koalathebear

Sadly - dog ownership seems to entail a lot of poo. I have two monsters - can you imagine how much I deal with?

I sympathise but also see things from the other side as well. I could never bring my dogs to my brother's place - he's extremely allergic to dogs. Exposure to a cat can lead to hospitalisation but exposure to a dog can make him very sick as well. I'd be very distressed if someone tried to bring a cat to my house because I am extremely allergic to cats. Some people are also afraid of dogs and that's not something that's easy to overcome. Even with my dog friendly friends, I wouldn't necessarily bring my dogs over because some dogs might not like having other dogs, no matter how friendly coming into their territory and the dogs might have to be constantly supervised in the yard. We just make the relevant adjustments as necessary - with brother and the rest of the family, we meet up at their house without the dogs or go to a restaurant. Last year, when I was looking after my father for a few weeks, Elbie was allowed to go to dad's house, but he was confined to the non-carpeted family room and kitchen and outside and slept in a crate in the family room. With dog friendlies, we meet at dog parks/dog obedience club etc. I guess I'm lucky in that Canberra is a pretty dog-friendly place with parks and ovals that we can share and also dog parks. I actually wouldn't want it to be possible to bring dogs into shopping centres, on buses and into restaurants and cafes (outside area is fine) ... Some dogs might be clean and well-cared for but not all of them are. Some dogs might be well-behaved and socialised but not all are. I like to have a mix of friends with different interests - a lot of my friends are in the 'that's just a dog' category but I feel like I have enough dog-friendly friendlies to allow me to enjoy doggy interests. I really hope the visit goes all right. An enclosed veranda, especially combined with a comfy crate seems like it would be almost as good as being inside!

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Gah, Max is a little darling - such an angel when he sleeps with his little white paws. Keep 'em coming - black and white dogs are cute!

The pup is actually quite cute in person with lovely eyes but it is definitely not a good-looking dog. Sad for this puppy but I am really, really hoping that the lack of 'prettiness' in the mix makes the puppy farmers/pet shops decide to drop using Kelpie in their DD mixes ...

The Kelpie x Poodle pup was still there this morning - I took a photo. Poor thing is a little larger this week and has the saddest eyes. Does anyone know if the dogs at PP ever get taken out to be run around in a yard or any time outside of that horrible glass cage? I really wish that there was something we could do for it.

I'm really sorry to hear about this - I know how long you have been waiting for Echo and how much hard work you put into him. While I agree that training can be a great way to bond with your dog, what I think is more important is to find something that you and Echo enjoy doing together - whether that's going for a walk, chilling out, playing hide and seek or just goofing around with a toy. Not all dogs are great at obedience training straight away and to be honest, going to classes can be incredibly disheartening if your dog isn't performing as well as someone else's dog - I've seen it a lot in classes. Someone with a challenging dog just looks quite exhausted, frustrated and defeated at the end of the class and it doesn't help that everyone else's dog is performing great. Going to training is great for socialisation but some dogs take time to grow into it and enjoy it. If Echo's still quite excited by other dogs, I'd also explore other things that might be fun for him. I know it can be frustrating when it seems like your dog isn't doing/performing as you'd like, but often it just takes time. There have been some times when Elbie and Hoover haven't caught onto a trick the first few times, so I drop it and then suddenly they're delivering it up and performing it with gusto. With the box thing - our two have enjoyed going through a tunnel box, so it's not just nosing at it and tapping it with a paw, they actually to through it to retrieve a ball. You sound to me like you've made a huge effort to be a good owner and ticked all the boxes but by doing so, it's almost made it a chore/mission that must be achieved rather than just welcoming a new member into your family that has good and bad traits and strengths and weaknesses. I think in time you'll find endearing goofy ways about Echo that make you smile and it's not just the 'achievements' that you remember but the funny setbacks, too. Good luck - Echo's beautiful and is lucky to have you as an owner!

I didn't answer earlier because I was angsting and wringing my paws about whether I'd be able to get Elbie settled betsy: I'd love it if we could do tracking here ... Hoover would be so good at it and it would be heaps of fun and be a 'useful' thing for him to learn. Agility is fun but I'm not sure how it could ever be useful. Speaking of agility, tonight the instructor asked us all what games we play with our dogs. OH and I just assumed she wanted to make sure we play with our dogs and don't just work them so we said: "Hide and seek." :D Turns out she meant what sort of games do you play with your dog that you could use to reward your dog ... like tug or throwing a ball so hide and seek definitely wasn't the right game In the car ride home after agility, OH and I were talking about how we could reward Elbie during agility using hide and seek .... one of us could hide under the see saw, inside the tunnel, inside the chute ... ok maybe not. wizzle: genevieve really looks like lady of the manor stretched out so comfortably like that. And yes - very long! She sort of reminds me of Falkor the Luck Dragon from The Neverending Story. Clastic: don't you dare leave! Elbie and Hoover would miss Mars and Pepper dreadfully OK, some photos ... We bought the Aldi freezer recently, in large part because Dog Stuff was taking up so much freezer space. OH tipped it on its side and cut some holes in it so that we could throw a tennis ball inside. He likes to deliver up 'enrichment' for the dogs :p Here's Hoover making use of the window. Here's - fetching the ball.Here's Elbie after agility tonight Yes, OH put the blanket on him, not me ... :D

dandybrush: great signature! We'll expect more photos! Diesel&Ryder: Welcome to the thread. Diesel is beautiful - what is that colouring called in a Border Collie? Also - a new BC puppy in four weeks? Woohoo - border collie puppies are sooooooooo cute so we are hoping for some sweet photos. Our two dogs are more closely bonded with my OH - very bonded with me, too but he is definitely their favourite. I'm not fussed, there's enough love to go around

From memory, it stopped the behaviour almost immediately so we would have started using it around the 16-17 week mark. People say that you have to spray and then hide the bottle so that the dog doesn't know that you are spraying him - with Elbie it didn't seem to matter. Some people don't like to use aversives but it was the only thing that extinguished the mouthing in Elbie. For other things, tethering him or time outs worked fine. We've used for two other things - attacking the leash on walks and barking in the car. We really only use it as a last resort to tell Elbie "we are serious - stop it!" Hoover has never needed the spray bottle - simple verbal corrections worked with him because he's very sensitive to being reprimanded. Elbie used to lick the bitter stuff - it didn't bother him at all.

Catching up ... SammieS: I hope that Asti's feeling much better now. I am very sorry about Fysher. It was a very heart-breaking decision to make but it sounds like it was the right one. When Hoover came to us, we had the option to return him if he didn't get along with Elbie - that was a very important option for me. I am so glad that we didn't have to send Hoover back but I do understand that there are sometimes circumstances that make it more appropriate for the dog in question to live elsewhere ... I hope you can find a suitable buddy for Asti soon As for food, we are bad and lazy dog parents and thought that the whole raw/barf thing was way too fiddley and complicated for us ... We feed Royal Canin adult to both of our dogs and they get the occasional bone/lamb flap and also treats - shop made and lately, home-made :D They seem pretty happy and healthy on this diet. kyliegirl: I am also very impressed by the luxuriousness of Echo's cushion/bed! Clastic: Pepper is still very cute but gosh she was a winsome puppy. Those eyes. Those little pink puppy paws. dandybrush: for alone time, we would just leave one behind in a crate or in the yard when we went out with the the dog for a short walk/short car trip. They seem fine with this as long as we leave them with scattered kibble/Kong wobbler etc. A couple of times we left Hoover, we came back and found that he had stranded himself at the side of the house - unharmed and unfussed - but since then all has been well I feel bad leaving one behind but I know that it's good for them to be able to 'be alone'. Sometimes we also put one in the house and one outside. betsy: Ziggy is such a handsome and happy-looking boy. He always looks so serene in his photos, I find it funny that you say he's energetic. Two photos ... While Elbie did not pass Silver, he did get an encouragement certificate I love it when my two get all snuggly - makes me feel like I made the right decision to get a second pup

Congratulations! And housetraining is SUCH an important part of the dog's training that it's definitely a win. Knowing that our dogs are housetrained is such a load off our mind. Thank you for the compliment about the doggies - I adore them even though they are monsters.

My two (Kelpie/Border Collie cross and Kelpie) seldom get baths but don't tend to smell doggy unless they get wet - then they smell very doggy. Hoover smells a little different to Elbie - if you take a good sniff, he smells like herbs for some reason. They're on the same diet. They shed, which is a pain but their coats do stay nice and clean with limited brushing/furminating. Once Elbie rolled in dust as if he wanted to make himself into a chocolate truffle - by the time we got him home, though, the dust was all gone.

Absolutely gorgeous. I can't see the ads for some reason (despite the latest version of firefox) but the photos are a hoot. Dante is such a good boy to endure the make-up - our two would be rolling around trying to lick it off after the first 'leave it' wore off

Crate one then train the other, or OH takes one and I take the other in different rooms but always near enough so that they can see/hear each other. If we go to the oval to train, then again, OH has one and I have the other and they train several metres away from one another. When they both know the tricks/commands, we let them 'perform' them together. I've found that it really helps with training to let them see what the other is doing. For instance, I've been teaching Elbie how to point - I hadn't even started trying to teach Hoover but two days ago when I was telling Elbie to point, Hoover also pointed and wanted a treat. Also, I was teaching Hoover 'drop dead' but still just in stages - drop then roll onto side, then lie there. I hadn't put it together or given it a cue word. OH mistakenly thought that I had already 'finished' the trick so went 'bang' one day and Hoover toppled over dead - he must have learned it from Elbie.

OK, I'd better update this since I started the thread. Elbie's been accepted into beginners agility and is starting to walk better on a loose leash. My current favourite photo of Hoover the Little Monster - Hoover with his bronze obedience certificate. He now moves into silver with. Will leave others to describe their own successes. Clastic?

Dxenion - too cute! :D Doggies ignoring two Bon Fido dog beds, two trampoline dog beds, one wire crate and another soft crate to share this one soft crate Hoover can sleep in any position

1. Happy Birthday little Pepper! Hope you get spoiled like crazy today 2. Congratulations to Clastic and Mars for passing bronze obedience. 3. Congratulations to my little monster Hoover on being such a good boy last night and also passing bronze Elbie's going for his silver exams on Sunday. He probably won't pass but I hope that this time, he passes almost everything - I won't be too sad if he fails heelwork again :D

wizzle's expecting a baby soon. Genevieve her Cavalier King Charles has recently turned one.

dandybrush: I don't think that there are any hard and fast rules - each person is different and each dog is different. I can definitely say that our bond with Elbie is in no way lessened by Hoover's arrival. He's as much attached to us as he ever was. I am Hoover's handler for obedience but I'll be Elbie's handler for agility. At the end of the day, you and your OH are the pack leaders and the two dogs should both be looking to you for guidance. I'd also think about it from raz's perspective - it's probably going to be nice for raz to have companionship while you're at work. If you really don't think you're ready for a second puppy, I would return Willow but I think that it's just not possible to expect that you can ensure that the relationship with raz 'never changes'. It's an ongoing, dynamic relationship - anything could cause a change - any variance in yours or your OH's working hours, new neighbours, a friend or relative coming to stay with you, a new child etc etc. The list is endless. It's always tempting to try to 'capture' something that seems perfect forever but that's really only possible with a photograph or video, anything that involves living beings will by necessity evolve and develop ... That's also what can be beautiful. Rather than looking at it is a dimunition in raz's bond with you, why not look for ways to enhance the bond with both of them. It's all right if raz is your favourite, but Willow looks like she also has a lot to offer.

I showed this to OH and he said that the doggies would have had soooo much fun. Pity you didn't have a when he was a wee puppy.

I don't know ... maybe it will just be the theory session sans dogs? I was going to phone but I doubt anyone is there ...

I think we all have concerns when we introduce new family members - probably different concerns, but still concerns. I worried a lot about Elbie having his nose put out of joint, about him feeling unhappy at having an interloper in the house. The two dogs keep each other company these days which is great. In the early days, if we were out a long time, i would start to fret about Elbie, but these days we're very relaxed because the dogs keep each other entertained and are very unstressed when we get home - although always extremely happy to see us. Actually, I remember when we first got Elbie and I hadn't slept for four nights and was at the end of my tether because of Elbie's night-time yowling (terrified the neighbours would complain, worried that Elbie would never stop night time yowling), I almost burst into tears and accused OH of loving the dog more than me :p Also, in our house, while I am very close to both dogs and love them dearly, it's very clear that OH is their favourite - he's able to play and cuddle them more than I can because of my allergies. I compensate by doing extra training with the dogs. I think it all works out in the end

Well, our two dogs have very different personalities but I'd say I'm equally close to both. OH and I take turns at training each dog. I'd say we love them equally - it's easy to when they're so different and have different pluses and minuses. They're both very smart, but I love Hoover's more chilled temperament (compared to Elbie's hyperactivity) and love Elbie's swiftness to pick up new things (compared to the fact that it takes a little longer for Hoover to pick things up - although he does do it in the end). I think that only you will know if you're ready for a second dog. The thing is, change is inevitable if you want to change the family composition. If you decide to have children, then by necessity your dog/dogs will get less attention at least in the early stages of the child's life. If you decide to have more than one child, then the first child will lose a bit of attention initially. There's plenty of love to go around, it's just the time that's tricky to manage ...

I think that was when Mindy was a guide dog in training and it was necessary to take her to lots of places to customise her to the job - and I'm guessing that one of the perks of being a vet nurse is that you're allowed to bring your doggy to work :D It would be nice to be able to bring my dog to work but there's the whole OH&S/people with allergies thing to think about I guess ... Hoover's going to be mournful tonight when Elbie goes for his agility test and Hoover is left behind. Similarly, Elbie is going to be unhappy when Hoover goes for his assessment tomorrow evening and Elbie is left behind ... aussielover: now that you mention it, Canberra does seem a pretty dog-friendly place. Sometimes I read DOL and the rest of the place seems so scary and dog-unfriendly whereas around here, there seem to be lots of places we can take our dogs - dog parks, school ovals - our dog club also lets members use its grounds when there aren't classes on, which is great. There are also a few cafes here that are dog-friendly - perhaps a little too dog-friendly sometimes ... I think as dog-lovers, we can sometimes forget that other people don't feel the same way. My poor allergic brother had a bad experience on the weekend ... he went to Tillys (a cafe in Lyneham) on Sunday and a group of 5-6 people showed up with their dogs. While some of the dogs were sitting quietly at their owners' feet, some of the dogs were wandering around quite a bit, my brother asked them to keep their dogs in check i.e. away from where he was eating because he is extremely allergic (e.g. he can stop breathing pretty fast), and one of the women looked at him very rudely, looked at his plate and said: "Well you're about to leave in any case" and wouldn't call her dog back ... I am extremely allergic to cats so would feel horrified if people tried to inflict their cats on me.