whiskedaway

We never did puppy school, however we do obedience and agility now at Para Districts Obedience Dog Club. There are some really good trainers, though it all depends on what breed of dog - we tend to get put into the too hard basket a little because we have a Sibe and Sibes have a reputation of being untrainable, but they're really good with border collies, shelties, GSDs, etc.

Oh so hard to choose!

The only bad injury I've had was caused by Akira a week after we got her. The idiot decided to put her head under the fence and got herself stuck, so as I flexed the fence back to pull her out I hurt her and she bit my finger in fear. All good, didn't bleed or anything - until two days later, when my finger swelled up, went bright red and started oozing. Feral. Ended up on antibiotics. Other than that, it's just been minor bruises and scratches, though yesterday my hand had bright red teeth marks where she decided to mouth me while I was trying to brush her pants.

I just signed up. It'll be good for training treats, as Akira is more than happy to work for kibble.

I don't show yet, but I have this exact same problem at obedience. My dog is NOT going to hold her stay if there's bait spread everywhere.

Good advice, if people are set against crate training a few photos won't change their view, it will just entrench any view they might have that you are a potentially unsuitable jailer. Completely agreed. My boss thinks that Akira sitting in her crate at work is horrible, and always goes on about how it looks like she's in prison. However she likes her crate, and at least I know she's got a place to escape if she's had enough of the guide dog puppy (or I have a place to put her if she needs to calm down!)

I have my happy girl in her soft crate.

Last couple of photos, seeing as it's closing day!

Completely agreed.

I get really bad hayfever (perennial acute rhinitis) and with Akira blowing coat at the moment, every time I sit down to brush her I'm blocked up ten minutes later. I'd go to the doctor and get an allergy test done if I were you.

I was looking at the first photo and thinking "there is no way that's Cherry" and then the rest of the photos were her so I told myself I was being silly. Just looked at it again and realised I was definitely right the first time! It's Daisy.

My girl never had a cone and she didn't touch her stitches at all. The one time she looked like she was going to, a sharp "No" stopped her in her tracks.

Love the outtake, TLC, it reminds me of how Akira reacted the instant I put the Santa hat on her. Sorry, no editing because they're fairly crap photos anyway. These are straight off the phone. I don't like this, Mum! Nom, nom, hats are made for chewing, not wearing! Muuuuch better.

Dju, I've been told the exactly the same thing by a trainer about how a Sibe was not the right breed for me. As others in the Spitz thread said to me, just ignore it. Take some advice on board about how to help him, but ignore the snarkiness. They probably wouldn't be very good with an overly intelligent breed either.

My dog will tell off any dog that tries to hump her by spinning round and giving a warning bark. She's had some dogs try to do it a few times and normally she has to tell them a couple of times and they'll stop after that. So for me, I don't need to actually correct a dog, but I keep an eye on her the entire time and make sure she doesn't get snappish. I've never seen her get aggressive, though, but it's still something that's in my mind. However, if she wasn't like that, I would do the same thing you did and tell the dog off, especially after asking the owner to keep the dog from doing it. That's just wrong.

Akira is a silly little kid, so someone from a kids band. Maybe Charlie from High 5?

Akira's not pedigree (apparently because of that she's not purebred either ) but we get stopped all the time by people asking what breed she is and wanting a pat. My morning walk at 5:30 involves a pat from the maintenance crew at the shopping centre, a pat from a cleaner and a bus driver who is at the interchange and gets out to say hi to her everyday. And that's in the morning! Her afternoon walk gets even more attention.

The Akita is a Spitz and so is the Shiba Inu. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spitz Come join us in the Spitz thread.

I wish my dog had her dew claws removed as a pup - we keep an eye on them (they got a trim the other day) but I'm always afraid she's going to rip them off running around like a loney. Likewise, if we ever take her sledding (which we're planning on doing next year) there are lots of things she could get them caught on and that worries me. Probably should have had them removed when she was desexed but I didn't think about it.

I'm pretty sure it depends on area, Bully. In our area we get a $10 discount for a dog being trained. Our dog's registration is currently $25 (desexed and microchipped), but when she passes grade 3, it's $15.

How do your dogs travel in the car? Are they crated, harnessed or travel in the back of a wagon in a caged off area?

Ummm it's letting them have a season that helps them reach full "maturity" due to hormone effect etc. There is no difference between de sexing at 8 weeks and de sexing before the first season at 6 months. I said closer to being sexually mature, not that she was sexually mature, plus Akira has grown maybe an inch if she's lucky since she was desexed. Most of her growth was done by the time she was desexed, other than the filling out side of things. A lot less growing is done after six months than after eight weeks. ETA: Just measured her. She was 20" tall when she was desexed at 6 months, now three months later she's 21" tall.

Haha, awesome! That makes Akira's clam pool look like a puddle.

One filthy Husky after deciding she was tired at the dog park so the best place to lie down and roll over was in a mud puddle.

It's normally taller and finer. Finer bones often mean less dense bones, which is something that matters for a pet owner because it means more possibility of fractures and breaks. And a big thick coat can be unmanageable - how many dogs get rehomed because the owner can't deal with the coat? I'm certain there is a lot. Rescues desex at a young age because they want to stop every possibility of that dog having puppies that could end up in the same situation as that dog was in. For them, the pros of desexing outweigh the cons. However, for an owner who might want to do dog sports like agility or flyball with their dog, desexing early can be a massive con.