Two Best Dogs!

Perhaps as a go between - teach him to nose touch your hand for this walk bouncing challenge? Once understood as a trick. Hold your hand out low to the side when he gets the bounces and encourage him to burn his energy on high fiving your hand with his nose, versus your face. Not really a solution so much as a way to angle his enthusiasm into less hazardous movement for you. He does sound very passionate so stationary and calm will be harder for him - Thyme has this challenge except I am in favour of his demented pogo stick behaviour. So lots of redirections and showing him appropriate bouncing as stationary behaviours will never be his strong skill. Even when stationary I can see him vibrating and ready to explode For the lead situation - perhaps teach him how to put his head through a collar already attached to a lead. That will likely be easier for him (movement/action) over holding himself stationary. For calm cuddles - I have no real advice. Thyme decided in his second year they are “okay”. But most of our physical bonding is a bit of nightly wrestling which ends up with a rigorous butt rub (his one true weakness). Perhaps experiment with different ways to touch him? Will he slow down for a butt rub? For some lazy bitey face bitey hands? i would be cautious on using the absence of your presence to correct him, because it sounds like he is very frustrated in his enthusiasm of you. Better to find ways for you two to meet in the middle to get some success and negotiate (lol!) where you can both get some relief in your relationship.

Is this at the start of the walk? Try tossing your rewards on to the ground in the direction you are going - get him thinking “downwards” type behaviours as well as trick him into more appropriate behaviour of sniffing which will help calm him down and build a new environment excitement habit.

Keep forgetting to share this one for you guys - open access! https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2020.00388/full Assisting Decision-Making on Age of Neutering for 35 Breeds of Dogs: Associated Joint Disorders, Cancers, and Urinary Incontinence In the results section they split the results out by each breed so you can go straight to the breed you care about most:

No risks any different to any other female dog, except the risk of a long happy life ;) Terriers are resilient little things! Would probably desex to get any ovary/in season concerns out of the way and then off you go with your new friend

It may be your sister struggles with letting go - it's hard to know when the time is right versus too late with someone you love. There is an online calculator to help you work out if your dog has a decent quality of life or is "just existing" https://journeyspet.com/pet-quality-of-life-scale-calculator/ and you may find this blog post helpful to read, on knowing when it is time to let your pet go while letting it be a peaceful end. https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/death-with-dignity-why-i-chose-to-put-my-horse-down-on-a-good-day

Thanks Rozzie, I'll send this rescue name through to them!

Not very long as my sister and partner work different hours. Got to exercise details: they live across from a park and said exercise would be 30 mins+ evening walk but also outings throughout the day as her partner is home during the day. they’re okay for mature dogs (4-5 years) but nothing that’s too old or has health complications that prevent daily walkies and weekend wanderings

Waiting for them to get back to me, but I get the distinct impression their current main wants are: Under 10kg so the apartment lets them keep the dog Available to purchase now Adult and the allergies are an afterthought

Never mind

I have been going through victoria checkpoints to continue hydrotherapy for my dog. I know other customers from outside the restricted areas have entered the restricted areas for same dog services. We have letters explaining and saying where we are going/rehab centre details etc. My checkpoint guy was equally happy to view receipts instead of letters but the letter was what I used. Then it’s just a matter of following the safety guidelines eg I hand the dog over and wait in the car park.

To be honest, I did have to dedicate a lot of time to specifically teaching Thyme to settle in the house - otherwise he would make me dizzy with constant movement. He would sniff one thing, run through the house to sniff something else, run back, crawl all over the couch, go sniff the corner of idk a book. Then he'd get cranky like a toddler from being so scatter brained and not resting himself. I swear he was that shark saying in another life ;) "if it stops moving forward it dies". Lots of reassuring him that if he stops moving he won't die I don't mind, but I can see it being a thing people get annoyed to have to concentrate on teaching. But that is just Thyme - his cousin on the otherhand settles perfectly and is super laid back. Very varied personalities! Maybe keep an eye out for adults where upfront on if they're the settle or circle kind of dog?

Thyme can trot along for quite awhile, although we haven’t done a steady flat 2 hours. My attention span is too short for that. Multihours Hikes are normal tho. I think 1 Hour 30 On a flat path was our longest steady pace so far with some sniff/pee breaks here and there. I kickscooter with him so he’s usually pulling a bit too. we are training for the ANKC endurance test one day which is a 2 hour 30 min bike ride. So I am working him up to it slowly (plus my own fitness needs work!). (thyme is The springer spaniel) There are other spaniels who do the endurance test as well - including cavaliers! Among other more typical breeds like kelpies, huskies, pointers. I like looking at the photos. Terriers present too! would just be mindful to have a healthy dog and to work them up to it steadily like you do with your own health. And be mindful of the weather and surfaces. Eg I usually stick to dirt trails for long running with the odd bike path here and there. Spaniels are cool I am only a little biased ;)

The dog attack would have been covered. e.g. I got 80% back when one of my dogs (accidentally!) injured the other. (my plan pays me back on 80% of claims. I've yet to be declined) When getting insurance, you just need to be very mindful of what is and isn't covered. My main concerns were to be covered for: activity injuries, snake bite, emergency boarding if *I* am hospitalised, cancers/chemo. So far this has held true (so many activity injuries including a dreaded grass seed and one mystery tummy bug) I am not covered for our rehab physio as the leg injury is pre-existing and ongoing to getting the insurance. But I have been covered when that leg got injured by a certain enthusiastic springing spaniel landing on that leg and injuring it further (to my dismay).

I’m rather partial to the circle method - lunge then around in a circle like an over excited horse but dont go forwards until they lunge loosely. or lunge them towards something to m reward with. I find all the practice in circling - they get very practiced in recognising when the lead tension is tense enough to start turning back to you . And when they start turning - that is a movement into following you over pulling. gentler on both your bodies too. their are YouTube videos showing it and the like. Just search: loose lead circle method

Even if she adores the pup - she may still be feeling out of sorts from the routine disruption. Less sleep, changed hours, changed routine - all those can make for a dog to feel less tolerant and feel overwhelmed. And overwhelmed dogs stressing out get cranky and won't be able to listen as well as normal. It may also be, now that she has her own companion, she no longer enjoys the dog parks as she's already getting her "social quota" from her very own home. Try sticking to nice and quiet walks (without the puppy), avoiding triggers and looking for things to sniff. Giving yourselves both a break while new routines are worked out.

I like fenzi dog sports academy - their next “semester” of courses open next week. It’s got a huge variety of options (multiple sports, behaviour, grooming etc) all ranging from beginner basics to technical specifics. All taught by a variety of qualified professionals. inbetween courses (they go for 6 weeks or so) they have webinars (2 hour lessons) and mini courses (go for a week). https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/schedule-and-syllabus sign ups open for next semester on May 22 for a 1 June start

I think it would be best to take him to your vet to assess him with your intended activities in mind - even with gradings the capability of each dog would be individual and depend on the rest of his confo as to how drilling position changes and jumping may affect him. sounds handsome tho.

You are near me! I use four trainers across two dogs lol - but I think these two are closest to you: So Canine Clubhouse has a great young dog program on working on both socialising -puppy playing with the training skills: https://www.canineclubhouse.com.au/ - their classes are currently running with social distancing in place. you might like that, because they rotate between puppy playing manners and obedience stuff multiple times in classes. Lots of introducing your young dogs to novel objects and noises. He also has a teenage dog socialising course for those of us who want to help our dogs be dog park dogs (I did this with thyme, it was very helpful!) ((bonus is the daycare service they run as well) Edit: Link to the puppy classes and the socialisation classes - these particular classes are still running over social iso Next closest is Dog Solutions https://www.dogsolutions.com.au/ - i haven't seen this one's puppy classes, but their adult classes are really well run for teaching life manners, calmness around other dogs and listening to owners - i've observed a few group sessions before signing up. Edit: Currently running social iso puppy classes with in person classes organised for transition out of iso For this trainer, I use them for one on one fear behaviroual challenges and they've been really great for that. So training sessions out in the street, where they have demo dogs going past and tell us what to do and help us practice things in a controlled safe environment. You might like something more like that. Both of those above work with quite challenging dogs - so you won't be kicked out of any puppy schools for having a terrier act like a terrier. They're both super nice and understanding people. One of them is doing a social iso separation anxiety course I think, I'll go look over fb to link you. (Edit: they both have social iso things going on, so i've added a link each to their pages above so you can see which one you might like more. Or be a two-timer like me and get both lol) Then I have two obedience trainers, but I don't think that's what you're looking for, from the sounds of it? One is pro dog parks but ANKC run so won't be open for awhile and the other is anti dog parks and does group classes so prob won't be open for awhile.

Dog's don't demonstrate pain the way people do under the hardened numb skin is likely an infection growing - get him into the vet now to save yourself a giant vet bill in a couple of weeks. You don't want the chronic infections and the behavioural changes that will follow.

Step 1. Your friend who brought the chickens in needs to invest in a better coop fence - ideally a double fence set up with an enclosed roof. Or you're going to just keep losing the chickens to staffies, foxes, cats, birds of prey etc. Management of environment is the utmost importance and electric fences are frankly pretty useless on worked up dogs. Can you show us a photo of the coop/run set up and we can provide resources on how to improve it?

Same reason I assume my breeders had me fill out a 4 page form - to be reassured the dog is going to a home with an income. Have you tried directly messaging them ? Or are you contacting by way of applying to a dog first up? It might make your way easier if you have your initial contact to be super open ended. e.g. "do you have time for a phone call to discuss a couple of your dogs?"

Pawfect Pals has an adult kelpie right now - friendly and trained They are in Melbourne and are a smaller rescue so hopefully have the time for you They have some other kelpies too, if you want to touch base with them.

I've seen people use booties for better traction on elderly dogs, could that perhaps help him? There's also help up/support harnesses for older dogs with handles - so you are able to help them out with tricky balance things like stares or going to the toilet. Maybe one of those?

Dogwise is making six ebooks available for free over the coming weeks! Dog InSight by Pamela Reid. From Hoofbeats to Dogsteps by Rachel Page Elliott. When Your Dog Has Cancer by Lola Ball. Vising the Dog Park by Cheryl Smith. Gentle Hands Off Dog Training by Sarah Whitehead. How to Foster Dogs by Pat Miller.

I use hello fresh it’s kind of food delivery? a friend gave me a discount code a few months ago and it was so convenient I never cancelled. it’s a recipe food delivery. So I pick my recipes for the upcoming week from a selection. And how many serves.I get the groceries to make them delivered on a nominated day. Then I cook it myself. cons: more plastic packaging than I’d like theyre a bit stingy on the herbs. So now I have a herb garden to supplement overall, pretty pleased. I have discount codes if anyone wants to test it out. oh I still need to buy things like milk, butter, eggs, oil, vinegar.