LisaCC

Nova also gets shushed for licking bits in the middle of the night, very upset about this. Sometimes I try to be a nice owner and give him a pillow when he's laying on the couch, he will readily accept this offering for his head. Yet if it's not quite in the right position he will audibly groan his frustration, if it's really bad he'll get off the couch in a huff and go sulk on his lowly dog bed. Oh the humanity!!!

There was only one 200 dog in my clubs little country trial earlier this year

If you head around to Tumut and Batlow, there are STATE parks there, they allow dogs and when it snows they get snow :) This is Sugar Pine Walk from that area, dogs allowed :)

Chessies are much more difficult dogs. They are still bred for work and need a job, many of them in Australia being dual purpose bred.

This explained what I was trying to say with my target idea much much better

You could try with a target. If she's already sitting on command (although not the "right" way). Teach her to keep her front feet on a target at all times. Then when that is nice and solid command the sit. Reward for keeping the front feet still on the target and bringing the back feet under, even if the sit isn't perfect straight away. Also helps with other stationary positions, going from drops - stands - sits, in any order. Solid target is also good for perch work.

Because you like labs, but are iffy about the hair I would get you to have a look at the some other retriever breeds that come in blacks and browns "dark, scary", but look carefully at their temperaments and exercise needs as they differ a bit to labs. Flat Coated Retrievers Curly Coated Retrievers

I'm not sure of the temperament, hopefully someone with more experience can jump in, but for looks, black, large size, and coat, Curly Coated Retriever? I believe they can be a bit more of a handful than your general labs and golden "family retrievers".

Invest in some nice warm insulated dog houses, filled with bedding and blankets, and put them somewhere off the ground if they don't come with legs (propped up on bricks), and undercover and away from wind if possible, like under a veranda (where people go, not under the foundations!!). In my experience most dogs like their dog houses to be close to the back door. Trampoline beds are also great for outdoors as it keeps them off the ground (warmer in winter, cooler in summer), when they don't want to go inside their dog houses. Or you could just have a dog like mine who sits on top of his house...

Why? Can't leave puppies inside as they are in full destructo mode atm. Can't leave them crated because they can't hold on for hours on end. Can't leave them outside because apparently that's bad, too. Puppies can be left outside perfectly fine in my opinion when you aren't home, as long as outside is safe and has adequate shelter from both the cold in winter and heat in summer. I actually think it probably does them better to have time outside exploring and sniffing the air than be cooped up all day.

Backyard during the day, there is a covered area he has access to with a kennel and warm bedding and a bed off the ground. If I go out at night or I just duck out for a short time he's fine inside just hanging out in the house too. When he wasn't as trustworthy as a pup, he was crated for short periods inside. Now he seems to just sleep on the couch.

Will Hype naturally cord? And if he does will you let him?

Oh what an awesome pup! Very interesting temperament too. I'm looking at joining one of the Bathurst clubs starting next month so perhaps I'll be able to see one of the other ones around

Green with envy! :laugh: OMG I love dog clothes especially the knitted jumpers. I wonder if you can get knitted pyjamas? :) Hurtta Comfort Knit They don't make the Comfort Knit in greyhound sizes and to be honest, I'd be reluctant to buy Hurrta again for sighthounds. Shitty Whippet has a Hurtta winter coat and despite being the right size, the fit is awful- it looks pouchy and odd. But she's also got a tiny waist so I figured I'd get one of the cooling coats for the Idiot Dog, who is a fair bit stouter and has a relatively short back for a boy. And.. that was a fail, too. Some generic shaped stuff works for sighthounds but Hurtta doesn't, which is a shame because the waterproof overalls would come in very handy around here. Oh that's a bugger, because those knits are really cute! If I had a smooth coated dog I'd be very very tempted. They are (not that I should be buying the dogs more coats this week anyway >.> ) Ah! Buy medium or smaller, "normal" proportioned, smooth coated dog first, then you can buy a Hurtta Knit!

Green with envy! :laugh: OMG I love dog clothes especially the knitted jumpers. I wonder if you can get knitted pyjamas? :) Hurtta Comfort Knit They don't make the Comfort Knit in greyhound sizes and to be honest, I'd be reluctant to buy Hurrta again for sighthounds. Shitty Whippet has a Hurtta winter coat and despite being the right size, the fit is awful- it looks pouchy and odd. But she's also got a tiny waist so I figured I'd get one of the cooling coats for the Idiot Dog, who is a fair bit stouter and has a relatively short back for a boy. And.. that was a fail, too. Some generic shaped stuff works for sighthounds but Hurtta doesn't, which is a shame because the waterproof overalls would come in very handy around here. Oh that's a bugger, because those knits are really cute! If I had a smooth coated dog I'd be very very tempted.

Green with envy! :laugh: OMG I love dog clothes especially the knitted jumpers. I wonder if you can get knitted pyjamas? :) Hurtta Comfort Knit

Love those leads! The first one is beautiful. I have a bit of a collection going. Not including the crap load of matching (and not matching) collars and harnesses. I have a Julius K9 one that's like a gripper, but with more of rows rubber and is 2m and adjustable, it's awesome. 2 leather leashes from a local leather worker, a normal rogz one, and I need to hurry up and put in my order with Ruthless... I know I want burgundy leather but can't decide on the collar yet!

I've done both, raised a dog with and without a crate. The only reason I decided to crate train this time was because I knew I'd need to use them when I started competing with him at trials. I'm glad I decided to, and probably would have gone out and gotten one pretty soon after anyway, as he was a pretty crazy baby pup and would have gotten into to anything in the house and if not confined if I didn't have my eye on him at all times. So if I needed to go to the bathroom or jump in the shower, puppy got popped in his crate for his own safety. I could have managed with a laundry, but I didn't want my puppy sleeping in a cold laundry away from me. Like TSD I play lots of games with the crate and it helps with training. Yes it helped with toilet training too and yes I had one of those easy dogs that with hard work (in the middle of winter) only had 2 accidents in the house.. Crate training was a godsend when he hurt his leg and needed to be on strict rest. For a working dog, if he hadn't been trained to relax in one, I think he would of been struggling to cope with that amount of time no matter the amount of mental stimulation and breaks, etc I was giving him. It's also come in handy when looking after other dogs to give them some short time out from each other, to feed them separately, and to sleep them (I'm not trusting someone else's dog loose in my house when I'm asleep). The dog raised without a crate was a much easier dog in every way, and he was fine without it.

No problem Love Leonard the poodle!

When you put the link in the "Insert media" thingo that looks like three photos, delete the 's' in "https://" at the start of the link and it should work

Would you get pinged for using IPO/Sch style heelwork in ANKC obed? Schutzhund is sadly a no no in Vic but I really do love that style of heeling, the dogs just seem to prance with so much energy and fluidity. Maybe I should just move to NSW. I just did a heeling workshop with a few ANKC obedience judges, and they said if you stick to one heeling style and stick to it throughout the entire trial it's fine. They did mention the UK style and their biggest issue with it was that apparently you get a lot of back ends swinging out, but if you can control that issue again it's your choice. I guess it always depends on the judge though.

Your puppies can go out before they get all their vaccinations, just be smart about it. Taking them down the street is the best way to meet all those various humans on your list and more! I'm a single uni student, I didn't know any one with small children or elderly people in this town. So from the day I got him Nova was a cafe dog and met and saw every kind of person, including people in wheelchairs, on bikes, with beards, even hoards of school children walking past. I also took him to uni with me some days, which is an interesting environment. Theres an "urban" side and an agricultural side so he got to see some large animals and sniff their poops. I only knew very few friendly safe "boring" dogs who wouldn't over stimulate Nova as a pup, and I didn't particularly want him playing with strange dogs for socialising, so again walking (or rather me holding him when he was very very young) and him seeing dogs, then started going to beginners obedience class and training around other dogs. They don't need to play with every dog to be socialised. Did all that work? Well he's pretty darn bullet proof and I can take him in to any situation confidently, even if we come across something he hasn't seen. But he's still overly friendly with dogs, but I'd rather work through that issue than have him reactive.

Thanks for the link, I don't particularly need warmth, so I didn't think to look at ski pants. I'll check out the Gore tex pack lite too thanks.

I have a Waterproof and windproof soft-shelled jacket from Kathmandu. It's not as warm or waterproof as my ski jacket which I will wear in even wetter weather, but does anyone know if there are pants made of a similar soft shell type material?