Roova

Its good you're thinking this through, the last thing you want is to regret any decisions you make. I love this article for laying out the thing to consider when keeping two dogs. The article references litter mates (you did indeed dodge a bullet!) but can be applied to keeping any two dogs together if you're going to do right by both of them. What to do if you have two.. I personally think you would be brave introducing a second young dog to the family if you don't feel your first dog is fully trained. You are instantly going to lose full focus from either dog if they are allowed to spend all day together. Often second dogs get even less training that the first because you don't quite have the time and focus you had with a single dog. In regard to your comment that your current dog is mostly kept outside because he's too excitablee inside - this link might give you some tips on promoting calm behaviour?

CB those colours are just magnificent! Not sure if its saturation levels or not but I often enjoy photo's my phone has taken over my big camera. Perse I can't stop staring at that intense face, what a great photo!

SM love your photos. Your biscuits look delicious, I wish I was biting in to one! How did you end up with such a huge slab of wood, are you going to be doing something special with it? I took a guesstimate of rings and am going with 60-70+ years old? I just got the dreaded email from photobucket so now testing out Flickr. Today I ended up at a Gold Coast mansion which is a holiday house for someone who lives in another country. The mansion is almost in Surfers on the canal with an infinity pool and two spare cars in the garage, one of which is a Ferrari! The gentleman who owns said property is a professional gambler and might win 10 million for making the right type of bet!

We'll that's just beautiful!

I wonder if he's clawed his way to the top through the element of surprise? He's black and hard to see isn't he lol!

Love how friendly Mary is Perse. What are her favourite treats? TK cute perspective! Is that one of those carpets with a racetrack on it? Scottsmum hopefully you get your mojo back soon I enjoy your photos. Is there anything around the house you can take photos of? Mine is some jumping Jack's in the morning sun with some wild nasturtiums peeking out behind. Somehow all my photos seem to be of plants, not sure how that happened?

Love Luka's gorgeous face and big nose lol! Perse, you're welcome to do some cleaning at my place any time you like. That is one clean kettle!

It's probably too late now but its best to take pup in and out via a gate so they don't learn to go over the top. When you lift them over the side they soon learn that's the way out. Using a gate I found handy for teaching a nice sit and wait while it opens which carried forward to waiting when the front door opens too

Love the fit out of the back of your car @Canisbellumand the view looks great! How do the dogs go if they see wild kangaroos etc? Your babies are SO cute @PossumCorner! Are they eating much grass at the moment or is it more sniffing and tasting?

This week's for me is the sun early this morning on a young tree fern .

Yes please!

Arrrrgh he's so cute! I'm so jealous you have a puppy to train, so much fun! I hope everything works out for the three of you.

The problem with 'socialisation' is it doesn't really work with older dogs who have led an insulated life. There is a window to properly socialise a dog and its basically up to 16 weeks. In this time frame they're more open to new experiences so its the perfect time to take them out to experiences different sights, sounds, people, places and things etc. As long as its done in a positive manner they build confidence which makes them better able to cope with change or new things later. When a dog misses out on these valuable lessons or they had a bad experience or maybe they aren't a confident dog anyway the process of getting them used to new things becomes more desensitisation and counter conditioning. Much harder work to build their confidence! Puppies can be hard work but at least you have complete control over their training and lessons in life I can't seem to find if you've mentioned how old this little girls is but Im presuming more than 16 weeks?.

I think with a young family and kids who are going to want to pat, play and carry a more confident nature might be a better fit? If this little girl was feeling over whelmed with attention when she was already in her comfort zone, that may not bode well. Unless the family have a good understanding of dog body language you may find her 'warning' body language gets missed by excited kids which leads to nips which can let to outright bites in a bid to be heard.

This week's photo is of my couch partner. It's no wonder I'm tempted to Nanna nap when I sit down with her so cosy and snoring beside me lol

I wonder what they'll look like in another 20 years?? I'm sure some of the fun of breeding is having a purpose and aim and trying to achieve it or everyone would be simply putting two (hopefully healthy) dogs together. I agree with above that what gets awarded is probably what drives the purpose so hopefully governing bodies can take more of an active role in what judges are awarding?

Is there anyone ultimately in control above judges? How can the changed goal posts can be controlled? Unless ultimately the public turn to crossbred dogs which seems to have already started!

Just realised the article I linked to was incorrect sorry, it should have been this one! http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/theotherendoftheleash/adopting-littermates-dont

Great photos guys! What a great mix of photos we get in here

This is the best article I've seen to provide tips for two puppies. It's about why you shouldn't adopt two but it has sensible advice on what not to do which should be useful. http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/theotherendoftheleash/adopt

Thanks Perse! Its super easy and cheap too. I printed images from the Internet and printed them for .75+c a pop at Office works. Made a batch of plaster which is cheap from Bunnings or Stacks etc then spray a mould with cooking spray. Imagine is placed face down, plaster is poured on top and a hook placed in the back before the plaster sets in a few minutes. Then whala! In an hour or so you can pop it out of the mould and 24 hours later its completely dry. I edited the pic above to show some smaller ones Im doing next but I think I like the larger ones. At the beginning I made mistakes by forgetting the hook until too late to push in the plaster and I cleverly managed to put some hooks in upside down because I forgot which way I faced my image lol. I got the idea from seeing tiles in a homewares store which were $150 each!

This week my photo is of some plaster tiles I'm working on. I've made lots of mistakes so far but it's fun and getting easier.

Once you see something like that it's very hard to unsee it lol! I've been keeping an eye on the website but there doesn't seem to be any extra information about them?

You might be lucky to find a dog which meets all your criteria but someone else will have put in training effort to get to that point. No animal (or child for that matter) is born knowing how to behave, they have to be taught what is acceptable and what isn't. A young animal allowed to behave poorly or with little direction become an older animal doing the same. Its good to have a basic understanding of dog behaviour and body language, especially with a young child involved. A child innocently provoking a dog and anxious body language being missed can lead to avoidable bites. Also a good understanding and willingness to provide a decent environment for the dog is also important, they need physical AND mental enrichment beyond walks (which are great). A dog left with nothing to 'do' in its down time can often develop behavioural problems like barking, digging, jumping, running the fence line etc. Dogs are heaps of fun and fantastic for kids to grow up with, but to avoid yet another dog making its way in to rescue the owner does have to spend time training and caring for their charge

Hibiscus are out in force at the moment. I love their happy waving faces!