Elbie, Hoover, Dodge & Friends!

[wuffles]

You guys will all go fine in Bronze! We failed one exercise, the steady for pats

You will notice a huge difference in the dogs (and the handlers) as you go up the levels and also as they mature. I remember how the dogs behaved when we started, we joke about it in class as most of us came into Beginners together. I really wish I had recorded some of the early sessions to compare. The dogs were barking, jumping around at the end of their leash, lunging at each other... and the owners generally got quite flustered. These same dogs and handlers, 6 months later, are now doing lovely group heeling exercises, off leash stays, and are weaving between the other dogs in the class while focusing on their people!!

I feel sorry for poor Judge, he is so anxious about the world

This thread needs more pictures

[Clastic]

This thread needs more pictures

I can take and post a picture of the mangled octopus.

[koalathebear]

I can take and post a picture of the mangled octopus.

Please do! And here is a repost of Elbie's mangled toys. He has never actually destroyed any of his toys because he still has them all - they're just very mangled and repaired ...

Poor Badger. This toy has been with us as long as Elbie has. He no longer has ears or a tail and has been repaired many times.

Poor horse. Elbie's second toy. He only lasted a month or two before losing his limbs and becoming unravelled ... But Elbie still plays with him.

Poor toy dog, we pre-emptively removed his eyes, which made us feel like psycopaths...

Poor beaver ... his facial reconstruction surgery is not going well .. The squeakers still work and Elbie sleeps with this toy at night.

Also, I'll take photos this weekend during assessment day!

Edited September 22, 2010 by koalathebear

[koalathebear]

Elbie waiting for permission to play with his tucker ball

ETA:

Video of

. I love how he lifts his left paw from the ground and I like how his crazy ears stand up at attention like that when they're normally a bit flopsy ;)

I also really enjoy watching

with the Nose Push and the Paw Pull Edited September 22, 2010 by koalathebear

[Clastic]

Poor Mr. Octopus.. he never stood a chance. Oh and there is much more stuffing than that lying around, thats just a handful of it.

Mars has also managed to crack the ball on the right there..

The monkey is one of Mars's first outside toys, even though its lost its eyes and its hands are showing stuffing, its in pretty good shape!

The container is what happens when Mars finds something to chew on...

What used to be a traffic cone. I don't know why my Mum has a cone at home.

And what used to be a sofa.. before Pepper came along, this sofa did not have holes in it..

The inside toys! All their inside toys are in fantastic shape, these are the only 2 with slight problems.

The cat is only missing a tail, which Pepper happily butchered off.. and the turtle is only missing its eyes. Pepper is again the culprit for these ones.

Mr. Bunny.. yes, it WAS a bunny. I don't even know how it ended up outside in the first place and where it came from but... poor little guy.

Mr. Bumblebee, the kids liked playing tug-o-war with him.. this is the result.

This one has a bit of a hole in the side of the head..

And all 6 chairs have marks on them. Started happening when Pepper came along.. bet my Mum can't wait until the house is finished so she can kick us out!

My Mum's yard had SO much that they can find and destroy.. atleast our yard will have nothing but dirt for like 6 months so the kids can help with the 'gardening'

[KumaAkita]

My Mum's yard had SO much that they can find and destroy.. atleast our yard will have nothing but dirt for like 6 months so the kids can help with the 'gardening'

ah yes... I know all about that! We finished building at the end of February and we still have dirt - we ran out of time to do anything before winter frosts hit.

Kuma is very good at gardening... so good that we're planning on showing him where we want our trees planted and get him to dig the holes for us

[Clastic]

My Mum's yard had SO much that they can find and destroy.. atleast our yard will have nothing but dirt for like 6 months so the kids can help with the 'gardening'

ah yes... I know all about that! We finished building at the end of February and we still have dirt - we ran out of time to do anything before winter frosts hit.

Kuma is very good at gardening... so good that we're planning on showing him where we want our trees planted and get him to dig the holes for us

Mars is very good at digging trenches and Pepper is good at making it look like a lawn mower has been over all the plants...! She's managed to kill parts of a hedge because she thought it was so comfy for sleep in/on...

5 more weeks then we're in our house yaaaaay! Well.. end of October/early November!

We're putting down a heap of gypsum to break up the clay, so all doggies are welcome to come visit to help with the gardening.

Kuma will have to come around and dig a couple of holes for us to plant our lemon and fig tree!

[koalathebear]

That is such great news about the house, clastic!! Does that mean you'll be joining Sunday classes at BDOC? ;) You can help me catch Elbie when he bolts off his leash during off-leash sit-stays

The photos of the Destruction of your Fur Kids were awesome. Favourites - the sofa The outdoor table When we were still renting, our landlord had an outdoor set like that and Elbie used to lick it and LOOK like he wanted to gnaw on it but fortunately he never really developed a taste for it. There was an outdoor corner that he liked to gnaw on for some reason.

So, some photos of Elbie's Domain are below ...

This upraised bricked area is Elbie's "Permitted Dig Zone". He mostly digs up there and the holes are easy to fill in. Left hand side you can see the poo spade which I no longer use. I've given up on squeamishness and now put on two disposable plastic gloves and just pick up the poops - takes about 5 minutes whereas when I used to try to use the shovel/pooper scooper it could take me half an hour OH started it when he went out with a disposable plastic glove and took far less time than I did. I am squeamish enough that I put TWO gloves on my right hand though.

Here is a partially covered hole in the Permitted Dig Zone.

Sometimes he's naughty and digs in the gravel - you can see where we've filled the hole back in because of the dirt ...

Sometimes he digs in the tanbark - again, here is a filled in hole

The lawn is still mostly ok, bar 2-3 holes. You can see the neglected Aussie Home Alone ball in which he has zero interest ...

A partially filled in hole - I shan't tell you what's in the hole.

He doesn't dig in this part of the lawn

Not a torture device - it's Elbie's tug post

While he has zero interest in the $89.95 home alone ball, he does love his empty juice bottles and will run around the yard with one in his mouth for ages. We have juice and milk bottles and the rest of the family are now taking to donating to us their empty bottles given that their provide hours of entertainment for Da Dog.

Edited September 23, 2010 by koalathebear

[koalathebear]

Da Dog surveying his domain

The most spoiled dog in the world on one of his many beds. He has a hard crate, a soft crate, a dog bed, this trampoline bed you see, an identical trampoline bed inside his kennel and also the kennel itself.

In other news, we have puppy proofed the yard so many times but it's never enough. To my horror, I came upon Elbie gnawing upon this the other day. No idea where he found a rotting piece of wood with a NAIL in it.

Also, last night ... badger lost his nose ...

It was like a massacre ... fluff on the ground ... I approached the crate I found the noseless badger .. .then his nose ... I'll stitch him back up tonight, sans nose. Poor badger.

In other news, I have been watching the remake of Hawaii 5-0 and keep humming the theme song. It seems to drive Elbie bananas - probably because my version is like the kazoo version. Anyway, every time I start singing it - I get pounced on by Elbie.

[KumaAkita]

Clastic - how about we put them into work crews. We could do with a couple of trenches at our place, and then we can send Kuma over to yours for hole and drainage duty.

KTB - That ain't much damage... I'll have to take piccies of Kuma's efforts. So far the only ones I have are blurry iPhone shots taken through the bedroom window:

That's a hole about 40cm x 40cm x 30cm, exposing the ag drain we put in over Easter... cheeky bugger. The others are exposing pipes as well, we think it may have something to do with the sound of moving water.

[Niques]

I'm loving the photos of destruction Particularly at the half-eaten animals - I'm laughing much more than I should at poor, noseless badger. The photo is on such an angle that the little eyes (they are eyes, aren't they?) look particularly dismayed at no longer having a nose.

:D @ at the couch! I hope it wasn't one that you were using for human purposes! Eek! She's done a thorough job, hasn't she!

You have a great backyard, KTB. Elbie looks very at home in his kingdom! I can definitely share your horror in finding nails - James uncovered (along with what looks to be a rather old cow femur.... ) a similar piece of wood with nails hanging out from beneath our deck. Very disturbed by that little finding of his.

We've had rain for the past couple of days so the house is generally disgusting and there's an abundance of semi-damp towels around the place from attempts to dry the mongrel, but nonetheless, while we're on doggy destruction, here's what James has done with his place:

This is elephant. Elephant used to be James' favourite toy to hump. Until one day, tragically, elephant lost his head. His trunk, as you see, is still hanging around and there are also two loose ears distributed somewhere in the house:

This is what happens when towels get left out with the dog. He likes to pull tags off things, and in this case that resulted in the unravelling of the seam and then he just couldn't help himself :D Forgive the foul carrot that's managed to hang around.

The hole (well, second hole - there's another) in his bed he chews on sometimes in the middle of the night when bored. And one of his many plant pots.

Under the deck, where he likes to sit after eating dinner. I come outside each night to find him just sitting and staring at me. This used to be his preferred digging spot (where the aforementioned bone and nail were excavated), hence the turned earth, but I don't think he does that so much anymore.

One of the many places where he's chewed through the retic. I'm pleasantly in denial about the whole situation and refuse to acknowledge it :D

Grass doesn't cope too well when it starts to rain. He did some insane zoomie-ing yesterday which very much helped the muddiness. And his mudhole - this is sloooooowly getting deeper over time. It fills up each time it rains and he likes to splash in the mud. And eat it. And generally coat himself with it.

He loves to sit in long grasses. I think he's part lion. This is his favourite place to just lie down. And it's thriving, despite the dead patch in the middle He had a patch of mondo grass on his terrace that was doing similarly well until he simply grew too big and it had no hope.

While I had the camera out....:p

/photo overload.

[Niques]

He's taken to eating this particular weed for the past few weeks:

An old outdoor setting where, over the past 6 months, everything he's found in the garden that he's not meant to chew gets placed. Except he learnt how to climb onto the seat a few days ago and I'm sure he'll be on the table in no time.

And lastly, he raced in, soggy and muddy the other morning and left two perfect paw prints (and assorted mud and crap) on the carpet:

Okay, that really ends the photo overload

[Clastic]

KTB - It is so exciting, we've been waiting so long! I don't think that we'll go to Sunday classes this session, mainly because we're still living on the other side of the planet and by the time we move our weekends will probably be spent fixing the house up. But atleast we'll only be 5mins away and can visit on Sunday mornings when we have a spare weekend.

Btw, how do you have a puppy and live in Canberra with 1) lawn and 2) such green grass!?

KumaAkita - Sounds like a plan :rolleyes:

Niques - James is gorgeous, love the destruction photos! I'm glad I'm not the only one with chewed garden items and unstuffed toys.

Edited September 23, 2010 by Clastic

[koalathebear]

I'm loving the photos of destruction ;) Particularly at the half-eaten animals - I'm laughing much more than I should at poor, noseless badger. The photo is on such an angle that the little eyes (they are eyes, aren't they?) look particularly dismayed at no longer having a nose.

Yes ... those are the poor badger's eyes ... such horror and violence!

I can definitely share your horror in finding nails - James uncovered (along with what looks to be a rather old cow femur.... ) a similar piece of wood with nails hanging out from beneath our deck. Very disturbed by that little finding of his.

I don't know where the things come from!!! When we were at our rental, we thought we puppy-proofed the yard but there must have been a secret cache of weird stuff somewhere in the yard because EVERYTIME we left Elbie at home alone, when we got back he would have found something new - a strange dog toy, a Simba the lion etc. My father's hard was worse because there's a public path on the other side of his fence so people are always throwing rubbish over and Elbie was finding it! I'm just so relieved he seems content to retrieve and kind of gnaw on it rather than try to devour it all ...

As to the toys ... Poor elephant ... It's so sad when favourite toys become shredded like that :'( There was a time when every time Elbie saw Dog Toy, he started thrusting and humping the air automatically - even though he'd already been desexed. It was really weird ...

Those photos of James are sooooooooooooooo cute - particularly the one of him devouring the plant. So much love ... such a cute little face.

[koalathebear]

Here is a video of Elbie and his latest toy.

The KONG Wobbler is a KONG- shaped food dispensing toy and feeder that provides a new way to entertain and challenge your dog. The Wobbler sits upright until pushed with a dog’s paw or nose, then wobbles, spins and rolls, dispensing treats through a KONG-shaped hole near the top. Dogs quickly learn that motion causes treats to fall out, but the unpredictable movement keeps the toy challenging, even for seasoned Wobbler users.

The Wobbler is a fabulous toy for playtime, providing challenge and physical activity the whole family will enjoy watching. It also presents an excellent alternative to the traditional food bowl, extending the joy of feeding time and preventing unhealthy gulping.

The Wobbler is Made in the USA of durable, FDA food-approved, high-strength polymer. It unscrews for quick filling and easy clean-up, and is top-drawer dishwasher safe. With “one size fits all” sizing, the KONG Wobbler is suitable for all dogs weighing 10 pounds or more.

The video is

.

[koalathebear]

Clastic: about the lawn - Elbie likes to dig but doesn't seem to dig a lot and he is happy to do most of his digging in he permitted dig zone. As to greenness - we never water the lawn of course but we have had soooo much rain recently!

[Niques]

a Simba the lion etc.

That's odd.

The Kong Wobbler looks great! I love Elbie's tentative pawing at it. Do you find that it tends to empty quickly once he's worked out how it functions?

[koalathebear]

I am still cooing over this photo

How cute is that? Such concentration! We still have some plants in the garden but there was one that made Elbie threw up so OH dug it up and chucked it out. The ones that remain all appear to be dog-safe.

With the wobbler, it has room for about half a cup of kibble and it does empty quite quickly after Elbie figured out how to use it, but because it wobbles around crazily, Elbie seems quite entertained by it even when it’s empty. It spins, tips and jolts around and so he dabs at it with his paw and it gives him a similar enjoyment to that of the juice bottle but hopefully it’s more durable than a juice bottle is

The yard was an interesting issue for us. When we first went house-hunting, both of us agreed we wanted a tiny yard because neither of us are out-doorsy people and we have zero interest in gardening or mowing the lawn. We concentrated most of our house-hunting efforts out in Gungahlin where the houses are newer and the yards are smaller. After we got a dog, we looked back in the older suburbs – not so much because of the yard size issue but because there’s more of a distance between houses. What this means for us is that the neighbours can be out and about in their yard and it doesn’t really affect us etc. We liked the grass for Elbie – it’s not as large as it might have been because it’s terraced … apparently the house wasn’t attractive to people with young kids because of safety fears, but it was fine for Elbie because he’s quite sensible about going around and not just jumping down.

In any case, even when Elbie has access to a huge yard (like my father’s), he doesn’t actually go and play in it unless we’re with him. When we’re not around, he lolls around near the back door – it’s a bit weird, really. Also, we seem to have the dog suited to our sluggish ways – he only gets a walk every two days or so – 30 minutes if it’s me, 45 minutes if it’s my OH, other days he gets a lot of obedience training and playing fetch etc but he doesn’t appear to be frustrated or turn destructive. He doesn’t bark too much, unless he’s left in a dark yard and no one’s home and we forget to leave the back light on.

I was a bit upset with him yesterday because he chewed a hole in his dog futon and there was fluff EVERYWHERE. The hole was easily stitched up but grrrr!

[wuffles]

I totally love these pics! But you're not getting any from me because mine are much, much worse and it's embarrassing.

[koalathebear]

I totally love these pics! But you're not getting any from me because mine are much, much worse and it's embarrassing.

No fair!!! We shared ours! I've had a gruelling week and require Funny Photos to make me laugh