koalathebear

When Elbie gets his zoomies, he does a kind of bounding gazelle on speed thing. Very graceful. Very embarrassing.

wuffles sent this video to me, she knows how much I angst over Elbie's zoomies on the agility field. Gosh Teddy is such a sweetheart, though. He seems so gleeful in his exuberance ... and he always comes back! He's also talented and

Hi Mindy Your life sounds great! Elbie gets all the attention - it took him four times to pass Silver and I passed the first time but the Humans made a big deal when Elbie passed! Also, three days after Elbie passed Silver, he did this: I only helped a little - despite what the video footage says ...

Elbie and Hoover started gold level obedience at our club last week. One of the items in the syllabus is a retrieve. Elbie has never retrieved before - he has always preferred being chased or if he fetches at all, he will fling the object at our feet. Hoover has never retrieved - he just chases Elbie :p So we recently bought a dumbbell and started training them with it. Video below of four days of dumbbell training: Any tips about what I can do about Hoover? He seems to only have two ways of interacting with the dumbbell: 1. bites down very fast and releases before I can click or praise him for the 'hold down' part, so it looks like I am praising him for releasing 2. rolling it around in his mouth and gnawing on it like you see in the video. I don't want to praise him for that because that's what ended up destroying our brand new dumbbell - it was made of pine and soft so got all splintery. That's why for day 3 onwards, I had to use a rubber dental bone for the retrieve training - and why Elbie can't quite hold it 'straight' in his mouth. Hoover is smart but it's pretty normal that it takes him longer than Elbie to learn something. Once he learns it, it's very rock solid - I just haven't been able to even teach him to hold the dumbbell in his mouth - quite a contrast to Elbie who picked it up much more quickly. Thanks in advance!

This is so true! My dogs are very energetic and excited after before and class at Dog School and in new situations - Elbie is super focused and intense at agility ... but at home, they are vegie couch potatoes that can play hard but mostly like chilling out in their dog beds, crates or on our bed :p Every time we say we have Kelpies, people always say: "Wow, they must be very high energy and hard to look after," and they never believe me when I tell them how placid and calm they are at home ....

Regarding weaving, Elbie seems the opposite of everyone else's dog! He is fine at the club - in fact the weavers seem to 'focus' him better than any of the other apparatus and he does fine on the slanted poles and last week wove on the 8 straight poles without any problems. I almost died of shock given that he's really only practised during clsas - but was so happy with him. He did not like the weave poles I put in the backyard AT ALL and while he was weaving, he went through at a snail's pace and looked as though he was being tortured :p I really don't think he liked having weave poles spring up suddenly in the backyard. I have stopped trying to make him weave in the backyard for now. By contrast, I put some 2x2s in the loungeroom (the Murray Tyler weavers recommended by ness previously) and he seems very happy with those. I've been able to get him to weave while I'm on his right, on his left, behind him and also ahead of him. For some reason he is just not happy weaving in the backyard ... absolutely no idea why ...

At least I get to walk a real course - that will be interesting because the thing that is scaring me about agility is the complex order and layout of obstacles and trying to remember!

ness: thanks for those links. I think I might have to get a custom-made one, too because the necks of my two are 15-16 inches depending on how 'tightly' I do the measurement with the string. rubystar: thanks for that - I feel reassured that I don't haveeto do anything complicated - unless there is of course some complicated, arcane way to loop up the lashes when placing them at the end gate ... :p Poor OH will have to concentrate if he's the backup time-keeper. It will be a good chance for me to watch an agility trial close-up and see correct handling strategies, as opposed to my current one which is to point and rely on my dog to be able to read my mind ....

I think it's important that you get a dog that you can 'live' with but I'd say that wanting to participate in sports (whether dogly or otherwise) is part of 'living' with the dog and I don't see anything wrong with choosing from certain categories of dogs (and excluding other categories) based on what you might hope to do with that dog. If you would like to take the dog long distance running, swimming and through agility - there are certain dogs that you would probably not choose. It doesn't mean that you see a dog as a tool or a piece of equipment or even that you will discard the dog if it can't do the sports you want - it just means that you're trying to increase the odds of that dog being able to participate and participate without injury. If you wanted to go to extremely high levels of obedience, there are probably dogs that you wouldn't take on unless you were an extremely experienced trainer/wanted to 'prove' something/wanted a challenge? Also, most dogs are very multi-talented. A Kelpie for instance can go well (with the right handler :p) at agility, obedience, flyball, herding and just running along with the owner. A Kelpie is also excellent for doing tricks, keeping you company, giving you cuddles and kisses and keeping you entertained with its goofy antics. I'm not sure if I'm ever going to compete with my dogs and I certainly didn't choose them on that basis, but it's nice that the option is there if I want it.

Hoover is kind of fearless. He's a bit wary during early morning walks when cars come rushing towards us from the darkness with headlights on, but that's understandable. Other than that he shows no fear and seems very curious about everything. Elbie on the other hand is a very different dog. He is afraid of so many things, but he's interesting because in time, he gets over them. 1. He doesn't like ceiling fans, but despite that he'll still come into a room with one - although he shoots wary glances up at the ceiling from time to time 2. He used to be very scared of the electric hand mixer and run in and out of the room or hide under OH's desk - but I bake a lot so we ignored him and now he doesn't care at all if he hears the mixer. 3. When the dog walk was raised to full height at agility, he seemed afraid of it and wouldn't go on it - just around it. But that night, just as I was going to give up on for the night, he ran over it and has been fine ever since. 4. He used to be afraid of the handheld Dyson but we just ignored him and kept using it so now he's fine with it. His Nemesis, an object of which he remains afraid is the - he barks at it like crazy, but who can blame him? :p

OH and I have been press-ganged into stewarding at the BDOC agility trials this Saturday. OH is very unimpressed because he already does his part by coming every Wednesday night to set up and put away the agility equipment at practice...He hasn't asked for a divorce yet ... I am down as 'ring and leads steward' in the agility ring. Does anyone know what this entails? Also, OH is going to be 'Time Keeper - backup'. Does this mean he also keeps time at the same time as the primary but the time he records is just in case there's uncertainty about the primary time? Thanks very much in advance!

Probably OH sighed and said: "What are you buying for the dogs now?" But seriously, I have genuine need of this leash! It's such a pain clipping and unclipping Elbie's leash all the time during agility and that tiny little knob/tassel thing does NOT work :p For Hoover I am getting "What a hoot" because it's red and tan like him. Elbie's colours are always red, black and white so he will be Bandanna Picnic - just have to figure out the right size given their necks ... And yes I know Hoover isn't doing agility but I can't buy Elbie a leash and not one for Hoover ...

The rushtotug leads are gorgeous Elbie and Hoover seem to have 15-16 inch necks but that would seem to indicate that they should get a 13inch lead - which is in the 'small' category, which doesn't sound right ... Anyone have any idea what size a Kelpie should have? These seem ideal for us because during agility training I keep accidentally clipping Elbie's leash to the wrong loop on his collar - sending his tags and registration tag flying. Once OH had to come back a few days later and pore over the field looking for Elbie's two small tags

lashton - so glad to hear that things are going well. I am pretty certain that I told you that things would work out It just feels like the puppy will never stop screaming. I wish you all the best with all future challenges

My dog's 'bow' that I taught him is quite different from his natural play bow. The 'bow' is a bit like the one you see horses do where they bend their front legs and stick their butt in the air. The 'natural' play bow is very lively and bouncy with tail wagging, a spring and a bit of a bark sometimes

Looking forward to meeting you all! And in other news: "Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope ..."

Akay - thank you SO much Very helpful.

There are 45 listings on the DOL page so some recommendations would be most appreciated. If you don't feel comfortable posting in the thread, please PM me with recommendations/warnings. I have a friend who wants to get a small, relatively laid-back but smart dog. To my horror, other friends started recommending Oodles and the like. In horror, I started fending off the Oodle-recommenders and probably sounded like a crazy dog zealot as I posted links to Where Do Puppies Come from and the like. I suggested a Beagle or a Cavalier King Charles and she's gone for the Cav recommendation, which I really think is right for her. I know my friend would probably like to meet the breeder and puppies in person so in or around the Sydney area would be great! Thanks heaps in advance.

aussielover - it depends on the dog. You were lucky that your dog could hold on for longer. From memory, wuffles' dog Ava could also hold on for quite a long time. To be safe, I toileted both my dogs every 2-3 hours. Hoover was able to hold on for longer from an earlier age but Elbie definitely needed to be toileted frequently. Once they were housetrained they were fine to sleep through the night and on long weekends, won't be toileted from 11pm until their lazy humans wake up at 10 or 11 Also, when Elbie was a puppy there was really no difference between his: "I miss my mum" scream and his: "I am rolling in poo and am uncomfortable" scream, which was why I took him out regularly.

Yes - it was only after you posted that comment that I rememberd that one of our dogs does the Foot Sit and how funny we find it I've always assumed that it was Hoover's way of telling us: "Human - it is now time for you to lavish me with affection and treats!" Then there was this - after an exhausting play date on a hot day with half a dozen other doggies - Hoover went and collapsed on the feet of someone else's husband

If you play her outside during the day, whenever she starts to 'get into position', then whisk her to your designated toileting spot and praise her when she goes. As for night time, you don't have to leave her outside - just make sure you toilet her after every meal and drink. Then at bedtime, toilet her before bed, then take her out for toileting at regular intervals - sounds like she can hold on for about 3-4 hours at night? You just set your alarm clock, take her to Poo Corner and wait until she goes. The first few times, she will run around and try to play but eventually she'll realise that she doesn't go back inside again until she goes.

In another thread where someone was talking about a screaming puppy, one person said something along the lines of: "Don't be surprised if your dog grows up liking to sit on your feet." Elbie was a night-time screamer as a newly arrived puppy but he is not a foot-sitter. Hoover by contrast was not a screamer, but he does love foot-sitting. He has done it almost from the day we got him. He trots up to us, turns around and does a 'reverse park' into position, then plonks himself onto our feet and then looks up at us with a: "Please pat me" expression on his face. Googling indicates all sorts of disparate reasons - dominance - cold floor - tired etc. Hoover doesn't suffer separation anxiety - he's a very chilled, self-possessed doggy who likes to be around his humans but doesn't tend to pine. He also has not displayed any particularly dominant behaviours. All I can guess is that he wants to hang out and the "foot position" is as close as he can get. Is anyone else's dog a foot-sitter?

I thought mine were the only ones I make peanut butter biscuits for the dogs on a regular basis (using wholemeal flour, low fat milk and low fat peanut butter) but the problem is that they now think that the oven belongs to them so whenever I make biscuits or muffins for the humans, the dogs come and line up by the oven looking expectant

That's amazing! I can see how they would have taught the dog to get on the board but how on earth did they teach it to propel itself along by taking two feet off the skateboard and pushing???

I don't have a Shiba but I love them and considered getting one before. If I wasn't a permanent Kelpie-convert, I'd definitely consider a Shiba Inu for the family in the future :D One of my friends owns a Shiba and she adores her. The only caveat is that my friend owned Siberian Huskies before so is very familiar with the Spitz temperament, which might come into it. My friend's Shiba Kaiya was very well-socialised as a puppy and has done well in obedience, is currently doing agility (and doing well) and has also received her Delta therapy dog registration - definitely extremely trainable. I have heard about the dislike of leads/restraints but my friend trained Kaiya from a young age to accept the collar/lead and there are some gorgeous photos of her in doggy boots and doggy coats as well. She gets along beautifully with adults and children alike, regularly goes to doggy day care and gets along very well with other dogs. My friend sometimes describes Kaiya as a little dog who thinks she's a big dog, so she runs and rumbles with the big dogs. Out of the possible 'negatives' that you point out, I'm aware of the following: stubbornness/independence. Sometimes my friend envies me the eager to please temperament of my two dogs. recall is unreliable and Shiba Inu are usually not safe to have off lead. they can be very able escape artists and seem to have an amazing ability to dig, climb, jump and just generally extricate themselves from the yard. the Shiba Scream can be quite challenging :D The dislike of being alone for a long period of time is something shared by many breeds so it's a matter of finding something to entertain her during the day or arrange for a doggy walker or doggy day care. The downside about having a Shiba in Australia seems to be that they're not that common so if the dog gets lost, it could be mistaken for a fox or a dingo. One of the women at Dog School told me she always makes sure her Shiba is wearing 'gear' when they go out to the country so that if it bolts, it won't be mistaken for a fox or a dingo. Good luck with it all. Shibas are absolutely gorgeous and the Shiba smile is very cute.