koalathebear

It's pretty effortless and low-maintenance. I have it because it's a handy way to keep in touch and make sure people are alive. When you join, let me know and I'll send you the link to my FB page so that you can add me.

I think she's fine. She still posts on facebook. I messaged her the other day and she said that some days were very tiring so she was resting a lot.

I don't think so. They haven't really figured that out yet, I don't think. They both steal each other's toys and beds with no growling or arguments and they wouldn't do that if one of them was dominant yet. Hoover likes hanging out with Elbie - I'm not sure if it's for warmth or because he's still a baby. He ended up on top of Elbie because I think Elbie hadn't left much room in the bed even though it's Kuma's old bed. About the dominance thing, a behaviourist came around to help us out when Elbie was living up to his name and being a Total Little Bastard. She said he's actually not dominant - but that among dogs like Kelpies etc, the second in command i.e. the non-dominant one will still try to 'test' limits and boundaries. The truly dominant ones don't do that because they just assume/know they're dominant and it's the lesser ones that try it on. With pack order, the dogs are happiest when there is a clear order, in the absence of it, they try on behaviours to see where they fit and if they can be up higher. So for us, we had to go back to the clichéd basics... Dogs eat after we eat, the dogs go through doorways after us, we initiate play not them and we ignore them if they try to nudge us with toys/noses ... Elbie's behaviour improved almost immediately after he got put back in his place I know it sounds implausible and pack theory is supposed to have been discredited but the behaviourist/trainer is someone who works a lot with Kelpies and Border collies so understands a lot of how these dogs behave and reason. I felt quite upset at the time because I thought it meant I wasn't supposed to cuddle Elbie anymore but all it meant was that he only gets rewarded on our terms when he does something we want. He is so gorgeous.

All the photos are gorgeous, but that first photo is gold! The expression on his face is so adorable!

Monsters waiting for kibble - look at Elbie's tongue and both sets of ears I love how intent Elbie is and how distracted Hoover is The trials of photographing a black dog ... but you can still see how intent he is Out of focus but his ears are still wonky How the monsters spent much of today - asleep on the step outside the kitchen door Hoover and his funny face Hoover guarding the Royal Canin again. Also ... Royal Canin smells like Cheese Twisties ... I'm totally put off Twisties for life now. Shame really. Love this photo of my wonky-eared monsters. Hope everyone is ok and planning a nice chilled out weekend I have to skip Elbie's training tomorrow morning because I'm waiting for our new stove/oven to be delivered. The previous owners of the house appeared to have put in a bodgy oven/stove just for the purposes of the sale and it died and the brand is non-existent so we had to replace ... Soooo expensive

minxy, b] Max#1[/b], wuffles & niques: Glad you liked the photos. Sometimes our puppies are so cute and funny we can't believe it even though I am sure others would find them Not So Cute. It was odd because normally, like Satch - Elbie would just get up and leave in disgust. I think that Hoover's persistence might have worn him down. KumaAkita: Sorry you're in Melbourne ... although I DO like Melbourne ... but I suppose work travel is never fun So sorry you had to cancel your cards but so glad you got your wallet back ... What a frustrating thing to happen I hope the boys are doing ok in your absence and that OH is feeding himself. lilli_star: From memory, Elbie has tattoos in both his ears - one to show he is desexed and one to say he is microchipped. Our dawg is Tough and Inked. We did wonder why they had to make such a big, messy, splatty tattoo though when presumably a few delicate lines would have done the same trick. I'm sorry Roo's feeling poorly. It's possible the surgery and anaesthesia will mean she's feeling off for a few days .. Our two get runny poos every now and then and we chalk it up to them eating yucky stuff in the yard :p Hoover's the worst, he'll eat grass and tanbark and then at 4am we'll hear weird, gagging, heaving noises like he's turning inside out and morphing into an alien or something - then we'll find he's given us a lovely present of upchucked grass and tanbark. I guess all you can do is talk to the vet? I phone our vet from time to time when I'm worried about things. I know I sound neurotic but just hearing them tell me that it's normal makes me feel better. wuffles: how are Ava's stitches now? Less red? OK. Some photos. As for the rest of you ... KA is off the hook because she's travellin', but what about the rest of you? We had a tradesman here a couple of days ago doing a bunch of little repairs. The dogs were fascinated by him and stood in the doorway watching him. they still turned around for a photo, though. The doggies had their first roo tails the other day. Gross and bloody Elbie of course loved his ... Hoover the greedy guts also loved his roo tail Poor thing with his bald patch. Like George Michael, he might need to start insisting that he only be photographed from the right side and never the left

As well as rolling over, the dogs are now doing their spins at the same time, which is quite cute. Short video is . We haven't figured out how to make each one only do the command on their name though. Elbie does the commands regardless of whose name we use

I don't think I've seen photos of the poodlefan clan ...esp the famous Howie. I don't suppose you could point me towards a thread with such photos? :D As for me, I take photos of dogs at dog school but I ask the permission of the owners and usually try to just take a photo of the dog only - not the owner :D

All fascinating stuff. I think I'm going to ask Santa for that Kelpie book by Tony Parsons for Christmas. :D I've been referring to Hoover as a two tone Kelpie but now I realise with the white he's actually a three tone :D dancinbcs: that website is GREAT! I have a defective brain though and find it quite hard to process genetic combinations. :D

You can see our two monsters are getting along just fine now. ;)

They were great! Very organised. What is hilarious is that for Kempsey, the pick-up point is late one evening in the parking lot of the Kempsey McDonalds!!! Then in Canberra, the drop-off point was at the parking lot of Canberra Veterinary Hospital. We felt like we were there for a drug drop until the guy held up our little red and tan monster Good luck with the transport!

When we got Hoover, my OH was determined to do everything by the book. The two dogs were to be kept separate, meet on neutral ground and probably not meet in the house until after a couple of days when they had both had the opportunity to smell the scent of the other dog throughout the house and on the both of us ... Easier said than done. We had a separate room set up for Hoover in the lounge but the problem is that when we took one dog into the backyard to toilet, the other dog could not only hear - he could see through a tiny gap under the blinds. Elbie barked like a maniac, Hoover was very curious. Eventually we had them meet out in the front yard on leashes. Elbie kept lunging, Hoover was a bit skittish but fairly stoic. Elbie is still a puppy himself so he was bouncing around but keeping his distance mostly and then pouncing in - making Hoover run away. No barking or growling through. Just very wary. Then we brought them inside and they had a meet and greet in the kitchen. Hoover was in a drop position, looking very wary and tense and Elbie was sniffing at him and playbowing and bouncing around like a loon. If he got too close, Hoover snapped at him a bit. There was no real 'playing' until a bit later when they started play bowing at one another and sniffing around. After Hoover settled in, he was the one always wanting to go around chasing after Elbie and Elbie was the one keeping his distance from Hoover - leaving the dog bed, walking away from toys etc. Within a few days/a week, they were totally fine with one another. They invade each other's personal space all the time, they play together, they chill out together, they play bitey face together. We let them become comfortable at their own pace and we made sure all interactions were closely supervised for the first week. After that, we kept an eye on them from a distance and intervened if we thought things got out of hand but generally they're fine.

I'm not sure if they cover the areas you were discussing but our breeder sent Hoover to us by road (Kempsey to Sydney) using Dog Movers (http://www.dogmovers.com.au); Phone: 07 5530 2710; Mobile: 0418 775456 They were really great and they take the dogs out regularly for feeding and a bit of fresh air. From Sydney, they used a different company - "Pets 2 U" (http://www.pets2u.com.au). Hoover arrived in very good shape and the driver was clearly a dog lover. I googled and double-checked on DOL before we agreed to use both companies to make sure there were no horror stories about them and the only feedback for both was very positive. Hope that helps!

For Elbie, when we moved house, we went back to basics with everything for the first week or two until he 'realised' that the same rules applied in the new house as the old house. He was a little confused at first - different doorways, different rooms, we had a new lounge suite that sort of thing but he figured it out quite quickly and was very good. When I went to look after my father for a few weekends, I had to bring Elbie along and I ran through the same basic training again. On a leash, taking him outside regularly, making him stand by the door and 'speak' to be let out etc. That time he learned within a matter of hours and had no accidents or bad behaviours. With Hoover, he is pretty good but he's still a bit confused because he mostly hangs out in certain rooms, when he first went to the lounge, I think he must have thought that it was part of 'outside' judging by the puddle he left us

Oooh - you may be right! I've googled Agouti and it sounds like it could be that. I've learned a lot, too but I'm not smart enough to understand colours and genetics :D For instance, this explanation about tan points makes me go cross-eyed: Jrzipper: thanks so much for posting. That was really fascinating! I have many questions I want to ask but am still formulating them in my head

From memory, the syllogism is pretty narrow in scope and can be overly simplistic i.e. philosophers tried to use it to disprove the existence of God and that sort of thing which is just silly. You'd have to adjust the composition of the syllogism to address your issues so that it ended up something like this: The outcome of an Oodling is always unpredictable Oodles bred from unhealthy dogs are highly likely to be unhealthy Conclusion: An Oodle may possibly be unhealthy Again, you can't have a 'definite' unhealthiness unless you agree to 'surrender' the claim about unpredictability.

Thanks for the well-wishes. Hoover seems generally healthy so we're hoping the mites will clear up soon. I feel sorry for the poor little monster, though - being poked and prodded all the time. He didn't make a sound when he was getting vaccinated though. OK, some photos. Tonight, poor Elbie was trying to sleep when what should happen? A chunky monkey scampered out of his dog bed and went to Elbie's - climbing on top of Elbie. Look at the look on poor Elbie's face: Normally Elbie would get up and leave but instead, he shot us this baleful glare as Hoover acted like he was totally entitled to plonk himself on top of Elbie. Elbie looks patient as Hoover wriggles around, trying to get comfy Hoover falls asleep, little Kelpie eyebrows still visible Elbie: "Sheesh." Elbie gives up and falls asleep

Thanks! We still have a little bag of advance for here but the Royal Canin has proved a winner with both.

Still reading up on Kelpie colours ... I've found what looks like another red and tan show Kelpie on DOL over here. Lovely dogs, although they do look very working line. Some nice photos here, too of different Kelpie colours. Probably the most interesting page for me, though has been the page Coat Colours of the Working Australian Kelpie. Black is interesting because the photo is a black and white dog and if I'd seen that dog in person, I'd have sworn it was a Kelpie cross because of the white chest. Dilute black i.e. 'blue' can be nice but sometimes the fur looks a little mouldy My favourite, brown i.e. red is here. There's a solid red working Kelpie on that page. Dilute brown i.e. fawn again can look nice but is also a bit mouldy-looking in other photos. The page specifically mentions that dogs this colour can be affected with Colour Dilution Alopecia. If I saw a "Non-Extension Red" i.e. cream Kelpie, there is no way I'd know it was a Kelpie. I would assume it was a dingo cross. I also found the Tan Points page interesting. I also checked out the Nose and Eye Colouration page. Hoover's eyes below: I think he is the one that says: "whereas "b/b" produces brown pigment wherever the dog would otherwise have produced black. The eye color of the brown dog ranges from greenish to amber to orange to brown" I can't tell which nose he has because they both look the same to me. As to white fur, he definitely has white fur ... The red fur on his belly has white fur mixed in with it Also white is mixed in on his chest And weirdest of all, on the back of his neck, he has what are almost stripes of white going through his fur - the stripes are kind of on 45 degree angles ETA: Thank you to the person who sent me the link for the song

:D Alas, there is no magic pill/potion/panacea that can make two doggies get along with one another and you really can't use chemicals to fix all problems - life would be very different if we could do this. I think if you follow the general rules that people suggest about bringing home a new puppy and introducing a new puppy to an older dog, you should be fine. Our two dogs were very wary of one another at first and like you I was extremely anxious before Hoover arrived and for a couple of weeks after Hoover arrived - but they get along just fine now.

Ooooh, this sort of inference may be too logical for the anti-oodles. And no, I do not own an oodle :D Just amused by the potential syllogism here. Let's see if I can frame it correctly - it has been a long, long time since first year philosophy in which we studied logic. All oodles are unpredictable Some oodles have a fleece coat Conclusion: Not all oodles definitely have a fleece coat I'm always amused at the people who say "all oodles are ugly" or "all oodles have a bad temperament" because I thought that the major downside of an oodle was that it was a cross-breed and therefore by its nature unpredictable, so all those who purport to generalise about the nature of all oodles are thereby contradicting the fundamental premise on which anti-oodlism is based because as an oodle is unpredictable, it could end up with a nice temperament or a nice appearance and it could also be ugly with a bad coat and temperament. Just saying... Again, I am not promoting oodles, just saying that the argument is more logically sound and robust when people simply say that an oodle is unpredictable. People undermine their own oodle argument if they purport to posit a theory of certainty of oodle characteristics.

Looks like Ava's doing well post-surgery. How many days off are you taking, wuffles? lilli_star: what did the vet say about the reddish stitch? Hoover had his final vaccination today so will be fully protected in 2 weeks. Our chunky monkey is now 12.7 kg. He's booked in to be de-sexed on Friday, December 10th. We can drop him off first thing in the morning and pick him up after work. I'll see if I can take the following Monday off just to make sure he doesn't go nuts in the yard with Elbie - no Kelpie-Fu for them. Poor Hoover's hair-loss from mites is taking a while to get better :D The vet pinched his bald skin on his head and said it wasn't too bad and there are new hairs growing in but we've discovered little patches on his flank. Because we can't put goop all over him, the poor puppy needs to get oral medication administered over the next 10 days. It comes in syringes - it makes it look like our poor puppy is a junkie. They're not needles thank goodness. We just tip them out onto his food and he gobbles it down.

Working line breeders are not trying to distunguish their dogs from show lines. They would never even think of them. They are simply breeding with ability and whatever colour comes up, comes up. There is no need to distinguish the two by looks. Most of the time they look different anyway but pop them on stock and there are all the differences they need. As mentioned, I do not actually have a view on this. I was merely restating what other more knowledgable people had commented upon because I was curious about colour. 4kelpies: As usual you are a font of information! How interesting (and sad!) about the cream puppies. I was noticing from a recent litter of Kelpie puppies at the pound that the cream and chocolate puppies were first to go and the blacks were the last, so cosmetically people seem to like the more unusual colours I also adore the name Yakka Custard - too gorgeous.

Happy Birthday little Kuma! What a gorgeous photo

lilli_star: sorry to hear about Ruby's stitches. Did the post-op info sheet say what to do if any stitches are red? Ours just told us to contact the vet if Elbie was fussing at the stitches too much and they'd give us an Elizabethan Collar. Good idea to take her back to the vet just in case though - better to be safe than sorry. I hope you manage to juggle your timetable. I've been thinking to when Hoover's to get the snip - OH and I will need to take 1-2 days off each to try to stop him running around with Elbie and injuring himself Good luck for tomorrow!