sleepily and do his business and then amble back into his crate to fall asleep. We were concerned he'd develop a strange sleeping pattern but he seems fine and adapted to whatever wake-up/sleep routine we moved to. The first couple of nights we had him were a major poo disaster but eventually he settled down and he's very well-behaved and house-trained now. We've had only one small accident in weeks and weeks and he's very good about doing all of his business outside in Poo Corner where it's easier to clean. Now that he's six months old, he sleeps through the night so this morning we woke up 8am, let him out briefly to toilet and then popped him back in his crate where he slept until 10am because we were lazy slugs and like to be able to sleep in

In the early days it's unlikely she'll be sleeping anyway In the beginning, at night we set an alarm and then woke up every two hours to take Elbie out to eliminate then after a few weeks it was every 3 hours etc now he sleeps through the night. You can't rely rely on her letting you know because she may be crying for a variety of reasons - misses her family, wants to play, is frightened etc. During the day, we left the crate door open and just encouraged Elbie to go in there to hang out and nap and closed the door after him occasionally just to get him used to it.

Some new videos: - he loves it a lot.

First article Second article

Very well thanks. He's healthy - correct weight and all that. The vet couldn't find anything wrong with his eyes and weirdly enough, after I posted they seemed to settle down and aren't red any more. He is also learning to do a new trick "peekaboo" - where he We think it's very cute, but then we even though it was cute when yesterday he

Sorry, I didn't mean to cause any concern. I've put the title back in the thread. Elbie's totally fine but still a mutt

Oh my goodness - that's awful. I hope everyone's all right now. I'm so sorry about 'Nary :'( Hopefully this means all your bad luck for the year is out of the way now ...

Elbie does not play tug, we cannot get him to play tug but he's annoying in that he will try to attack his leash, blankets/towels/pillows/cushions and bedding. Nothing else, just those sorts of things. We've been methodically desensitising him to all of these items. He's at the point where he will sleep in his crate at night with his hot water bottle wrapped in a blanket and with a towel tucked around him and not attack them. He's also almost dropped his leash gnawing. The big red fluffy towel remained a particular bug bear and now and then he will attack it so we have been desensitising him to it - dangling it in his face and waving it around him like a flag - giving him a treat when he ignores it. Tonight, he seemed to pass his "ignore the big red fluffy towel" test with flying colours ;)

Sorry about the bull terrier disappointment. We had a gorgeous BT at puppy class that I loved a lot but the Dobermann sounds awesome. I've never seen a Dobermann puppy so will keep my eyes peeled for when you post pictures The preparation time is good - lots of time to puppy proof your house and yard, buy lots and lots of dog stuff (bed, toys, crate and other accessories) and also get all the sleep/rest that you're not going to get once Puppy arrives

Thanks, we thought so Also - hope your puppy is conceived soon Still on track for a bull terrier?

1. Time Magazine: Dog Training and the Myth of Alpha-Male Dominance 2. Psychology Today: Canine Dominance: Is the Concept of the Alpha Dog Valid? Disclaimer: The links posted above are to information created and maintained by other people. These links are provided for the reference of other DOLers and koalathebear does not guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, appropriateness or completeness of any linked information. Further, the inclusion of the above links is not intended to assign importance to the information contained therein, nor is it intended to endorse, recommend, favour, agree or disagree with any views expressed in any way. In fact, koaalthebear does not even purport to say that you will find the articles interesting reading. The views and opinions of authors expressed in the above links do not necessarily state or reflect those of koalathebear and the way you choose to train your dog is your own business .

I know we're not supposed to have Elbie up in our laps but part of the Elbie Origin Story is that my husband wanted a cat but I'm allergic so we have a dog that as a puppy kind of looked like a cat When invited, Elbie becomes a lap dog Elbie being shy Today, we also discovered that Elbie has . The expression on his face as he looks up makes me laugh

Getting up early on cold Sunday mornings can be quite a test of one's willpower. It's worth it though - Sunday mornings are a lot of fun and I've come to look forward to the post-class offlead session with all the puppies running around in the corner :D I hope to have a photo with kuma the akita so will need to try not to be too bleary-eyed

Thanks all. His eyes seem better now - they seem to get redder in the evenings for some reason. In any case, we're seeing the vet this afternoon so can get his eyes checked out. I've phoned to discuss the heartworm issue with the vet again and mentioned the recall of Prohart in the US, the litigation and the issues re collies. They said they've never heard of a problem as they give the injection to lots of border collies without problems. I've said I'll bring in the print-outs I have made on the issue and that my preference is not to give Elbie the injection. They ordered ivermectin heartworm monthly chewables for me last time and from what I can see, these should be all right for border collies but what I'll ask is that we give Elbie one of the chews while we're at the vet's office just to make sure he doesn't have an adverse reaction. SecretKei: Thanks - we're very happy with Elbie. He's very lovable and clever and despite his hyperactivity tends to elicit a very friendly response from people who meet him. A lot of people have spoken fondly of a kelpie/bc cross they used to own so it sounds like a combo that can work even though the resultant mutt is a whirlwind of energy

Nope. No smoking, no alcohol and no drugs I have allergies from hell so we keep the possible allergens to an absolute minimum.

When Elbie was a little puppy, the whites of his eyes were very white. I've noticed that these days they're always a little bit red. I'm taking him to the vet soon for an annual heartworm injection and so will ask about his eyes, but in the interim does anyone know what the problem could be? Picture below: They don't seem to be irritated, we don't have a lot of plants in the yard and while he gets a little bit of discharge in the morning, there isn't very much.

I think we're lucky with Elbie. We used to wake up every 2 hours to toilet him and then he used to wake up every morning at 5.30am, but these days he'll snooze away in his crate as late as we sleep in ... on weekends it can be as late was 10am ;)

I cannot wait to see this There's a shiba inu puppy at BDCO, too. If I'm lucky I will try to get a photo of shiba and akita next to one another Thank you ... For a while there, I did wonder if we'd be re-doing beginners again - we might have even been in Kuma's class