Roova

I'm normally an early riser, as in 5.30am or before most mornings. Any time I'm really tired and sleep in I get a paw banging at the bedroom door at 6am or slightly past. How in the ? It's darker earlier in the morning now so how is it always 6am?! Once I'm awake I might as well get up but I try not to reward the rude awakening by opening the door straight away. I give myself a while to lie there cursing the dog first. I was wondering what other people's dogs regularly do and how accurate their clock is?

There was a blue Frenchie puppy on Gumtree today for $16000!! No mention about temperament or health testing for genetic problems. So depressing people keep paying more and more encouraging these greeders.

Wherever you can when raising a puppy start as you mean to go on. It makes life less confusing for the puppy and easier for yourself :) You can take puppy out straight after eating, playing and sleeping and regularly inbetween. You want to set them up for success as they'll learn a lot faster. If you keep pup on a lead it should make the process quicker as they can't wander off and get distracted. The other benefit is you're right there ready to heap on praise the moment they wee. You want them to realise weeing outside makes you sooo happy. Through the night is a bit tricker but if you have pup in a comfy crate beside your bed for a little while you'll hear when they start to grumble and move around in the night. You can immediately take them outside (also on lead) until they wee. Minimal fuss, no playing just business done(praise) and back to bed. It won't be long before they're sleeping through the night and you can move the crate to where you want pup sleeping. Good luck with your new pup :)

Those colours are just made to compliment each other. Gorgeous photo!

I have Sid's sister and she's an awesome little dog. At the time I was simply after a small dog with short hair, no particularly strong personality traits and a sweet nature. She is just the easiest little dog to look after and live with. She has such a gentle soul and has given me no trouble with poultry, puppies, kids or anything. She's also has get up and go when we're having fun, is extremely agile and loves tugging and balls. I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to own a Frenchie and in my mind its not the Frenchie lovers who have the issue, its the people wanting to make money from them!

Ahhh yes, the look which brings guilt to the surface and makes you get up and do something with them lol

I follow a lady on Faceboook (Lara Joseph) who runs an Animal Behaviour Centre. She works with many animals from zoo animals to dogs, birds and pigs etc and uses force free training for all. She follows the ABA priciple which I love (in particular for parrot behaviour issues) and I noticed she mentioned she was writing a column for a magazine BARKS for the Guild. I did some searching and found a whole heap of back copies which can be read online(or downloaded if you're a member). They're amazing!! Absolutely full of amazing training tips and new ways of learning. This link shows the back copies available to read: BARKS from the Guild magazines In particular the first edition has a case study of a dog reactive dog who would basically shut down when competing if his threshold was crossed. The article is thorough, has pictures and shows how the dog's behaviour was basically reversed based on the 'Control Unleashed' methodology. This link will open to page 12, the start of the above article: Behaviour and Learning - a case study I hope someone else enjoys these as much as I did!

He probably thought how kind of you to gather these goats for me to push in to a corner. What fun! lol

Awww torn between the delicious smells and the chance for a snack and keeping freedom close.

Marvellous hanging out a goat mouth would be hard to meld in to the story I imagine lol.

I have one who digs in whatever spot she's planning on taking a nap. I always thought it was a throw back to them digging a spot in their den to lie on softer dirt!

How did you manage to keep a goat leg still long enough? So cute!

I started dehydrated my own meat and chopping it in to tiny pieces. Big money saver! A dehydrator makes the job easy but you can use the oven down low too. There's a few threads on here regarding DIY treats plus loads on the internet. There's one called salmon 'crack' for dogs which mine didn't really like but could be worth trying. It's basically 1-2 cups of whichever flour you use, can of salmon with juice, an egg or two and whatever else your dog finds yummy, eg cheese, peanut butter, cooked pumpkin etc. Mix and when its a dough like consistency squash flat on a baking sheet and cook at 180° for 25-35 Min. Cut in to small pieces while still warm. You'll probably end up with crunchy outside bits and slightly squishy inside bits.

There's a recipe which has floated around the internet for a while called Salmon Crack Dog Treats which I tried making once. Like the ones mentioned about its basically flour, egg and tinned salmon (not drained) but you could add coconut oil\cheese or whatever your dog likes to make them extra smelly and tasty. It cooked ok with the middle soft and squishy and the outer bits crunchy but the dogs weren't too fussed about it so I didn't make it again. They aren't really hoovers though so other dogs might love it.

This is from another thread because Im lazy! I've dehydrated all sorts of meat and fish for years for the dogs (and fruit\jerky etc for the hoomans too). I can't even begin to think of how much money I've saved! I don't dehydrate until there's no moisture left but so the meat is still bendy. I keep it in the fridge but it lasts for weeks\months until used. I chop it in to tiny pieces (small dogs) with secateurs and the dogs love them. They don't have an oily residue and they're pretty mess free, although because they're chopped small I constantly find them in by bag and pockets lol. I've used pretty much any meat you can buy from chicken, silverside, duck, rabbit, rump, mince, Turkey etc. Silverside is probably one of the most cost effective and different minces work well squished flat. Liver is really cost effective one stinks while dehydrating! I now run the dehydrator outside under my verandah.

That's some delicate nose digging there! My dog would have mud to her eyes lol. I'm behind but only have a sunset seen from my street to share. By the time I saw the sky and ran in to get the camera the colour was already changing. Like most sunsets you can't see the beauty in its entirety but it bought neighbours out of their houses to look! :)

Haha Maddy. I'm in a bird group and is taken me a while to not try and help every uneducated person out there. Reality and sensible answers are not always welcome and straight after a sensible reply someone can add a completely rubbish one like they haven't bothered reading what has come before. If someone mentions their birds is biting the range of answers is astounding! It's like people skim the surface of knowledge, or repeat back parts of information now taken completely out of context.

Beautiful!

She's so dainty! What a dog paradise they live in, so lucky.

I have a border terrier and couldn't be happier with her. I put in a bit of effort training behaviour I wanted as a puppy and she's just great. Only two issues I have which I could sort if I put effort in, are her and the neighbours dog bark at each other at times. She has a high pitched bark which is annoying. If I call her or clap she'll immediately sprint to me. Also she loves all dogs and people and would go to anyone. It's been a struggle training with people around at times, I need to work on that. But she is loving and friendly, playful and smart and loves kids. She knows maybe 50+tricks and is a quick learner. Shaping is her favourite thing to do! It costs me $80 twice a year to have her hand striped (I'm lazy) but it's like having two dogs in one. Short haired then later on an adorable scruffer! Being a terrier you need to put effort in to training a reliable recall and practice regularly.(Same goes for any dog). They're only ever as good as the effort you put in to training. :)

As well as the above you can practice walking past pup when he's eating and drop extra food on top and keep walking. Instead of feeling be has to protect his food from you be will instead look forward to you being near. You can also practice avoiding resource guarding by always offering something better than what you took away. Alternately take what they have, offer plenty of yummy treats then give back what you took (presuming is safe for them to have). If he's still a little funny with food don't let kids near him when he or they are eating. Good luck!

That's amazing you got eye contact with your friends baby! She's a cutie. Lola's looking good too, almost like she hasn't got any grey's :)

I love the one of them on the red blanket. It's like they've all collapsed wherever they happened to be at that moment lol

Gorgeous!

He seems so big normally but in those photos you can see hes still quite young! I love the soft look on his face :)