Leah82

Nope we haven't been before, looking forward to it :) Collie is being a bit annoying these days as well, I think as his eye sight deteriorates he feels the need to bark at things that aren't there. He's still pretty good in the daytime though, you wouldn't know he's practically blind. Hopefully he won't feel the need to hump Gus's face constantly at kepala seeing as we're not in his territory :p Brooke and Rick can be dorks together, Rick is looking forward to telling people that Kepala means head or leader in Indonesian

Yay I get to have goals next year this year was more about developing a relationship with the dogs and starting obedience Collie Pass Level 3 Class in Obedience Start Tracking Training - turns out I get to be the one hiding in the bushes in the middle of winter :p Start Nosework Training Do more Trick Training (weave through legs, bow, shy, play dead) Sarah Pass Level 3 Class in Obedience Start Agility Training and get her used to the obstacles - she was a bit apprehensive around the obstacles the first time we went Lots of Trick Training (shy, shake hands, roll over, spin, bow, play dead, weave through legs)

DD we have our morning ritual where he comes and gives me a hug! He comes and nuzzles my neck and I nuzzle him back. It's a little bit strange but so sweet :laugh: I know Roova! I can't believe it. I was just looking back on the first page of this thread and I can't believe how fast he's growing up. He's lost all of his baby teeth. He's still not raising his leg to pee though so until that happens he's still a baby puppy to me! :laugh: Little hank is still such a cutie :) Our 6 year old cocker still squats most of the time and he was desexed at around 10 months :p

does this look familar mogda :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXqNl5bTCMU&feature=em-subs_digest-vrecs

:laugh: It's a very effective training tool which specialises in generating feedback from dog forum people :)

I might get the new go pro out for tonight's training session and see what I can get the doggies to do

Now that our Obedience club is wrapping up for the year I'm going to spend more time on TRICKS! So far this week I've been working on the 'shy' command with both Collie and Sarah, you can see their brains working overtime when I have the clicker and treats at the ready and a peg attached to their head. Collie is getting good at it with no peg but I need to use it so start him off to let him know what I want, he hasn't quite figured out the cue yet and he looks very confused if I use it after the training session. Unfortunately my OH is pretty impatient and keeps using the cue when he's unlikely to respond in the correct way. Have tried telling him it's only going to confuse the dog but oh well. Sarah is a bit slower to get there, the first time I took the peg off her head she would lift each of her feet quickly one at a time without touching her face and then look at me waiting for a treat :p she was figuring it out yesterday though. They both just need a lot more practice :D

Just put through a Jumbo Pets order and added a couple of pressies for a couple of lucky doggies :) Looking forward to Kepala, hopefully the sun decides to make an appearance as well

great photos so far I'm patiently waiting for our doggy Christmas costumes to arrive, I've been told they'll be here between the 5th and 18th of December, watch this space for cuteness....

And Collie is back from the Vet. They called my OH to get him to pick Collie up early coz he was howling and whining Luckily we only live around the corner He's apparently still pretty groggy and is shuffling around the house with a waggy tail

Thanks :) We might look at getting a dremel for Collie as his claws are solid brown and I can't tell where the quick is to save my life. Sarah is very easy, her nails are even longer but I'm clipping them weekly to get the quick to recede. I only just found out the other week that the quick grows if you let the nails get too long. As an adult I've only owned dogs for the last year but I'm finding out all sorts of things that I can implement from scratch when I finally get a puppy rather than having to deal with the results of other peoples mismanagement.

Collie is spending the day at the Vet today, he's getting a scale and polish coz he has really stinky breath and his claws are getting trimming right back and the quicks cauterised so there will be no more 'click click click' on the floorboards from him. I'm a bit excited :) I'm actually more worried about Sarah spending the day without Collie, she gets pretty anxious when he's not around. Luckily my OH has his RDO today so he can somewhat keep her company, she's not really a fan and generally keeps her distance from him but at least he can make sure she's safe and keep her distracted with treats

Got a GoPro this weekend and of course I had to try it out with the dogs at the park :) It's a bit shaky coz I was just holding the camera Most of the good bits were them running towards me otherwise they were too far away and you can see that Sarah's recall is better than Collie's :p

I've been thinking about some of the tricks I want to teach sarah and some of them require good core strength like begging. I've heard that pregnancy weakens abdominal muscles in women and was wondering if it would be the same for dogs? Sarah would be an extreme case after her former life as a puppy farm breeder. Would I be wasting my time trying to teach her some of these tricks if she might not be physical capable?

I loled at the mention of her 'offering' a choice of colour and two types of coat. As if she knows what the genetic olympic sized pool is going do :p I wish you could comment on the article, just a simple "how do they know you won't combine the worst of each breed" would hopefully get a few people thinking.

We've never had issues with dogs at our local park and there's no where to sit down so most of the owners are a lot more engaged in their dogs exercise/play. Either throwing balls or walking around the oval. I always watch closely when new dogs are interacting with ours or vice versa and if things aren't to my liking then we just walk a bit further away. It's not hard to manage the situation as long as there is enough room. If our dogs start playing with others then we let them for a bit while chatting to the other owner before continuing our lap around the oval. As long as you have access to a safe park and can manage your own dogs well enough then I don't see any reason to avoid dog parks all together, the benefits the dogs get from running around in a large space far outweigh the negatives - for me anyway And I don't see many specifically designed dog parks popping up anytime soon seeing as most of the off lead areas are also sporting grounds.

Yay! congrats on getting her to fall asleep in the crate Don't forget to celebrate the small wins :D

I agree that cockers can be great companions especially if your friend spends a lot of time at home as they can get pretty lonely by themselves. Our cocker doesn't need a great deal of exercise and is more content with lots of cuddles, training and a few trips to the park each week An older cocker might be a good idea though as they take awhile to grow up, anything over 4 should be out of the puppy phase. And they come in gold :)

they were previous called Brittany spaniels, according to wiki this was changed to just Brittany in 1982 as they had more setter/pointer working characteristics They still come up when you're searching for different types of spaniels though :p

This is the kind of playpen you need, http://www.dealsdirect.com.au/8-panels-pet-exercise-playpen-1/ You can get different sizes depending on the size of your puppy. A few people have set the play pen up with a fake grassy toilet area bit like this http://www.dealsdirect.com.au/mini-pet-loo-63-63-14cm/ Someone on the forum managed to make their own doggy toilet for a lot cheaper than you can buy them though

I spoke to a brittany breeder about an adult dog they were selling when we were looking for a friend for Collie. She said the dog needed to be taken on an hour bike ride daily as well as mental training. That's too much exercise for even me :p Beautiful dogs though and I like that they have shorter hair than cockers and springers. If I end up back in sunny WA one day I might look you up :) Leah...(please excuse my ignorance) but what breed is your dog, Sarah?? Yes I thought about maybe an Aussie as all the Aussies I have met are pretty laid back. Brittanies are a beautiful dog, but not for these people. Sarah is a poodle x cocker... we think. I got her through a rescue that takes on retired breeding dogs from puppy farms. She's very sweet and doesn't have an aggressive bone in her body but it was a requirement that we had another dog that could help her adjust to home life. She doesn't look like a typical poodle x either because I clip her face and head which I think makes her look so much cuter :p

I spoke to a brittany breeder about an adult dog they were selling when we were looking for a friend for Collie. She said the dog needed to be taken on an hour bike ride daily as well as mental training. That's too much exercise for even me :p Beautiful dogs though and I like that they have shorter hair than cockers and springers. If I end up back in sunny WA one day I might look you up :)

My Aussie the "high energy working dog", is only 6 months old and super lazy. He's got the energy when he wants to, but there are days where he objects to walks and would much prefer to lay on the couch instead My parent's Kelpie is pretty lazy as well, he spends most of the day moving from one napping spot to another. As soon as you start up the 4 wheeler though it's go time.

I think there is an assumption that dogs in the working group are a higher in energy than other groups. I've looked into both Brittany's and Tollers before while looking for a future breed thinking that they would only require as much exercise and stimulation as your standard spaniel or retriever but wikipedia told me I was wrong :p

Holy crap! I'd be worried about the cops showing up at my door after a domestic violence report Edit: coz it sounds like a woman screaming