Elbie, Hoover, Dodge & Friends!

[wuffles]

Yep it's one of these: http://www.onlinepetwarehouse.com.au/?page...t=100&ps=21

I got it from Petbarn for about $6... Ava likes to chase it but just runs straight past and forgets why she was running in the first place.

As you can see our kiddies like to cuddle each other! Satchmo won't have a bar of cuddles at home so I think Ava got her fix today.

[Max#1]

That second photo is really fantastic! Well done for capturing the moment! Its so nice to watch dogs running around, playing, doing their own thing - there's buckets of laughs in it

[koalathebear]

Some dogs have smiley faces. My puppy always has such a serious and earnest face for some reason. Perhaps he is anxious about his wonky ears, perhaps he can't decide if today he feels like a kelpie or a border collie

In other news, because I was helping out with Papa Koala over the weekend, Elbie got to hang out in his huge backyard. He kept retrieving garbage from goodness knows where ... weird plastic cups, shells, bones (!!!), glitter pens. Worst? A plastic cup full of about 10 spider eggs. He kept me busy cleaning up after him and chucking everything out - but he kept finding more. Thank goodness he doesn't eat the stuff - just retrieves it as if he's giving me some sort of precious gift. Then he found cardboard and made a bit of a mess. On the plus side, he is not a destructive dog so leaves clothes, shoes, furniture, cables and that sort of thing undisturbed so even though there was laundry billowing temptingly on the clothes horse outside, he ignored it. He also ignored all of the shoes on the back deck.

I had a small win on the weekend - I've finally managed to stop Elbie barking in the car. I had to do it because the trip to obedience on Sunday was unbearable - Elbie was so wild and out of control he was having difficulty breathing and he was gasping and crying by the time we got there. So on the way back, I sprayed him in the face a few times. He dropped and once he was in a dropped position, he calmed down - presumably because he wasn't seeing cars flying all over the place. I fed him treats intermittently. He whined a bit but mostly stayed quiet. We have now had three car trips where he has stayed quiet. I'm hoping desperately that this behaviour lasts.

I can't have Elbie jumping up on Papa Koala who is quite frail from his chemo so I used the clicker to make Elbie leave dad alone and go to his soft crate. He was actually really well behaved.

Obedience on Sunday was good. Elbie did great with his 'go to your mat', sits, drops and stays. With the traffic cones he also did very well, coming up with very good automatic sits. I didn't give him treats during the exercise, just before and after. He did very well with the recall and the mealtime manners (waiting for food) - not sure if he'll be so steady if someone else puts the bowl down but he did very well when I put the bowl down.

For the 'obstacle course', they had two dogs tied up near the beginning of the course - one of them barking like a maniac. Elbie ignored them beautifully. He got a bit distracted partway through and was sniffing a bit along the course so the lease went taut for a few seconds but I got his attention back and he made it through the whole course well without any treats and sat, dropped and stood nicely.

Alas, he failed the sit for pats miserably but well ... that's Elbie. He's a quivering ball of energy. He did well with the controlled greeting ie approach other dog and owner and stop 1m away from each other and make dog sit while you have a 15 sec conversation. Elbie lunged once at the instructor's dog but otherwise did well with three sets of dogs and owners. His bronze assessment is next week - I hope it goes well. If he fails and we have to repeat bronze I won't upset, but it would be very nice if he passed

Edited September 20, 2010 by koalathebear

[lilli_star]

...Labradors!

They are surprisingly determined, aren't they? Especially considering James' favourite pasttime is normally snoozing on the couch! I can just imagine little Ruby's efforts at redecorating How old is she now?

Ruby is 19 weeks old tomorrow. Hard to believe in one way that I've had her almost 3 months! Then again, I can believe it- the last sleep in I had was 3 months ago! She's not really 'little' though- last Saturday she weighed 15.5 kg!

I went to Bunnings on the weekend and bought some pavers to weigh down the tarp floor in her shed and block access to the ground. I hope it works. She still dragged her blankets out today, but for once it wasn't raining, so I didn't mind too much.

KTB, you are so lucky that Elbie just brings you things. Ruby runs away with 'forbidden' things (socks, face cloths, hose connectors etc) and then thinks it would be delightful to play keepaways with said items. Not fun, especially in the morning when I have to go to work. I actually need to get some advice on how to train her out of that. Or at least to drop it! When I ask

Edited September 20, 2010 by lilli_star

[koalathebear]

Ruby is 19 weeks old tomorrow. Hard to believe in one way that I've had her almost 3 months! Then again, I can believe it- the last sleep in I had was 3 months ago!

You poor thing ... Elbie used to be an early riser (5am or 5.30) but for the last few months, he wakes up whenever we do - whether that's early or late. If we want to sleep in, we tend to get up earlyish to wee Elbie but then we pop him back in his crate and can sleep in until 10am if we want. We would make sure he didn't need to go to the toilet and then ignore him if he whinged :p

She's not really 'little' though- last Saturday she weighed 15.5 kg! ;)

Heh - little is relative.

KTB, you are so lucky that Elbie just brings you things. Ruby runs away with 'forbidden' things (socks, face cloths, hose connectors etc) and then thinks it would be delightful to play keepaways with said items. Not fun, especially in the morning when I have to go to work. I actually need to get some advice on how to train her out of that. Or at least to drop it! When I ask

Elbie likes to play keepaway, too. My husband is very good at getting him to swap things for kibble/another toy/a treat. Elbie doesn't trust me so much so for things like bones that he finds from wherever (which he knows he's not supposed to have), he'll dash away from me like a demon - he is soooooooooo fast you can't catch him. Or worse, he'll drop the thing then approach the kibble and then dart back and get the bone before I can get it. These days, I lure him closer, toss the kibble to the side and then hurtle towards the bone or whatever before Elbie can.

Sorry to hear about the socks/face cloths/hose connectors - that must be frustrating. For the hose connectors, have you tried using a clicker and desensitising? With stuff like that we normally just dangle it in front of Elbie's face and he gets nothing if he tries to bite it or sniffs it but we click if he ignores it and he gets a treat. He gets to the point where you can wave certain items at him and he won't bat an eyelash. My husband keeps joking that we're going to turn poor Elbie into a desensitised zombie that responds to nothing. Absolutely no danger of that ...

[Niques]

Some dogs have smiley faces. My puppy always has such a serious and earnest face for some reason. Perhaps he is anxious about his wonky ears, perhaps he can't decide if today he feels like a kelpie or a border collie

I have frequent, irrational moments of worry because James' face looks so despairing! I'm thinking any future dog definitely needs to be a smiley one! In the meantime I'm stuck with droopy jowls and deep, deep, brown eyes that stare into you and have me always thinking that I have a seriously depressed dog ;) Elbie has a very thoughtful, analytical look to him - sort of the dog you'd want to help you break out of jail.

I had a small win on the weekend - I've finally managed to stop Elbie barking in the car. I had to do it because the trip to obedience on Sunday was unbearable - Elbie was so wild and out of control he was having difficulty breathing and he was gasping and crying by the time we got there. So on the way back, I sprayed him in the face a few times. :p He dropped and once he was in a dropped position, he calmed down - presumably because he wasn't seeing cars flying all over the place. I fed him treats intermittently. He whined a bit but mostly stayed quiet. We have now had three car trips where he has stayed quiet. I'm hoping desperately that this behaviour lasts.

Congratulations! That's very good news. I think James was traumatised by the initialy car trip home from the breeders (90 minutes or so of screaming puppy) and I remember being so thrilled when he decided that car trips are really, really exciting. Him crying in the car used to make me anxious about him and it was a great big vicious circle Fingers crossed for you that quiet car travel is here to stay!

Elbie's obedience classes sound like a lot of fun! Especially an obstacle course. Glad to hear he's doing well!

She's not really 'little' though- last Saturday she weighed 15.5 kg!

Oh, I long for James to be that small again! He was last weighed at just over 5 months and was about 20kg - I had to stop picking him up soon after that and he hasn't been weighed since. I had to carry him downstairs the other day, much to my back's dismay! That was a terrific struggle. I am very interested as to what he's at at the moment and am debating whether it's worth putting my back out to find out! Otherwise he won't be weighed for at least 4 months until he goes in for desexing and I'm far too curious to wait that long!

[koalathebear]

I have frequent, irrational moments of worry because James' face looks so despairing! I'm thinking any future dog definitely needs to be a smiley one! In the meantime I'm stuck with droopy jowls and deep, deep, brown eyes that stare into you and have me always thinking that I have a seriously depressed dog ;)

Haha! I know exactly what you mean. James is adorable but he does have gravitas like Elbie. I laugh when I see those cheery golden retrievers that look like they're laughing all the time and wuffles' dog Ava has a permanent grin on her face. Still, there is something very funny and cute about having a serious-looking dog even if in photos Elbie looks like a dog that's going to be used for some sort of charity appeal for donations.

Elbie has a very thoughtful, analytical look to him - sort of the dog you'd want to help you break out of jail.

H! Elbie is actually such a happy dog who loves to play, sleep and run around but then he'll turn around and give us these long, thoughtful looks. We were told we shouldn't be staring back because of the whole challenging/dominance thing but sometimes he just looks VERY thoughtful. Sometimes I can't help staring back because he's clearly pondering things, wheels turning in his head and I love how perplexed he looks.

Him crying in the car used to make me anxious about him and it was a great big vicious circle Fingers crossed for you that quiet car travel is here to stay!

Thank you! It was stressing me out a LOT and I didn't want it to become an entrenched behaviour because I want him to enjoy car trips, I want him to be able to spend more time with us. He always looks soooooooooooooo sad when we drive away and leave him behind.

Elbie's obedience classes sound like a lot of fun! Especially an obstacle course. Glad to hear he's doing well!

The obstacle course was great but you definitely want to be one of the first through otherwise your poor dog gets distracted by all the dogs who have peed on the obstacle course before them :D From memory it went as follows:

1. At the beginning they had tethered a placid kelpie x named Jet and a barking dog

2. We walked past the first traffic cone, turned left and then Elbie had to stand

3. Then we walked for a bit more and he had to drop and sit

4. They had a ball there as a distraction which he ignored (phew! Lucky it wasn’t a squeaky toy or a juice bottle!) Sometimes it’s a motor cycle helmet of all things

5. Then there were a few more turns and sits.

Rogue the husky cross in our class is normally really focussed but the barking dog really threw her off – it’s interesting how different things distract different dogs.

I am very interested as to what he's at at the moment and am debating whether it's worth putting my back out to find out! Otherwise he won't be weighed for at least 4 months until he goes in for desexing and I'm far too curious to wait that long!

Unless you can train him to walk up onto the scale himself? :p

[KumaAkita]

I had a small win on the weekend - I've finally managed to stop Elbie barking in the car. I had to do it because the trip to obedience on Sunday was unbearable - Elbie was so wild and out of control he was having difficulty breathing and he was gasping and crying by the time we got there. So on the way back, I sprayed him in the face a few times. ;) He dropped and once he was in a dropped position, he calmed down - presumably because he wasn't seeing cars flying all over the place. I fed him treats intermittently. He whined a bit but mostly stayed quiet. We have now had three car trips where he has stayed quiet. I'm hoping desperately that this behaviour lasts.

YAY!!! :D here's hoping that it is a permanent change. Must be great!

We won't be at obedience on Sunday, we're off for the weekend. Kuma's longest car trip yet... a whopping 8 hours each way. Fingers crossed he settles and sleeps (ha! don't like my chances)

I love the mention of puppy weights... Kuma's 10 months old and weighs 45kg. but he is a big cuddly bear. We stopped picking him up ages ago. Well I did, OH still tries it occasionally and it doesn't end well...

[wuffles]

Ohmygosh KTB, how is it already time for another assessment? I saw you and Elbie going around the loose leash course on the weekend and you did much better than us. That's our worst exercise and I suspect the thing that will see us repeating the Silver class - unless she does the fly-by in her recall again! The two dogs tethered at the start belong to the Silver instructors. The juice bottle is always what gets us in that course as well That and the colourful stuffed toy, because we have the same one at home and it's much loved!

Yep, Ava always looks like she's sharing some personal joke with herself. She doesn't take anything seriously Kelpies and BCs tend to have that serious look about them sometimes! Satchmo often looks sad, especially when Ava is biting his chops.

Congrats at sorting out the car behaviour! Hopefully it continues! :D

[koalathebear]

here's hoping that it is a permanent change. Must be great!

Thank you! Apart from my ears feeling better, I just hated seeing him so stressed and sound up. I thought about putting shades over the back windows but then realised it would obscure vision. A crate won’t work in our car because it just wouldn’t fit even if we put the seat back.

We won't be at obedience on Sunday, we're off for the weekend. Kuma's longest car trip yet... a whopping 8 hours each way. Fingers crossed he settles and sleeps (ha! don't like my chances)

;) 8 hours!? Ayah – where are you going? Are you running away from Dupree???? :D No need to go that far - come to my house! We can play Rock Band and he'll never find you in Melba!

I hope Kuma handles the long trip all right - 100 bottles of Asahi on the wall 100 bottles of Asahi … take one down, pass it around, 99 bottles of Asahi …

I love the mention of puppy weights... Kuma's 10 months old and weighs 45kg. but he is a big cuddly bear. We stopped picking him up ages ago. Well I did, OH still tries it occasionally and it doesn't end well...

AWESOME! I couldn’t imagine trying to pick up Kuma – he’d look at me as if I was a bug or something

Ohmygosh KTB, how is it already time for another assessment?

Yes! I was just thinking the other day as we were in class that by the end of the year – Ava will be in Gold Class! I think that’s the class that has some doggy dancing in it???

I saw you and Elbie going around the loose leash course on the weekend and you did much better than us. That's our worst exercise and I suspect the thing that will see us repeating the Silver class - unless she does the fly-by in her recall again! The two dogs tethered at the start belong to the Silver instructors. The juice bottle is always what gets us in that course as well ;) That and the colourful stuffed toy, because we have the same one at home and it's much loved!

Heh heh, I like to call it the obstacle course because I feel like every item they put there is a challenge designed to lure my curious puppy from my side. I thought it was awesome that the course came with two dogs like that ;) From what I could see you guys were doing really well – you were doing off-lead down-stays? When it’s our turn, I have this vision of me being the only owner chasing around the BDOC field after my dog going: “Come back!! Come back!!!”

Satchmo often looks sad, especially when Ava is biting his chops.

It’s actually hilarious that your two dogs are such a contrast. Ava’s so flirty and playful-looking and Satchmo always looks so grave and slightly baleful. It’s a really cute contrast!

Congrats at sorting out the car behaviour! Hopefully it continues!

Thank you! It’s early days but I hope that all car trips will now be quiet and serene …

Edited September 21, 2010 by koalathebear

[KumaAkita]

;) 8 hours!? Ayah – where are you going? Are you running away from Dupree???? :D No need to go that far - come to my house! We can play Rock Band and he'll never find you in Melba!

I hope Kuma handles the long trip all right - 100 bottles of Asahi on the wall 100 bottles of Asahi … take one down, pass it around, 99 bottles of Asahi …

I love the mention of puppy weights... Kuma's 10 months old and weighs 45kg. but he is a big cuddly bear. We stopped picking him up ages ago. Well I did, OH still tries it occasionally and it doesn't end well...

AWESOME! I couldn't imagine trying to pick up Kuma – he'd look at me as if I was a bug or something

Road Trip to see my folks in Tamworth... Nope, Dupree has his very own place to move into. His last night with us on Wednesday before he's gone! WOOOOO HOOOO. Then we have more visitors arrive for a couple of days, then we're back to just us. Cannot wait for that.

We got told on Sunday that all but one dog passed beginners, so *happy dance* Kuma is not a Dunce! (yet)

This is the OH lifting Kuma onto his shoulders a few weeks ago (so - 40Kg ish worth of dog) - excuse the crappy phone quality photo, neither could keep still for long enough.

[wuffles]

Yes! I was just thinking the other day as we were in class that by the end of the year – Ava will be in Gold Class! I think that’s the class that has some doggy dancing in it??? ;)

You could be there too by the end of the year ;)

Heh heh, I like to call it the obstacle course because I feel like every item they put there is a challenge designed to lure my curious puppy from my side. I thought it was awesome that the course came with two dogs like that :D From what I could see you guys were doing really well – you were doing off-lead down-stays? When it’s our turn, I have this vision of me being the only owner chasing around the BDOC field after my dog going: “Come back!! Come back!!!”

I hate the obstacle course. They tell me I should walk faster through it, but it's literally two fast steps between each obstacle. They also tell me not to worry if she wanders a bit away from me, but the course is not set up for medium to large dogs at all... I just find it stupid and annoying. If they moved the obstacles a few more metres apart I think we'd do a lot better.

I was so scared the first time I did stays or mat off leash Thankfully Ava hasn't disgraced me yet, touch wood. If a dog next to her got up and ran, though, she'd be chasing it in a jiffy. On the assessment sheet it actually says to leave the leash on the dogs and drop them to the ground for the stays which I also find annoying ;) I'm going to do some practice on the oval this week just to proof things as they are on the sheet - for example putting a toy between her and the mat Although this morning she went to the mat even though Satch had his big bum planted in the way!

Edited September 21, 2010 by wuffles

[Niques]

That is an impressive photo, KA! I can't help but wonder how on earth your OH actually gets him in that position :D

This obstacle course sounds really good - particularly having distracting toys and items around! You guys certainly have an interesting obedience club.

Best of luck with the upcoming obedience assessment! How do they work?

When it’s our turn, I have this vision of me being the only owner chasing around the BDOC field after my dog going: “Come back!! Come back!!!”

Hah, meet James. I've refused to let him off-leash for the past few weeks for recalls and stays due to 1 or 2 instances of needing to chase after him like a loon! I think it was because of the class location, though - when the new beginner class started we were shuffled a bit further along and he had a better view of another group of dogs. Too irresistable for him There's a particular golden retriever he really, reaaaally wants to play with I think this weekend we'll brave it again.

[wuffles]

Hah, meet James. I've refused to let him off-leash for the past few weeks for recalls and stays due to 1 or 2 instances of needing to chase after him like a loon! I think it was because of the class location, though - when the new beginner class started we were shuffled a bit further along and he had a better view of another group of dogs. Too irresistable for him ;) There's a particular golden retriever he really, reaaaally wants to play with I think this weekend we'll brave it again.

I think sometimes it's just a matter of knowing which dogs yours goes a bit nuts for and avoiding them when it comes to important stuff! If we have to go anywhere near Harvey the samoyed in our assessment, we're screwed. Ava and him are obsessed with each other ;)

I never did off leash recalls with our older dog at dog club. I always brought a long line and did it on that. 90% of the time he was fine, but the other 10% was always embarrassing. Once I was in the small fenced pen with him, someone opened the gate and he got out while classes were going on -- I think he went and said "hello" to every single dog in the area, dozens of them. He was dancing around, play bowing, running from dog to dog I yelled at him to COME, he turned on the spot, ran towards me, ran a circle around me, then ran back to the other dogs until someone caught him for me I can laugh about it now though, man he had a good time

[koalathebear]

kumaakita: wow that photo is amazing!! I can't believe he was able to hoist Kuma up like that. It's such a cute photo! Even though it's blurred I can just imagine Kuma's facial expression

You could be there too by the end of the year :p

Noooo ... even if we manage to pass bronze and then silver we'll still be ending on a silver note. You'll have a golden dog by the end of 2010 - how does that feel? I'm a bit unhappy that the assessment day for BOTH the Thursday and Sunday sessions for session 5 will be on 25 November - a Thursday evening starting at 7pm. I normally don't get home from work until 7pm, 6.30 if I'm lucky so that's a bit inconvenient

niques: our assessment sheet for bronze is two pages of detail! In a nutshell it says that to pass, we must achieve a Yes score in the following compulsory behaviours:

1. tricks
   
2. loose lead walking
   
3. one group stay (sit or drop)
   
4. 5 additional Yes scores
   

We're allowed to have a maximum of two No scores out of the "other behaviours" - not precisely sure what that means.

We can carry food and toys but we're not allowed to lure or treat the dogs during the tasks - just at the beginning and end of exercises although the dog can be rewarded for auto-sits during heelwork and loose lead walking.

Tricks: one trick without food. Should be easy as long as Elbie doesn't go spazzy on us and deliver up the wrong trick

Rejoin handler: summon dog to rejoin you from 5m away - apparently there will be distractions (balls, chairs, cones, food, other handlers, dogs, brass marching band etc). Our problem is that Elbie will come from a sit-stay but it's not so easy for us to send him away from us in the first place During class I was throwing food to get him away from me but I'm not sure I can do that during assessment

Mealtime manners: Has to ignore a bowl of food in front of his nose for 20 seconds. Should be ok depending on distractions.

On your mat: Send dog to mat from 1metre away and he has to stay there for 30 seconds. Should be fine.

Steady for pats: must stay steady for pats. Elbie will fail this miserably. As soon as someone leans in for the pat, his bum's off the ground and he's all *boing boing boing*

Heelwork: Dog to maintain heel position while we walk briskly. The pattern will consist of at least one left, one right and one right about turn and 2 auto sits. No luring, food or slapping of hand against thigh.

Loose lead walking (obstacle course): dog to walk on a loose lead for 30-40 metres. The leash isn't allowed to become taut and the dog must move on from distractions. There are 2 changes of directions and distractions like cones, empty food bowl, people walking or holding an umbrella. This will really depend on the day - sometimes Elbie's really good but if a lot of dogs have gone through the course, there are so many interesting smells ...

Controlled greeting: Approach another handler and their dog, stop 1m away and put dog in a sit next to you. Chat for 15 seconds. This will depend on who the other dog is and who the handler is ... He gets very happy in the presence of some and is placid with others

Group stays: Dogs are in a semicircle with handlers about 1.5m apart. Dog is put in a stay, you walk away to the end of the leash and the dog must hold the position for 1 minute - in a sit and then in a drop position. Elbie should be fine with this as long as the yappy black Schnauzer who sometimes wants to attack him isn't next to him.

So much depends on how things are on the day!

Edited September 21, 2010 by koalathebear

[Clastic]

Elbie should be fine with this as long as the yappy black Schnauzer who sometimes wants to attack him isn't next to him.

... is that the devil dog..?

So I went to Petbarn and got this Pet one - Octopus since Mars liked playing with that pinwheel so much, gave it to the kids yesterday and got home today and OH tells me that we wasted $6 on the weekend. I didn't quite understand until he said the octopus... the poor thing is how in half. The kids must have been playing tug-o-war with it and and they have decapitated Mr. Octopus. Unfortunately, he appears to be irreparable.. Well the kids can still play with its tentacles I suppose.

[wuffles]

So I went to Petbarn and got this Pet one - Octopus since Mars liked playing with that pinwheel so much, gave it to the kids yesterday and got home today and OH tells me that we wasted $6 on the weekend. I didn't quite understand until he said the octopus... the poor thing is how in half. The kids must have been playing tug-o-war with it and and they have decapitated Mr. Octopus. Unfortunately, he appears to be irreparable.. Well the kids can still play with its tentacles I suppose.

You left them unattended with a toy with STUFFING?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!

Anyway, don't you think it's worth $6 to keep the doggies entertained for a day?

[KumaAkita]

Kuma was a bit unsure after that photo... tail down and weary of the OH. Niques - it was a bit of a challenge hoisting him up there... don't think it will happen again!

Wow... KTB, the Bronze challenges sound tricky. I forsee Kuma and I repeating bronze (probably a couple of times ). Hopefully we have good dogs in our class, there were a couple of bounders in our beginners class which made it tricky to stay focussed! I will also be interested to see what class Judge the rottie goes into. He took a dislike to the boxer in our class last Sunday... all snarly and teeth. Very interesting dog is Judge. Think there are issues there.

[koalathebear]

Wow... KTB, the Bronze challenges sound tricky. I forsee Kuma and I repeating bronze (probably a couple of times ).

Haha! On a good day - Elbie can definitely do all of the required behaviours but if he's having one of his cRaZyDoG days, who knows? There's no shame in us repeating and heaps of people repeat or actually choose to repeat.

It's basically the same material from beginners but far more focussed - longer times, more focus expected of the dog. We've been really lucky with our class this term and I really like all of the dogs and their handlers - handlers and dogs have great chats between tasks. Usually we stand next to Rogue the huski x with the sky blue eyes (been with us since beginners), Callie the friendly GSD or Dotty the bouncy JRT. In the class we also have Shelly the elegant rescue whippet who sits with a paw in the air like she's sipping tea with the Queen, George and Jaffa the chunky monkey chocolate labs and a sweet little Westie. Mojo the mastiff/wolfhound is massive and a bit unruly but Elbie's known him since beginners so they get along very well and there's a rescue dog named Brindy that usually doesn't get along very well with other dogs but seems to get along well with all the dogs in our class. The other bronze class that often mixes with us has a black schnauzer that used to like lunging at Elbie (but has since mellowed out a LOT and lunges much less) and one terrier that Elbie finds very distracting.

I will also be interested to see what class Judge the rottie goes into. He took a dislike to the boxer in our class last Sunday... all snarly and teeth. Very interesting dog is Judge. Think there are issues there.

I agree ... Judge is the only dog who has ever tried to attack Elbie in the BDOC offlead area It was a bit unexpected because one moment, Judge was all scared and submissive in the corner and then suddenly out of the blue he started chasing Elbie, growling and snapping at him. We took Elbie out immediately ... Judge is such a cute-looking dog (I have a soft spot for rotties with their sweet cute-ugly faces) but I'm a bit hesitant about having Elbie around a dog that flips from looking so fearful to being a bit aggro in seconds like that.

I'm so glad Kuma's going onto bronze. In terms of boredom during long waits, apart from going on little walking sidetrips - you could also bring toys along to entertain him. Last week, Jaffa's owner brought along a squeaker that had the whole class going. She brought it to focus Jaffa, but every time I turned around - a different dog seemed to have it and Elbie was extremely mesmerised by the squeak.

Edited September 21, 2010 by koalathebear

[Clastic]

You left them unattended with a toy with STUFFING?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!

Anyway, don't you think it's worth $6 to keep the doggies entertained for a day?

I know, it was VERY silly of me. They have a stuffed monkey to play with outside and he's the only surviving stuffed toy left. Suprisingly, its one of Mars's first outside toys!

Lucky for me, OH paid for the toys and dog food on the weekend! Hehehe...!

Wow... KTB, the Bronze challenges sound tricky. I forsee Kuma and I repeating bronze (probably a couple of times ).

I anticipate for Mars to fail his Bronze quite a few times as well! Other doggies are just so much more interesting than I am and if he saw any toys during the assesment he'd definitely want to play with those instead of coming to me.