hopenfox

Pelican by Diane, on Flickr Lake Weeroona by Diane, on Flickr Nankeen Night Heron by Diane, on Flickr Blue Faced Honeyeater by Diane, on Flickr Buff-banded Rail by Diane, on Flickr

One more... Grass by Diane, on Flickr

Thank you. The honeyeaters were at Werribee Zoo. There were a lot of them! The Red Hot Pokers were very popular.

:) Play by Diane, on Flickr Favourite Spot by Diane, on Flickr Sitting by Diane, on Flickr Rok by Diane, on Flickr

Thanks for the compliments :) . A few more photos of Rok. Rok by Diane, on Flickr Rok by Diane, on Flickr 'Bone' by Diane, on Flickr Come! by Diane, on Flickr

Red rumped parrot Red-rumped Parrot by Diane, on Flickr New Holland Honeyeaters New Holland Honeyeaters by Diane, on Flickr Red Wattlebird Red Wattlebird by Diane, on Flickr Musk Lorikeet Musk Lorikeet by Diane, on Flickr Chestnut Teal Chestnut Teal by Diane, on Flickr

I've been away from Dogzonline for awhile (marriage & kids), so thought I'd share some photos of our current dogs. This is our oldest, Fox (13 years). Fox by Diane, on Flickr Desmond (11 years). Des by Diane, on Flickr Sam (9 years). Sam by Diane, on Flickr And Rok (6 months). Rok by Diane, on Flickr

Introducing Rok, our little 6 month old Terrier. Rok's Stick by Diane, on Flickr Rok by Diane, on Flickr Rok by Diane, on Flickr

Fox's dryish coat returned to being soft, sleek and shiny after I added a whole egg to his diet given every two or three days. I also feed Fish Oil which I think helps...

Thanks for sharing that LisaJ and what a nice story about the boy in the wheelchair ;) .

He's so cute! I look forward to meeting him one day .

Thanks corvus. I was actually eyeing the bigger pup from the litter you chose Erik from. It sounded like he may have been therapy dog material...but of course I was nowhere near ready for my next dog right then. It'll probably be around 5 years before I'm ready (after Hope's gone).

How do you think a SV would be for Agility? And as a Therapy Dog? And have the temperament to do both well? (Researching my next dog) And how much herding instinct is still floating around in Australia's SVs? Are there any trialling in herding in Australia?

I read somewhere that adding a little Apple Cider Vinegar to the water helps stop the growth of algae. Haven't tried it myself though...

Thanks for your encouragement . Don't worry Leema, I knew you meant Link! Kelpiechick, that 'Protocol for Relaxation' sounds intriguing. I would love to see it put into action (on Youtube?) as I'm not certain I would be able to do it right. I would love a copy of what you did - I'll PM you my email. And yes, that was me with Fox at the Bendigo trial. Where I forgot my spiked agility shoes and slipped and slid in the mud all day! I'm on the verge of retiring Fox. He's nearly 9 and appears to be losing interest. I'm really looking forward to training and trialling with just Link now, if only I can get past this pressure/focus thing. It's been quite exhausting training and trialling 2 dogs at once!

Maybe he drinks less water than Elbie? Our Cavalier Nicky had a dry nose till he was about 8. He only had a small drink two or three times a day, then 4 month old Hope arrived. She tired him out a lot and was always playing in water. Nicky wanted to do what she was doing so he drank with her whenever she drank and his nose became cool and damp just like hers! But I have heard that some dogs just have naturally drier noses than others.

Well I've been busy teaching Link to 'touch' and he's going great. He'll now touch his nose to my hand wherever I hold it, even jumping in the air to reach. He was quite hesitant at first to go through my legs to 'touch', but is improving every day and I'm aiming for leg weaving. He's really enjoying the clicker training and gets really excited when he sees me get the clicker. I've also been doing my best to only reward him when he's side on to me, which is still quite a challenge - he quickly flips round to face me nearly all the time. But he is slowly improving in this too. Corvus, I've tried leaning away from him, and this does really help him to relax, but is quite awkward to hold! I can move him like a puppet by leaning to and fro! Leema & becks, thanks for the tips and I'll be looking around for that book.

Yay! All wonderfully helpful tips. Lots to work with here; thanks everyone. I'll start with touch, I think...and only reward for other things when he isn't facing me. Oh and I've been averting my gaze for a while now, but he seems to be just as affected by my body direction and distance as where I'm looking. My first training issue with Link was trying to find a reward or motivator I could use. He'll eat food treats, but is easily distracted from them. He plays sometimes with toys by himself, but acts like he can't even see the toy if I pick it up! I finally discovered he will play with a flirt pole, so now I have two different ones that he loves. He also has an anxiety kind of thing he does whenever he's unsure or worried about something - he hunts and chases flies relentlessly with complete and total focus. So with each new thing or place I train I have to get past his fly hunting before I get anywhere in his training. After the super easy training of Fox, Link is exhausting! Fox is the opposite of Link - very confident, loves to learn, follows me everywhere, loves all toys and food, and his favourite place to be is pressed against me.

I've had my Kelpie, Link for 8 months (and adopted him when he was an unsocialised 10 month old) and am still struggling with his training due to his personal space issues. During training, he doesn't like to come closer than maybe a metre from me, and if I move closer (even side on), or lure him closer, he leans back further and further until he falls over, or if I forget myself and move quickly, he'll leap up and jump back to keep the distance. In a drop, he'll prostrate himself, the closer I get, till he rolls completely over. He also wants to always face me straight on, and isn't happy if I try to position him side-on to me. I had hoped to Obedience trial him one day, but there's no way he'll come close enough to heel or even sit at my side right now. When I'm not focused on him, he will come up close to my side for a pat. Do you think it's just a matter of trust? Will time allow me closer? Or could it just be his instinct? He has a huge natural cast that he uses all the time during games with my other dogs and while fly & sheep herding. Maybe he's trying to cast around me and get to 'my head'? Can anyone suggest ways I can teach him to WANT to be close to me? Or is this something I have to accept?

It's that time of the year again - butchers and poultry places everywhere are selling turkey meat for Christmas and many just throw the frames out. Now's the time to ask them about keeping them for you!

Fox got to the toy first - but he forgot he couldn't swim!

I guess if you had the time and money, you could start with the behaviourist, then when you've got that part settled, move onto the trainer if you think you need to. Most of the time the training 'just works out' when you've got the behaviour worked out. Julia at Cerberus does do training too, but she likes to work on the behaviour and get that right first.

I know the last two trainers and would recommend Cerberus (Dog Listener) for behavioural issues and Jenny's for training.

My titre test results were returned to my vet with the recommendation of being good for 3 or 4 years, so my vet is happy to attest to 'adequate immunity' for that long...

This has happened several times to Hope and really you don't need to do anything - 'pad' skin heals really quickly on it's own. The first time it happened I washed her foot each time she came inside to get any dirt off, but by the next day it had a tough scab and she was walking normally on it the day after. The next several times I just checked the wound regularly and it healed in no time. Just keep an eye out that he doesn't lick it too much...