koalathebear

Yes please! We'll show up at about 8.45am or so and I'll probably just sit with Hoover for a bit to get him use to the place and then whenever you showed up, we could see if they felt like playing in the off-lead section. Good luck with the stitching. Hope to see photos of the convalescents. :D I always feel very psychotic when I preemptively remove limbs/ears/tails etc. That photo of poor Mars Bar lying there in his cone is sooooooooooooooo funny but also so sad at the same time. Poor him! ;) Wow, that's so dedicated!!! Your class sounds so advanced, too! I can't even imagine Elbie in that scenario at this stage!!! I'm glad it's interesting, too. I have to say that having read so many threads about horrible obedience classes, I think BDOC's classes are pretty good! One of the well-known Kelpie breeders I contacted said: How did you know? She is actually beautiful. So gentle and shy ... not at all what you'd expect from her appearance. She isn't even boisterous. She is currently in the most loving of foster homes but unless she gets placed, the foster carer can't look after other needy doggies! Awesome ears! Having two dogs is quite an interesting, delightful albeit challenging experience ... OH and I are quite bemused a lot of the time these days. Primedogs: Deakin sounds very advanced! Off-lead heeling is something that is in the very distant future for our monster Elborino ... Max#1 and Primedogs: Elbie's also always being called a girl. Partly it's his build, but mostly it's his name which sounds quite feminine. The problem is that when I explain that Elbie is actually L.B. which stands for Little Bastard, people look at us in horror like we are bogans or something ravenau1: Oh! a teeny, tiny teacup Doberman :p Absolutely delightful! OH says that you guys must be fans of Boba Fett. ;) No alcohol needed! It's actually very fun and if you're not singing, the other instruments are pretty non-threatening. Everyone who's come over to play has always loved it, except one guy who got stressed, forgot to blink and then gave himself a headache. tigers12: Jett's beautiful! Good luck!! Can't wait to hear your news wuffles: I love those photos of Ava and Satch. Once again, it looks like you've used photoshop to make Ava glow with that whiter than white glow of hers. She could advertise washing liquid!! Also, my favourite photo is this one: It looks like the cover of a CD for an Indy band or something - Ava&Satch ... Ava's even got her alternate, Goth chick black lippy on ;) As Lilli_star said - Ava's looking so lofty and Satch so broody and emo ;) ETA: Also - the above Ava+Satch photo could go along with the Elbie+Hoover photo in the dog bed photo above as album covers Lilli_Star: Don't worry - it will all be here when you come to visit Canberra next time. ;) Seriously, I lived in Sydney for 4 years, HK for 2 years and then in Beijing for 4 years but when I got back to Canberra - very little had changed!! :D OK, back to my video ... My two monsters are fast asleep in Kuma's old bed because our original bed is being washed because of Hoover!Wee.

Still working on Blossom's music video so will be back soon to post replies. In the interim, with house-training, apart from Hoover's poop in the lounge this morning, tonight he and Elbie were racing around the study - Hoover lost track of of things and wee'd all over the ground and his dog bed :D Third batch of laundry for today Also, poor Hoover has trouble sitting properly on our laminate flooring. Out of focus photo, but look at those crazy sprawled kangaroo legs ETA: Evil Mastermind Hoover's Thought Bubble: "Who me? I didn't poo in the lounge-room" Poor Long-Suffering Elbie's Thought Bubble: "I thought that KumaAkita gave me this bed so that we could each have our OWN bed."

Good news all, Shadow the 10 year old border collie appears to have rescue back-up so at least he won't be PTS Is you getting clucky? If so, I shall tell you a tale of a cute little Kelpie puppy that who when I was preparing Elbie's dog treats for Dog School today decided to bolt into the lounge and poo - 5 minutes before we were due to leave for class. ;) He has incredibly innocent eyes though so it's hard to be vexed with him. In other news, Elbie had his second silver level class today. It was very windy but not too cold fortunately. The wind and the wet ground was very distracting for all the dogs and there was a LOT of lunging and pulling all around. The instructor had her two labradoodles tethered near the class and they barked and lunged the whole time - excellent as distractions! Some of the dogs were positively feral today - one rust-coloured terrier in the middle of nothing got up and started barking like a maniac, one lab and the same terrier attacked one another, barking crazily. Then dogs were breaking their stays all over the place! One woman got up in disgust, tucked her mat under her arm and walked out of the class angrily because her dog had no focus and would not go to its mat! Elbie was his usual self, crazy and excited at the beginning but once class started he was very focussed. No problems with mealtime manners, heeling, stays, loose-leash walking. His stands are sometimes at a funny angle but he did well. Then we did the weaving in and out of owners and handlers and he did so well - not a single lunge or sniff! When the other dogs and handler were weaving in and out - Rogue the husky cross and his handler got a little too close to OH, actually brushed past him physically and trod on Elbie's tail and Elbie STILL did not move a muscle We were so proud of him. He also did his tricks very well - high five, high ten then wave. Plus when we were waiting, he learned a new trick - the commando crawl. He does it fine on grass, just doesn't like doing it on the hard kitchen floor, I guess. We did a new thing which was weird, which was when the handler rejoined the dog, they went around the dog instead of just going to the dog's right. You have to careful you don't tread on the dog's tail. The first time OH did it, Elbie tried to follow him but then he realised pretty quickly that he was supposed to stay put. Then we got home to little Hoover who was waiting patiently in his crate with his limpid eyes staring up at us. No accidents (phew!) and I fed him his brekky and worked on focus with him. Hoover's not as hyper or highly strung as Elbie - he's a bit chilled - so we're working hard with his focus. Next week, we're going to bring Hoover to class ... while OH is in class, I'll just sit outside the clubhouse on one of the park benches so that Hoover can see all the people and dogs. We might let him run around in the off-lead area, too. Hope everyone else is having a good Sunday! This afternoon we'll be heading over to Blossom's house to make her a little music video to hopefully get her adopted. She's been listed on Pet Rescue for ages!

Sorry to be a downer but did anyone see this poor boy? It makes me so upset. He is 10 years old. He was handed in for rehoming due to a family member's allergies. He might be going a bit deaf, he has some arthritis in his hips. How can people do this to their beloved dogs who have been with them all those years??? As someone with allergies I sympathise but surely they know that handing in this sort of dog to the pound is tantamount to a death sentence? :D Can you imagine how poor Shadow is feeling at this point? :D OK rant over. :|

Thanks! Hoover is beautiful and we love him to bits already. It's challenging though: 2 very active dogs training a new dog trying to make sure Elbie doesn't have nose put out of joint I was saying to OH today that I have no idea how you manage with FOUR doggies! Hoover will have to share Elbie's thread. They already share toys and bedding. :D

clastic: I can't play the guitar on Rock Band anymore because of the whole carpal tunnel thing but I still sing and OH is very conscientious on the drums. It would be great to have more people to play with. Glad you liked the cupcakes - they were flatter than they were supposed to be but I was trying to minimise usage of the electric mixer because of Elbie. :D I'm sorry poor Mars is still suffering because of his cone head. The affection thing is interesting. When Elbie was younger, he was always on the go - not very affectionate - always dashing off to get a ball or a toy. In the last few months, he seems to love getting pats! He suddenly became very affectionate - no idea what caused it. You can see how shameless he was today in asking for pats. Thanks. I hope you can meet him one day! Hoover's eyebrows are very lovable and he has a very silly and dopey face sometimes. People look at him and just laugh! ;) That is so devoted! Poor OH It's a fine balance. You want them to get along but not too well otherwise they'll bite each other's faces all day and play with each other and not listen to us Handling two rambunctious dogs in the rain has been very trying. I'm pretty certain tonight OH was wanting to send poor Elbie (who admittedly was being a little snot) to the glue factory. It is weird, right? One moment there's placid, loving puppy and then the next minute there's crazy, mad bull, rabid beast thing ... I'm sorry he found the cone so traumatic but I'm glad that he finds the crate a Happy Place. If you look on youtube, you'll see angry people condemning crates as cruel cages but I find that with our two dogs, they see their crates as a haven and go dashing in there whenever things get a bit much. Of course, we made a mistake tonight and put Hoover in there as a time-out (not punishment, but to calm down after a boisterous play with Elbie) and he decided to do the biggest wee you ever saw. Sigh. Still, one accident a day isn't too bad for a 3 month pup. Ooooh, come to Canberra, come to Canberra! Then again, maybe not. What if we don't get along? Actually, it has happened before. Someone on DOL was so friendly, always chatty, always nice but when we met in person, I never heard from them again and I sheepishly said to OH: "My offline persona must be so revolting compared to my online persona". Still, I do hope that you find the job you're looking for. For me, I've been a public servant for four months now after having been private sector all my life. It's been interesting adjustment ... But come to Canberra!

Finally I can contribute to this post! Hoover and Elbie looking demented Zzzzzzz

lilli_star: great photos! Queen Roo looked like she was having a fabulous time in the snow! Does that mean she's fully recovered from her tummy bug? I'll PM you about the crate - definitely still interested if you really don't want it. Maybe you want to test Roo out in it first - she may surprise you! Yes. I'm sorry that not all of the lovely people on this thread weren't able to come and join us :'( To be honest, Elbie and Hoover spent a lot of the time snoozing while the humans were chatting. The two dogs are pretty good about pats - they don't interrupt those. Hoover has bad food manners and will try to push Elbie out of the way to get treats. He was also being bad-mannered about the bed and every time he got in, Elbie tensed up and then left. KumaAkita gave us Kuma's bed which he has outgrown and as you will see from above, Hoover took that, too! Still, there was a positive sign today. Hoover got out of the big bed and went to the bed that Elbie was in. Elbie was wary as usual but this time instead of just barrelling in impulsively, Hoover was very cautious and deferential, stepping in carefully and then getting down into a drop position slowly. Elbie: "Hmmmmmm!" Then, to our surprise not only did he not get out of the bed like he usually does, he lay down and snoozed, too. It's possible that as wizzle pointed out, Hoover wasn't trying to be dominant - he actually wanted company and to cuddle with Elbie but didn't know how to do it politely. Still, Elbie just woke up with a start, saw Hoover sleeping on his butt and bolted out of the bed to jump into Kuma's old bed to sleep.

Thanks to KumaAkita, we now have a second dog bed for the two monsters. Thank you so much!! Also thanks to clastic, wuffles, kumaakita & Mr kumaakita for coming by today to meet our monsters and bring toys! Rock Band 3 comes out soon so if you ever feel like geeking out and playing plastic guitars/drums or singing, you would be most welcome ETA: Some photos taken on my camera by wuffles of my two monsters. Hoover's expression here is a classic. Then they were banished to their dog beds But see who ended up with the bigger bed There are a few more photos but because there are Faces of Peoples I'll only post them on facebook so people with FB can see...

Marley'z mum - I see you lurking! Come out and play! this is the friendly corner!

My post was split in two b/c DOL said I had 'more quoted blocks than permitted'. This is as bad as the time I exceeded the number of permitted emoticons in my post!! aussielover: Clover sounded like a very special and unusual dog - the kind that only comes around once in a lifetime and probably makes it hard for any other dog to match up ... I hope you can find another special doggy that comes close though ... We are very happy with our two doggies right now. Elbie is our crazy hyper dog and Hoover has a way of blinking up at us like a perplexed little alien that we find really hilarious. Yes! I see 21 pages because I have more posts per page but I logged out just out of curiosity and the garden variety person would see 55 pages!!! Hee! Those TopBuy crates are awesome. Do you realise DOLers must have bought out their entire range of XXXL??? :laugh: Glad that nothing was damaged by the water. We have had constant rain here, too. Not only is it making us wet when we take Hoover out, when it's raining, Elbie gets confused and thinks that everywhere is Poo Corner. We have to leash him up and take him there. I lure Elbie to the bed and make him drop. If I keep him in a drop position long enough, he gets tired and lounges. I am shameless about using bribery. I, too would like to know this. If you want to sell it, I'll buy it off you. I was thinking of getting a soft crate for Hoover, too and it is one step closer to a crate in every room. Elbie doesn't destroy his soft crate but sometimes he claws at it a little and sounds like something from a horror movie.

*cough* Behold what my two do every evening and a large chunk of the day ... And yes, that's Hoover still encroaching on Elbie's bed. KumaAkita's letting us have Kuma's old bed so hopefully Hoover will start leaving Elbie's bed alone Will do. I was hoping to bring him to BDOC to play in the off-lead area after his second vaccinations kick in but OH seems to think that might be a breach of BDOC rules. Not quite sure how ... isn't everyone safe? Hmmm. Those photos of Mars are golden. I just feel so sorry for him ... I'm so tempted to send a copy of one of them to Heike because she'd think it was darling. Poor Mars. He's got an: "I can't see my toes" expression on his little face ... 10 days seems awfully long!! Elbie's fine with the noisy washing machine and dryer but the vacuum cleaner and electric mixer make him very nervous. He'll dart around the house, skittering in and out. He doesn't bark, just clearly ill at ease. Hoover on the other hand is as placid as a cow and even though he's never been socialised to barely anything because he grew up on a farm - he seems very unfussed by loud noises. When I was using the electric mixer tonight to make the cupcakes - I saw a flash of black as Elbie darted up the stairs. Then I saw red and tan. "Was that Hoover?" I asked OH. "Yes, but he's not afraid - he's just following Elbie." Our family dog Kitt was terrified of drains/grates etc and would walk around them in a very annoying manner. I've heard that as well but a while back I read an extremely toxic thread about a failed greyhound fostering and it scared the crap out of me about greyhounds. Before then, I'd always been pleasantly disposed to them, hearing that previous racing greyhounds adapted well to a home environment despite having no prior socialisation etc. That thread made me want to run screaming for the hills. I adore Cavalier King Charles Spaniels ... so cute and disapproving looking but I just couldn't see OH trotting around BDOC with a cav. Also .. Mini Wuffles? Soooooooooooooooooooo cute!!!! Oh no. Poor Max. Elbie's stitches were fine but I did worry he was going to try to unpick them like he unpicks his stuffed toys. Good luck diverting Max's attention - he is such an active, bouncy little thing .. This is absolutely correct. A while back, I was reading someone's profound frustration about a dog they had acquired and how it was lovely and smart but way too active and lively for them and so much hard work and blah blah blah. They could have been describing Elbie but while we think Elbie is entertaining and he keeps us occupied, on our toes and merry - this person sounded quite frustrated with her dog. So yes ... I could imagine that Elbie in the hands of someone else would be a rehoming candidate but we love him to bits - as does Mama Koala who doesn't even like dogs!

We're fine for snacks - maybe bring along any preferred beverages? :p

OH is naughty. He already picked out the names for the two cats. "Koala" (but my real life name) and "Stupid". One small win. After 2-3 days, Hoover is getting better at his house-training. He walks to the kitchen door and while he doesn't bark to be let out, he licks the glass to let us know he wants out. :p I can certainly say that my two puppies are a LOT of hard work and only to be taken on by the most crazycommitted of owners. ETA: re tomorrow morning - hope everyone likes Jindi cheese.

OH keeps maintaining that cats are less work so we should have got a cat despite my deathly allergies He has already decided that upon my death, he will go and buy 2 cats. :p

I hear this about a lot of dogs so I'm suddenly curious - are there actually any "easy" dogs? Sounds like all dogs need a lot of hard work. It's bit like the intelligence thing. Growing up, I was told that dalmations and red setters were stupid but these days the intelligence lists seem to make it sound like EVERY single dog is smart, it's just a matter of whether it's "trainable/obedient smart" or "get stuffed human, don't expect me to perform like a monkey when I am an independent snob smart" :p

Today must be DOL Poor Boy Dog Snip Day!! Clastic's Mars and Max#1's Max are both at the vet's getting the snip today as well!!! Good luck to Marley. :p Hope all goes well. Elbie was totally fine after his procedure - a bit licky of his stitches but he didn't need an Elizabethan Collar.

Chowchow! I love their blue black tongues. I hear they're hell to train though. I'm so jealous of all these people who don't have allergies and can have their doggies with them. Although doesn't that make it kind of awkward when you want to get romantic or do you just turf the poor dog out or cover its eyes and plug it into an iPod and no I can't believe I just vocalised that Thought Bubble. Ahem. The soft crate is great. Once Max is used to the wire crate and doesn't try to destroy it, the soft crate will be super convenient. I have a feeling on aeroplanes they use the travel crates rather than the wire crates ... Elbie had a travel crate for his toilet training days then graduated to a wire mesh crate. We tried to do the same for Hoover but he took a dislike to his travel crate at first and kept wanting Elbie's bed or crate. Weirdly enough, last night he decided he likes his crate so our puppy is now voluntarily shuffling into his crate. That's a great vantage point for Max's crate. I find that our doggies don't mind not being in the same room as us so long as they can see us. When OH and I are in different parts of the house, Elbie runs back and forth between us as if to keep tabs. Good luck for the job interview! I hope it goes well! Yes it did thank you. He's beautiful and so clever! I'd never heard of Coolies until recently and I think their colouring and intelligence is very appealing. I think Coolies and Kelpies are supposed to be quite similar. Definitely ... it makes life sooooo much easier. I am so relieved OH and I crate-trained Elbie.

I am aghast that Mr. Wuffles doesn't do training. Given how well-trained Ava is, I'd have thought that you'd have trained up Mr Wuffles, too!!! :D Urgh. Elbie's crate is very much used but it is also used as a bench. Soooo much stuff on it. There is also a giant drawer that is dedicated to dog treats.

And why

Our metal crate is in the kitchen but to start out with, the crate should be wherever Max sleeps right now. We keep the metal crate in the kitchen and once Elbie got crate-trained, he'll sleep in anything crate-like so we have a large soft crate that is in our bedroom right now where Elbie is sleeping. I can envisage a day when we have a crate in every room Good luck to Max and his snippage! He is tooooooooo cute - I love his movements - so swift and cat-like. He also has a very cute face. The peekaboo and shy are very well-done. I think the flip onto his side sells the trick.

Do we have an origin story for raz yet? We might actually still be missing one for Pepper, too.

What is it about men and being precious about obedience class??? When we start a new term, I hold my breath and hope OH approves of the instructor otherwise he won't come anymore! ;) So glad your OH likes Pepper's teacher - make sure you warn him that there will be bad days when everything and everyone (including duck poo and passing cars) are more interesting than puppy's handler ... He should be fine next week, I think. Also, we de'flead Hoover yesterday (just in case) and so he should be fine for tomorrow's cuddles . We're getting some oral de-fleaing meds for Elbie since he hates the Advantix tubes so much. They look very unpretty though I'm sure he'll be totally fine - I hope you have no problems keeping him quiet and subdued. wuffles: gorgeous photo of Ava... wish I could do that with my doggies but I have to keep my allergies under control. I will usually wear a dog shirt when cuddling them and could never bring them into bed.

lurkers ... come out, come out wherever you are!

They're excellent models. So elegant! We have a whippet at dog school and she is so well-behaved. Her owner keeps trying to tell me that she's a monster at home and very naughty but I can't believe it!