fainty_girl

Sometimes when Tilly (2 year old Kelpie X Coolie) is particularly tired after running and swimming at the park, I find that she will sometimes pee while she is sleeping. Last night she had a really big drink after going to the park, and she ended up snuggling on a blanket next to me on the lounge a couple of hours after getting home, and she did quite a big wee as she slept (it didn't wake her up either...I felt dampness on the quilt and I woke her up myself). Is it anything to be concerned about? Or should I just make sure that I hang out in the yard with her in the evening for a bit so she can do her business before she passes out! Other than that she is absolutely fine with her housetraining...she wasn't house trained when we first got her when she was about 8 months, but she caught on quite quickly and has been fine since then. It just seems to happen when she is really tired after a big run & swim.

If your parents are used to caring for your dog and are responsible dog owners, then your dog will probably be just fine. One of my dogs is a complete velcro dog with my mum - has followed her around everywhere for the past 5 years, sleeps outside her door, etc. My mum is away at the moment and my dog is coping fine...she was a bit mopey for a couple of days and would look out the door, but she has moved on from that. If anything she behaves WAY better when my mum isn't around, so it has been nice to have her behaving more normally, instead of behaving like an obsessed velcro dog! Tilly is a big part of my life, so personally I couldn't leave her to move overseas...she would have to come with me and it would have to obviously be somewhere suitable for her too. NYC is a fantastic place though...what a tough decision! I say do some research into quarantine and consider taking your dog. I'm sure a 3kg Chihuahua could quite happily live in NYC!

When you go shopping and happily spend $60 on 81 tennis balls, but then go shopping for yourself and you really think twice when looking at a $60 top and decide not to buy it. Sad, but true . When you prefer to feed your dogs free range raw chicken.

My stumpy tail cattle dog X Jessie is very vocal...geez I wish I could quieten her down. She loves the sound of her own doggy voice! If i'm playing fetch with Tilly's favourite visiting Kelpie, Tilly can get quite noisy but she will not pick up the tennis ball if her mate is retrieving it. I make sure she has her own tennis ball because she will keep that in her mouth the entire time they play fetch. If she doesn't have a ball in her mouth she will yap, but if she has a ball then she will mouth it and playfully growl instead. If your dogs are just having a playful bark and then stopping after a short time, then your neighbours could be a little more tolerant.

My girl Tilly was a stray, but was described as a Kelpie X Koolie...one person on a forum said Tilly looks like the result of two dogs being sewn together, which I thought was a funny way to describe 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

I'd leave it to the professionals to collect them if I was the OP!

Both of my dogs are cross breeds, they were rescue dogs and obviously did not have great lives before they came here. Today they are both different dogs to the ones we brought home, so obviously "nurture" side of things is very important for our dogs. My brother has been looking after a purebred kelpie for about a year and this dog's behaviour has improved so much too, he is like a different dog as well. This dog would lose it if you patted him for more than a couple of seconds, he would get very worked up and very excited (this dog is a total sook). But now he really loves being patted and doesn't lose it at all. He also used to get quite antsy and would find it hard to relax when he would visit here, but the last time he came he didn't want to leave our place and was snuggled on the lounge next to me with his head resting on my blanket and had to be called about three times by my brother before he reluctantly got off the lounge to leave. I think it is a combination of nature and nurture though, obviously each dog is more inclined to be a certain way, but the way we treat them has a massive impact on their behaviour.

Wow you have so many pets! It must take a while to feed them all!

Report it... That baby fox is very cute though!

Absolutely...when I saw Tilly's photo on the pound website I thought she looked like a total lunatic (I was right, but she is a loveable lunatic ), but my dad loved her photo, and on the day we were heading out to the pound I showed dad the different profiles I had printed out, and he wanted Tilly's profile printed out too, so I reluctantly printed it off (I was mainly reluctant because I didn't want to adopt another female dog, because of the potential issues). Obviously I'm biased, but Tilly is a pretty cute dog, but her cuteness is just a bonus...i'd still love her just as much if she was totally hideous looking, because she's got such a lovely nature. This was the first photo I saw of Tilly: And Tilly at home: Matilda by fainty_girl, on Flickr

My first dog Tammy was my heart dog...I absolutely adored her (well the whole family did). Then when Tammy passed away at the age of about 15, we adopted Jessie. Jessie is not my heart dog, nor am I her heart owner ...she has been a velcro dog with my mum since day 1, and it was something that frustrated me so much until we adopted Tilly. Since then Jessie and I have bonded more and she loves coming out with Tilly and I. The moment I met Tilly I loved her to bits....she is not an easy dog, but there is something special about her. I am super protective of her, I just can't help it!

What tricks does your dog do ? Jessie (stumpy tail cattle dog X) will: sit lay down shake hands stay beg jump through a hula hoop jump stand roll over roll all the way over (I call it a "commando roll" ) crawl (creep along while still laying down) Tilly (kelpie X coolie) will: sit lay down shake hands stay beg jump over things (sawhorses, picnic benches, etc) roll over Why did you teach that trick/those tricks in particular? I taught these tricks to Jessie a while ago...it started with her learning to shake hands and as long as I used schmackos she seemed to learn tricks really quickly. Tilly was about 8 months old when I got her and she didn't have any training. She has loads of enthusiasm and loves to please. Basic things like sit, lay down and stay are just things that I wanted her to know so she could be more obedient. Was it something your dog gravitated naturally toward? Jessie would do anything for a schmacko, so i'd say she gravitated naturally towards doing tricks. Tilly loves food and affection, and is a clever and switched on dog (but she is pretty impulsive at times), so doing tricks for food and pats is right up her alley! I haven't taught as many things to Tilly yet, I should though! Did you teach as a pup, or as an older dog? Jessie was about 1 when we got her, and was probably about 2-3 when I taught her most of her tricks. Tilly is about 2, so she has learnt some tricks while she is young.

Which park aussielover? It sounds just like a park that I know of, one that I don't go to! After seeing many a dog do their business in the water there, I used to cringe when i'd see people and toddlers swimming or playing in the water. I remember one time seeing a family sitting on the sand eating something like fried chicken...of course my dogs didn't want to leave their side!

I saw this music clip on tv today, thought DOL people might like it

My stumpy tail cattle dog X had clearly been mistreated too...the first few days she would cower all of the time and she was just a wreck (physically, she looked fine though). It took her a long time to settle down! She is such a sooky dog too, I don't know how anybody could have hurt her.

I have a Walky Dog but I quickly lost motivation to use it and the bike . I used a harness on each of my dogs when using it though. I found that my cattle dog Jessie was too slow so it was hard pedalling for her because she was lagging behind. It was great for my kelpie X Tilly though, she is super energetic so it suited her perfectly.

I'm really sorry for your loss - that is so awful . At uni I remember that they recommended explaining death to children in biological terms, rather than saying that they have gone to sleep, etc.

Tilly loves the super striker balls, but when I ended up buying her another one a few months back she had popped the ball within a few minutes and the rope came off really quickly too. The first one I bought for her lasted for a good few months...not sure if it was her excitement with getting a new one or whether it wasn't made as well as the first, but I won't be buying any more of them for her. Are the jolly balls good?

Not sure if there is any truth in that, but if you have a dog that is interested in strangers, then potentially a thief could still attempt to call the dog over without knowing their name. If you are at the park with your dog and you call their name, then a stranger would then know the name of your dog, regardless of whether they are wearing a tag. I think you've just got to use common sense really...don't tie your dog up outside a shop where it is out of your sight and make sure your yard is secure from strangers too.

sheree_e4 Out of interest, what are the other differences that you know of between kelpies & koolies? My girl Tilly was a stray so I don't know her X-breeds, but the pound said she is a kelpie X koolie, so i've got the best of both worlds . She is very clever, playful, has loads of energy and loves going out, but she also loves hanging out with the family too and will happily snuggle into your legs while you relax, so she does have an off switch.

My stumpy tail cattle dog X is very vocal and loves growling when playing...it is a playful growl and she will wag her tail too. My kelpie X will only growl very softly when playing...it is such a wussy growl too. Her playful growl is slightly louder if she is playing with a soccer ball. I don't see it as something to worry about...if either of my dogs were growling at me in an aggressive way it would be very obvious.

My stumpy tail cattle dog X Jessie didn't make a sound the first few days and we thought how great it was that we had a quiet dog. She was quiet because she had kennel cough, so once she got over that she has been very vocal ever since! My other rescue dog Tilly was not house trained when we got her and she clearly wasn't used to spending time in a house, but she caught on fairly quickly. I would take her into the yard and would hang out there with her and if she did her business then I praised her verbally. If the back yard wasn't working, then I would put her on an extender lead and take her into the front yard or for a little stroll past our neighbours. She was pretty good overnight, I just made sure that she went out before I went to bed, then first thing in the morning again.

Toys that are durable, affordable, chewable and free of stuffing. If it squeaks then I know the dogs will love it even more.

If you have a choice, I would look at having a male & female with suitable temperaments together. I have 2 female dogs, Jessie & Tilly...when I was looking for my second dog I definitely wanted a male dog, but then I met Tilly and that plan went out the window..obviously if Tilly had a brother at the pound then I would have chosen him. At first Jessie didn't want much to do with Tilly, and Tilly did come with some issues (like food aggression) but we sorted that out a long time ago and they happily eat their dinner side-by-side. I do separate them when they are eating bones though, but I would do this with any dog. I would say they get along pretty well now for two female dogs with different temperaments; they like going out for a run together and are fine together around the house. The only thing I don't do with them at home is throw balls/toys inside the house when they are both wanting to play, because initially this did cause a couple of scraps between them (no damage, just noise!). If they look like they are getting a bit huffy/bossy with one another, then we correct that too, which definitely helps I think.

Everything in moderation...just don't let your dog have 24/7 access to tennis balls if they are overly obsessed with them.