fainty_girl

I think dogs (and other animals) can definitely take a dislike to a certain person. My stumpy tail cattle dog X Jessie likes strangers (although she does look fairly cautious), but on two occasions she has reacted totally differently to two different strangers. A while ago there was a man sitting in his truck at the dog park and she wouldn't have a bar of him, I'm not sure if he tried to call her over, but she kept her distance and stood there barking at him. She did the same to a rough looking older man at another dog park who was walking through. It was very unlike her; she wasn't aggressive at all, she just kept her distance and barked. For whatever reason, she wasn't comfortable with these people, I just called her away and popped her on the lead. I think dogs can be a good judge of character.

Thanks for the link :) . In the terms and conditions it says there is a limit of 2 per household, so you can enter twice without resorting to lying. One of my dogs absolutely loves schmackos...if she ignores her name, a guaranteed way to call her back is to call out "schmacko". I can't mention the word in front of her...I called them "mackos" and she caught onto that straight away, then learnt the word "treat", so I have to call them "ackos" in front of her.

-You have more photos of your dogs than your human family members. -Your dogs have a large collection of their own blankets and towels, probably washed more regularly than our own. -If more than one person wants to go in your car, you have to remove your car seat cover and setup the car for human passengers. -When you go grocery shopping you always come back with some packets of free-range/RSPCA approved chicken and some fresh mince for the dogs. -You spend more money on your dog's shampoo and buy shampoo/conditioner from the supermarket for yourself.

You want to keep your puppy calm and you don't want to encourage them to mouth or nip you, etc. You also want to train your puppy to play in a way that will encourage them to listen to you (eg. teach your puppy to retrieve a toy and drop it for you instead of roughing them up). Eg. If you play fight with your dog and encourage that kind of behaviour, what happens when you go out for a walk and a stranger or a young child wants to pat your dog? You don't want to train your dog to interact with people in a rough way, it isn't a safe thing to do. At my place we have a purebred kelpie (my brother's dog) and I have a kelpie X and a stumpy tail cattle dog...kelpies are an active and intelligent breed. Another reason to not play fight with your pup, is that kelpies are active enough. You want to teach your pup to relax (and have an "off switch"), or you're going to create problems for yourself in the future. My dogs aren't perfect, but I have never encouraged them to play roughly.

My house smells doggy, but part of the house has really ancient carpet that needs to be ripped up and we have old furniture that needs to be replaced too. My brothers dog is very smelly...I had to wash him again today (only washed him about a week and a half ago) because he loves hanging out in my room and he was stinking my room out, even though I have floorboards. So I used two lots of shampoo on him and washed his collar too and he is finally smelling nice. My two girls aren't nearly as smelly as Rusty, don't know if it is a male dog thing. I try and let as much fresh air into the house as possible, and I also regularly wash their bedding and use fabric softener on their blankets to keep them smelling nice. I also have a big collection of old towels for the dogs, so I always wash their dog towels after using them once (they go swimming regularly). I should vacuum more often, but I am lazy.

When I was a kid I used to tie my dog up out the front of a supermarket for a few minutes. It wasn't something I did regularly and I used to keep an eye on her. It's not something I would do now. The only time I would consider tethering one of my dogs would be if I was only a couple of steps away and could clearly see them (eg. inside the bakery with glass doors so I can see my dog the entire time). I haven't done this in a few years though, because I don't take them out if I'm planning to go in any shops. If the dog you saw was in the shade, had water and was relaxed (not dog or human aggressive) then I can't see why you would need to report the owner. It is very common around here to see dogs tethered outside the supermarket. A little while ago I saw an aggressive cattle dog that absolutely should not have been tethered though...walking into the shops I saw a grown man come close to getting nipped when he went to pat the dog. Then on my way out of the shops I stopped a young girl and her mother because the young girl was going to pat the dog. The dog was baring its teeth at her and looked very uncomfortable, so I stopped the girl and explained to them how some cattle dogs can be wary of strangers. Regardless of breed you would think that people would know not to pat a strange dog.

My first dog that I grew up with was a Kelpie X called Tammy. She was from the pound and already had a name. I have a Kelpie X who was a stray with no name, so I called her Matilda, but we always call her Tilly. When I said I wanted to call her Matilda, my dad jokingly said he'd call her "Till" for short because she was "costing him a fortune" (she was my birthday present). We had to decide whether to leave her at the pound for longer to be desexed or pay for her to be desexed at our local vet and pay a higher registration fee, we decided on the latter, so she was a bit more expensive, but well worth it. Have you got a photo of your pup? That might help with suggestions :) My brother has a male red kelpie called Rusty. If you're getting a red kelpie you could call her Ruby :) .

They are so beautiful, dandybrush :) . Are they both koolies?

The Three Stooges... I think Tilly is the cutest in the pack though ;) His ears have flopped down now...

Awww Gus is SO cute! He certainly looks like a real character too :)

Yes, they sure did. Unfortunately, he moved to the UK when we split up. Yes. They recommend pts. I plan to ask them tomorrow if I can foster a very young puppy, with a view to keeping if it works out though. it did for a while, then it's effect disappeared. WE do a half hour run before I leave, another one plus a dog park visit when I get home. 90 minutes a day - it's the most I can manage for her. I agree. But how to find them? I hoped someone might know someone if I posted here, and I've tried the rescue, trainers, the vets and other forums as well That's a shame that your ex moved to the UK . 90 minutes of exercise a day is great. Could you try give her a longer run in the morning and then a shorter run in the evening? (Eg. 60 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening)? How do you exercise her? Walking on the lead? Does she play fetch? Could you teach her to walk her on a treadmill too? I don't know how you'd go about finding another home for Roo...but to me she looks like the kind of dog that a man would love to own (that might sound stupid and superficial). Does Roo prefer men or women or does she show no preference?

With the walkydog, the cord that attaches to the dog's collar/harness does stretch :) . I can't compare it to the Springer because I don't have experience with that one.

Thanks juice :) , but i'm not looking to sell it, I bought the bike and walkydog so I could run my dogs. I have just been lazy and fitting the bike inside my little car was a pain in the butt, so it is gathering dust in the shed. Plus, my kelpie is recovering from cruciate ligament surgery, so I can't dust off the bike just yet.

What a terribly difficult situation for you and Roo . Did Roo's issues get worse after your ex partner left? Are you on ok terms with your ex? Given that you got Roo when you were together, would he be interested in taking her on if he knew that you were considering putting Roo to sleep? Have you tried contacting the rescue place where Roo came from? Does increasing her exercise to really tire her out before you leave the house help Roo at all? It would be really interesting to see how she would respond to a different environment...do you think she would be a good companion for somebody like a tradie? A person who she could go to work with during the day? Obviously it would be really challenging to find a suitable home, but if finding a different living situation could help Roo, it would obviously be worth considering.

I love how the blue eye is on the dark side and the light side has the dark eye. I was thinking that myself. She is gorgeous fainty girl Thanks Evolving and stans mum :) .

I have the "walkydog bike trainer" http://www.vetnpetdirect.com.au/WALKYD#.UQYVW46ZpJ0 It has been years since I've used it...I found that my cattle dog couldn't keep up with the bike, it so it was hard work pedalling with her because I was taking some of her weight to keep her going. I'm unfit and only learnt to ride a bike in my teens, so I definitely wasn't going fast. It was easier riding with my kelpie X, even though she pulled like a freight train at that time, but she is a very energetic little dog and had no issues keeping up with the bike. If you're going to try it out, maybe you could test it out in an area where you don't imagine there'll be any major distractions (eg. other dogs, bunnies, etc). You could even try it out in a large grassy area, so if your dog manages to pull you over, you're only going to fall on soft grass, not concrete.

My little lunatic ;) ...

With swimming, one thing my vet warned me about is to not let my dog bound into the water. When I took her for a swim in a lake, I put her on a long lead and walked her out into the water, when she was deep in the water I threw a ball so she could fetch it.

My Kelpie X tore her cruciate ligament and her severed her meniscus cushion and had surgery nearly 3 months ago. She was on antibiotics and pain medication, along with some liquid medication to help with pain and inflammation. She had this big bandage on her leg (photo below), so that obviously slowed her down and the pain medication made her fairly sleepy and relaxed. Then 10 days after surgery she had her bandages & stitches removed and her first injection of cartrophen (with 3 more injections after that each week). We were told that she didn't need to be crated and to be honest, I don't think she would have coped well being kept in a crate. I took some extra time off work and kept an eye on her because I wasn't sure how she would go because she is a very active dog. When she had her bandage on she wasn't allowed any exercise and when she got her bandages off, she was still only allowed about 5 minutes of walking on the lead. After the first 4 weeks, she could go on 10 minute walks on the lead, twice daily, then walks could be increased up to 30 minutes twice daily over the following two months. Initially even with a very short walk on the lead and a short swim, Tilly did get sore, but gradually over time she has gotten better. In the info I was provided by the vet, unrestricted running and playing off the lead needs to be avoided until 3 months after surgery, then she will need a checkup before this should be done. I'll need to get her checked soon and then hopefully she can start playing off lead again. Recovery time is about 6 months though, unfortunately! I was surprised just how well Tilly has coped though, I thought it would have been a lot worse. You just need to really focus on keeping your dog quiet, and make sure they're not jumping around or chasing anything, etc. Good luck, I hope it all goes smoothly for your dog!

I have the Miele cat & dog vacuum with the powerhead...last time I cleaned the car I took the mats out and vacuumed them with the large powerhead and that worked really well at getting the fur off. Then for the car seats, unfortunately it just takes time and the upholstery attachment. The vacuum works really well though :) .

Thanks persephone :) and thank you to everyone who made suggestions :D . This is what Rusty's back is looking like now...

Sounds like a very tough situation for you all . I have an active Kelpie X (Tilly) and my brother has a very active Kelpie (Rusty) and he is a very vocal dog and will bark when he's bored. If Rusty doesn't get enough daily exercise, then it really shows in his behaviour, particularly with barking. He would play 24/7 if he had the chance, so since Rusty moved in here the dog's growing collection of toys have had to be put away in the cupboard. He's a stubborn dog and will really push you to get what he wants...eg. if he wants to go into a certain room or wants to roam, he will go and push at the door and bark (used to do this more often), so without saying a word to him I would walk over and gently lead him away from the door by gently holding his collar for a couple of seconds (not something you would do with every dog if they are reactive, etc). He'll usually come back a few times and I just repeat the same thing and lead him away from the door and then he will normally give up and go and lie down and relax. Does your dog like swimming? Does that tire her out? My dogs really love swimming and it is one thing that really drains their energy. Also, is she left home alone a lot if you're working long hours? I wonder how she would behave in a different environment, living without other dogs?

Just thought I'd update to say that the patches are nearly all gone :) ...I think within a couple of weeks they won't be there at all :) . So I guess the sardines and fish oil capsules every-night was way too much for Rusty!

Could be boredom, plus the opportunity is there with food within reach and in an accessible bin. You could try a couple of things... - increase his exercise - if he needs to gain weight or he is genuinely hungry, look at his diet - empty your bins more often...so if he raids the bin when you're in the shower, empty the bin before he is left alone - you could look at buying a different bin...one of my dogs would raid the bin occasionally if she was bored, but she has never tried to raid this bin, since I bought a similar style bin from office works a while ago (the one below is from ikea), and if he tried to raid this kind of bin, you'll hear him!

Nope, I don't normally go and pat other dogs, because not all dogs are particularly interested in strangers and I don't want to annoy the dog's owner. I don't mind it if somebody talks to me when I'm out with the dogs or asks to pat them, most of the time other people just smile at my dogs, particularly Tilly because of the way she looks.