koalathebear

My two orders seem to be coming in pieces which is weird because both orders were apparently shipped on 28 November. I received a parcel the other day with two Skinneez, a flirt pole, two thunder shirts, a double dog leash and some other bits and pieces but the balance of my order is still to come (some portable roll mats, some cooling mats, some agility bits and pieces). Today I received the embroidered collars - which was a nice surprise I hope the rest of the package comes before Christmas though!

There are lots of different things you could try but some dogs just like digging unfortunately. I have one Kelpie/BC and one Kelpie in my backyard. They get the same amount of mental stimulation/exercise/food/toys. They both do recreational agility, tricks, obedience etc and have a walk every few days. The Kelpie cross has never been a digger but the red and tan likes to dig one big hole every now and then. When he gets a scent or something and he digs! I am resigned to my fate I've found that if I loosely fill that hole in, he digs it up again i.e. doesn't start a new spot. For the holes in areas where I don't want him to dig, I used to put dog poop in those and then he'd leave them alone. For us clam shells and that like didn't work so I just tried to discourage him from digging in certain areas but let him dig in other areas. I think it's a case of managing expectations, too - it may be hard to ever have a good lawn if you have a dog that likes digging though .. Also, even without the digging, my two play chasies every now and then and so there are bald spots on the ground where there are 'turning circles'. ETA: aside from the clam shell with sand idea, other people suggest pineapple as well. If anyone who suggests a longer walk - don't bother with that, it doesn't work with a Kelpie

Did you ever find a good sunscreen? It's useless on Hoover, he licks it off and it gets on his fur and he gets a sunscreen moustache :p

Sorry for any misunderstanding - your input wasn't offensive at all. I was happy to have input about people sharing similar experiences. Just the whole AB/no AB discussion wasn't very helpful ... :p Also, I'm intrigued about the tattoo thing. Isn't the dog's nose very sensitive? how would that work? I'll let you know if this treatment for Hoover works. He's also a bit of a sun worshipper unfortunately. Also, does anyone recommend a good sunscreen for a dog that likes liking stuff off of his nose?? I cannot keep sunscreen on Hoover's nose :p

Thanks Kavik. When we first got Hoover, the vet commented on the colour of his nose and warned us then to keep an eye on it for discolouration etc. Elbie's nose is black as pitch so we're not fussed, although he has had his share of scratches because he, like Hoover is an inquisitive dog who likes to poke his nose into things

tend to agree with you . Getting it checked out to rule out a cancer is a wise move . Absolutely but Ab's for a nose scratch, that's over kill and then some Persephone and Pav - thanks very much for your input. It is appreciated as I realise that you are both very experienced dog owners - but it's really not necessary anymore. I started the thread to know if anyone had had a similar experience with their pale-ish nosed dog and I have the answers I sought. This was not a scratch - both of my dogs have had cuts and scratches before, on nose and elsewhere. Bleeding and not-bleeding. This was a discolouration on those nose of a relatively pale pigmented dog who is out in the sun a lot. A few days ago the patch started looking a bit ulcerous and bled for no reason - this was worrying. These are not over-medicated dogs - as mentioned, they tend to only see the vet for their vaccinations and do not have any other health problems. Generally a phone call to the vet and a chat over the phone is enough to resolve any worries that we have. I'm happy for people to share their experiences and am very grateful for people's well-wishes and thoughts (thanks guys!). I'm really not interested in debating the pros and cons of antibiotics abuse (I'm sure there are heaps of other suitable threads around) - I just wanted to make sure my dog is all right because I was worried about him. I'm happy for you to keep commenting on this issue if you want but there are some other livelier debate threads that might be more appropriate/fun than a thread about a boring old one about a non-ANKC Kelpie with a discoloured nose ... eg Koehler Training in Sydney or Puppies, A Social Experience Apparently - A Bit of a rant

Playdate at Casey Dog Park today. It's very hard to get our wriggling doggies to sit still for a group photo.

Thanks for your input but I don't consider myself particularly over-reactive - my dogs pretty much only go to the vet for vaccinations and that's it. It seems a little unfair to imply that the vet (who was excellent and very helpful) was unscrupulous enough to prescribe medication when it was not needed. She said that she didn't want to give us both the ABs and the anti-fungals this time because then it wouldn't be possible to see which one it was that was actually clearing up the skin problem but that if the ABs weren't working, we would switch. She showed us both meds, but only suggested we buy one at this stage. If it was just depigmentation I wouldn't be so fussed, but the skin was also bleeding and it was different from the normal injuries from getting scratched etc. My main concern was skin cancer given that as a red and tan Kelpie, Hoover's nose is relatively pale so I'm relieved that it's not that.

Hi weasels, thanks for thinking of us. We had a hard time finding a vet still open on Saturday. Finally we found a great vet. She did a thorough examination and swabbed Hoover's nose to test. He has bacteria and fungus on his nose - apparently common in dogs that like digging and sticking their nose into anything :p Definitely not skin cancer so we've got him on antibiotics for a bit. Big relief for me.

Hoover's had an odd white spot on his nose for a while - not raised or anything, just a different colour to the rest of his nose. Looks like this: This morning it was a bit raw and there was a bit of blood on it. He seems fine but he's always been a very stoic doggy. Does anyone know if it's anything to be worried about? Our vet's closed today and I'm not sure if warrants a trip to the emergency vet or even a trip to the vet ... Thanks in advance.

Phew! You had me worried for a moment there ;)

My two clearly hate living in the suburbs ...

Depends who you ask. :p You'll also find a lot of pro-show Kelpie people who look down at the working line Kelpies because they don't have the 'correct conformation'. Like I said above, it really depends who you ask. It's pretty natural that a farmer would prefer the WKC/non-ANKC bred Kelpies. For a non-farmer or someone who doesn't want to show dogs, the difference doesn't really matter. Sorry but that is so wrong ... there are a lot of people (including many people on this board) who have WKC-registered i.e. working line Kelpies who live in the suburbs and are fine. I think any dog would go bonkers without proper stimulation - Kelpies just seem to have a particular bad name. All of the breeders I spoke with, working line and show, said Kelpies were totally fine in the suburbs as long as you didn't just dump them in a yard and expect them to entertain themselves.

Chocolate does seem more popular than black among the show Kelpies. Do you really think that red and tan is the most popular with Kelpies? I prefer red and tan but when we go to watch trials around New South Wales - they're almost all black and tans! Almost no red and tans!

I don't think it's right to say that all show Kelpies have had the working ability bred out of them but I do think it needs to be acknowledged that while many show Kelpies still have the herding 'instinct' and are very talented in recretional herding - their 'sole purpose', though is no longer the same as the working line Kelpie which is technically to work sheep. Even Callicoma which is known to breed excellent drivey dogs which do very well in dog sports says: i.e. they don't try to hold out that their dogs will be suitable as 'professional' working dogs. It really depends what you want the dog for. An owner of a Callicoma dog at our dog club said that he got a bench Kelpie because he thought that it would be calmer than a working line dog and was afraid that a working line dog would be too crazy for the suburbs. In the end, he found himself with a dog that was crazy about sheep and probably just as energetic as a working line dog. Similarly, all good WKC breeders will tell you that a well-bred working Kelpie has an offswitch and is just as happy chilling out as it is working sheep. You will find good and bad dogs in both lines and if you want an agility/obedience/flyball/recreational herding/pet dog you can get excellent dogs from both lines. You will also get chunky monkeys in both lines. You'll get more choice of colouring in the working lines, though. In the working lines, colouring is irrelevant and appearance is irrelevant except to the extent that it impedes working ability.

I'd have a peek through the Breeders Notes on the WKC website. Then you could phone the WKC and have a chat - I phoned them twice and had very long conversations with Barbara Cooper. She was extremely helpful and patient and pointed me in the direction of the breeder of our second dog. We couldn't be happier with him and the breeder was very careful to pick our the dog with the temperament that we wanted - we also live in the suburbs and our yard is medium-sized. We didn't have any intention of working the dog - just obedience, agility etc. I spoke to lots of breeders - show and working lines, I opted for working lines because to be honest, the working line Kelpies just 'look' more like how I expect a Kelpie to look. We wanted a two tone dog not a solid-coloured dog and there are very, very few two tone show Kelpies being bred out there, although they exist (e.g. see this thread). By contrast, there are heaps of two tones among working lines and you can easily get a two tone without compromising on 'quality' etc. I don't think you can make generalisations about temperament based on show/working lines. There are some extremely laid back working line Kelpies and some extremely hyper bench Kelpies who are crazy about sheep. It all comes down the lines, the breeder and what you're after in that individual dog. Good luck! I think Kelpies are gorgeous - very loving, loyal and smart - you'll have heaps of fun with your Kelpie. Both our dogs are doing agility and loving it.

My dogs love both indoors and outdoors. I suspect they'd mostly prefer to be inside with their humans but they will wander outside to run around, lie in the sun and just chill out in the grass. We puppy-proofed our yard for Elbie and by the time Hoover came it was fine for both dogs even when Hoover was a puppy. Our street is also very dog-friendly so we only give them access to the kitchen when we're not home if it's pouring with rain etc.

Haha, US dog fora... When I first got Elbie, I received some really comments that made me realise that the US approach to dog ownership is quite different - over there because of difference weather/fencing/whatever, it seems really common to crate your dog ALL DAY/leave it inside all day and having the dog outside is considered really bad. These were the comments I got: My favourite was this one: Good grief ... her dogs are never outside unsupervised except when she's in the bathroom and they are 3 and 4???? My dogs love being in the house but they love their outside time, too. If my dogs were crated all day while we were at work, they could probably 'hold it' but they would hate it.

I love Kyojin and his fur - he looks so proud Here are my two and their new toy grenades :p

I agree with you. I am by no means an authority in this area but as a layperson looking in, it does appear as though some breeds appear to be more prone to health problems than others. While it's possible to say that disreputable, irresponsible breeders are responsible for some of the problems, it does appear that some breeds have certain basic health problems that arise even if the breeder is reputable and does all the proper testing. I have Kelpies and for the most part, they tend to be a pretty healthy and hardy breed with few health issues so when I read about the health issues in some other breeds, I can't help thinking that if a breed I loved had so many problems, I'd want to be trying to tackle the issue, trying to resolve the problem and kick up an almighty fuss to try to maximise focus/funding/support to alleviate the problem e.g. in the way that Border Collie and Kelpie breeders try to tackle ataxia etc.

Wouldn't dream of it!!! The doggy looks like such a gorgeous creature. The bit where he's in a drop with head on the ground is so sad :'( I wonder if he 'understands' ...

So the article is untrue? I don't know anything about bulldogs so found the article interesting.

Very interesting and thought-provoking article. Will be interested in the comments.

So sad, but touching. After Lao Pan passed away this month at 68, his only Earthly companion, a light-haired dog, disappeared from his home in Panjiatun, a village near Qingdao, China. Residents of the village later found the mutt sitting by his former owner’s grave site, where he remained for seven days, unmoved by the villagers efforts to coax him away with food. When they forcibly removed him and gave him some sweet buns to eat, he merely took the buns and brought them back to the grave. They eventually relented and brought the food to him. Sky News reports that there a plans to build a kennel for the dog inside the graveyard, so that he can always be near his best friend. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PhwcJmfjbk&feature=youtu.be

Once a day in the morning. When we get home from work, we send them out for toileting and they go to Poo Corner, then before bed they go to Poo Corner so it's all in the same spot as such. Usually doesn't take long at all. With two dogs I find we have to do it daily.