koalathebear

Elbie used to do this, he has grown out of it. Hoover still does it :p The easiest thing is, crate the dog or leave the dog outside when the person first comes in. Then let the dogs out/into the house and ask the visitor to ignore them. This works for us in 99% of the cases. The remaining 1% was when Hoover's favourite dog came to visit and he almost imploded with joy - and wee :p I am guessing he will grow out of it eventually like Elbie did so long as we remain consistent.

The mud is just a rain-thing. If all of this rain will just go away, that park is normally lovely and shady, with no mud puddles! :laugh: I suspect it will take a while for the huge lake in the big dogs' park to go away though. I loved the combination work of Elbie and your girl. He'd catch it but she'd always bring it back - or find it if it went missing

Our two aren't so lucky. No bath tub for them! Just leashed up in the backyard as their humans use a tub, jug, sponge, watering can and shampoo to deal with them :p We'd make a total mess if we tried to wash them in the house. Don't dogs feel wonderful after they've had a bath??? :laugh:

Some photos. Dogs keeping me company while I read my Kindle Fire on the couch The dogs love sleeping on the couch on top of their Costco doggy blankets. Behold all the toys that Hoover has taken up onto the couch. Hoover and Hippo Dogs at the dog park today. Elbie's posture makes me laugh. Hoover can totally reach the top of the crate (as you can see), but he will stand at the crate and stare longingly at Monkey and Orca I gave him Monkey but he was immediately back and staring at Orca

I hope the mud is gone soon - it is soooo stinky and even though I can usually be lazy with our dogs (dirt and muck usually just falls off of them!) - both had very grotty legs and pants :p Oh well, the upside is that they both smell nice and Aloveeny now ... There was a nice mix of doggies today - OH had a pack of adoring, ball-mad dogs following him around :laugh: Here's a photo of the ball mad doggies. The look on Elbie's face is hilarious.

My two had an absolute blast - but were covered in mud and stinky so they both got baths after we got home. They're nice and fluffy now and smell nice :)

I don't think that longevity isn't the issue so much as the health/quality of life issue i.e. I think what troubles me is that with the breeds that do have relatively short lives - this is frequently because they are plagued with health issues that 'healthier' breeds don't have. For instance, the Bernese Mountain dog's life span is about 7-10 years but has an incredibly high rate of cancer. Dogs have a short life span compared to humans anyway but to the extent possible, I would prefer to have a dog that has a maximum chance of healthiness while it is with me so that rules out dogs that are prone to breathing difficulties, HD, cancer etc ... Yes, there are no guarantees but it's a bit like why people advocate purebreds over crossbreds i.e. why wouldn't you maximise your chances of having a dog with a more predictable temperament - in this instance, it's why wouldn't you maximise your chance of having a dog that will be healthier while it's with you?

I agree but I think it's pointless to argue the point here on DOL. I would still rather place faith in our vet, whom I like and respect and treats my dogs well than any faceless Internet Person/report. By DOL standards, (and not just about the heartworm injection issue) I am clearly a bad, lazy, thoughtless, lowest denominator uncaring owner but then I suspect every single DOLer and his/her dog would be judged and found wanting in some aspect by other DOLers ... There is no perfect dog or dog owner. Regarding this particular issue, though, I think that people are just going to have to agree to do disagree and make their own decisions about their dogs - it's good that there are different options out there that are suited for different people.

Gorgeous photos. Ziggy looks so serene. I think our two will love playing with Ziggy. Barwon Heads, here we come!!!! Eventually :)

Here's audio of an interrupted howl :laugh: As soon as I got up from my desk to try to film/record him, the howl broke off. Hoover was by the front door communing with emergency rescue staff ...

I don't think that this thread was supposed to be about people trying to convince each other to do things they don't do. I merely wanted to state what I've chosen to do and have stated that my dogs are fine, as are other dogs I know whose owners have also opted for the injection. I think I'm entitled to state what is a fact. I'm not saying it is right for any other dog, I'm not saying anyone else should do it. I am stating that my dogs are on the injection and they are not sick or dead. I wanted to post this because as a newbie to DOL, it's easy to believe that every single dog who goes on the injection dies. Perhaps the vets you have met are unethical and would prefer dogs to be sick (which is very sad), but it seems wrong and unfair to the many ethical vets out there to generalise on this basis. Our dogs are healthy and usually only see the vet once a year and we're all happy with that. Some of our visits to the dog are actually without charge, they've fit us in before even when they're frantic if I am worried and I genuinely believe that they are very happy to see that our dogs are healthy - they have plenty of sick dogs as patients, I'm sure, they don't need ours to pay the bills. Also, some of the accounts against the annual injection claim that the adverse effects result in death - which I think is hardly in the interests of any vet. We all make the decisions we think best regarding our dogs and we live by them. I made an informed decision after extensive discussions with our local vet and I believe her when she tells me that she has never personally seen an adverse reaction to the injection. She has no reason to lie to me. At the end of the day, our local vet has been with us when our dogs came to us as pups, is with us when they grow ill and will be there to help us when they grow old and frail. I do not feel that I have abrogated the decision about my dogs' health - I've made a conscious decision. I don't think it is surprising that I would rather believe a vet who knows and loves my dogs and will actually be there for us when they are sick over Internet people and reports from people I have never met. When you read literature online, there are accounts of adverse reactions too all sorts of medication (canine and human) so I would rather make the decision after talking through the issue with someone I actually know and trust.

It's a personal choice and at the time we made the decision - convenience was very important because of a variety of other things happening at the same time. I talked about the issue at great length with my vet and I do trust my vet - it's not in her best interests to make my dogs sick. I think it's fine that people want to avoid the annual injection but thought it important to also state that the annual injection is fine for some dogs i.e. doesn't end in death or illness, because it's always nice to have both sides of the story in any discussion...

My two (Kelpie and a Kelpie/Border Collie cross) are both on the annual heart worm injection and are fine. I've printed the stuff from DOL out to discuss with our vet and in the early days, also bought the monthly chews - but then decided to stick with the annual injection. Most DOLers don't do the annual injection for reasons you will read about in this thread and many, many other threads - but most people at our vet's do. It's personal choice.

It almost made my hair stand on end when I first heard it. Elbie stares at him like he's bonkers. I know Elbie knows how to howl because when he was a very young puppy, once when we left him alone, he put up his head and gave a long, throbbing, heart-breaking howl but he's never done it since and he definitely doesn't copy Hoover when he's doing the siren-communication thing :laugh: Someone mentioned before that it's quite awe-inspiring to have the inner wolf come out - and it really is!

Hoover our purebred Kelpie howls at sirens. If he is in the house, he goes to the front door and howls along with it. If he is in the yard, he stops dead in his tracks and howls. He lets out a long, ululating, mournful howl. It's not a doggy yowl or a whinge - it's an honest to Dog, wolf-like howl that sounds so strange, alien and a little haunting coming out of his throat. It doesn't even sound like him - the first time it happened I didn't believe it was him so made sure I ran over faster the next time there was a siren so that I could confirm that it was actually him. The look on his face when he does it, is also so odd. He looks very thoughtful and serious. It doesn't bother me at all because as I said, he's he's usually a very quiet dog and doesn't bark much - I doubt it bugs the neighbours either given that it's just one single howl in response to the sirens. I know he's not cold, sad or lonely - I can only assume he thinks he's communicating with the siren? :laugh: He never howls in any other situation even when I tried playing sirens on youtube to see if I train the action. By contrast, Elbie our Kelpie/Border Collie cross doesn't make a sound when sirens go by. He goes on high alert and his ears are all over the place listening but he does not howl.

Here they are unsuccessfully trying to keep up with a whippet They also played with some fluffies, a tenterfield terrier and a dachshund. Hopefully the rain will go away soon ...

Shame about the rain this morning. It feels like we've had non-stop rain for the last week ... When the rain cleared in the afternoon, we took the dogs to the Yarralumla Dog Park. They had a very good time. Here they are non-plussed by the very adorable Miniature Schnauzer puppy named Ralph

I think her show made a difference. There were some breeders interviewed who talked about ways they wanted to improve their breed. I also don't think that there is any doubt that some breeds have certain health issues that need to be addressed. I found this bit of the show very interesting:

I thought it was quite interesting. Particularly this bit

Oooh puppy! Can't wait to meet her. That time you met my two was the first time I've taken them to the dog park to play with 'strange' dogs. We've always only had dog park visits when we were there with their regular buddies that they've grown up with. I was happy that they played nice with the other dogs so I figure that as long as we remain vigilant, it should be fine. There were no aggro dogs in the small pen and that corgi puppy was sooooo cute :D

Satch's white in his muzzle will give him a pass into the small pen with our two :laugh: Don't worry, we have a critical mass of friendly dogs and also enough of us to run intervention if there are any cranky dogs around.

We went to the flyball to cheer on a friend and OH took some photos while we were there. Our friend's team went on to win the flyball!

I was a bit anxious before we went to the Yarralumla one, too because of strange dogs. We are a bit naughty and hang out in the smaller yard which is for "old, small or light dogs".