fainty_girl

Tess is a cutie! How old would she be roughly? She reminds me a bit of my dog Tilly . Tilly was a stray so i'm not sure what type of X-breed she is for sure either, the picture below is of Tilly at 8 months, a couple of weeks after I adopted her. Matilda by fainty_girl, on Flickr

I don't think there is anything wrong with giving dogs human names. To me, humanising a dog is about the way you treat them, not the name you give them. With my dogs, Jessie was a rescue dog and came with her name. It suits her very well and we never thought to change it. With my other dog Matilda (we call her Tilly) she was a stray at the pound and was not microchipped, so we didn't know her name. If I had known her name I would have kept that name for her (unless it was something really horrible), but I think she really suits her name. When we were coming up with a name for her I suggested Matilda and my dad said that he would call her Tilly for short, and that's what we've called her ever since. She knew her name by the second day we had her, so it didn't exactly bother her .

Matilda by fainty_girl, on Flickr Matilda by fainty_girl, on Flickr Matilda by fainty_girl, on Flickr Matilda by fainty_girl, on Flickr Matilda by fainty_girl, on Flickr Jessie by fainty_girl, on Flickr

It sure takes a lot of willpower when she starts doing cute little begging tricks by herself! Matilda by fainty_girl, on Flickr Matilda by fainty_girl, on Flickr

-Getting to close when i'm eating -Staring intently and drooling -Giving me their paw - This...(if Tilly particularly wants something she will do her begging trick without being asked. She did a very nice beg like in the picture of her below last week when we had visitors over and there was a piece of beef satay leftover on my plate. She didn't get it either : Matilda by fainty_girl, on Flickr I don't like it when my dogs beg, but they do get fed scraps from my other family members, so they will beg from them and will try it on with visitors too. They know they don't get to eat off my plate though, so most of the time they give me space but beg from everyone else. If they get to close I tell them "get back" and Tilly will walk backwards and lie down on the ground, giving me a bit of space. Jessie also listens to this too and she will move away from me, because they both know they have no chance of eating off my plate. If they haven't begged from me and there is some scraps that I want to give them I put it in their food bowls. When i'm getting any food ready for them they have to wait on the lounge and lay down. If I pick up their food bowls they both take themselves to the lounge.

A few months ago my mum and I noticed that 2 dogs were left in a car on a hot morning in direct sunlight with the windows wound up. What was even worse was that one of the dogs had a thick jumper on! There was a police station down the road and went there and gave them the car's license plate number and they said they would send somebody out to have a look. We drove back there and the car was gone by then. The only time that my dogs will ever be left in the car alone is late in the evening when it has cooled down and only in situations where they will only be alone for a couple of minutes (eg. buying petrol, picking up takeaway, popping into the supermarket if I only need a couple of things). The main reason they would even come in the car in the evening is my attempt at showing that a car ride does not always result in going for a walk, because one of my dogs has a tendency to be noisy in the car with crying from excitement.

Hoover and Elbie looks so cute, and Hoover sure has grown quickly! That book looks massive, you'll be an expert after reading that one .

My dogs swim in salt water most days and I never rinse them after. I just towel dry them both and they are fine .

That is so cute . My dogs know they don't get scraps from me, but other family members feed them (which drives me nuts!) so that encourages their begging. Don't know if I would be able to resist if they brought me a begging bowl though :p .

A few years ago when my family was overseas there had been a bad storm and we lost our electricity for a while. My family had been trying to contact me over the phone and were worried when they couldn't reach me, so they called a family friend and asked him to pop over. I was out at the time and apparently my stumpy tail cattle dog X Jessie went nuts and she kept on launching herself at the door at him. For years after she continued to launch herself at the door if this friend or his wife came to visit when we were here! When we are out and about Jessie has really become a lot more confident with strangers and is very sweet with people, young and old. There have been a couple of occasions where she has not wanted to have a bar of someone, and she will stand back from them and bark. She did this a few months ago at the park when an older rough looking guy walked through the park. Then recently at a park this man who sat in his car the entire time I was there tried to call her over and she didn't want to know him either. I tend to trust her judgement! I think dogs are a good judge of character. Earlier in the year, late one evening the dogs started going nuts at the door, I was alone and I didn't try to stop them just in case. I heard the next morning our neighbour's place was broken into while they were home! Who knows if my dogs put them off!

Do you ignore her when you arrive? One of my dogs can be very jumpy with visitors/strangers, but she is better if they take no notice of her. This might sound stupid, but providing she was calm, could you pat her if they put a little dog shirt on her or something? Then you would be patting her, but you wouldn't have to touch her fur. Or could you do things with her, like feed her dinner or take her for a little walk, even if your daughter held her leash. Or have they tried taking her on a good walk before you arrive, to drain her energy a bit?

My stumpy tail cattle dog X gets walked with a check chain and lead. The check chain is only used because she needs to have something on her that she can't back out of, but she walks well on the lead and doesn't pull. Jessie is afraid of fireworks, so if the leash was attached to her collar and unexpectedly fireworks went off she could very well back out of her collar. My kelpie X coolie is shocking on the lead and she has sensitive skin to top it off...she walked well on her halti but hated it so I won't use that on her. She walks reasonably well on her front clip harness, but she can only wear this for short times because it rubs on the skin behind her legs. I also tried her with a martingale style training collar that was meant to be gentle but that really left her neck sore even when she was improving and pulling less. I agree that they are quick fixes and would love to for her to be able to walk without pulling. I really should bite the bullet and hire a trainer to show me what to do.

labsrule, no need to be so OTT with your last post (ETA: that has been deleted). Different breeds and dogs have different ways of playing, it is not a criticism of the breed. Not everyone would like the way my dogs play either, so if my dogs want to run around and play with another dog then I ask the owner if that is alright. I love labradors, I think they are beautiful, but my dogs don't tend to get along with the more boisterous labs that they have met over the years...i'm not saying that every lab is boisterous. Probably in my first year of owning Jessie (stumpy tail cattle dog X) she got really spooked by two labradors who wanted to chase her and when they chased her she ended up running onto a (quiet) road. Then my other dog Tilly (kelpie X) doesn't like dogs that gets in her face (regardless of their breed) so if she was charged by a boisterous dog who didn't give her space she would not be impressed. My dogs like friendly, playful dogs who will run with them, but also give them space too. The only dog Tilly will play fight with is my brother's dog, but she obviously knows him well!

Tilly was about 8 months old when I got her, I'm not sure if she swam with her previous owners, as she was a stray. When I still had to keep her on the lead the first couple of times she went to the park, when she saw dogs running into the water she launched herself in there too. The next time she was at the park there was a lady swimming in the water who encouraged Tilly to swim by calling her over. Tilly didn't need much encouragement though, she loves swimming. She won't swim in our pool though, wish she would as it would be a good way to give her extra exercise. Matilda by fainty_girl, on Flickr Matilda by fainty_girl, on Flickr Jessie chooses not to swim...she used to only go in water up to her belly but she now goes in deeper water. She likes wading through water, running through shallow water and laying down. The other week I noticed that when she was in the water a couple of times she went in a little too deep and swam for a split second. I might try and encourage her to swim over summer, because physically i'm sure she could. Jessie by fainty_girl, on Flickr

I buy regular tennis balls from Big W. They come in a pack of 27 and cost just under $20. I buy 2-3 bags of these of these at a time because my dogs tend to lose their tennis balls a lot at the park. http://www.bigw.com.au/sports-leisure/ball...ll-pack-27-pack After reading this thread I just put through an order for the chuck it medley pack, with a whistling ball, glow in the dark ball and a rubber rebounce ball. I will see how the dogs go with these when they arrive.

What would your dog/s prefer...a big meaty bone or a walk? This evening my mum gave Tilly a nice big lamb shank just before I was going to take the dogs out for a run. I tried telling Tilly to drop it, but she wouldn't and I my mum said "good luck...she's a dog". So I went and grabbed the chuck-it ball thrower that we take to the park and I showed it to Tilly. She didn't need any convincing then, she ran straight outside, flew down a flight of stairs without even touching them and jumped into the car. When we came home after a run she didn't want her lamb shank, and instead she took herself to the lounge where the dogs are told to wait when I get their dinners or anything prepared for them.

Tilly loves fruit and vegetables and she will eat most things, apart from lettuce and citrus fruits...in particular she loves bananas, watermelon and carrots. She would happily eat a fruit platter . Jessie will pretend to be semi-interested in fruit and veg and then spits most things out...she does like steamed or grated carrots and will sometimes have a little bit of banana.

Do you wear a seat belt yourself then, even though puppy preschool is nearby? Unfortunately car accidents do happen, regardless of how far away from home you are.

I agree, my dogs are definitely better behaved when they are harnessed in.

Jessie loves her harness and if I put it on her in the house before we get to the car she cries way too much, so I clip hers on in the car. Tilly is the opposite, she doesn't like her harness because she would rather have free reign in the car. The other evening when I brought them home from the park I thought Tilly was being a real pain in the butt in the car because she was crying a heap. Turns out her front poor was stuck in her harness, so she did have something to cry about for once! I prefer to have my dogs restrained in the car for their own safety, even if the harnesses are a little bit uncomfortable.

A morning and evening run off leash at the park would be ideal for my dogs, but it is about a 35-40 minute round trip to their favourite park, so I wouldn't want to drive that twice a day. When time is not an issue we stay at the park for about 70 minutes, but at the moment with work it is more like a good 45 minute run and swim for the dogs. This does tire them both out and keeps them happy, but ideally I would run them for longer in the evening if the sun was out for longer!

That is really awful

My dogs do have company in the day (from my family), and I work less hours than I used to which is good for me and them! My dogs get walked in the evening and they seem happy with their little routine. They always know when we are going out for a walk, and when they come home they get their dinner, then they both crash not long after. Tilly is not a morning dog, she sleeps in and is quieter in the mornings. Tilly and Jessie don't hassle me to go out in the mornings either.

I didn't find it easy to bond with Jessie (my stumpy tail cattle dog X). She was meant to be "my" dog, but she chose my mum on the car ride home (my mum and I swapped seats in the car because I was so sick of Jessie standing on me), so I only have myself to blame :D . Plus I didn't know that cattle dogs are 'one person dogs', so another mistake on my part. To be honest I have always found Jessie to be pretty frustrating too... That being said, she is very content and has a great life here - she has an extremely close bond with my mum and Jessie is part of our family, even if she is a bit nutty! When we just had Jessie I always felt like something was missing and desperately wanted a second dog, so after 4 years of begging we finally adopted a second dog, Tilly. My mum didn't come in the car that time, and I also made sure that I did things like took Tilly on her first walk, etc. She is my girl, but she is also very friendly with everyone in my family and is much more of a family dog than Jessie is. I am super protective of Tilly and bonded with her quickly!

The photos are so cute! I don't have photos, but Tilly went through a particularly annoying stage of swimming in a filthy mangrove swamp at the park. I actually started keeping dog shampoo in my car, so when she did that she got taken to the tap and was given a wash. She would come out of there looking and smelling totally revolting, and even having her swim in the salt water afterwards for ages wouldn't get rid of the smell.