Weasels

Well since Sunday is looking to be frikkin glorious I'm thinking I might head down to Rockingham beach on Sunday morning around 10am. If anyone else is feeling tempted to bask in the spring sun I'll see you there :D

Glad it was helpful :) I've had trouble like that with Weez too, initially I was a bit in denial (because our other dog is a massive pat addict!), then I was worried he disliked all pats and he was just suffereing through them for our sake But I'm getting much better and picking up that sometimes he wants pats and sometimes he doesnt, and figuring out which is which :)

I was told (and have come to believe!) that you will always ruin your first dog while you are learning, so it might not be the worst thing to learn the basics on Indie so you can do better by your next dog :p Age is generally >12 months for regular training :) keen to hear how you go! Friday is the only training day I won't be there for the next few months, but I hope you have a great time!

I think your best bet would be the Bunbury & Districts Dog Club http://www.dogswest.com/dogswest/Clubs-All_Breeds_Dog_Clubs-Bunbury__Districts_Dog_Club.htm Google brought this up too - http://www.benotto.com.au/agility-training.html Bunbury has more agility options than Rockingham! :laugh: Maybe I should move even further out

Yes Poor doggies - but it's always that little bit harder to see when they look like your own little scruffers They do interstate adoptions regularly, plenty even get flown over to Perth! :)

I got an email yesterday that training is back on :) So if you email again now you could enquire about coming down to have a look or testing out Indie's instinct :) Sorry not sure about any other Aussie breeders but if you try the Aussie thread in the breed subforums they should know :) Edit - Welcome to the West Whitka! :D

So many lovely dogs and puppies at AWDRI dumped for no good reason, I hope your friend and one of their beautiful pups can find a perfect match with each other :D

I think that's a great idea, I'm never quite sure what to say when someone asks if they can pat my dogs because sometimes they're cool and sometimes they won't stay still and want to go run instead :)

Yah, I'm pretty sure Chess believes that as long as we are at home and awake that there's no reason we shouldn't be either patting her or throwing a ball :laugh: I think most of the Boxers I've met have been like that Trina :) If I'm not too sure about a dog that's not mine I generally go for butt-rubs, if they lean into me it's patapalooza, if they move away then that's cool too :)

Ah my dogs get on better with herding and circling kinds of dogs, they 'understand' that particular type of play ;) I go out pretty early during the week, but tend to head out to local beaches and parks at a more civilised hour on the weekends :) Last time I saw Steph she had a serious case of man-flu, so I wouldn't take the lack of reply personally :) I'll let you know when training is back on if you'd like.

My boy often has conflicted body language around people and I struggle to read him sometimes. So I've been trying out this 'consent test' (obvious in retrospect!) on him and come up with a resounding: sometimes. The little foxdog on the other hand, will not leave any doubt when she feels the humans haven't reached their pat quota :laugh: So - does your dog really want to be patted?

Oh I live in that area too :) Unfortunately my dogs are getting more reserved as they get older and seem to prefer Serious Business like ball-chasing and training rather than playing with other dogs these days Beautiful girl! I think there was supposed to be some 'come and try' days at the trials earlier this year, but no-one was quite sure so I dunno what happened there :laugh: I wouldn't worry too much, if you are interested in Aussies you're in good already :p She just had some of the most amazing pups, if I wasn't so kelpie-smitten I would've been sorely tempted to smuggle one out under my jacket! If you have been in contact with Steph tho she is the best person to speak to get started in herding as our all-knowing trainer and organiser

Hi Mashlee08 :) Yes we do herding down south near Mandurah, but training is on hold at the moment, for at least the next 2 weeks :) If you want to know more I can hopefully answer your questions or you can email the club - [email protected] :) I loooooove Tervs :D

I used a cheapie 10m horse lunging rein from the local pet supply store - I found I was more likely to step on it than grab it so flat was good, so it depends what's more comfy for you :)

I bought one of these recently too - the crate hasn't left the house yet but it will be doing a trip to the Royal in a few weeks :) Very happy with the construction, shipped very quickly and for a great price to WA :)

Perhaps he's concerned about being replaced in your affections by a certain shiny white interloper?

great work, and the Kikopup videos are a fantastic resource! Just on the tone - it's more important that the tone you use is consistent rather than how it sounds to human ears :) If you train with one tone/inflection and then use a different one out at the park, for example, that can be confusing. So if you pick a way of saying the cues that you can do every time that will be one less thing the dog will have to decipher from this strange talky human :D (edit: or you need to train the cue with every inflection you plan to use; if you go down this route, including your Panic! voice for recalls and stays is a very good idea!)

Patience! :) Patience patience patience. If training a dog was as easy and reliable as programming a robot, everyone would have perfect dogs ;) It's hard to say what your dog is thinking when she sits looking at you. She may be conflicted. She may be confused. She may have a 'poisoned cue'. It will take time for you and her to learn to communicate effectively, but it sounds like you've got a great combination of a smart dog and a dedicated owner - you'll get there :)

My absolute favouritest part of the world :) Thanks for posting these!

I recently read a book where a scientist was arguing (not very convincingly IMO) that there was no such thing as a pure dingo. If scientists can't even agree on where 'purity' starts and ends with breeds separated for thousands of years, it seems unlikely that people will agree for lineages mostly a couple hundred years deep :)

I always think of 'purebred' to mean a dog with papers. My dogs both look and act like kelpies down to the bone but they're still my little rescue mutts :)

Be careful and use your own judgement. There is at least one trainer in WA who, from what I've heard, recommends meds as the first method for most problems. Just go with your gut, and if you are at all uncomfortable don't hesiatate to seek a second opinion :)

:laugh: ok thanks MRB and Tassie, it looks like I could break my brain trying to figure out a pattern!

The term "Alpha" refers to a breeding male or female in a cohesive or semi-cohesive social group, it isn't technically a description of temperament. Horty it sounds like what you are describing is a confident dog with good social skills :) -- I wish my dogs would even pretend to care enough about each other to show protectiveness, frankly some days I think Chessy would be happier if Weez got carried away by the ants :laugh:

Can they get a crate or 2 and separate the dogs, so the foster doesn't get a chance to practice the behaviour?