Roova

There's nothing better than a little doggie to love, and to love you. I'm glad your pup is making you happy! I notice you said the puppy never leaves your side so my apologies if you're already doing this, but I wanted to suggest taking a moment each day to teach her how to cope being alone. I would hate to think she might suffer from separation anxiety when you're not there as once the damage is done it can be hard working building confidence again. For those times you might need to leave her with friends, in a boarding kennel, at the vets or just to leave the house for shopping etc you don't want her stressing and anxious and maybe barking or scrabbling at the door etc. Do you need any tips or are you already all over this?

Hahaha cute! Not sure whats on the right but it looks like he's giving someone a back massage

Nearly forgot to post. Dropped in to check out mermaid beach this morning. The sand was warm and crisp and every time I'm there I think why don't I come more often?

Oh poor kid Teekay. His arm looks so tiny! Hope he's out soon and ok.

That definitely doesn't seem right and I imagine it was pretty expensive too! You definitely want to be able to put private things in there which bring back lovely memories when you want to look through them. How odd its so large yet screwed shut!

SM I'm so sorry your gorgeous boy is gone. I just dread this part of loving our dogs. Ive really enjoyed looking at his photos and hearing of his antics , he was an awesome little dog. I'm really sorry for your loss.

How about shade cloth? Its pretty thick while still allowing for drainage and should be easy to lay on top without damaging boards underneath?

A nice outing on what looks a lovely day. The black kelpie is gorgeous, so shiny!

Just wow! What an incredible shot!! Mine is a bull ant nest I nearly walked face first in to whilst doing some gardening this morning. Sooo close Edited to say sorry I didn't realise the photo would be so huge!

Sounds like a tough situation to be in, Im sorry you were left high and dry by the rescue. They should have been giving you advice and management help from day one. I suspect your dog goes nuts at other dogs in an attempt to keep them away through fear more than aggression. The problem is every time he's put in a situation where he feels he has to behave this way the more he gets to practice it and the harder it will be for you to build his confidence again. At the beginning he probably displayed subtle body language letting his person know he was feeling uncomfortable and wanted more space (think of this as whispering) but where this was ignored or missed he's had to revert to really obvious body language to be heard (yelling). Definitely don't growl at him for showing you how he feels, it's the quickest way to have a dog which goes straight for a bite. Re a behaviourist my suggestion is to find someone who practices force free training. I found a trainer in Melbourne who is part of an awesome guild of force free trainers - fingers crossed they're somewhere near you. http://petprofessionalguild.com/Sys/PublicProfile/28664856 There's also a great facebook page called Reactive dogs UK which is amazing for advice on reactivity. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1633448230248202/ This is also a great page on dealing with fearful dogs. It has great resources for learning how to counter condition, operant conditioning and de-sensitisation to help with different degrees of fearfulness or anxiety to help them feel safe and learn. http://fearfuldogs.com/ I wish you luck, thanks for caring enough to seek help.

Wow nice capture! Cameras on phones are just getting better and better aren't they (and a lot easier to go on walks with).

Looks great!

Looks like she's living a cats dream life out there. Your view looks amazing!

Lovely colours and relaxed feel!

Cool photos!! Love the planes, great shot. Mine is from a walk Poppy and I took today. The canal water was quite smooth so the reflections caught my eye.

There's always one isn't there! Assuming Hugo doesn't behave this way when you are with him, it sounds like he has some separation anxiety. A sudden change in schedule can set it off and Im sure you're aware you may need to work on building his confidence up to being alone in increments. Can you consider having him in a crate in your room so you can sleep through the night whilst working on him being alone through the day? Once he can handle that you can move the crate gradually out of your room, the same as if he were a puppy. Some great tips here if you need them. http://www.clickertraining.com/node/1556

I can see why! Wonderful photos and well deserved awards!!

You're going to need waaaaay more than just one over potentially 15 years of owing a very smart breed Labs are very smart too so hopefully she is also offered plenty of enrichment and brain activities (beyond walks). For pups and adult dogs its a good idea to keep chew and play items constantly rotating and changing because with predictability come boredom. A bored dog looking to keep his mind engaged will find his own entertainment and it may not be something you like. Boredom can show in chewing inappropriate thing or in behaviours like barking, digging, obsessive behaviour's and it can contribute to separation anxiety. You should also manage their environment so things you don't want destroyed are removed from reach or access blocked behind gates. Generally the things you see them get enjoyment from are what you try and provide. Some like digging, some eating, some playing, some chewing or ripping etc, some like it all!. Some people stop buying soft toys because their pup or dogs rips them up but every time that happens, the toy did its job. Kept the dog busy and not chewing a table leg! Buying only indestructible toys is only useful if the dog enjoys interacting with them. Most pups and dogs like ripping and chewing so you can buy cheap soft toys from a second hand shops (remove hard eyes) or car boot sales and garage sales etc. Cheap and messy but easy to clean up and way less expensive than replacing plants or furniture. You could try stuffing a soft toy inside a box and letting your dog find it, then start taping the box up so he has to rip the box open. You can stuff the box with newspaper scrunched around kibble or chew items, their favorite toy and then smaller boxes inside larger ones and so on. You can eventually get to the point of taping up every corner on the box and it becomes a real challenge for the dog to get to everything. He gets his own reward as he finds a piece of kibble or a soft toy for destroying. Soft cardboard like cereal boxes are easy to start with and you can move up to heavy cardboard. You could try kibble in an empty milk container, a kids wading pool full of sand with toys or chew items buried underneath (start by letting them see you hide things under there), big meaty bones (non weight bearing), a tub of toys with treats dropped in etc. If you search the internet on enrichment for dogs you can see the limit is your imagination really! Here's just one to get your started. http://blog.smartanimaltraining.com/2014/02/06/enrichment-8-easy-ways-to-increase-your-dogs-quality-of-life/ The above is great for daily stuff but won't probably be enough to keep that smart mind engaged. Working dogs need an outlet for their energy and mental needs so would benefit from ongoing training and sport activities like agility, obedience,herding, trick training, cani cross, fly ball etc. If you truly want a back yard dog as a companion for a dog which can't exercise a great deal or one where you know you honestly don't want to do training and mental enrichment, you might need to look for a less demanding breed? Just a thought, I'd hate to think either of you end up unhappy together.

I saw this article elsewhere and thought it was interesting food for thought, especially for those doing dog sports. I don't know much about it but just thought I'd share the article

I'm sorry you lost your gorgeous Fonz . I can't imagine anything more a little dog could want than 10 happy years with a family who loved him. RIP Fonzy.

Re your comment "Just wish I knew what prompts them to suddenly do it". Do you feel it could come from them being anxious or stressed or reacting to you being anxious or stressed? I was reading its a reasonably common reason for changes in behaviour but unfortunately the three main suggestions while trying to resolve it have already been given, limit access, tether the dog when inside or have them in an ex pen. I also found this comment: Dr. Karen Overall advises clients to ask the following question, “Is the dog doing this because he/she wants to do it, or is the dog doing this because he/she must do it? Dogs who want to mark but are not compelled to do so are usually normal, but dogs who feel they must mark in a certain spot are likely anxious and would benefit from treatment” [of the anxiety].

Just wanted to say this sounds like a really tough situation to be living with. I really feel for you especially having a toddler, you must feel like you're forever wiping up something!

I would think the only way to stop the behaviour is put them in a position where they can't perform it? Limiting their access when inside with baby gates, alternating crate time or putting them on lead and attached to a person when they're out of their crate so they can't 'sneak off'. Hopefully once they've settled in and been taken back outside for regular toileting and praise they'll have broken the habit? You might need to up their exercise or enrichment activities over this time but its a much cheaper option especially if it saves them from being rehomed. It may very well be they behave the same in someone else's home and that's not going to end well for them. Good luck!

We did ok here too. Lost some branches off trees in the backyard and had to get in the roof to find a leak one night but nothing compared to other places. My plants are pretty happy now we've had rain followed by sunshine. My mint which seemed tiny not that long ago has boomed! The grass needs a mow too but its still so squishy.

I can't help you sorry but just wanted to wish you the best of luck. I really hope you find a great breeder and puppy soon