James Bond

Hi guys - we are also in Mordialloc. We have a labrador of uncertain age called Ben. We normally walk him at the dog park near Don Tatnell leisure centre, round Mordialloc creek or along the beach between the horse and the Parkdale beach cafe. One great place for taking dogs for breakfast is Parkers cafe on Parkers road in Parkdale. JB

Hello again Well as some of you know we took on a big Lab as a rescue dog a few months ago and needed a lot of help bringing him in line - thanks to everyone here who offered advice. He's such a different dog now - fantastic with the kids, well trained around the house. He's a great dog - not phased by anything, not bothered by thunder or the neighbours dogs barking, happy to do what we're doing in general. We've solved the unwanted barking issue with a citronella collar which he doesn't need to wear any more now and we've solved the recall issue with cooked lamb or beef rewards which interest him much more than the dried liver treats. He still stays on the long lead though - I'm not quite ready to let him off completely. I was sooo proud of him this evening. We took him for his regular evening walk on the beach and got talking to a lady who had a kelpie/huntaway cross puppy, 6 month old female. Ben was socialising with the puppy and being very good - apparently it was quite a nervous dog and the lady was very happy with how our much larger dog was playing. Then out of nowhere this male staff came bounding up, off the lead and no owner anywhere in sight. It proceeded to pin the poor kelpie puppy to the ground and trying to mate with it. The lady was horrified. Ben to the rescue! Ben barked at the staff, showed it his teeth (which he never normally does) and physically pushed it off the kelpie puppy and chased the staff away. Then he came back and sat down with us. I was so proud - it was like something out of a lassie movie! The lady was very impressed and described Ben as "saving her dog's honour"! Unfortunately Ben then lost brownie points by eating a jellyfish.....we can't all be perfect! Here's a couple of piccies of Ben with the kids. JB

Hi - thanks for that, we are now aware of the correct amount of food! The RSPCA told us to give him 2.5 cups of Hills Science twice a day when we got him - now he is on 1.5 cups tops and less if he is getting training treats. I wish they had told us the right amount to start off with JB

Hi guys A few weeks ago we rescued our Labrador from the RSPCA pound. He was fairly badly mannered although he had obviously had some training at some point. He was jumping up, ignoring commands and generally being a PITA. Some of you have met him at Kepala. He's getting on really really well now. He's graduated from puppy primary school - which was really fantastic. He is now much much more obedient and has learned that I am "top dog" . He understands and is obedient to - sit, wait, down, yuk, leave, close, no play, in and out (of the car), eat, take and 90% of the time he will come running to "Ben, Come! Quick! Quick!" which is what the trainer taught us and works very well. We're working on the other 10%. He no longer jumps all over the kids which is just GREAT as he's 40kg of fun! They love him and they're even walking him under supervision and playing with him. He ripped up his bed unfortunately, he wasn't being destructive, he just wanted his bed out of his kennel but only half of it came! So we mended that bed and bought him a rogz tougher bed to have outside the kennel for day naps. There's just a couple of things left to sort out, then we can work on more and more positives. He's a bit barky - he wants constant attention. he does get a lot of walks and play as my wife is home all day, however we can't entertain him 24/7! We've had to resort to squirting him with water spray when he barks a lot, which works well, and we've ordered a Citronella collar too which will probably be a bit nicer for him. Our lovely neighbours told us they were very pleased that he barked at them when they were up on their roof as they felt he would scare off any burglars :rolleyes: . But even they probably want the odd quiet lie in! The other thing that I don't like much is that he nips other dogs a lot when he's playing with them. I haven't got a plan to deal with this yet so if anyone has any advice it would be much appreciated. He's not being aggressive but it doesn't look very good! So he's 100% a different and improved dog from when he arrived and we're all very pleased! Thanks to everyone on this great forum for their advice and help so far. JB

He is a totally gorgeous boy with the very best temperament, but you wouldn't find his chat funny if your ear drums felt like they were gonna burst. He is LOUD but like a lot of herding breeds, his bark ends on a high, piercing topnote that is hard to describe but you'd know it if you heard it. He has quickly learnt that he can bark softly at the door to be let outside without getting a zap, but once that collar goes on, he has to be quiet. Funny story, in our previous house, we had floorboards right through the house so it was very "echo-ey". Benson slept in our bredroom most nights and one night he needed to go outside but no one would wake up. So he sat facing the corner of the room near the door and barked really loudly. It was so loud, the sound bounced back and frightened the life out of him, he dove under the bed and he's never barked loudly in the house again. Fantastic - that's amazing. We are having a wee problem with Ben barking right now - sometimes he's really good and other times he lets us have it! I've ordered a Citronella collar which we'll try - if it doesn't work we'll get one like you did. JB

Are the citronella collars or the vibratey collars better? and can you put them on at night? Ben woke me (and probably the neighbours) up at 4.50am this morning dealing with a possum in our plum tree........ JB

This is just the best photo ever! JB

Thank you so much for taking that picture! I forgot to take my camera JB

Thanks guys for a great day - I must apologise for Ben's behaviour - he gets so excited when dogs play with him that he doesn't want it to end and starts nipping them when they don't want to play any more which is a very bad habit that we will have to work at breaking. We have no idea how much he has socialised with other dogs up to now so it's all a bit starting from scratch! JB

Guys we'll bring something but as Miss Moneypenny is upstairs reading stories as we appear to have six kids for an unplanned sleepover I have no idea what! JB

We took Ben here today. Its 99% fenced and we had him off the lead doing some training. Then he went on a mission to one of the 1% bits and we couldn't catch him! Luckily he got distracted by an interesting smell and we were able to put him back on the lead. We think we have found a 100% fenced off area in Kingston Heath reserve - its a baseball diamond so hopefully they don't mind dogs tearing it up! JB

We look forward to meeting you too. Our real names are Simon, Fiona, Candice and Elloise!! JB

Hi, we're in Mordialloc, not a million miles away. Thanks for that. Its called Packer oval Reserve Thank you for taking the time to check it out! JB

Cool! Thank you - that's pretty local to us JB

Cool! Our girls love playing with older girls. Look forward to meeting you. JB

Thank you everyone for the advice. Lots of places to consider - great! JB

Thanks - looking forward to meeting you guys too. Will anyone have kids with them? We have a pair of 5 year old girls who would love to meet any other kids - they get bored of dog stuff after about 5 minutes ;) . JB

You should definately come JB. This will be only the 2nd time for me but it was so much fun and the dogs really love it. (Well 1 of mine was a big sook and spent most of the day hiding behind me and squealing when the other dogs approached him, but I'm hoping he will be more 'outgoing' this time around!) All you have to bring is a small contribution for lunch. We each bring a little (or alot) something and then share lunch together. Hope to see you there. :D Thank you - we intend to come. How will we know where the DOL people are when we get there? JB

Hi, we're in Mordialloc, not a million miles away. Thanks for that. If he won't come back when he's called JB, I'd argue its a bit early to be letting him loose in an offlead dog park if it has any other users. What's he like with other dogs? He's great with other dogs - he just wants to play and we all get tangled up in the 25m longline! One of the reasons I want to try him in an offlead dog park is to test his recall off the lead but in a safe environment where he can't run away - he comes about 80% of the time on the long line. JB

Hello, we would be interested in coming to the Kepala meet as well if you'll have us. We have only had Ben the labrador a short while so we've not been there before. What should we bring? And how much does it cost to get in etc? Thanks JB

Our lab loves swimming on the long line - I don't dare let him off even on dry land as his recall is a bit rubbish right now although getting better. Unfortunately our two favourite beaches are both very shallow quite a long way out so he doesn't actually often get the chance to do any more than paddle! Occasionally he falls between sandbars and gets a real swim . I am thinking of making an even longer line with another rope so he can get out a bit deeper. JB

Thank you! Excuse my ignorance - what is KCC? JB

Hi, we have a new rescue labrador, he's been with us three weeks and we're spending a lot of time trying to bring him up to scratch with training etc. He's perfect at many commands and rubbish at others! He was a stray so we don't know his history at all but he has obviously had some basic training. We daren't let him off the leash yet as he is very choosy about coming when called. We have him on a long rope on the beach which works well but it's nothing like being off-leash for us or him! He's very good at coming back if there's not much else to distract him but if there's a good scent to follow or another dog around I could wave a fillet steak under his nose and he wouldn't come I was wondering if anyone knew of a fenced off-leash place anywhere in SE Melbourne that we could let him off leash without fear of him not returning? Thanks for any advice JB