koalathebear

Thanks. He really does try very hard to please us and we can see all the effort he puts into things. From what I saw, Mars was very good with his sits and drops and he was in position. You guys didn't get reprimanded! :p As for heeling ... OH and I are new to dog training so we had no idea what heeling/heelwork was until recently. We didn't even know there was a difference between heeling and loose-lead walking until recently. :p Then for the formal stuff, there's a lot of stuff about posture, positioning, how your hands are, are you facing east, whether the moon is in the Seventh House and Jupiter Aligns with Mars ... :D We only found out the difference between formal recall and informal recall a few weeks ago. I don't think either OH or I are destined to go very far in the world of dog-training once we get Elbie to be a well-behaved and calm dog.

Small win. When Elbie gets into the heel position, he does a kind of wild and spastic leap to get there. Sometimes it's extremely athletic and he almost spins around in the air. I have to admit that we thought it was very extremely hilarious to watch so we never bothered to try to correct him if he ended up in the right spot ... The problem was that today during his training session, the teacher was quite strict so when Elbie did his spazzy jump in the air, from where she was standing it looked like he was jumping up onto me and that I wasn't correcting him for it. She told me I should be correcting him for jumping up on me and walking away if he did it twice. I kind of bleated; "He's not jumping up - that's how he gets into position." So that it doesn't happen again when we have class, we tried to make him more sedate in getting into position. We worked out that if he tries to get into position directly, he can't help himself jumping but that if he goes around us, he will do it calmly. So we lured him the first couple of times until he got it right. It seems like a very small thing but it felt like a big win because Elbie was so eager to try to get it right and he was very winsome in the way he kept looking at us, as if to say: "Did I do it right that time???" :D We filmed his progress. Video .

Definitely a gift I could go without. I'm actually not sure WHAT I would do in that situation. I am definitely going to ask our trainer to teach our dogs snake aversion - although perhaps living in the Canberra 'burbs I'm relatively safe from snakes. We're surrounded on 3 sides by other houses and roads on the other - no fields or forest areas immediately adjoining our yard... :D

I still remember this article freaking me out. Labrador shocks owner Deborah Allen by bringing home deadly snake Yoicks!!! :D

I have an Aldi vacuum cleaner right now so those Dysons look pretty good to me! :D OH prefers his magical "swiffer" from Canada - magical microfibre cloth thing that picks up all dust and doggy fur ... :D

I don't have a cat but my dog seems to think that he's a cat sometimes based on the way he plays. And yes, he's still being a greedy guts - playing with one toy with his paws while holding another one in his mouth. We have no idea why he does this. Sometimes the loop or the rope toy gets looped around his foot and he will hobble around like a dork for a few seconds. He seriously can keep himself entertained for ages with this game. And when the new vacuum cleaner arrives, I'll share some photos.

Oh gosh, that is scary. I don't have any suggestions sorry but in addition to Elbie's obedience training at our obedience club, we are also doing general behavioural training with a private behaviourist/trainer (small class of about 5-6 only) where we go over things like car manners (getting in and out of cars). One of the items that the trainer is happy to discuss is "snake avoidance" and "wildlife and livestock chasing" (we haven't discussed it yet, though) - perhaps you could see if any of the instructors at your obedience school knows about snake avoidance techniques and can teach them? I wouldn't try a do it yourself approach from the Internet - I'd feel safer going with a trainer. ETA: I am glad little Marley is safe!

I am making little videos for rescue dogs. My first one is . Any thoughts/comments/criticisms are welcome because at the end of the day, I want to maximise the puppy's chance at finding a forever home ...

I was wondering why everyone kept saying that until I forgot to log in once and saw that the default # of posts per page is x and I changed mine to be 40 posts per page so I have 'less pages' in total. If that makes sense. ETA: Random - is cute.

What does coat stripping entail? Does she become smooth-coated after that?

Koalas are lovely too! wuffles: that French bull dog obedience video was soooooooo cute. I wish we had some Frenchies at BDOC.

For Canberrans ... Discount Pet Store in Oatley Court, Belconnen is waaaaaaaay cheaper than other places ... Also, OH hs advised me of the folowing: - Reject Shop in Belco has no-name brand dog beds (the trampoline kind) for $20-40 which are way cheaper than Pet Barn - Discount Pet Store has large metal crates at the back of their store. Prices are possibly $100 less than Pet Barn. - Reject Shop also has some cheap cushioned mats. OH has announced that we should only shop at Discount Pet Store from now on. They don't sell puppies so they're not an Evil Pet Store. SammiS: I think I would probably pay for tickets to see Asti doing dog sports. All the audience would probably implode from the cuteness. Neither Elbie nor I have ever met a Frenchie ... would love to, though ETA: We're going to be donating a bunch of dog stuff (puppy food, toys etc) to rescue this weekend in case anyone has any dog stuff that they don't want anymore. We'll probably buy a few bags of dog food etc plus other stuff. ravenau1: Odin was lovely. Can't wait until you have your new puppy with you so we can see photos

I so wish I could have seen that!! I would never laugh at you and Satch!! Love it. You need to do a poster. Satchmo: The Return to BDOC *cue dramatic trailer music*

Lamb flaps are awesome. Elbie LOVES his lamb flaps and we like saying: "LAMB flap!" with gusto around him. When we open the fridge, he gives us very hopeful looks I'm sorry Mindy can't eate beef brisket ... But I'm glad she can eat lamb flaps!

I was reading the other day that meaty beef bones are good for puppies. So far, Elbie's just had lamb flaps and the occasional marrow bone (I assume it was a cow's) - although we've stopped with the marrow bone because I heard that they were fatty. Can anyone give me advice for good things to ask the local butcher for if I want to get nice meaty beef bones? Thanks!

It's ok, you can ask. Elbie's a bit of a social mutant. He has been socialised since an early age with people and other dogs - puppy class, beginners class, bronze class. He is not shy, not afraid and is very happy to be around and next to other dogs and play near them and will chase a frisbee BUT ... he doesn't seem to enjoy actually playing WITH them. He doesn't enjoy being chased, he doesn't like body-slams ... In class, he is ok if the next dog crawls over onto his mat and eats his head and treads all over him - but in the open area, he will not initiate play. If a ball or a frisbee is thrown he will chase it but if other dogs go for it - he will walk away. It's a bit weird, I know. In class, the giant dogs frequently nibble on him, squash him and slobber on him and he ends up with dog drool all over his head and he's relaxed ... I've consulted with Kelpie people and they've said that Kelpie's don't like other dogs getting in their face during play so it's possible that it's the Kelpie in him ... He is getting better - for instance, he knows wuffles' dog Ava pretty well now and will seek her out to say hello even though he doesn't play. I'm comfortable he's not fearful - it's the chasing/playing thing that I'm dealing with right now.

I think if you look at MavericksMission's earlier post that MM might possibly win for having the most awesome Destructor around. Although yes, Elbie in his "Destruction of the Aldi Cushion While On Candid Camera" does take the cake. Welcome to the thread and please post photos of BC Maisie. Clastic has 2 borders and Tigers12 is waiting for a border collie pup to be delivered by the stork ...

Elbie sometimes has a pig-like way about him. Especially when he snuffles at the bottom of closed doors like truffle-hunting pig or a scary stalker. This photo ... Caption: "Do you know where my mummy is? Also - am I a wombat?" ETA: KumaAkita - the Forde idea is a great one. Elbie has Extra Obedience Classes on Sat. mornings (call it Summer School) but we're free in the arvos. It will be fun! There are of course some ahem logistics I will need to resolve.

Elbie's muffin tin is only a 6-er so doesn't take much time :'( I could bring the Designer Swedish Toy along to Kuma's party as a party game. *imagines Dog Pass the Parcel* Although - during the bronze assesesment, I saw that the beginners class was playing "Simon Says" which looked like a lot of fun. "Simon says - sit your dog! Simon says - drop your dog!"

Niques bought a wombat! Niques bought a wombat! When Elbie puts his ears back, he looks like a seal. We are very creative and call it his ... "seal look".

Now going back to reply to older posts ... SammieS - I thought nothing could be more impressive than Asti's ears, but that Dog Cake even made my OH go: "Wow!" The way they're licking their lips is just a scream ... Also, Asti's artistic photo is gorgeous - looks like a modelling shoot for Canine Armani. Should be a bit of a head tilt and backward glance ... Australia's Top Dog Model. KumaAkita: OH & I also would like to know what Kuma likes as prezzies. We could give you Pet Barn vouchers which are boring but we shop there a LOT. The discount bin is also a favourite of ours ... dog and squeaky steak came from there. Speaking of photo ops, I'd love a photo of the lady-like Genevieve sitting on Kuma's back. I love the pig trotter carnage - love how it looks like Kuma's already polished off the pig and is now working on the trotters. Elbie has lamb flaps and then gets Lamb Flap Breath and wants to breathe it all over us ... Regarding Mr Panda, please meet Hippo. OH bought him from Canada a couple of weeks ago. He's a 'bag' into which you're supposed to put a plastic bottle so that the dog can play with the bottle inside the toy. Why does he look sad? Elbie bit a hole in his head and he had to undergo emergency brain surgery performed by an unqualified surgeon - me. In my defence, stitching through dog saliva encrusted fabric is not easy. See what my monster has done to Pig Blanket Niques & Lilli_star: Yup. Road trip. You can stay with us, although Elbie wouldn't know what hit him with two gorgeous black labs bounding about the yard ... Then again, Kuma's birthday party seems to be on a school night so maybe that rules out road trips ... OH makes bad jokes about naming dogs after my family members. Then again, when he plays X-Com, he names all the characters after his family and mine (us, too) and the body count is horrific. My brother has called his turtles Nunchuk and Booya .. his girlfriend wants to get a snake and call it Kevin. James looked so happy with the results of his Destruction. Poor Oscar ... soon he and badger will be running over whatever the soft toy equivalent of the Rainbow Bridge is. We just bought Elbie a Tuffie so hopefully that will stump him for a while. Lilli_star: Those little lab babies ... Oh my goodness. I'm melting. This photo kills me dead though. Such a pensive little face. I'm not sure why, but this is almost as funny as the flying out the window story ... Puppy was a testy and as tough as a boot, by the sounds of it.

Here we have Elbie's latest "mind and scent" toy. It's a "Nina Ottosson Plastic Dog Brick". Yes, we bought our puppy funky designer Swedish mind toys ... I'd heard of Nina Ottosson before. Here is the blurb: OK, so we thought - let's be mean and rather than give him the easy version with just the brown bricks, we'll put the white plastic blocks in to play with his mind i.e. they have to be removed first before the dog can slide the bricks. Either our dog is smart or the toy isn't that challenging ... Video . Elbie figured it out the first time... Removing the white bits first and then sliding the bricks. He's a nose dog, though - uses his nose to slide rather than his paw. I might try to teach him to use his paw only.The good thing is, he had fun and now he has yet another way that we can feed him his dinner - Tucker Ball, Kong Wobbler and now Swedish Brick thing.

Oh Max ... I have no words ... I'm so sorry to hear about Puppy but your stories are delightful and the image of Puppy flying out the window and rolling down the road shouldn't make me laugh, but it did even though my heart is hurting for you. Puppy is at the Rainbow Bridge guzzling chocolate, no doubt and probably playing with my old family dog Kitt, who still makes me tear up whenever I think of him ... I'm never going to understand the phrase "just a dog". Thinkin' of you and Puppy. ETA: Your tribute to Puppy was awesome - your are so eloquent and have such a way with words .. pathos and humour.

Waits patiently to see video footage of Scary Monster Game ...