fainty_girl

Last night my mum arrived home after 7 weeks away and Jessie (a velcro dog with my mum) certainly didn't have any trouble recognising my mum this time around. She wiggled, jumped up and cried and looked very happy. She was like my shadow for the past 5 weeks, so I will miss that in some ways, but I knew I had no chance. I have never seen a dog so obsessed about a human as Jessie is with my mum. When I was younger I went overseas for 6 months and my old dog at the time (a gorgeous 15 year old kelpie X who had cataracts) didn't recognise me straight away but when she did after a minute or two she just stood there near me with a happy dog smile. Very cute .

A few years back everyone at my place went away for 5 weeks...at the time I only had Jessie and she had been a complete velcro dog with my mum since the day we adopted her...she has always shadowed my mum 24/7 and her behaviour is different around her too. When my family returned from their trip, Jessie didn't recognise my mum or dad and instead went straight to my brother (who she has always had a soft spot for), and then it clicked that her favourite person was home and she got very excited to see my mum. Since then my mum has gone away for another holiday and after a couple of weeks Jessie started shadowing me. I was always her least favourite family member, despite always feeding her dinner and exercising her the majority of the time, so I completely didn't expect her to shadow me. I will be very interested to see what Jessie will do when my mum returns...I am 100% expecting to be dumped by her immediately after she recognises my mum .

These are my favourites Jessie by fainty_girl, on Flickr When we had a shelf delivered, Tilly got very excited about playing in the packaging Matilda by fainty_girl, on Flickr Matilda by fainty_girl, on Flickr Matilda by fainty_girl, on Flickr

Do unto others...be honest with your neighbours, i'm sure they will understand...

One time at the park there was a lady taking photos of dogs as part of her photography course, she did try to take some photos of Tilly as she was running around. I absolutely hate having my photo taken, but i'd be happy for someone to ask if they could take photos of my dogs, as long as they weren't a creepy weirdo!

Thanks busterlove, would love to see a picture of Mac! Tilly's profile looks kind of looks like Quinn in the background of your signature too Matilda by fainty_girl, on Flickr

Thanks perfect partners and moselle Quinn is a stunner!

Stimpy looks like a total sweetheart! Those people were obviously mad! She is very cute!

I do get strangers commenting about Tilly, but in a positive way normally . I normally hear strangers say "that dog has one blue eye" as I walk past, or parents will often point out her eyes to their children, either that or they will kind of do a double take or stare at her. It really doesn't bother me, because I love Tilly for who she is on the inside, not how she looks...having a dog who looks cute is just an added bonus, but obviously I am biased!

My dogs aren't old, but they have a heated dog bed that I bought from Aldi a few months ago and they love it. Perhaps something like that could be comforting for your dog, but obviously that requires a powerpoint. Could your dog sleep inside? Is that an option?

I have lots of favourites 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 Jessie by fainty_girl, on Flickr Jessie & Matilda by fainty_girl, on Flickr

Good on you for trusting your gut instinct and I hope you are feeling better! I think i've watched way too many shows on the crime channel though...does add to the paranoia a little!

Outside on the decking in the sunshine with a warm tub/bucket of water. I am way too lazy to wash them weekly, so they probably get done every couple of months or even longer when the weather is too cool. They also go swimming nearly every day, so if I wash them they don't smell good for long! Tilly also hates getting washed and she gets very sooky and is a pain in the butt at bath times. Jessie is easy to wash though, while I wouldn't say that she loves it, she is fine when I wash her. This is Jessie:

I looked at the "cat & dog" vacuum and the only difference between it and any other is the charcoal filter for 'odours'. The off putting side was I'd be replacing bags on a far too regular basis! It'd cost me a fortune in bags. It's got to be bagless for me. The bags actually hold a lot and they are also well made (not just some crappy paper bag)...I bought a box of them (either 4 or 5) for $20.

The Miele Cat & Dog with the turbo head is fantastic...well made and cleans our old carpet and floorboards really well (don't use the turbo head on floorboards though, there is normal vacuum head for that). I think it even has a charcoal filter for odours too. I'm very happy with it...and I used to really want to buy a dyson, but they looked so flimsy and crap at the shop that it put me off!

I've only ever had X-breeds, but I am definitely a kelpie girl...I grew up with a kelpie X then when she passed away we got Jessie, a stumpy tailed cattle dog X. I do love her and she is treated very well, but in some ways she just isn't really my type of dog. It took me a lot longer to bond with Jessie than it did with my next dog Tilly, a kelpie X coolie (X who knows what ) . My brother has a purebred kelpie and I love him to bits too. I don't think i'll be switching breeds anytime soon!

Obviously, like others have mentioned they should be separated...it is obviously not safe for the dogs to be together (for the dogs, and you and your husband!). I'm sure there are plenty of people here who could recommend some decent professionals in your area for you to get help too.

Tilly (Kelpie X Coolie) sleeps in...she is very switched on and active in the day, but she loves to sleep in! On winter mornings she will take me to the gas heater then pass out again in front of it. Jessie wakes up normally in the mornings...she does tend to go to bed at pretty much 8.30pm on the dot every night, but she doesn't sleep in. She is pretty low key and will happily laze around the house all day provided she gets taken out and fed at some point!

For removing ticks I use a product called the "tick twister"...it was bought from a pharmacy and they seem to work well!

If Tilly ignores me when I am calling her away from another dog I walk in the opposite direction from her...it's not that I don't want her interacting with other dogs, I want to be able to call her away from other dogs and I want her to know that if she runs off to go and play with another dog and doesn't listen to me, i'm not going over to her. This has worked well for Tilly...she is still a pretty impulsive dog, but this has helped quite a bit. If it is time to leave somewhere and she is not listening, I start the ignition on my car - that sound pretty much always gets her attention too. Tilly responds really well to praise too...she always looks rather chuffed with herself when I tell her she's a good girl when she comes back to me.

What tricks can you do with more than 1 dog at the same time? My dogs know basic tricks like sit, lay down, stay, shake hands, beg & jump, etc...What are some other tricks that I could do with them when they are together? The past couple of days at the park I've been trying to get them to do a few tricks for a few minutes in between playing...yesterday I was getting them both to lay down and stay while I walked away, and then I was trying to teach them to only come over one at a time when I called their names. They both learn quickly when there is food involved! Jessie & Matilda by fainty_girl, on Flickr

Thanks, I think so too but i'm a bit biased obviously . Can hormonal incontinence happen, regardless of the dog's age when they are desexed? When Tilly was desexed, i'm pretty sure I remember the vet said that she had never been in heat before, not sure if that makes a difference...

I wouldn't leave a dog in a ute at the beach or at the shops, I would worry about them in the heat, even if there was a canopy. The only time either of my girls would be left in the car for a few minutes is if they came in the car at night (provided it wasn't a hot summers night), and I had to duck into a shop for a couple of minutes.

Tilly was desexed when she was about 8 months old, just after we adopted her. She was a stray though, so her exact age isn't known.

My stumpy tail cattle dog X Jessie (approx.6 years old) has recently become vocal during car trips...she will cry for about the first 10 minutes on the way, and for about the first minute on the way home. Jessie has always been a velcro dog with my mum, but my mum has been away for the past couple of weeks. Jessie has coped very well...she was a bit sooky for the first couple of days, but she seems very happy and content. She has become friendlier with me and she really loves going out to the park when I take her...she never used to be that fussed about going anywhere with me, but in the last few months she has really grown to love coming out with my other dog and I, and she seems to enjoy herself even more at the park since my mum has been away. She has always been pretty well behaved in the car for myself and my dad (not for my mum though...she behaves so bad in the car with my mum that she basically cannot go in there with her because she will just bark hysterically the whole car ride). Normally when I take Jessie out she will bark before she gets in the car, will bark twice nearly everytime I close the boot and then she is normally quiet for the rest of the car ride. Her crying is really frustrating to listen to though and she is also doing the same thing when my dad takes her out, so it is not just with me. It has just started since my mum has been away though. In general she has always been a very vocal dog with grumbling, "talking", crying and barking. The first couple of days that we had her we thought we had gotten a quiet dog, but nope, the poor thing had kennel cough! What can I do to stop the crying in the car?