Kelly_Louise

Bronte is just gorgeous! And posed so nicely with her pressie... mine took so much bribery I almost gave up LOL

Not sure about anyone else... but my dogs LOVE Christmas and Birthdays!!! They LOVE presents!!! Here is Sasha, after her discovery of her presents left behind by Santa Dog! We hope he came past your house too!! Merry Christmas xox

;) Unbelievable! I had stopped to look at some ducklings at the lake today, Sash was sitting obediently at my side just watching... When a lady came up FROM BEHIND Sasha and patted her on the head without any warning, saying HELLO loudly and excitedly. Honestly, some people have no idea. Sash was so shocked, and doesn't like being approached by strangers at the best of times, especially from behind with no warning... she jumped backwards and backed up behind me to get away in fright and the lady is still reaching her hand out trying to get at her. I've explained to this lady before that she can't do that... but some people just don't get it. I explained yet again, why that is not tolerable... Maybe next time it will sink in?

Yes... comfort is something Sasha knows alot about. Here she is today, claiming the new shade tent that we were given from work for Christmas. Okay, you can have it Sasha... Now what was that man saying about me not being firm enough?

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO for rescue pets! They ROCK!

Oh my... And yet, it's still probably nowhere near how bad some are. That poor blind girl... she will haunt me. Broke my heart. Thank you for the explanations. Very disappointing that perhaps this will not achieve what it was intended for. I can't hope enough that it might.

The BC that plays with my Whippet is smart. She stays on the inside of the circle and cuts across to head him off. My friend's Kelpie gets very frustrated trying to herd an animal that belts around him in a circle. He does the "kelpie stalk' and Howie goes into mad zoomies of excitement Howie gave the Whippet treatment to a dominant young SBT we met on the local oval a while back. It found out that its somewhat challenging to try and posture and dominate a dog that's twice as fast as you are LOL. All the owner could say was "I've never seen a dog go so fast". I think Howie wasn't even in warp drive. Sasha's answer to dominant dogs is to hop up on 'her' park bench, where she has the upper hand, and swat 'em from a higher position. Most people don't allow their dogs to jump on the park benches (or it's never occured to them to do it, I don't know) and they also look around with a perplexed expression on how they could possibly achieve their goal to dominate this thing staring down at them with a big smile (and usually drooling on them in the process). She may act like an airhead, but Sash is smart! I don't think we've ever met a whippet. I did however meet my first ex-racing greyhound the other day and OMG :D I was smitten, and more than a little awestruck.

Next time tell him to go watch his Cesar Milan DVDs and leave you the hell alone. ;) Young Howard has the charming habit of leaping about and barking excitedly when a dog approaches. I must remember that I'm not dominating him enough when he does this. ;) On the other hand, it has detered a couple of rushing dogs to have a mad Whippet woo wooing at their approach. ;) See, whatever works for us hey? Personally, I love a woo woo'er My Chloe is a woo woo'er too!

Well adjusted.... hmmmm, not so sure Sash is as adjusted as she can be, let's leave it at that!!! I don't hide the fact that Sash has issues. Some I've maybe even not helped with due to my inexperience. But the negatives of Sasha we've learned to manage nicely to the point that if I didn't tell you, you probably wouldn't know. I'm realistic of her limitations and we work on that each day. And in public I always try to make sure she is well behaved, especially seeing she is a larger dog. Goodness knows I've made mistakes, but learnt from and fixed them. This pic is about as bad as her behaviour got yesterday... when she decided she didn't want to walk one step further. I figure, I can live with that if it's as bad as it gets ;) PS. BOB... or just BLOB?

I don't quite understand how it will be 'policed'? How will they know that someone who is applying for an ID does not keep their dogs couped up in small pens, pumping out puppies in horrid conditions? How will they know how many pups they sell?

O...M...G... Maybe it should read, the cheaper i can buy the puppies, the more profit I can make when I rip struggling families off. Take the sale of live animals out of pet shops too, maybe there's a chance to really shut these sad practices down...

Naaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwww, she is feeling the love. And thank you for your support, such a lovely thing to say. When I first got her, no one had much faith at all (in either of us). But we showed them. ;) I love her just the way she is, full of character and sometimes mischief... but overall, a REALLY good dog.

Now that's some seriously ignorant people... I did have a little girl (about 6) once walk past and say to her family 'that's a fat dog'. Sash had her food intake cut down from them... while she isn't fat, she is probably heavier than I'd like her to be. This man also bragged how well bred his rottie was (it was an extremely nice dog I must admit) but that he couldn't show it only because of a small white patch on the chest... and I was tempted to say - yes, well we were going to show Sasha too, but we couldn't find a class for 'large, gangly legged, oddly shaped mutts that no one else wanted'.

Very well said, wish I'd thought of this at the time! But you're right, I train Sasha to ensure both our safety, and that of the people that live around us. But I also like for her to be a dog, to be independant at times, and yes - she is allowed to be naughty sometimes (as long as it is nothing that will set her back or put anyone in any danger). I want her to be able to enjoy her walks without having to be 'on' all the time, it is for her enjoyment in my eyes after all. I like her to sniff around, to stop and look at the sights, the ducks, to check out things she is unsure of etc. She doesn't pull or anything, she comes to my side if i ask her to (eg if we are walking close to small children that may be scared, or through a group of people or dogs) so I'm happy with that. I actually feel better now... putting all of Sasha's accomplishments in writing has shown me that although we're far from perfect, I have done a pretty good job with her after all.

To me, a real dog trainer knows the general behaviour of dogs, but also knows that not all solutions fit for all dogs. I did have to laugh when he said how many times do you ask her to sit before she sits? I said 'yeah she's pretty good with that basic stuff' and he said NO I asked how many times you have to ask her to sit before she does... so I looked at Sash and said SIT and she sat (thank GOD). And he said (with more disappointment)... oh, well if she doesn't, all you have to do is go up behind a dog and push firmly on the part between their bum and their knees and they will go down every time. He said, that's what I do to dogs that won't sit when asked. And I laughed and thought, you wouldn't want to try that with Sash though I could do it, but surely a man of his 'experience' would understand that some dogs would not like a stranger coming up behind them and 'forcing' them into a sit??? But as you can see I don't need to do that, she does as she is asked, she is obedient - we may never win a comp and she may not always do things first time - but she IS obedient and will do as I ask (except for recall LOL).

Looks like it's a common thing then... we've all come up against a know it all who would like to 'help'. He did say some valuable things (but stuff I already knew), but there were stuff that made me question his experience. For instance, he was telling me about how great his dog was to sit at the side of the road and doesn't move until he steps off with his left leg. I said Sasha does the same thing, but she has a verbal cue which is 'cross'. He said no that's wrong, you should use a word like 'heel' and you should use the same word for many things (I'm still trying to figure it out, but he sounded like he confused himself so I didn't push it). I said, well I have taught her the command heel, and it means for her to come from wherever she is and sit at my left side and wait for further instruction, so if I teach her heel to cross a road, she would be confused wouldn't she? And then I said does it really matter what I use, it works for us, she does as she is told so what's the problem? He then went on to his 'release' word (which I can't remember what he used) and I said my release word is 'go'. That was wrong too, and I said, well again, works for us. He seemed genuinely surprised (and a little disappointed) when he was lecturing on all these different topics and Sash and I have already covered them all. He also talked about the importance of giving visual cues in case they can't hear you, and I said well I train Sasha with verbal cues first, then teach her a visual one to go along with it (surely that can't be wrong too can it?). Also, I should have treats in my pocket 24/7 to reward her at all times. I said, I reward her enough - moreso through praise which she responds to just as well as food. But I want her to be able to listen to me without expecting a treat every time she does as she is asked - and not be solely reliant on food. He did mention that if Sasha leaned on me it was a dominance thing, but with Sasha - that is not the case. For Sasha, it is a comfort thing. He can argue the general behaviour all he wants to me, but it does not apply to us. So yeah, some of it was a little confusing (and I got the impression he was regurgitating stuff he'd been told by someone).

Yep, that's the type I came up against today. So there's more of them? LOL. Maybe it was his wife? He told me a bit about his background (which has not included many years of training - that's a more recent thing), and what i felt like saying is that having a dog from a puppy and training them from the start and doing all the right things and growing a bond with them from a young dog (which he has always done) is actually quite different to acquiring a rescue dog that has a few issues and having to start from scratch, try to understand them and what makes them tick, and then to wipe the slate clean and re-teach most things. It's a VERY different thing that I have learned the hard way (but also SO rewarding and a big learning experience). He did preach to me about the virtues of only buying from registered, ethical breeders though (which I didn't mind at all, he can do that as much as he likes)

I'm pleased that efforts are being made, and the seriousness of this issue is being addressed. I wonder how it will be 'policed' though, how conditions of all 'breeders' with this ID will be checked to ensure conditions are compliant? Here's hoping it will be a successful movement - of course there is always the danger of puppy farmers being driven further underground.

Too right - absolutely 100%!!! Thanks for reminding me!!! That's made me feel SO much better There have been many times I've doubted my capabilities with Sasha, maybe that's why I took it so personally. But corvus, you've just reminded me that no one knows Sasha like I do. She's my constant companion, my shadow, my best buddy... and regardless what people say, I've done my best and will continue to do so, and am giving her a good life where she is finally settled and happy. That's what matters. I wonder if his rottie could weave in and out of his legs as he walks? It did stand on visual cue though, which was impressive (seeing I've just conquered stand - verbally - with Sash).

I should have... but I felt compelled to defend us for some strange reason and try to explain...

Walking at the lake today, and Sash started playing up a bit cause there was a big rottie coming up behind her (she doesn't like big dogs walking closely behind her if she doesn't know them). So she stopped and sat to watch it go past, and I was mucking around with her telling her she was naughty and to come on in a joking way (knowing full well why she was doing it, and it's really not a big deal they usually just walk past us and then she gets up and is fine)... and the man started giving me a lecture about how I am not a good leader and how I'm doing everything wrong etc. I was, to be quite honest, a bit miffed that a stranger would say such things without knowing me, or my dog, or the work I have put into her. I have never professed to be the worlds greatest dog person - and Sasha has been a great challenge, but she we have seen such improvements and she has come so far that I was quite offended at this assessment. We're not perfect. But it's a constant learning curve and we try to improve everyday - but I also like to have some fun and allow Sasha to be a dog (ie, I do not require her to walk right at my left leg at ALL times like he said she should - I let her have a sniff and sometimes she walks a bit in front, sometimes at my side, sometime she lags behind), not hanging off every sound or movement I make. He proceeded to lecture me about the basics (which Sasha is well accomplished at). I'm a firm believer that not all things work for all dogs, you have to know a dog to know what approach will work... and we've done that with Sasha (and worked with a trainer who also understood that), even though not everyone has agreed with our methods... so for him to preach to me about what 'should' be done was quite annoying. Maybe he was just trying to be helpful (I know there are lots of things I could still do better)... and maybe I'm just suffering PMS... but I am upset that someone would make a judgement on us when he knows nothing about Sasha or her background, or how much work we've put into her to get her 'right', all from watching us for about 1 minute... I'm so proud of her achievements, and of how I've helped her get there... and this guy stuck his nose in and rained on our parade. He did have a lovely rottie though.

Nope, we use a plain old collar and lead with Chloe - always have Sash started out with one, but I had to change her to a martingale when she backed out of her collar and escaped a few times.

Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder isnt it? He certainly pulled my heartstrings. Bless all the people who can see past physical characteristics, and give a home to a needy pet. Without them, dogs like Doug would never have a chance.

Good to see some jail time... and to know that animal cruelty is being taken seriously. Let's hope this is the catalyst for change, and a trend follows. We can't keep turning a blind eye and slapping these people on the wrists. They are just wrong, there is something not right with them. RIP Nikki, rest easy knowing your death meant something at least.

Yep that was me, and was my first initial reaction when I saw her face... but I agree, superficial only The body just doesn't fit... I wouldn't be suprised to find a cross with a kangaroo in there though with those lovely long legs and that ultra long tail!! She is a real beauty. I hope she gives you many good years together ;) I'm a sucker for dogs with long, gangly legs... I have one too Fortunately she seems to have grown into hers a bit ;)