Leah82

it is a shame, especially when his parents had such beautiful coats, the breeder was expecting big things from him as a show prospect until a testicle didn't descend. these days I regularly clip his back and face and let his feather grow out so he looks somewhat like a proper cocker. I briefly considered showing him in the neuter class until the cocker club said he would need to be in full coat....erm I'm don't think so

unfortunately it's simply too late for our cocker, he was clipped instead of hand stripped by a groomer as a puppy so OH was left with this unless he gets clipped on the plus side we have a resident teddy bear in winter :p

See "On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals" by Turid Rugaas. You'll love it. I can see this really well in our cocker spaniel. He has moments where he gets so excited but if you tell him to sit and stay he often lets out a big yawn as if to release the pent up energy and try and calm himself down

I think my OH is more likely to find something like this when he's out with his metal detector rather than walking the dogs :p

My first dog as an adult is Sarah :) When I was 6 we ended up with a freebie mutt called Scout from an unexpected pregnancy up the road. Dad was a border collie, Mum was a beagle, basset and a few other things. Needless to say he was a funny looking guy but we loved him. He was extremely tolerant, not especially bright and was never really socialised or trained properly as we were on a semi rural acreage and he never went anywhere. My parents both grew up on farms so as far as they were concerned dogs stay outside and they wonder why he constantly pissed off. Mind you the beagle in him definitely played a big part in that as well I think I have some pictures of him on my home computer, I'll try and remember to upload them tonight

I've seen a pig at our park a couple of times, but he stays on lead and the oval is really big and mostly pretty quiet. The times I saw him he was really little and the owners brought their dog down to the park as well. It was pretty funny when we first saw him, I did a double take. Dogs were a bit curious but kept their distance after a few sniffs Still though a goat is another matter entirely, I'm surprised no-one got seriously hurt

I wouldn't let her drag you over to meet dogs, if you are in control of all her doggy interactions then this should help her confidence. It sounds like she's not particularly sure about her own choices so best to take them away altogether and have her rely on and focus on you more. Edit: not sure about the sit stay and recall, personally I would get the skill down and slowly introduce distractions, which in this case would be decreasing the distance between her and other dogs

Does the club you go to have yellow bandanas for dogs that need a bit of space? This would tell other handlers not to approach you and your dog without asking permission. A lot of people assume the yellow bandana means the dog is aggressive but there are a number of reasons a dog may need space and your example would fit the bill perfectly. In regards to noisy dogs, this tends to go away in the more advanced obedience classes, so do lots of practice at home and get your girl up through the ranks as quickly as possible

While I hope this guy is found I'm not confident of your chances. For people that are not aware Ruffey Lake Park is a very big park with a large portion of it being off leash, it's not only frequented by people near by but some people will drive from other councils to the park so the person in question could live anywhere. My first time there I had a standard poodle put it's mouth around Sarah's neck, it wasn't aggressive but clearly didn't know how to behave around smaller dogs - the owner was pretty useless trying to call her dogs away as well and we haven't been back since. If anything this post acts as a reminder for people who's dogs are attacked to get the details of the other dogs owner, it's an easy thing to forget when your shocked and worried but like bush fire prevention if it happens make sure you have a plan because you're not likely to be thinking clearly

Week 8/52 Playing with iPhone filters

that's a beautiful photo teekay

apart from dog food anything the people eat Collie will eat. Sarah on the other hand will avoid her veges even if they are mixed in with everything else. And if you feed her food from your hands she'll take it, lick it and if she doesn't want to eat it she'll take it to bed and try and guard it from Collie, luckily she's not an effective resource guarder

TSD which club do you go to?

I don't have an issue with it and have done it on the rare occasion. My OH and I refer to each other as mummy and daddy to the dogs and it worked well when we did a bit of tracking with Collie (where's mummy or where's daddy). But we treat them like dogs and they know their place in the pecking order. Considering the amount of nicknames that are apparently appropriate I don't know why people are so offended by furbaby. I knew someone that called her dog a silly monkey or monkey moo in a high pitched tone, especially when it did something wrong. That to me is worse than the actual words that are used, it's all about the context and how people actually treat their dogs.

wow, I didn't realise this thread was still going. I too am an oodle owner although she cost $350 from a rescue org. She is however the sweetest and gentlest (is that even a word) little dog I've even had the pleasure of knowing and I can't believe that that's entirely because of her up bringing in a puppy farm 20 years ago there were lots of hereditary illnesses in purebred dogs so the generalisation isn't entirely unwarranted, a lot of people don't realise the changes in technology and the DNA testing that registered breeders now do which means you are guaranteed a dog free from genetic diseases. There needs to be more media coverage about that. Probably off topic, I know a lot of registered breeders continue to breed carriers of certain diseases, just not with another carrier. Why wouldn't you want to eliminate these diseases all together by only breeding clear dogs? There's always the chance that one of your puppy owners may decide to breed their carrier puppy with another carrier unknowingly and the disease continues

I'm very sorry you are now in this situation but I really hope you speak to the previous owners about some form of compensation otherwise they may do the same to another dog.

IMO I wouldn't bother looking for another class if this one is not working out. I get the impression that good ones are few and far between so you might be setting yourselves up for more disappointment and further out of pocket. Vinnie might be better off if you can do training and socialisation yourselves for the moment and then when he's old enough attend formal obedience classes

Here's hoping you didn't actually pay any money for this little guy. If you did I would at least be demanding a refund regardless of if you keep him or not - rehabilitation is going to cost you if that's what you decide to do He might like cuddles but is sounds like he's far from friendly Based on what you've said a more accurate description would probably be: Loves cuddles, is fear aggressive, doesn't like anything new and resource guards people. Disclaimer: the above description is not a formal diagnosis, I really don't know what I'm talking about

Sarah scares herself sometimes. Everything will be completely still in the house, with Sarah making the only noise on the floorboards and she'll jump from the sound of herself despite having just walked the length of the hallway

sounds like you've got a good vet there Michelle to recognise Bonnie's behavioural issues. Sarah just hides behind me or retreats inwards if she's nervous about something and she can't escape, then people comment on what a well behaved dog she is - while she's standing there looking utterly miserable Btw is there any news about a permanent home for Bonnie?

I want to get one of these when Collie goes completely blind, that way I won't have to explain when he walks into peoples legs. Agree that the yellow dog project is a good idea but in order for it to be successful it needs the support of the government and local councils and lot and lots of media coverage

I'm so sorry for your loss, take comfort in knowing you did the right thing for your beloved girl and know that there are many people here feeling a little bit of your pain too

Week 7/52 Sarah playing tug with a feather I'm trying to get a cute photo of both Collie and Sarah but they're not being very co-operative when the camera comes out

I do agree with that actually. It makes sense to do it the other way around. Eta: I mean your previous post. But the average pet owner is a bit different to the dog savvy people found here. And often don't even think about keeping their dogs away. But maybe the ribbon should be a different colour. As yellow could mean ok, rather than stay away. A lot of dog clubs have yellow bandanas for dogs that need space, the yellow ribbon project is just taking this a step further and introducing the concept to the wider community. If you change the meaning it just adds confusion.

welcome fellow newb it's fun when you see the light bulb go on isn't it