koalathebear

I don't compete with either of my dogs yet but I have one purebred WKC-registered Kelpie and a Kelpie/Border Collie crossbreed - it's possible that one day we'll participate - the Associate register here in the ACT seems pretty enlightened. I don't really see it as a 'promotion'. I'd assume the the majority of competitors are owners of purebreds and that the majority of spectators are relatives/friends of those owners of purebreds. I doubt anyone goes to an agility competition and decides that they want to buy a Kablooeypollywollydoodle on the basis of that dog's performance that day. I seriously doubt that the target audience of Oodle-Makers is dog sport venues ... Also, some of the crossbreeds/oodles are actually very good at dog sports, so from a competitor perspective, if a competitor really wants to better himself/herself, presumably he/she wants to participate in a competition pool that is as wide as it can be and comprised of the best possible talent. No point winning just because a better dog might have been excluded on the basis of a technicality. It seems better to let them all compete and let the best dogs and handlers win ...

I understand why Oodlers shouldn't be permitted to show/breed etc but I don't see anything wrong with someone with a crossbreed (oodle or not), participating in dog sports like obedience, agility, fly ball etc. I know a lot of people with crossbreeds who compete and do quite well - ranging from Kelpie crosses through to Labrador/Poodles, Cavalier King Charles/Poodles etc ... If people are willing to put in the hard work it takes to progress in these sports, I don't see why there is any problem with them participating - I thought training was always a good thing.

Thanks for the feedback but the vests for our dogs are only for outside. Hoover has a double coat, but he's still a puppy and he shivers when it's sub-zero in Canberra. Elbie is fine, we just bought the vest for him because it's funny.

They are long-suffering :D They have Drizabone coats on the way, too - boy are they going to be unimpressed

I am soooooo happy to see Kelpies making the list There are so many misconceptions about them and I get "you're crazy" looks every time I say we own Kelpie-ish dogs. A well-chosen, well-bred Kelpie is such a great addition to the family - they're so smart, affectionate and cuddly and not very much work at all! I think I have grown too attached to Kelpies now so could not own another breed BUT, if for some weird reason a working line Kelpie was not possible, the breeds I have on my list are: Shiba Inu Beagle - love the tri-coloured ones. Not a huge fan of the ones with a lot of white on the face (shallow of me I know :p ) I love how big and atheltic the standard poodles look and how smart they are. There's a DOLer with a gorgeous brown standard poodle who doesn't have an overly sharp nose and is apparently frequently mistaken for a labradoodle. I love the look of that dog and if I wasn't so Kelpie-inclined and so averse to grooming, then that dog would tempt me :D

I bought some vests/pyjamas for my two from The Wolfs Den. They were made and posted within 2-3 days. Here they are: The dogs aren't fans yet and stand/sit there motionless with a "please take this off of me" look on their face :D

He is so cute. When Elbie was a puppy, both my OH and I were taking time off work so he was quite spoiled and saw us all day. He whined every time we left the room and it took us a while to get him settled in his crate at night. We took him out every 2 hours and after every meal and after he drank water. He screamed the first three nights we had him (drove me bonkers) and did panic poos and wee. I had never seen so much poo in my life :p After that, at night, we had him in our room and put our fingertips in his crate so he didn't cry. Once he had settled (after a week or so), we moved his crate down to the kitchen. We persisted and now he is extremely good about toileting on command. Anyway, good luck with Neo. In my very biased opinion, there is nothing cuter than a Kelpie puppy.

I love this image from Doggy Cam. I wonder what on earth Hoover is thinking about??

The dog vests/pyjamas have arrived today from The Wolf's Den! Elbie's fits him perfectly, alas Hoover's is a bit snug because I think I didn't measure the poor pup properly. Nonetheless, they both look very smart.

Saxonpup: Will we be seeing Riley on Sundays since Saxon goes to Dog School on Thursday nights? :D Would love to meet him!

Most people would not be able to tell the difference between a solid-coloured Working Kelpie and a lean show Kelpie, or a chunky Working Kelpie from a show Kelpie. There are still a few two tone show Kelpies out there but very few, generally the breeders seem to prefer the solid colours - which I found out for myself from Australian Kelpie breeders when I went looking for a two tone show Kelpie Working line breeders don't seem to care about colours or even if ears are up or down, just the working ability. Some people I know prefer the look of the show Kelpies, others prefer working lines - it's nice to have the choice.

lol - i actually wondered if I should have typed "Australian" in front of them or if they are known just as kelpies. Now I know another awesome dog - hey they were developed from coolie stock so of course they are What you typed is fine. My WKC Kelpie is a purebred Kelpie so he's a Kelpie or a Working Kelpie, he is not an Australian Kelpie. As far as I know, although not a strict rule, these days, "Australian Kelpie" refers to the show/bench Kelpie - the ANKC standard refers to the 'Australian Kelpie'. "Kelpie" on its own or "Working Kelpie" is frequently used for the working line dogs. The Working Kelpie Council of Australia refers to the breed as the Kelpie or the Australian Working Kelpie. I don't think any of the working line breeders would ever refer to their dogs as Australian Kelpies - Tony Parsons in his book was certainly very definite about not referring to a working line Kelpie as an "Australian Kelpie". "The name Australian Kelpie' suggests that there is a breed of Kelpies other than those we know in Australia and 'Australian' is used to distinguish the home-grown variety; or the 'Australian' is used (as for the Australian Cattle Dog) to emphasise or add greater character to the breed as developed in Australia....There is no reason why we should describe the Kelpie as anything but simply that; I believe that the use of 'Australian' reflects more the pride we have in being responsible for its origin and development (as with the Australian Cattle Dog).... The use of the word 'Australian' does not suggest that there is another Kelpie somewhere else; however, the greatest difference is within the breed: the Working Kelpie is being used to categorise genuine working-strain Kelpies and Australian Kelpie is used for the 'bench' or 'show' Kelpie. Yet the working-strain and show Kelpie have a common origin." (From: Tony Parsons, "The Kelpie - The definitive guide to the Australian working dog", page 242).

I think that you were probably right to warn the lady in question that the ice cream you sell is a lot stronger than the ordinary supermarket variety - although at the end of the day it is up to her if she wants to feed it to her dog or not. Based on your description, even though legally she had no case, I'm sure she would have been back to scold you :p Also, on a different day, in a different thread and depending on wind direction and the alignment of the planets, someone who said that they fed their dog ice cream might be criticised by some people for being irresponsible ;) Our dogs occasionally get to have a tiny lick of an ice cream lid.

I love the photo of Flying Max! Do you have a larger version of the photo?? I saw the photo on FB via my phone but couldn't reply properly because I'm at work today and FB is blocked here :p Just taking a break between documents :D

I know I shouldn't say this because Ziggy is male but he is such a pretty dog! :D By contrast - Doggy Cam captured the naughtiness of my monsters today. OH emailed to let me know that the dogs were up to no good. Here is Hoover watching Elbie remove the cover from the Doggy Futon. Then he decides to join in pulling it around :p It keeps them entertained for a little while. Finally, my OH had enough and phoned the house. His voice came over the speaker phone onto the answering machine saying: "Leave it! Elbie leave it!" Here you see the dogs' ears all alert before they obediently drop down and leave the futon alone. Hoover: "Do you think that the humans are at home?" Elbie: "Shhhh, pretend to be good." The video was hilarious with both dogs stopping dead in their tracks, heads darting around, ears going crazy as they tried to figure out where the sound of OH's voice was coming from.

The poor dog :'( Overfeeding like that really is a form of cruelty ...

Lots of gorgeous puppies here. The dogs I find cutest as puppies are (in no particular order) are: Labrador, Golden Retriever, Sibes, Staffies, Bull Mastiffs with their plaintive faces, Bernese Mountain Dogs, corgis, Rottweilers, border collies and cattle dogs. I note that there was only one vote for Kelpies. Although Kelpies aren't renowned for their cuteness, they can be soooo cute and Kelpie puppies are very, VERY cute.

To clarify, I was not trying to say that no other dog is better than this dog or that the puppy is exceptional - just impressive. The fact that there are other dogs out there born reciting Kit Marlowe, composing sonnets and doing exquisite needlepoint from birth doesn't take away from the fact that this dog sounds like it isn't a bad puppy in any way and could be an excellent pet if placed in the right home. Clearly, the puppy's personality is not compatible with the original poster's expectations and neither are likely to be 'happy' under those circumstances. Nonetheless, it's smart, trainable and young enough to still be homed easily to people who will be able to give it the home it deserves and love it for the personality it has. That being said, our dogs have always been people-focussed but grew more affectionate as they grew older so that it appeared to be genuinely seeking out company rather than whining and crying like a baby which demonstrates need but not necessary affection.

It really isn't that easy for some dogs :p You have been lucky. With Elbie our first dog, he used to bark like crazy in the car - he hated the car, he hated the harnass. We tried everything, and we did not make a big deal out of car trips and tried to keep it casual and tried to take him to fun places - nuh uh. We spent so much time sitting in a stationary car, taking him on short trips, using DAP, throwing chews and kangaroo jerky in the back seat. Nothing worked! He finally stopped the barking but then came the yodelling and wailing where he sounded like a bizarre cross between a wounded Wookie or a dying tauntaun. Then he settled down and is generally quiet in the car now - hopping in of his own accord and seeming quite happy to go to the car. By contrast, our second dog Hoover came to us at 3 months old. At that point he'd had almost no car travel, only left the farm to visit the vet - he was so quiet and well-behaved in the car we used to wonder if he was dead! Everyone talks about all the movement and speed of passing cars overstimulating working dogs but we would turn around and see Hoover sitting at the window, staring out with interest but profound placid tranquility as the world speeds by. We didn't have to do ANYTHING with him - he just came preloaded with Calm Car Travel. :D

Bah, I always like reading your views corvus. As long as there aren't breaches of forum rules, the OP doesn't mind broadening the discussion to related/relevant issues and no kittens are harmed - all seems fine to me ...

Heh - so many cute doggies on my screen. dandybrush: I love the outfits on your doggies. is it really that cold in Queensland?? :D I feel guity now, being in Canberra and having dogs without coats. I keep meaning to buy Hoover a coat because he shivers a LOT in the morning when I take him out to be wee'd but I can never decide which one would be suitable for a Kelpie :p

That's not actually true. A lot of the generalisations about Kelpies, particularly the working line Kelpies are simply not accurate - it very much depends on the individual dog. My two are from working lines and dog number two came from a Working Kelpie Council breeder who knew he was being placed in a pet home so selected accordingly. The WKC itself will tell you that working Kelpies can make wonderful pets so long as they are not bored. A well-bred Kelpie is very adaptable. Some farmers treat their dogs as equipment, some are more hands on with more pats and affection. I'm not the only person I know who has a happy working line Kelpie as a pet and isn't 'really physically active'. Our two don't even get walked every day. Last year and this year, we spent large periods of time at the hospital with a family member and there were times when they weren't walked for several weeks. They were fine. We have a decent-sized yard, nothing very large. We walk them when we can. They go to obedience once a week and the older one goes to agility. They have 15 minute training sessions every day, sometimes more than one session. We have not seen any problem barking or destructive behaviours from them. They certainly love physical exercise and we know they could run 80k every day without getting tired - but they have learned to fit in with our lifestyle (desk potatoes) and they get their long crazy runs on weekends and during doggy playdates. What our two love best is to be close to their humans - they really don't care what we are doing, they just like to hang out nearby snoozing/playing. People who know my two know that I have a ridiculous number of photos of them lounging around, snoozing and being chilled out. They have moments of being velcro dogs but generally they're just happy to keep tabs on us and place themselves where they are nearby. They both love pats and the WKC-registered Kelpie in particular loves cuddles. As for the original poster, there are a lot of Kelpies who are aloof and many who are not. For me, it sounds in this instance as if you just have a dog who has a temperament that may not be compatible for what you want out of a pet. There would be heaps of people out there who would love an independent, mildly aloof dog that sounds as intelligent and trainable as the dog you have. To learn sit/drop/shake at 8 weeks is actually pretty impressive for a puppy.

I agree with you. For many of my non-doggy friends and acquaintances, they think anything dogly is quite pointless. Pointlessness all depends on your viewpoint. I like dog tricks because my dogs enjoy them and so do I - they used to tire them out (not anymore :p ) so they have a 'point' to me. Other people think it pointless and demeaning. When I explain agility to my colleagues, they look at me like I am insane - which I probably am given that Canberra on a Wednesday night is frequently pretty cold and there am I running around on a field with my dog yelling like a crazy person For the 'point' of heeling, if you're a trialler it has a definite point - it's an indicia of a dog's level of training and focus and the handler's skill as a trainer. It's something quite concrete that you can compare objectively. For a non-trialler though, loose leash walking might seem to have more of a 'point'. In every group at my dog school, people are there for a different reasons - some to trial, some because they just want a well-behaved dog. I fall in the latter category but I still enjoy learning formal obedience even if it's probably not as 'relevant' for me as it for other people.

I agree - but I call that Contentment in my doggies. When I'm talking about 'happy', I guess I'm talking about that moment when you can see they're all enthusiastic and full of: "This is fun" vibes :D

How rude of them! I'd say that you were in the best position to know your dog and when she is happy or not It's pretty obvious when Elbie and Hoover are happy - they're like wound-up springs, mouths open a bit, eyes wide, hanging on your every move - spins are more like leaps and tail is going crazy. I wouldn't say that they're bored or unhappy at obedience - they can usually maintain focus for the entire hour of the lesson. When they snap into 'work mode', they can stay like that for ages. Both of their trick training sessions as pups used to go on for very long periods of time - we were new to dog ownership with Elbie and didn't know you were supposed to only train for short bursts of time so we used to spend ages training tricks. He seemed very happy about doing it and it worked well with him so we did it with Hoover, too. So at obedience they are 'working' and content. At agility, Elbie is also working but he has an added spring/sense of elation and extra energy about him which makes it seem like he's enjoying his work. It's the same zing he gets when he's playing with dogs he likes or if he's chasing a ball or a frisbee. We do try to make obedience 'fun' but like I said, with agility it was just automatic and instant fun!