koalathebear

Poor dogs It's articles like this that make me wonder if we've made the right decision to crate our monsters at night ...

:D Ha! Probably, given how popular it is. Anyway, I'll give it a whirl. Hills is definitely not popular here at DOL but Elbie's been so happy, healthy, shiny-coated and firm poo-ed (very important! ) on it that that there never seem to be any need to switch. Will see how the monsters like Royal Canin.

I was a bit worried about Elbie last night. Normally, he and Hoover go for the pre-bedtime toileting and then we bring them back into the house. Hoover goes into his crate with a bit of encouragement, Elbie’s very good and trots into his crate and plonks down on his dog bed with his head on his tuffy. As we’re getting Hoover used to the house, both doggies are in our bedroom in their crates and will be migrated to the kitchen soon. Last night, Hoover did a runner so the two dogs bounded around the backyard playing in the dark for a bit instead of coming straight in. After Hoover was crated, Elbie appeared very distracted and distressed. He had his ears back, tried to go back outside 3 or 4 times. For the first time – he didn’t come when I called his name and he was shrinking back as if he was upset about something. He’s normally a very happy dog so it’s quite upsetting to see him in that state. We thought that maybe he was feeling sick but he ran around barking when we let him outside. Then he didn’t want to be in our room and was barking a bit. He kept looking under the blinds out into the yard and when I tried to move him towards his crate, his head snapped around and I felt his teeth on my skin – very light but enough to make him drop back and look a bit ashamed. After that, he got back into his crate of his own accord and settled down to sleep and he was fine again when I let him and Hoover out at 3am for their early morning wee and he was also fine. OH was joking that we’d read on RiotACT that there were break-ins in Melba. I was wondering whether maybe he saw a fox or something. In any case, it caused him quite a bit of distress although he’s fine now. I guess I’m over-alert right now to any sign that Elbie is distressed/unsettled by having a new dog in the house … I love having Hoover around but I do feel Guilt that Elbie has to be the ‘grown up’ to Hoover’s puppiness. Elbie really has been so well-behaved and you can see he is trying extra hard and concentrating extra hard with his training …

Elbie's not fussy so I'd switch them both to whatever they could both eat. I'll give the Hills a bit more time - it's just that we need the monsters to like their kibble because we use meal-times as training sessions with 2-3 bits of kibble as treats for teaching commands/tricks.

Elbie will eat pretty much anything. Hoover on the other hand grew up on a mostly raw diet. We don't feed raw so switched him over to kibble as soon as he got here - he was already 3 months so he was fine and his poos were not runny etc. We already told his breeder what we intended to do and she was fine with it so long as he got the occasional bone - which is what we do. As the days go by, though, I don't think he likes Hills Science Diet very much. A contrast to Elbie who loves and has thrived on the Hills. Has anyone got any suggestions for kibble that fussy eaters find yummy? I know it's specific to the dog, but some suggestions based on your experience would be helpful because there are so many brands out there. ETA: As mentioned, we will be giving Hoover the occasional lamb flap/bone but we do not intend to feed a raw diet.

betsy & clastic: I've been meaning to say - i love your user icons. I love how happy and windswept Ziggy looks. Mars definitely looks like a pro in that image. Niques: Heh heh, I'm sure some people would reprimand us for using the crate as a 'punishment' - we actually just use it as a time-out to give the dogs time to calm down. They still seem to love their crates. :laugh: That's awesome news! Congratulations to you and Queen Ruby!! I think it's funny that you get a certificate and a pig's ear - a farty night was had by all... I'm also glad that you got some help from the Lab Lady. There are some really, really helpful people on DOL. Did you know that 4kelpies spent over an hour on the phone chatting to me, counselling me about Kelpies and listening to me angst before we got Hoover? As to desexing ... it's such a vexatious issue ... I don't want to have Hoover desexed too soon because it's not good for his bones but i don't want to leave it too long in case the hormones cause problems down the track with Elbie. Sigh. What to do? CleoJ: You should definitely visit more often. That is such a lovely photo of Shandy with her pink wig. She is so smiley. How on earth you get her to keep the wig on is beyond me .. if it was Elbie or Hoover they'd have eaten it before I could take the photo In other news ... Note to self ... do not play hide and seek/chasies with a naughty Kelpie puppy whose house-training is not yet rock-solid. I thought he was just exploring ... one giant puddle later, I knew what he was looking for ...

As mentioned, we bought the monsters some Deer Antlers as snacks. Here is a short video that tells . It also shows you how naughty Hoover is.ETA: We have been working with Elbie on his patience and ignoring of Hoover ...

OH and I like taking photos - he takes the artistic ones, I take the silly ones so I'm guessing we will have a lot of photos of our doggies over the years. Do you have any more photos of your pack that you can share? I LOVED that photo of Cara on the backs of sheep. I'm also impressed that you manage to juggle FIVE dogs when we struggle with TWO. :D You more than anyone are probably aware of how anxious I was about getting a second pup and how I didn't go into it lightly - but we're very happy we have Hoover now It is kind of lovely to think that the puppy is so happy that his whole body is wriggling with excitement. Yes ... and I suppose I really shouldn't be complaining given that Max will be 10 months. Like you, we'll be doing heaps of training with him before class but for me there's really no substitute to the high-distraction, "safe" environment that is provided by Dog School. Still, Max is doing so well and you have relationships at your local dog park so I suspect your little fellow will be fine. wuffles and Ava work very hard and I am also admiring of what they've achieved. When I first met Ava, she was not able to sit still for pats but she has become much more calm since then, even though you can still see and 'feel' the excitement exuding from her. *hug* I understand. I wish we could be in classes together. I'm sure that we woud have a total hoot and so would our little monsters. :p "Stop lunging at James!" ravenau1: I so know how you feel. 1. I find it funny that guys are often so much more blase about the whole Dog Ownership thing but that the guys are more likely to get frustrated/irritated when the dogs don't do what they want/are supposed to do i.e. when the dogs behave like dogs. 2. I'm like you and stress a lot about doing the right thing by my dog. I worry that I'll do something that will damage his poor fledgling psyche forever and make him dog aggressive/human aggressive/life aggressive/toe aggressive blah blah blah 3. I think that there are a few things that you're going to have to prepare yourself for...: (a) despite all of your best intentions, you WILL make a mistake/do Something Wrong and all you can do is try not to make mistakes but when you do, do your best to fix them. (b) despite all of your best intentions, you WILL do something that makes a DOLer Disapprove of you and Judge you. I often point back at this post ... At the end of the day, it will be your dog and after you gather as much info as you can, it's up to you to make up your mind about what's best for your dog - within the limits of the law of course :D You have to live with the consequences of your decisions so you decide. My advice?: 1. Try not to be too hard on yourself - no one has a perfect dog and no one is a perfect owner. We're human and they're living creatures not robots. 2. When you have a problem/question, read all the old DOL posts first before posting otherwise you'll end up doing things I did in the early days - over-reacting and panicking that something was Much More Serious than it was. There's a lot of good advice here but you have to learn how to separate the careless advice from the prudent advice from the Oh My God The End Is Nigh Build An Ark You And Your Little Dog Are Gonna Die kind of advice ... Just like raising a child, I suspect that raising a dog can't be done by the book and it's experience, commonsense, trial and error, reading up and learning selectively from the wisdom of others. :D I seriously need video of this! Don't laugh, but OH and I are breaking Hoover and Elbie up all the time because we worry that they're being too rough i.e. what you saw in the music video :D betsy: You definitely should be posting not lurking ... Over here we talk about our sometimesimperfect dogs, safe in the knowledge that everyone here knows we're TRYING to do the right thing and improve less than perfect behaviours ... Like you, I hope that age and training will calm down Elbie - but part of me knows that he's probably always going to be a slightly more hyper dog than other dogs. I can't help thinking that it's that slightly hyper part of his character that makes him so responsive and eager to please. Heh. Photos please! We always need photos to justify our continued existence in this sub-forum.

Clastic & lilli_star: The two doggies playing are very funny. I love the spinning, the bit where Hoover flops into the grass looking a bit despondent that play is over and then he bounces to his feet again and launches himself at Elbie. Max#1: Hoover's body wag is very enthusiastic. When we open his crate in the morning, he pelts out, body wagging like a joyful, chunky, waggling heat-seeking wombat. It's soooo cute. Max looks softer than Elbie for some reason - must be the fluffiness Niques: We had been warned not to let them play until they dropped because they would rev themselves up too much. So far it's ok. We intervene if they get too lively but from what we can see, they will stop of their own accord and flop down to recoup - but then it's usually the naughty Hoover who decides to launch himself like a missile at poor Elbie who just wants to rest. Both have very waggy tails. ETA: Niques - don't give up on obedience. We all go through those stages. Why do you think Elbie's name is Little Bastard? We frequently call him by his original name when he's not behaving. CleoJ: We would love for Hoover to meet you and Shandy! I don't want to distract any one during their classes so we're just going to be sitting on those metal seats outside the clubhouse next to the offlead area so that Hoover can people-watch, dog-watch and get pats. I think you'll like him - he's like a cuddley little wombat. See you then! I'm also going to get him enrolled on Sunday but it makes me sad that he won't be able to start beginners until end of January when he's an elderly six months old Definitely not like his older brother Elbie who is in silver by 8 months! Yes! They are so funny in that shot. They keep us on our toes and laughing, that's for sure. :D

When I'm worried about stuff like that, I just phone the vet and have a quick chat to them. They're usually very happy to talk throug the issues on the phone and will let you know if you should bring puppy in or observe him for another day or so. Hope everything is ok with little Marley. He looks super cute in his cone

Beautiful! In the mornings, we hear a kookaburra and I tell my OH (who is Canadian) that it's a kookaburra not wild mountain monkeys but to date, he has not seen a kookaburra in person

Like my little monster? My "wish list" for doggies is: Shiba Inu and Beagle. I never liked Staffordshire Bull Terriers before DOL but I know have something of hankering because the pups are super cute, some of them grow up to be chunkily, sleek and elegant and they can have lovely natures. OH says absolutely not though. The Kelpie will now always be my favourite dog, though.

Thanks guys It made me smile because as wuffles and KumaAkita can tell you - Elbie never really plays with the other dogs in the off-lead area at BDOC ... It makes me happy that he's relaxed enough with Hoover to play with him like that. Max#1: My family dog (lab x border collie) kept his soft fur on his head and ears after he lost his puppy fluffiness. Elbie's the same - his head is still soft and silky.

lilli_star: Both of our feral monsters loved the antlers - crunched and gnawed away on them like there was no tomorrow. Hoover of course decided that Elbie's antler was more interesting so we kept having to move him away. aussielover: yes ... Hoover's paws resemble a kangaroo or a lion. He is a very roly poly little thing and he bounds out of his crate like an excited, chubby little wombat in the morning and sometimes he looks so little - but sometimes he is such a chunky monkey. I think the most illuminating thing is when you are at obedience and you hear other handlers completely losing their nut at their poor dog and then you realise that your stubborn little dog isn't so bad after all The cushion cover wasn't too hard to stitch up but from memory, the hole in James' bed is in the bed frame bit which would be very hard to stitch up ... A stuffed toy with runny poo, alas. He was on a mostly raw diet on the farm and we switched him to kibble over here and he seemed fine until today - when his poo became very runny. He doesn't seem sick but we'll keep an eye on him. Not bad. He could do shake hands today and now paws at the door to be let out for toileting. We're mostly concentrating on "look at me" and "wait" right now to get him into the right frame of mind. His eye contact has improved a lot. He also has perfect car behaviour, ignoring Elbie when he is noisy in the car. He also ignores Elbie when Elbie's making a ghastly racket to be let out of his crate because we have a visitor. I'm relieved that he isn't being influenced by Elbie's nervousness - hopefully his placidity will rub off on Elbie and hopefully Elbie's swiftness at learning will rub off on Hoover. Ha! Not likely. My photos are usually silly rather than artistic Maybe it's the border collie in him ... I'm very conscious of Elbie's breeding and how he lunges around some cars ... just too scared to get him off lead anywhere there might be cars around. I'm glad you're being careful - Max is such a precious, precious little thing. I love that photo of Max - OH saw it and said it was a "fluffy Elbie". The photo of "smiling Max" is also very adorable. He seems very soft and fluffy still - does he still have his soft puppy fur or is it trick of the light? I got some footage of my monsters playing in the yard. Video is . Yesterday, they were spinning and twirling like crazy - at one point, Elbie did three twirls and they were moving so fast it was like I was watching a sped up video. Anyway, today they were a bit more sedate but you can see that both of them are still pretty quick and they have the same high energy levels.

Yes - makes me laugh, too because he has such a silly, bewildered expression on his face. :D See you then! I'll bring my puppy if you bring yours. Am looking forward to photos of the repaired toys ;) I was about to say that the beds are great and so durable but perhaps they're not so durable. Elbie's chewed a small hole in the cushion case but other than that the first bed is largely intact. Kuma's handmedown is in good condition - he doesn't seem to be a bed chewer. I have no doubt that Hoover will chew his way to China if possible - he does a very funny little snapping turtle impersonation that makes us laugh. ;) More photos! We need to justify our continued existence in the Photos thread. Photos of dogs, photos of dog-created destruction The first time? Wow, you have no idea how many times I've joked about sending Elbie to the glue factory, back to Goulburn, to the Pound ... The other night, OH was so irritated with Elbie for being a little snot he walked off on him and said he wanted me to food him dinner (training) because he didn't want to deal with him. Sorry James is being a little snot but it sounds like he's been an angel compared to my little monsters. I'm sure there must be something out there! Something very smelly ... Elbie would sell his soul for cheese, I think. Pretty good so far - toileting on command, doing a kind of almost shake hands, waiting for food and can sit and drop. We'll see if he has his older brother's smarts, though. Antlers arrived today. Here is a photo called "Waiting for Antlers" ETA: The symmetrical wonky ears happened on their own - we did not pose their ears for the photo

Still having floor trouble ...

Interesting question! We were a bit nonplussed when we started beginners classes with Elbie. All of the sit/drop/stays, meal-time manners were so easy for Elbie and some of the dogs couldn’t even sit and we thought it was going to be so bad and boring. We actually really enjoy our classes now but I can see why many people don’t like it – some people prefer private tuition etc. I suppose it comes down to some specific factors for us: the socialisation has been great – Elbie was a bit shy around other dogs so classes were a great way for him to be very close to other dogs without having them in his face all the time. They wander over and chat and play but it’s all very controlled. Big dogs, small dogs, yappy dogs, friendly dogs, grumpy dogs… He also gets pats and cuddles from lots of different people which is great for him. The dog people: (1) are less likely to get angry at an excitable (possibly muddy) puppy jumping; (2) are more likely to enforce discipline i.e. tell said puppy he must sit for pats, so training is reinforced. Also, I feel more comfortable letting him free in the off-lead area at the club because all of the owners there are conscientious and responsible and not likely to let their dogs hurt my dog we liked getting Elbie to do all of the work in a highly distracting environment – we’re so proud of him that recently he has been able to maintain a stay and do all of his tricks with two barking dogs tethered behind him and the dogs all around him breaking their stays and a little 10 year old girl leaping out and trying to distract him. We only learned how incredibly focussed and disciplined Elbie could be after he started obedience classes – he takes them very seriously and goes into High Concentration-mode. we’ve been lucky with our teachers – teachers for beginners, bronze and silver have been great and seem to really care about the dogs and their handlers. We’ve received lots of additional tips/help/encouragement from our teachers that is beyond ordinary classroom sessions. there are quite a few friendly DOLers at our club. OH often thinks that DOL seems like a hairy, scary place and can’t imagine why I frequent it so regularly but when I reference the lovely DOLers that he’s spoken with at our club, he’s like: “Oh yeah.” a lot of people I know in real life – family and friends – are not dog people and they think that I’m odd/obsessive/a bit bonkers for how much I love my dogs and want to do all these dog-related activities. It’s nice to talk to other doggy people in class and discuss shared experiences and issues. We also got along really well with our classmates in bronze and beginners. Silver is early days and some of the people aren’t quite as friendly but we still have a couple of “original classmates” with whom we have great chats I think I’m entertained by small things so I’m rarely bored anyway … even if it’s just watching how Elbie interacts with this dog over that dog, how he greets this instructor … what different people’s release words or commands are … the doggy fashion outfits, the different treats that people use and the funny treat bags that people have (hip, bum bag or funky ankle treat bag?), the funky leashes and collars … the different mats – we use a crappy doormat for Elbie, some people have fancy cushions and plush bean bags … I’ll be taking Hoover through beginners because I don’t think OH would want to go through the tedium of sit-drop-stay again but I’m sure I won’t be bored. Sometimes there are boring moments e.g. when the exercise requires the teacher’s individual attention, after your turn you sit around with nothing to do while half a dozen or more other dogs are being worked with but we’ll just pat Elbie/play with him/practise other things with him – or chat to classmates. We don’t really enjoy the heeling – seems a bit pointless to us but it’s another thing to exercise Elbie’s brain so that’s fine by us. Plus we’re doing additional dog training classes on Saturday that focus on other more practical things – controlled greetings, getting out of cars etc.

Gosh those photos are amazing! I feel tired just looking at them!

I think people come onto DOL for different reasons - some people want to whinge, some people want advice, some people want to chat, some people want to share photos etc etc. As long as the thread is well-labelled, I'm generally not fussed about the ranting/whinging threads and will dip in and read as the spirit moves me. For my part, I like using DOL for advice from more experienced people and I enjoy chatting about funny things/things I enjoy about having a dog rather than the things that annoy me about my dog/other people so will usually stick to such threads, but I do read a lot of the 'I am annoyed' threads so make sure I try to avoid behaviours that annoy other dog owners.

Naomi: Hullo! Welcome to the thread Yes, Elbie's grown up heaps but he is still a puppy and I feel so bad for him sometimes. On the one hand, I think he loves having Hoover around on the other hand, you have no idea how pitiful it is when we're here trying to teach Hoover to shake hands etc and Elbie's sitting a few metres away, pathetically raising HIS paw as if to say: "Look! Look! *I* can do this! Give me the treat!" Last night, I was trying to teach Hoover to go to his dog bed and Elbie kept jumping back and forth. Elbie is so smart and switched on and he listens so hard even when we're not talking to him. Telling Hoover to sit/drop/rollover/shake hands has Elbie In The Distance doing all the moves over and over again and clearly very confused about why Hoover can't get it right! Thank you! She's such a beautiful dog. I really, really hope that we can help her. Those TopBuy crates are amazingly huge! We want to make Elbie's crate as comfy for him as possible. If you could see the expressions he pulls when Hoover's muscling his way in to the bed Thanks dearest! I know we're all friends here but seeing my HUGE photos reposted back reminds me of all the rules of photo etiquette I have probably breached Hoover is a LOT more destructive than Elbie ever was at the same age. Growing up on a farm I guess he wasn't in the house so his first instinct is to chew on everything. He is very sensitive to being reprimanded though so he should be fine. As long as our blinds last The thing is, there were no white bits on the ground so Hoover must have EATEN that missing bit of the blinds! Elbie normally chews and spits out!

Niques: Thanks! Hoover's doing pretty well given that he's only been with us less than a week. We take him out at 3am each morning and so there have been no crate-soiling incidents for a bit. Also, he knows how to toilet on command now which is surprising. The problem is that he and Elbie keep wandering off from Poo Corner to play and when they're frolicking, they think of convenience rather than training when deciding on where to toilet. Sorry to hear you had a rough time at obedience. We used to dread puppy class a bit because Elbie was just sooooooo uncontrollable in the classroom sessions. At obedience, we still dread pre-class times because he is so hyperactive and crazy that the owners of quiet dogs must think that we are evil devil spawn who make no effort with our dog. Elbie's still hyper around new situations and new people - all we can do is try to get him calm faster. One thing we do do is that we save 'jackpot' treats for obedience so if there is any kind of treat that James likes a LOT? If you only use those at obedience, he may be more inclined to pay attention, for instance we have found some lamb meatballs at Coles that he LOVES so will use that next time we have an assessement. Some people use dog chocolate etc. Longer strips of treats that you can dangle? Last night I was trying to practise "leave it" with Elbie and Hoover - every time Hoover swatted or harassed Elbie, I rewarded Elbie when he ignored Hoover. Like I said, I was quite startled yesterday when one handler got so angry and just packed up and went home. OH says that he sympathises and I suppose I understand because they do say that if you are frustrated you should walk away/take a break etc. Usually it should be enough to take the dog for a quick walk away from the group. There was something a bit odd yesterday. We were demonstrating tricks and one owner was in the middle of the circle demonstrating a trick. The dog made a slight mistake and the owner smacked his dog over the snout - quite lightly but this is a breach of club rules. Our teacher said nothing but another instructor who was joining the class with her two borders actually reprimanded the guy and said he shouldn't be smacking his dog's snout even lightly because it's delicate and the dog will feel pain etc. This clearly pissed off the handler because he then made a point of smacking his dog's snout lightly half a dozen more times in front of the instructor's face ... It was weird to watch ... We don't smack Elbie but in the past he has received the occasional snout swat to get his teeth away from our hand when he was still at the mouthy stage - yes we are bad owners. We would never have done it during obedience class ... lilli_star: That story about Tara was certainly eventful! Wow … Also, Wart is a pretty awesome name but what a terrible end to the story of Tara and Wart! tigers12: So sorry Jett isn't good with cats ... I know you'll have your own little puppy soon .... OK, some more photos of my monsters. Long-suffering Elbie: “What is this monster doing in my bed yet again?” Hoover looking innocent Stare-down Our crated monsters Why we need to crate Hoover the Monster - he chewed on the blinds when I was in the shower and forgot to crate him.

ravaneau1: so sorry but is it possible to edit your post to remove the reposted photos? I feel bad having such large images the first time, seeing them twice makes me feel even more guilty. Thanks heaps!

Thanks Niques! She is a lovely dog and it's so sad that it's hard to rehome doggies like her. I really hope she can find a good home soon. I'll let you know if my video gets 'approved'. :D

And that I have made for her... It's still being reviewed by Kate and the foster carer so it's a work in progress. These videos are tricky so any comments/suggestions/criticisms most welcome ... My brother thought that the Smudge video was too manipulative and sad so I was trying to make this one more upbeat :DClick on the image below to see the draft video ETA: So sorry the images were so huge. I have resized them

So I mentioned that OH and I were going to see if we could help Blossom the Rescue Dog find her forever home. She only has 2 photos right now, not very flattering - and alas, no one has offered to adopt her We went there today and I took some video clips with my crappy camera and OH took some photographs. Blossom was the most darling, sweet and gentle girl you could imagine. Here are some of the photos: