Leah82

Looks like we're going to take the kids (dogs) to the snow this weekend, Lake Mountain (before the resort) or Mt Margaret seem to be the places to go with dogs from a bit of google searching. Anyway neither of our dogs have seen snow and we obviously want them to have as much fun as possible so should we rug them up and get some booties or will they be fine without. I'm probably more concerned about our Poodle x, Sarah doesn't like getting her feet wet at the best of times and I don't want to drive 2 hours only for her to freak out and refuse to get out of the car :p

I'm guessing Nearmap. Sucks that you have to pay now, just can't justify the cost

He's very cute :D

Dogs get a lot more from their owners than just training, they get love, affection, playtime, food etc (and they also learn what bad behaviours they can get away with :p) Trainers are there to train so I assume the dog will be less confused about what their purpose is when they are with a trainer. They're less likely to jump up for pats when the trainer asks them to sit because this person only gives pats when the dog does what it's told to do. It's kind of like young kids in school, they'll generally listen to the teacher and usual behave more than when they're at home but at the end of the day they still love their parents more.

I think what you are referring to is essentially breeding for temperament and absolutely nothing to do with the dogs nervous system. There is no correlation between the nervous system (or nerve structure as you put it) and nervousness in dogs. Signs of nervousness all come from the brain and while genetics may take a part in whether a dog has a nervous predisposition the greatest scientists are still trying to work out whether nurture or nature has the strongest impact on the development of our personalities. If they can't figure it out with people I'm not sure they will have gotten anywhere with dogs, who after all can't talk to you about their childhood :p

I'd like a big dog but can't get away from the practicality of smaller dogs. But in a fantasy world how's this for a combo... Tibetan Mastiff with the personality of a Cocker Spaniel that doesn't shed :laugh:

I'm loving our little family as it is but there are still a few things I'd put on the wish list :p I wish Sarah knew how to play - every time I try and play with her she looks at me like I'm crazy I wish she wasn't so nervous around other dogs - the dog play park is pretty pointless when your dog just follows you around the whole time I wish she wasn't so precious about wet grass and mud - this will hopefully change after a few camping trips All of these I'm working on so hopefully we'll get there For our boof head cocker spaniel I wish Collie wasn't so noisy... the barking when people knock on the door, the yelping and running around the house when I get home from work and even the whining when he's scratching himself - 'we don't need to know you're scratching yourself Collie!' and I wish he didn't have PRA (although then we probably wouldn't have gotten Sarah) And on the whole - fewer dust bunnies would be nice and I wish they could stay young and healthy for a very long time. My OH was mentioning just the other night that he doesn't want Collie to get old, he wants his puppy to be with him forever.

Alternatively you're just trying to ruin everyone's fun. Also being self serving does not require high order thinking, this comes from the Id, the part of our psyche that says "I want it and I want it now" and is focused on fulfilling your basic desires. Dogs are perfect examples of creatures that rely on the Id which is why dog training is very reward based, that's not to say that dogs aren't capable of outwardly displaying signs of other more complex emotions like sympathy and love although why they do this I suspect will continue to remain a mystery.

Check out dog obedience clubs near you. I just starting going to one near me and they include socialisation as part of the beginners class, along with a bit of recall. So your dog is rewarded for coming away from another dog after a quick hello. Plus he'll get exposure to plenty of other dogs in a controlled environment as they'll all be on leashes.

Glad things are starting to look up :) 3 kgs for a female cocker is definitely a lot. would love to see a photo of Misty, if you use photobucket copy the direct link from there and paste it into the Insert Image URL here.

so just got a message from the OH saying the person has declined the offer of the room as it's too small. problem solved, will just need to find someone else if we still have to get a housemate.

Thanks for the advice, we'll see how we go at the play date although when there's a ball around our Cocker couldn't care less about other dogs being around. Would be good to get a clearer idea of how often the dog is likely to be at home sans owner though. Ideally we'd prefer not to get a housemate at all, will wait and see on a few things that may change towards the end of this week but if we have to get a roomy then this particular person is a far better match for us that anyone else we've spoken to or seen. Maybe I'll convince her to come with me to obedience on Sunday mornings to help get her dog through the terrible teens :)

Lol that was my first thought, it looks like a short long staffy, apparently the designer name is French Bull Weiner, not sure who came up with that one. :p

Bit of a long story hear but I'll try and keep it quick. Essentially my OH has recently found himself out of work which is is possibly the worst possibly timing as we're saving for our wedding next year. Anyway to help with the rent and bills we thought getting a housemate might be a good idea. The only person we actually like that has applied also comes with a French Bully cross Dachshund. She came over with her dog last night for a bit of a meet and greet and there were a few altercations with our Cocker, nothing too serious as we were able to separate them easily but I can't help but wonder what would happen if we weren't around. Our Cocker generally gets growled at when new dogs are in his space coz he just gets so excited and wants to play but my main concern was the new dog was approaching him, seemingly to play and then having a go at him. This was very different to when we got Sarah as she just wanted to be left alone and only growls when strange dogs get in her space, she would never approach them. Anyway is this a recipe for disaster? The new dog would sleep in her owners room and she takes her dog to work so they'll only be together in the evenings and weekends, would this work ok or would they need to spend more time together to become more bonded. We have a lunch time play date setup with the dogs this Thursday so we can see them on neutral ground. I've looked into the temperaments of both French Bull dogs and Dachshunds and from what I've seen so far seems to be more like a Dachshund. Both of our dogs are affectionate and submissive and we don't want to ruin the balance we have with them. Also the French Bully x Dachshund is 2 years old, ours are 5 and 7.

Our Cocker is always lying on my OH's clothes if they're left lying around, he's even known to wander around the house (and backyard) with used undies or socks in his mouth This has decreased since we got our rescue Sarah so possibly a sign of anxiety but I think having their owners smell around helps to keep them calm which I think is a good thing, we all need our coping mechanisms after all :)

Can you close the curtain/blinds and record him to see what he does? If it's SA he may start to show other signs of anxiety, if not he'll probably find something else to do or just go to sleep. Obviously you don't want to create further anxiety so maybe try this when you're out for a shorter period on time.

I'm probably Sarah's heart person, since we got her a few months ago she's been firmly attached to me and no-one else, to the point where she clings to the back of my leg like a small child when she's nervous. Although I definitely think it's to do with leadership style as well, my OH tends to be quite boisterous with our Cocker, she most likely took one look at them together and decided that wasn't for her :laugh:

I renamed my rescue from Tarrady to Sarah, Tarrady was too long and too difficult to shorten. Sarah came from the Triceratops Cera in The Land Before Time, was initially going to spell it Cera but was told my OH to spell it properly :p And then a few weeks later my brother got a new GF - called Sarah

Yak is awesome :D

I used the groomer before when our rescue Sarah needed a bit of de-matting without taking off too much length and was very happy with that but our Cocker hadn't been there before. We've had a few experiences recently where "leave the feathers' was translated into clip him all over but don't touch his ears or tail at all :p When we get the time and money I'm going to look into doing a grooming course, I get way too much enjoyment out of washing, brushing, combing and trimming our dogs not to turn it into a bit of backup income

From what I gather because he was neutered and clipped before his adult coat came in his coat became very thick and woolly rather than being feathery all over. But I'm very happy with the job the groomers did, now he looks like a real cocker :D hijack away, I love to see pics of other peoples cockers. I especially like the mop of hair on his head in the hippy phase :) Impatiens - would love to see hairy Harvey as well

After pics! Too damn cute, although as you can probably tell he needs a bit of work on his show stance :p

Our Cocker is off getting clipped today, first time since before Easter. He's been a big teddy bear for awhile now but it's time to go. Here are the before pics, will upload the afters when I see him tonight :)

That's pretty funny, I'm assuming f-i-s-h-i-n-g then changed to 'Do you want to do that thing where we catch animals that live in water with transparent wire and a hook?'

I had a similar thing with Sarah when I first got her at the end of May, and this is after she had been in a foster home for nearly 2 months. She'd eat out of my hand fine but as soon as you put the food in a bowl she would get really anxious, also a puppy farm dog. For the first few weeks I was having to coax her back to her food a few times to get her to finish it and if she didn't I was refrigerating it for the following day. The solution ended up being to feed her and Collie at the same time on opposite sides of a child barrier. Now she's eating everything in one go but still prefers everyone else to be on the other side of the barrier to her