whiskedaway

Aww won't be there this time. Will be in the car on the way to Melbourne to visit our puppy.

TBH, I wouldn't really know because so far I've only been there as a spectator. I haven't started showing yet (though I've spent the day with exhibitors), and when I do it'll be in group 5, which I've never noticed a problem in before and jr_inoz confirmed that. I just think it's sad that the stories stop people coming to SA. And yes, I've heard about the allocated spots. Hopefully it's not something that goes ahead.

So it's the hound ring where this self-important carrying on is happening? Great, nice work on welcoming the newbies folks. Note to self - give SA shows a BIG miss. It's quite sad that some exhibitors here give our state a bad name.

I was going to ask what breed but saw under you display pic it says a lappie? is that right? You will have a ball, avoid the bitchiness and showing is the best! Yep, we're getting a lappie. I've already made a few friends who show regularly, and I know I'll get stacks of help from them.

What rule is this? the only shows I know of which limit dogs allowed is Royal shows. At a royal the only dogs allowed are those entered. But I have not heard of any other shows being limited in this regard. I was thinking the exact same thing. We will bring our Sibe along when we're showing so she's not left alone at home all day. There are stacks of people that bring other dogs along to shows in SA, and I have as a spectator.

Are you getting a puppy from Bokezu? I know they had a Vizsla litter born last week. I love Vizslas, I used to own two, and I see you're in SA. We should make a play date when we've both got our puppies.

I'll be hitting the ring for the first time in March with our new show puppy who arrives in January. I'm quite excited and have already bought show clothes to wear and a few things for the puppy. The only handling experience I've had has been one show training class with my older dog, Akira, and handling Lyndsay's dog Maizie in judging exams when she had to handle two dogs at once. Akira and I have been practicing at home though, so hopefully I won't be too nervous when we get to March.

Wonderful stories. Inky looks so much like my gorgeous Sox.

Provided you don't put her in situations where she might feel the need to that's fine. However she shouldn't be expected to allow the pup to eat from her bowl, take her toys or a bone etc. Oh of course. Akira and the pup will be separated during feed times, and we'll teach the pup not to hassle Akira as well. They'll be separated when we're not able to supervise as well. I actually meant that Akira won't be allowed to resource guard things that she's not using and the puppy happens to pick up - mostly shared toys, we don't leave food out. She's had no problems with her friend, Ella, playing with her toys or going in her kennel, so I'm hoping it won't be an issue.

The fact she is so young is what has me so worried! I would have though that because of their independent nature, something like resource guarding would be seen in sibes a bit. You say its not at all natural for a Sibe? I'm pretty sure they got this dog from a BYBer... Rarely have I seen it and when I have, it's been in rescue dogs that were abused or dogs that had dominated over their owners. I have owned three Mallies and eleven Siberians and NOT ONE of them has ever resource guarded where humans are concerned. I would die if any of my Sibes acted like that :D That pup needs to be taught some serious manners, better still, her owners need a boot up the backside for encouraging that sort of behaviour and probably need some serious training themselves!! My Sibe is essentially a BYB and has never resource guarded food or toys. I can take anything off her and she knows that it's mine. And there is no way she will be allowed to resource guard when we have the new puppy.

The Sibes definitely enjoy rough play, or at least Akira does - she's the first to body slam, and when we're finally back at meets she'll be wanting someone to play rough with because we'll be keeping her from being too rough with Halo in case she accidentally hurts her. The Lappies are a little more laid back, depends on the dog whether they can handle rough play or not. Most of the lappies I've met have been able to handle Akira.

We're not going to make the first two meets - the January one is the day we're driving to Melbourne to see our puppy, and at the February one Halo won't be fully vaccinated so we probably won't bring Akira either.

That really is a great list of achievements. My almost 10 month old can't do all that stuff, haha. We're off to Melbourne on the 2nd of January to see the puppies. I can't wait! They'll be five weeks old at the time so a pretty good age I think. Hopefully we'll find out which one is ours when we're over there.

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Pretty sure she'll be coming home in the last week of January. And we're getting a Finnish Lapphund.

Awww, very cute! Merry Christmas to you too.

Gah, I'm so behind, I need to upload all of my photos for the last few weeks. Maybe when I get home tonight. I'll be doing it again next year, but with Halo. Will get a photo in week 1 as we're going to visit, but I'll have to rely on some shots from the breeder until she comes home at the end of January.

Our Sibe is nearly 10 months old. We realised she was becoming a stroppy teenager at about six months old when she stopped listening to anything we said. Four months later, and we've suddenly noticed that she's a lot better, yet still has her times when she gives us the metaphorical finger. She's got lots of boundaries in place (which is important for a Sibe anyway because they thrive on rules) and we try to remain as consistent as possible. I just keep telling myself to be patient, which can be really hard at times.

We're the same. We haven't come up with a plan, and all either of us say is that really hope it never comes to that, but I'd probably have to let Akira go if it came to that. She is much more bonded to my OH than she is to me. At this point in time (not knowing how she is going to grow up) Halo would come with me because while she is both of ours, we got her for me to show. If she was more bonded to OH, I'd probably have to let both of them go. We'd do what is best for our dogs.

Our Husky was 10 weeks when we got her and we decided that socialisation was more important than the risk of disease. We took Akira to friend's houses to meet them and their adult fully-vaccinated dogs, and for us who had a problem child (that is, scared of all adult humans thanks to her lack of socialisation before we got her) it was invaluable. She wasn't allowed to walk anywhere but because she was small enough at the time she got carried around. We will do the exact same thing with Halo when we get her in January. I feel that socialisation is so important, and she'll be introduced to as many different things as possible - except chickens. We learnt that lesson with Akira!

Increase it I'd say. I agree with increase it. While I don't have a Jap or German Spitz, I have a Sibe (so a Spitz breed) and while talkative, she's not too bad at home - for example, I haven't had to teach her the quiet command. However, when she's with her friend Ella (a Lappie and another Spitz breed) my Sibe is VERY talkative and I regret not teaching her to be quiet!

Akira's the same. Spitz tend to be very vocal dogs so you'd normally expect growling during play.

Akira gets harder eye boogies all year round, but lately they've been getting a bit more gooey and I'm having to clean her eyes a couple of times a day. She gets hayfever, so I'm pretty sure that's what's causing it.

Yikes! That's double what you'd pay for a Whippet! It's about double what you'd pay for a Sibe too.