minxy

I think that's a really lovely idea. I still have to think of something to give my mum. I also want to give a gift to my sister who just became a mother in January.

Tell me about it. My fingers are absolutely throbbing when I come home from dog training. Kyojin and I aren't coordinated enough for me to drop treats above his head for him to catch. Instead I get overly enthusiastic ginormous Akita chompers snatching frankies out of my hands.

I agree 100% I am not anti-kids, just think they don't belong at at dog park (just like I'd never take my dog to kid's playground). My girl LOVES children, they are very reinforcing for her (still being a puppy)- sadly in my experiences , squealing and running make it very difficult to stop her from getting over excited. I've also had kids trying to climb over her. Grrrr I know not all kids are like this. I think it's great for anyone (child or adult) to ask to pat/approach you dog. I have yet to have a good experience. Yea, I don't think kids belong in a designated dog park either. I really don't understand why I see people leave their baby in a pram smack bang in the middle of the big dog section either

I'm so sorry to hear that

Currently only for sleeping. Kyojin's never needed confinement, otherwise I would have used it for that as well. If I had a more active breed, I'm sure it would have gotten a lot of use in the day too. It probably would be very handy for car travel, but the one I got is the biggest metal one you can get, so I don't know if I could even fit it in the Jeep, but I know it's way too heavy for me.

I would be annoyed and complain too. I think it's very unprofessional that they didn't notice or seem to care, or give you a report as promised. Fair enough if they don't know how the scratches got there, but I would expect that they would inform you that they noticed scratches and that they had either applied xyz ointment to it, or determined that they were superficial and didn't need treatment at this point in time but to keep an eye on them... etc etc.

Is that an Aussie Shepherd or a Border Collie in the photo? Do you mean Sparky's signature?? If so, that's a Finnish Lapphund

I didn't bother to ask my breeder how much Kyojin was going to cost until after OH and I had already decided that we wanted him. Price really was the least of my concerns. Yes he did cost a fair bit of money, but I'm going to have 10 or so wonderful years with him, which to me is worth every cent.

I LOVE black clothes. My two ginger ninjas completely ruin this for me. I don't think I own a single piece of clothing that isn't covered in cat hair And my white doona cover is looking pretty grubby from the dog slobbering next to the bed to get my attention. Can't win!

Kyojin goes to bed whenever we go to bed. This could be 9pm or 2am etc (though 9pm is much more likely for us ) He sleeps in his crate in the bedroom with us. If I start turning off lights he knows that this means bedtime so a lot of the time he'll put himself to bed.

My Rotty (at my parents place) has a docked tail. Our rotty before that did also. To me, rotties with tails look so bizarre because I'm just not used to it.

Yep I just checked my roster, Im not on that weekend so I can come!...where is it again? it will just be me and Lexi, not putting Tess in that sort of environment Hey!! Murarrie Recreation Reserve Just click the link on the first page of the Brissie Million Paws Walk topic. Will PM you the details just in case Dandy hasn't already done it. I also have to send it to Kitt so will do now! Can you please PM me too? I'm hoping to be able to come to it

The video footage would be worth it, though! Oh God, it would be Funniest Home Videos worthy, that's for sure! You'd hear "Ruby! Up!" then *crash!* *Sound of breaking bones* Followed by me sprawled head first into the dirt. "Ooffff..owwwwww...getoffme...Ican'tbreathe!Ruby!" And Ruby going *Bum wiggle, bum wiggle* "Did I do it? Huh? Mama? Did I do good? Hey? Whaddya think? Mama? Geddup!" :) ;) Yeah, do it! When you win AFHV you can spend the money you win on physio and restorative treatments!! I really want to teach Kuma "up" so he puts his paws on my shoulders, but am wary of setting a bad precedence (i.e. he'll do it when I don't want it). He already paws up to my waist and tries to hug me I was worried about this too when we taught Kyojin it, but so far he's never thrown himself against us without us asking him to (except for when we first taught him & there was the occasional confusion with hi 5)

Aww, lovely photos and videos everyone. Willow is sooo cute! Kylie: I love Echo on the treadmill. Do they make different sized doggy treadmills?? KTB that's so funny that Hoover was falling asleep on Elbie while standing up!

I think I want a Kelpie puppy now

I watched just under half of the video, and to me, they weren't kicks. You can see that he is careful with the amount of force used.

Have to agree with this. Greyhounds can be annoyingly intelligent (our current foster figured out how to climb part-way up a tree to be able to look over the fence at the neighbour's dogs)) but as far as training goes.. the best we've ever managed was teaching a few how to sit (and even that was a struggle). Greyhounds learn things very quickly (especially when it relates to stealing food) but they just aren't interested in doing silly tricks to entertain someone else. If anything, I'd say this makes them even smarter This has always been my theory too. Kyojin picks everything up straight away, but if he can't see the point in doing it, why would he?? People view intelligence in different ways.

I like to think that Kyojin does it because he's just sooo excited about smelling wonderful and being so clean that he'll stay really, really clean for me this time

Another vote for CKCS

It's much easier for us to have doggy friends. We have so many cane toads around our place that unless we're going somewhere we can take Kyojin, or the inlaws are able to mind him for a few hours (he has play dates with their GR), we just don't go out at night. I'd much rather go somewhere we can take him, or have people come to ours, than leave him at home.

Definitely, definitely not Edit: fix quoting

Not until the stitches come out. Is he just a bit smelly or he is muddy etc? If he's just a bit on the nose I'd spray him with a bit of doggy cologne for in the meantime. Otherwise, you could just pat him down with a warm wet towel.

OH and I had both always wanted a Husky. In doing my Husky research I discovered Akitas for the first time. That it was it for me then. Same attributes I liked about Huskies, but a few more bonuses too. For OH and I, we wanted a dog that is independant, but still happy to have a cuddle. Perfect balance for us with Kyojin. He generally likes to be in the same room or the one next to us so that he can still keep up with what's going on, but we don't feel like we're constantly having to find things to keep him busy. He entertains himself a lot, or plays with one of our cats. I like big dogs for lots of reasons, so obviously an Akita fits that very well. I love their coat - the feel of it and also that he doesn't really have much of a doggy smell, and doesn't really shed at all (other than when he will have a huge coat blow). I like that they are very quiet dogs. He won't bark unless he hears someone coming to the front door. And even then, it's never more than say 3 woofs. This is exactly what we wanted. I could never have a dog that barks a lot. His personality in general suits us very well and even if I wanted to have another breed, it'd definitely be at the same time as having an Akita.

She's soooo cute! Love the photo of her in the car. How is she settling in?