kelpiecuddles

I'm half way between Nowra and Ulladulla but I don't mind travelling for a day out. :)

Poor fella. I'm in the samecamp as HW. Signs of something more serious would have me straight to the vet but dogs get a tummy upset just like us and as long as it passes quickly it's not necessarily a problem.

Do you think he stops barking because you fixed whatever he was barking at or is actually barking for you and the act of you going in there to fix it has satisfied that so he stops? I'm just wondering whether going and 'fixing' things is potentially rewarding the behaviour? Is he a young or old 9? Some dogs at 9 are quite old in their behaviour whereas others you wouldn't pick their age at all.

Could you consider trying one of the citronella collars? We had a similiar issue and the major issue was that it was happening when I wasn't there to easily correct the behaviour. Put the collar on and she only barked at night a couple of times and it was all over. It's now in the cupboard and gets pulled out only occasionally if a refresher is needed. I only suggest it because like you we had pretty much determined that there was no real 'need' that could be easily met to fix the barking it was just what i would call nuisance barking if you know what I mean.

I don't even know if there are any trials done around here but I love watching them and I reckon my kids would get a huge kick out of them too so I thought I might try and find out when and where they are on. Is there some sort of central calender for these sort of things? :laugh:

If you are old enough to be considered competent to raise small children to know right from wrong then you are old enough to know better.

Will be reading with interest as it's on the agenda for us down the track too. :) Give me a yell if you are heading down the NSW sth coast and wanting to go into any of the national parks around here as he's welcome to visit or stop at our property on the highway for a run if needed :)

I've put nice soft broad straps on the coat Kirislin so shouldn't be too easy for a puppy to get tangled in. :)

The dobe I cared for was a lovely dog but a little too much of the loony for me :p It was a happy loony but still too much for me, it's the same happy loony that a lot of the weims and GSPs I've met seem to have LOL

Bassets are a large breed with short legs not like a dach who has a stretched back so no real back issues. She's great to live with, potters around the house with the kids but she runs so fast when I throw the ball for the kelpie, like a little bullet LOL. She doesn't drool other than the odd fleck if she's been running or swimming and has a shake, other than that not drooly at all. They are a little bit stubborn but she wasn't hard to train really. I always say they are all the happy of a beagle but with less crazy and they can't jump fences :)

The coat is on it's way to you Cheryl, hopefully it will arrive tomorrow or the next day depending on post(our postal system is a bit funny with it's pick ups here)

Basset Hounds tick every single one of your boxes. If you want a dog sport to be involved in you could look in to tracking.

Interesting :) I didn't mean cheat in a derogatory sort of way so apologies if it sounded like that, I was just trying to work out if they were naturally that way ever or if they were all done by glueing. I imagine it's similar to weighting ear tips to try to discourage them from pricking up too much.

gross!

Oh and I am actually in the process of doing what I would do if I couldn't find a non-shedder, I'm ordering some of Little Gift's Pei jays so that my girls can travel in the car a bit more with less fur being transferred :D

:laugh:

When no non-shedding dog is suitable you choose other options. Your rescue an oodle from a pound if you are so inclined or you consider a shedding breed or..*gasp*...you reconsider getting a dog at all. There are options other than simply getting something for the sake of it.

Ah but see that would require speed to start with, something my basset hound is allergic to :laugh:

Haven't missed that point at all but I don't think starting with a certain preference and researching from there is a bad thing. You might research all of those ten breeds and then decide that none of them suit. I started out researching one non-shedding breed which may or may not suit us and have since added five or six more breeds to my research list that I either didn't know existed or hadn't considered. There's nothing wrong with being proven wrong if you start with an idea in your head and then realise after research that it isn't going to work for whatever reason and reconsidering some shedding breeds at that point if necessary.

Same, my kelpie doesn't have them but the basset does, despite her short legs they are still well off the ground though :D

They sit pretty high up on her leg though, I can't fathom how she would wear them down where they are LOL

Sares I've never had to cut dew claws either, they just don't seem to grow much.

Interesting, so are some puppies naturally born with the rosebud ears and this is sort of a cheat to getting them that way with the ones that aren't or are they all glued routinely? Not judging, just curious :)

Kiesha I have found the best thing about being a renter is being able to trial other peoples houses and work out what I want in the one I'll build soon. Why not look into fostering for a while before you get your next forever dog, that way you can see how it sits with you without being in a lifelong relationship if the fur is really bothering you. Plus you never know you might find that perfect someone in the process :)

Why should it matter if the first criteria is a non-shedding coat, there are quite a few breeds that are non-shedding or very low shedding. At least that person is actually looking for breed recommendations instead of just jumping on the BYB oodle bandwagon. As is pointed out by almost everyone here in other threads there are different temperaments within each breed so what's wrong with short listing say ten breeds and then looking into the characteristics of each breed and considering whether they would suit you.