koalathebear

In terms of roughing up a puppy, is what is meant ... the people who grab your puppy and go: "woooobawoobawooba! who's a good boy? who's a good boy?" and kind of rile him up? When Elbie was at puppy class, we used to beg the vet's nurses NOT to do that to him because it used to excite him so much. They couldn't help themselves.

Elbie is a huge tail wagger and also bum wiggler. Sometimes I worry he's going to hurt himself he wiggles so violently. His tail sometimes reminds me of a piano metronome, though. When we have a toy or a ball and we are about to throw it, he gets into the Kelpie Crouch, gives us Kelpie Eye and his tail's going *wag* *wag* *wag* *wag* Then it kind of slows down. *wag left* ... *wag right* ... *wag left* ... sloooooowing down ... Then when he's really focussed the tail will become frozen in the middle and he'll remain in that frozen stance until we throw the ball. Then he defrosts and the tail becomes waggy again.

Fortunately it was just an dog cushion from Aldi and not too expensive … we misjudged on size and didn’t realise our dog was so tiny and the cushion was so large at the time we bought it. Too cute … I just remembered our old family dog (lab/border collie) used to get Flying Nun ears that gave him a crazy, demented expression. Used to make us laugh when he’d turn around his ears were in orbit. I love both, but lately I've had a hankering towards red-tan, OH likes gold & tan. After a lot of discussions, we decided we'd go with whichever colour had the best pup. With all the other breeders, I admit that I did mention my colour preference towards the beginning but with the breeders of the pups you saw, she started talking about the personalities first and the most suitable pup. Right at the end of the conversation, I said: “Oh … by the way – what colour is the pup????” Turns out he’s a red and tan. I can’t believe that the courier guy left the parcel in the back when you have a Dog!!??? It’s lucky that there wasn’t anything Dog-Unfriendly in it!! Maybe James said: “Put it over here!” Funny thing is, most parcels that come to our house these days ARE for Elbie – from vetdirect/wagsalot.com.au/topbuy.com.au etc. Elbie’s such a spoiled dog, he’ll stand there as the box is being opened in full expectation that he’s going to receive prezzies. Also – how did James end up being called James? OH is insisting that pup does not get named a human name, no idea why. I am so sorry that the Home Alone Ball didn’t work. You sure don’t want to try the Tucker Ball or the Kong Wobbler before you take the step of popping doggies inside? Like Satch and Ava, Elbie is an angel when we’re at home and either doesn’t chew on anything or will ‘leave it’ upon command. When we’re away though, he’ll prowl the yard and if we haven’t left enough juice bottles for him he’ll get restless … Can you give them access to just one room maybe, rather than the whole house just to ‘test’ them out? We’d love to give Elbie access to the kitchen but he can open the door into the next room :p Noooooooooooo!!!!!!!! (Yelled out Star Warsian style). You haven’t broken your dog. I think no one here on this forum has the perfect dog. We’re all working away at it – none of us are perfect people. You would not believe how many people I know who seem to have very well behaved dogs but their children run amok and are holy terrors! It’s not realistic to get it 100% right. It would be wrong if we were complacent and said: “My dog’s fine, I don’t need to do anything” but I don’t see why we should be made to feel bad because our dogs are dogs and get it wrong sometimes if we’re still working with them and trying to make them better-behaved. For us with Elbie, it’s a constant struggle to get him calm and quiet in new situations/environments. He’s soooooooo excited for the first 5 minutes of everything new. I’m sure most DOLers would shrink back from in horror and think that I was a Bad Owner if they saw Elbie the way you have during the first minutes of Dog School each week … In terms of new pups… we’re still Pondering. More info and photos coming from the breeder today. I’ll keep you posted. Hee! OH and I should be able to come and celebrate. I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to bring Elbie unless we bring his soft crate, too. Hmmm. *ponder* ETA: Also, I will share an embarrassing Dog Story from yesterday. Elbie had eaten something that didn’t agree with him yesterday and was mildly vomitous – nothing too serious. Elbie knows the touch command. If we say “touch” he uses his nose, if we say: “paw” he uses his paw to touch the object. Yesterday he was in his dog bed looking at me expectantly as if expecting me to do something. I was too lazy to move from my chair to play with him so instead stretched my leg out, pointed my toes at him and said: “Touch!” Elbie obediently touched his nose-tip to my bare foot - big toe to be precise. Five minutes later, he started making gagging noises and threw up. It was because of some grass he’d gobbled and NOT to do with my feet but you can imagine how much OH was hassling me for the rest of yesterday about poisoning our puppy with my stinky feet.

OK, finally catching up on posts. OH gave me a disapproving head shake when I told him I posted outside of the Elbie and the Kelpie thread today. ;) I find it sad/funny that when I was talking to breeders they said to me: "You need to stop reading those dog forums." clastic: Maybe we could share a shiba inu. I want one, too but I worry that a spitzy dog will be Too Much Dog for me. Mini-Mars is soooooooooooo cute. I feel dorky but I never knew that border collies came in tricolours. He is such a handsome young man. LOVED the photo with one ear up and one ear down, also love this one where his eyes are all limpid and innocent and he has yet to grow into his Ears of Awesomeness. He is now a very good-looking grown up pup .. I also like that he has the little golden eyebrows like a kelpie. ;) I see that you have cliff-hangered us and that Clastic's Fur Kids: The Sequel is yet to come ... I've found a compromise. There's apparently volunteer work at the RSPCA in Canberra where during Kitten Season, you go and sit with all the kittens and they climb all over you and you play with them help them get socialised. I'm not sure I'd be able to let OH back in the house after that, though. Max#1: We loved the photos of Mini Max and chatty Max - particularly the way he did the flopsy rollover. OH thinks he looks like a little cat. He also has a more high pitched voice than Elbie does. He is so cute - I like his dramatic eye make-up, too. lilli_star: I hope your essay is done now. Also, the topic is somewhat obscure so I query your success in finding a website that has the topic already KumaAkita whom I keep calling KumatheAkita because I am spethal: hope you finished your meeting minutes and didn't get busted for sneaking Kuma into that hotel. wizzle: loved the scenes of G at the beach but the elegant and lady-like Genevieve with her head in an ice cream bucket probably wins. The photos of Genevieve as a baby. :D She actually looks like she could have been Mini-Mars' second cousin twice removed (not on the akita-side of the family). I especially like the 'tude that she's showing in this one. "What are you lookin' at, punk?" primedogs: I'm bemused by the fact that there's a Kuma-doppelganger out there somewhere. Sounds like a photo-op waiting to happen - a Kuma on other side and a shiba inu in the middle. SammieS: Asti is so cute. This photo made me laugh so loud, I startled both Elbie and OH Also loved the look on her face in her birthday photo. Did she get any cake or was it just to look at? OH and I have been wondering what kind of cake we can give Elbie when he turns one next year given dogs aren't supposed to eat all kinds of things that are yummy. Asti is definitely an entrant in the Ears of Awesomeness competition ... At what earsage (Freudian slip) do Frenchies' ears generally start sticking up? And as a final note ... I dug up one of Elbie's old surveillance videos from when he was very wee and we were filming him when we first started leaving him alone in the yard (when we had to go out). We wanted to see what he did/whether he was destructive/distressed. .The thing that gets me is that if we'd just got him five minutes earlier, everything would have been different ...

I am still DOL-slapped (like being pistol-whipped or b*tch-slapped but worse - like death by a thousand paper cuts! I kid you not!) but had to say to MavericksMission ...7 cats. Can I send my OH over to play with the 7 cats? he is a cat person and feeling very cat-deprived because I am allergic to kitties.

But if they were as cute as , the name Cupcake would be fine!! When were looking at breeder websites, OH found out the owner of Beloka Kelpie Stud auditioned for "Australia's Got Talent". Also, Cupcake the Kelpie would have been awesome for a girlie ... Not so much for a boy ...

primedogs: So happy you came out of lurk. i was wondering when you'd materialise and say yoohoo! Your fur kids are beautiful! How old was Deakin when you got Watson the little ball of fluff? Sooooo cute Do you attend obedience classes around here? Will see see you at BDOC or around the traps somewhere??

1. I believe she meant the female in this particular litter, after I described Elbie to her. 2. The pups are 3 months (11 weeks old) - is this really missing the critical socialisation period? For our part, a slightly older pup works better for us in terms of our timing and size compared to Elbie and seems like a plus rather than a compromise. 3. We actually preferred having another male pup. We only went in asking for female because we read on DOL that it was better to have one of each gender. Every single breeder (show and working line) assured us that gender does not matter as long as they are both desexed - this wasn't a matter of off-loading unwanted pups, in most instances, the pups aren't even born yet. They felt it was more important to match temperaments. In terms of the litter we're looking at now, we are able to choose one of the girlies if we want, but after I described Elbie to her, she thought that the boy would be a better fit. ETA: We are not in a 'hurry' for this. We are on waiting lists with a couple of breeders and would actually be prepared to wait another year, but out of all the breeders with whom I have spoken to, this was the first person who: (1) I felt a warm-feeling about; (2) described a pup that seemed compatible with Elbie. She is not likely to breed again for some time which is why we are even considering taking one from this litter instead of another. I am extremely respectful of all views and opinions and do appreciate the time that people take to give me their input, but must stress that my main concern was whether or not 11-12 weeks is still ok in terms of socialisation based on your experiences or whether a critical window has been missed. As mentioned, we are very aware of the consequences of our actions and will not make any decisions lightly. We would also stand by any decision we made and would never pass off problems to anyone else.

Thanks for your feedback PF. There are still 2 females and 2 males in the litter out of 8 and we have discussed the temperament of each one in detail. In any case, we are still pondering things but will be very careful in our decision-making as we will be living with the consequences. We were very concerned about the gender issue which is why we were looking for a female - one of the first items discussed with each of the breeders and also with other kelpie owners. After checking with other kelpie owners (show and working line, on DOL and off-DOL) and also with breeders (show and working line, off DOL but recommended by DOLers) and they have confirmed that the gender should not be an issue for kelpie-coexistence - it will be down to the temperament of the respective dogs and everyone we've spoken to is aware that we have a dog already and that sort of dog he is.

Hi: Thanks for your reply! We already have a kelpie/border collie cross with us in suburbia - very active but entertained and occupied. He's happy with no destructive behaviours apart from decapitating the occasional soft toy :rolleyes: He's a mutt from working lines, no idea of genealogy. He's doing well at obedience, we'll do agilty when he's older, we took him herding for fun before and he'll go again. We've avoided the WKC breeders whose dogs would be unsuitable as pets - some of them just would not be all right if not working sheep. In talking to other working kelpie owners, we don't want a dog that would be useless at sheep because they tend to be scatter-brained/fearful i.e. if the dog isn't good at sheep, why? So the idea is to have a dog that's smart and obedient but not too hyper. We did consider a pound kelpie but sound temperament is very important. We've also looked into the difference between show kelpie/working line and decided that working line suits us better. After chatting with other kelpie people who have seen how Elbie is and the work we've been doing with him, they think we would be fine with a working line kelpie. I really just wanted to make sure that 3 months wasn't a fatal age in terms of socialisation etc ETA: pup is 11 weeks old

Getting a more recent photo soon (these ones are about a week old). We're looking at one of the red and tans - who are apparently chunky monkeys. *ponder ponder*

I told him about the time one of the DOLers, supported by a group of others called me condescending blah blah so these days, when he wants to annoy me, he calls me a condescending cow. :D Or if he sees me posting on DOL, he goes: "Do you want someone to call you a condescending cow again?"

It's a purebred kelpie puppy, registered with the Working Kelpie Council. Working dogs don't need to be microchipped so that would be something we would do ourselves if we got him. He's tattooed, vet-checked, wormed and has had one set of vaccinations - second set due next week. Regarding health, that's about as good as you can get from a breeder for a working line kelpie. The pup has never been in a car but he has visited with neighbours and their families and also been visited. They've also been visited by buyers of other pups in the litter - no signs of fearfulness of shyness. The pup in question has been identified as being the most suitable for getting along with another dog - smart, obedient, not too boisterous. We had originally preferred one of the females but she told us that the females can be a bit dominant and bossy and one of them is being thingy about wearing a collar. The breeder seems very disapproving of this because it's "never happened before" with any of her other pups. :rolleyes: aussielover: what you say is quite consistent with what I've been told by a lot of the working kelpie people. These particular dogs have been socialised with people and other dogs but it's not uncommon for working kelpies to spend their whole life on a farm, never meeting anyone else and then going to trials etc and being fine among strangers and Strange Things. There's not a lot of room for error in terms of temparament and the shaky-nerved ones tend to be shot. Not what this breeder told me of course - just some of the other people I've chatted with. If we got this one, we'd have it going to beginner obedience classes as soon as vaccinations were done - doesn't matter if he misses the first couple of weeks. Elbie's also about to start doing two sets of obedience classes (one on Sat and one on Sun), so there would be more socialisation ops for the pup there. We'd also probably invite any Canberra-DOLers who were interested over to our house for a puppy cuddle party. We were originally looking at getting a female and naming her Cupcake so would have had a Cupcake Cuddle Party with cupcakes, but may now need to rethink the menu. :D

My OH spends a lot of his time shaking his head at me. It will fall off one of these days. He tells me: Internet people. Internet fora - do not argue. There's no point. People will argue in circles forever and never reach agreement. He tells me: "You think it's just one more reply but it will just keep going and going and going ..."

After reading this thread, my challenge of the day is for Kumatheakita to sneak Kuma into a hotelroom without anyone knowing. Perhaps pretend he is a big, cuddley trolley. Of course I am joking and would never be advocating Bad Behaviour.

Literature varies. Then again, some literature implies that if you don't get your dog from a pup you are Doomed and your little dog, too. Other places say: "It's never too late and you CAN teach an old dog new tricks blah blah". Who is to know what to believe? :D We had been intending to wait until Elbie was one but timing-wise it would be good now while one of us is still temporarily at home in order to help the pup settle in. We have had many long discussions.

I've been speaking with a LOT of people... my ear is recovering from being on the phone so much. I have heard a LOT of information, good and bad about all sorts of dogs, pups and establishments. One pup we're looking at is already 3 months old. He's been hanging out with his pack, is well-behaved, temperaments of all pups in the litter have 'emerged'. I know that (some) literature says that the critical socialisation periods are up to 12 weeks but does anyone have any thoughts on getting a pup after that 12 week period? There are some advantages for us even though we miss the squishy-eyed, bewildered, roly poly puppy moments. We like this one so far because unlike some of the others, the breeder wanted to chat for hours about each pup ... describing them in detail, pondering their personalities. I've found that breeders of working kelpies can be a bit clinical about the process and some of them churn out pups every month and this one only breeds once every few years and she's very picky about where she places the pup. She was also recommended by WKC as conscientious and responsible. Totally sexist of me but a lot of the working line kelpie breeders are males and kind of blokey and it was refreshing to talk to a female who was cooey about her dog and describing rubbing her tummy while she was in labour. The guys were definitely not like that, especially the one who said I should buy Cesar Milan books.

The cosy corner welcomes you. I have been burnt before and therefore cower in my corner like a hand-shy, unsocialised pup. Regarding The Great Kelpie Hunt, what think you of this hideous little beast? :D

Oh man ... Poor you! And yes ... thank goodness it wan't one of the Kelpies.

Happy Birthday Daisy of the Happy Tail

aussielover is awesome with Mindy - patient and gives the pup as much love and devotion as if she were her own. Mindy is well-socialised and aussielover clearly takes her duties very seriously. Mindy has been with aussielover some months now and this definitely isn't a "OMG I have a new puppy, it is annoying and I can't cope" situation. I think even the most patient and adoring of owners is entitled to expression a moment of frustration now and then, especially in a forum where there ARE people who are sympathetic to her situation and know that our dogs can drive us bananas now and then. I adore my little dog and people here know it. If I ever posted: "Argh he's driving me crazy, I'm going to send him to the glue factory" - I doubt anyone would take me seriously ...

Will reply to Max's and Mars' origin stories later - the evening has flown away from me because I've spent ages on the phone today on The Great Kelpie Hunt ... but I did want to address this. This is indeed the comfy corner and I really hope that no one comes into this thread and attacks you for having bought Max from a pet store. I certainly won't, given that Elbie's from a Goulburn backyard breeder and we love our pups once they're ours and it's not their fault that they came from where they did. We're all dog lovers and we're of course all horrified by the thought that pet stores source dogs from puppy farms where dogs live in horrific conditions. The thing is, while in an ideal world, before you got a dog you would research everything you needed to know before diving in ... the fact is, for many people like me, I only started learning all about things dogly after I got my puppy. Before I got my puppy I researched things like food, crate-training, toilet-training etc - the kind of bare necessities. Growing up, my family were poor so the idea of a purebred dog was a luxury and it's hard to shake off things like that. It was only after Elbie that I learned more about dogs and the Problems. These days, I definitely will try to talk people out of buying from a pet store - now that I have a dog, I understand how serious temperament and behavioural issues can be. Now that I monitor the rescue sub-forum every day, I realise how tragic the plight of many dogs is. I was in a pet store the other day and heard 3 kids trying to convince their dad to buy one of the cavoodles/spitzoodles/beagliers (sic) in the window. They were promising to pick up poo, take it for walks, change its water - all the promises that kids make until they get bored of their new toy. I can see now why pet shops that sell puppies can be so evil. I really wanted to go up to them and tell the father not to buy it for them, to buy from the pound or the RSPCA if he really wanted to get a dog because the pet shop dogs were probably puppy farm dogs - ill-health, overpriced and born out of misery and exploitation. My OH reminded me of the Prime Directive which is not to interfere with the aliens... We walked for a bit but he said that if the kids were still there when we walked past again, he wouldn't try to stop me. They were gone so I didn't have to try to be the crazy stranger lady going up to try to preach to them. I could just see that it was a sad story waiting to happen, with the dog ending up at the pound. Anyway, the convoluted thing I wanted to say is that I learned the above by being reading articles/stories here and elsewhere and not by being ranted at or preached at by rude people (even though yes, I was contemplating being that weirdo going up and preaching at a bunch of strangers ). The irony for me in all this is that for our second dog, I intend to get a purebred dog but technically speaking, working kelpies aren't recognised by the ANKC which makes me wonder whether a breeder of a working line kelpie would be classified (under this forum's rules anyway) as a backyard breeder. Oh dear. Anyway, I shall abandon that thought there lest this thread be smote by the powers that be.

Why does everyone feel like they have to lurk? This thread is for anyone who wants to to share Photos (Artistic Photos and the sort I share - Less Artistic But With An Ahem Story) and stories of our Sometimes Less Than Perfect Doggies. Asti is extremely cute. Please post away and share stories and photos. Asti is definitely NOT the only juice bottle addict ... Elbie has a strange addiction. We have 3 juice bottles out in the yard and 2 as "back up/reinforcements" in the kitchen. Elbie's favourite thing is to carry one by the handle and run around the yard with it. Then he attacks it like the mOnStEr he is! Also, Niques ... SammieS. I regret to inform you that badger suffered a further injury tonight. While I was on the phone investigating The Great Kelpie Hunt, he waved this terrifying sight before my appalled orbs. Poor badger. MavericksMission: Wee Maverick ... oh those eyes ... He has also grown up into the most handsome and soulful-looking dog. I do have to say though that I believe that your Photo of Canine-Caused Destruction might win the prize for Ultimate Destructor. It was very impressive. I also like the impression on Maverick's face as he sits amidst his Destruction - very chilled and nonchalant: 'Who me?' Hector! Also has Eyes of Limpid Expressiveness. Not only when he was a wee pup, but he still has them. Sooo cute. Also, how on earth do you work at a shelter? I'm so lucky I don't, OH would be horrified at the hordes of dogs I would be bringing home: "Just this one last one ...." lilli_star: You didn't need to buy a BonFido bed - you could have asked Kuma for his - I still remember this pic which Kumatheakita posted once before For some reason we all seem to have bought the same dog bed. Good luck with your essay!!!! Awwwwww ... but won't it be so cute when you can post lots of pictures of your puppy? I love how puppy eyes are always so bewildered and confused like they're spaced out on life or something.