Elbie, Hoover, Dodge & Friends!

[Genabee]

I am a bad dog Mum. But we all know that. When G was little, I took away her water bowl at about 9pm (when we were going to bed) and she got it back again in the morning. But like KTB said, she was sleeping anyway!!!! She was toilet trained pretty quickly though, I was lucky there. Even now, she doesn't seem to drink much at night. She hasn't had a UTI and she isn't dehydrated. I got flamed for that once..... Bad doggy mummy.

And I don't feed raw (other than apple cores and carrot off cuts when we are cooking/eating. And that is a treat!). She gets a bone when I feel like giving her one! And she is confined to the laundry at night time (otherwise I would wake up to no couch, no cords attached to anything, dug up cork floors and a wet face!). Ohhhhh I just don't trust her! (Well, would you?!!!!).

I love all your videos KTB! One of my friends told me I needed to start putting pics of me on FB instead of Genevieve as I was starting to look like the crazy dog lady! I smiled and thought she should meet you!

Wuffles - I hope your wedding was magical! Your break away sounds lovely!

Fenstar - Cooper is adorable!!!!!!!!! OMG how cute are new puppies! Feels like just yesterday when we got to pick Genevieve out from the litter.... She was so mini that her eyes were barely open! I was watching some vet show on TV the other night and I saw puppies being born. Of course it was all dramatised for TV, but the end result was cute pups (and shock horror, they were cross breeds!)!!!

Hubby is away at the moment and is missing the dog!! It is funny, because it took a bit of twisting of his arm (like years!!!!) to get him to come around to the idea of having a dog. He bought her for me for my birthday last year because he was feeling guilty about all the time he was going to be away for (nothing like a guilt gift!). He has always been more a cat person (sorry people, I detest kitties!). So when he came home last time and he was playing with her (all boy like, roughing her up which she loves), he was cuddling her and said 'I'm sorry I said dogs were inferior to cats! I am sorry I said you wouldn't be as good a friend! Daddy loves you and misses you!!!'. Was soooooooooooooo adorable! Now I am getting smss from him, saying 'How's my 3 girls?' referring to me, the baby and Genevieve!!! So soft! Now I am working on more diamonds!!!!

[minxy]

I am a bad dog Mum. But we all know that. When G was little, I took away her water bowl at about 9pm (when we were going to bed) and she got it back again in the morning. But like KTB said, she was sleeping anyway!!!! She was toilet trained pretty quickly though, I was lucky there. Even now, she doesn't seem to drink much at night. She hasn't had a UTI and she isn't dehydrated. I got flamed for that once..... Bad doggy mummy.

And I don't feed raw (other than apple cores and carrot off cuts when we are cooking/eating. And that is a treat!). She gets a bone when I feel like giving her one! And she is confined to the laundry at night time (otherwise I would wake up to no couch, no cords attached to anything, dug up cork floors and a wet face!). Ohhhhh I just don't trust her! (Well, would you?!!!!).

Oh don't worry, I'm a bad dog mumma too. I've been taking Kyojin's water away from him at night time too lately. Not completely though, as it's literally right outside the laundry door so whenever I take him out to pee (which is pretty often as he always needs to pee) he can have a drink. He can also help himself to the cat's bowl if he's desperate. I just like to limit it a bit to try and get him to sleep longer. So far it hasn't helped But I am determined to get him to sleep past 6 am without being busting to go to the toilet!

I leave a collar on him at all times. One, I don't want him to ever escape or anything and not have our phone numbers on it. I think having the number right there is better than hoping that people will take him to the vet and get his microchip scanned and sort it out from there. Also, I'm too lazy to keep taking it off and putting it back on again when he's inside/outside etc.

I don't feed raw either. He gets kibble. He does well on kibble. He does well on this particular brand of kibble. I don't care what % of blah blah is in it, or what so and so thinks of it. He's healthy and happy. He gets bones on occasion, and sometimes a bit of yoghurt/egg/veges etc.

[kyliegirl]

sorry a fly by - Echo has now moved to his next collar!

also here is a training video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGTuJXQCz0c

and his dinner ritual - it was his fav dinner tonight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Xq4eyUIUzQ

[koalathebear]

How cute is Echo? And so attentive!

[ravenau1]

Thanks everyone for your helpful advice

I don't think we will give her full access to the house after all just yet, but perhaps bedroom/bathroom/laundry. Then if she gets too warm in her crate she can go and lay in the laundry or the bathroom. Plus, I think it will be interesting for her at night because it's usually a no-go zone as it's part of 'cat territory' and she can only stare forlornly at it from the other side of the baby gate Our two spare bedrooms are right near the laundry and one of those rooms belongs to the cats, with a cat door in the window out to their outdoor enclosure, but we shut the door to the room at night and when we go out. Mr Raven wishes for her to sleep on our bed, this is a man who used to share a single bed with a Lab, a Collie, a Shih Tzu and a cat! He never had any rank/pack issues but all his dogs were pretty easy going. I think it's a bad idea for us with Astrid but we are still 'in discussions' ;) She's only allowed on the couch to sit with me about once a week or so

She's pretty good at night and sleeps right through until she needs a loo break in the morning, the only time she's ever woken us up is when she's been unwell. She seems pretty ok with our crazy shiftwork schedule too, though she does wake up a tad bit early for my tastes when we're on late shift. We don't have a dog door (inside cats) so I think I am mainly worried about whether she would wake us up to go to the loo, or just decide to pick a convenient corner. I guess there is one way to find out!

I thought the water thread was interesting too! Astrid sleeps in her crate and I no doubt would have a very wet dog every night if I put a bowl of water in there too! She has free access the rest of the time though.

Wuffles: Yup, sounds like they're a fair bit alike in that respect! It frustrates me sometimes but overall I do enjoy it, sometimes when she's asleep I breathe a sigh of relief and have a little rest but other times I can't wait for her to finish her nap so we can do something. I wanted a relatively high energy dog, but not crazily high energy like my last dog, and so far she fits the bill pretty nicely. I am just learning to work with that energy, and with the few issues that it does cause. I do love that I always need to be on my toes

I hope you are enjoying your time away! And congrats again!

KTB: Those vids :p I particularly love the second one. I'm glad the doggies from the pound are safe ;). I've been looking at rescue sites a bit lately and most of the dogs seem to be Kelpies, Cattle Dogs, Staffords and crosses thereof. I wonder if it's because there are more of them around?

Awww, Ginger looks like a sweetheart!

The Fenstar: Oh my! Cooper is so cute it should be illegal! I just want to smoosh him and snuggle him It's so hard waiting for them to come home!

Kyliegirl: Great vids! I just love watching Dobes!

[koalathebear]

One of my friends told me I needed to start putting pics of me on FB instead of Genevieve as I was starting to look like the crazy dog lady! I smiled and thought she should meet you!

OK, you're right.

I was watching some vet show on TV the other night and I saw puppies being born. Of course it was all dramatised for TV, but the end result was cute pups (and shock horror, they were cross breeds!)!!!

PTS! PTS! Crossbreeds are evil!

kyojin: We leave collars on our monsters, too. There's a strangulation risk yes but I've thought about it and on balance:

1. The likelihood of one of them getting strangled is possible but relatively low. That's entering into freak accident territory.

2. The chance of one of them getting out of the yard is also low but more likely than strangulation and if that's the case, having the collar means that they're much more likely to be returned to us safe and sound. Yes they're microchipped, but most people would be more likely to send them to the pound rather than take them to a vet for scanning - you kind of have to be a dog owner/be in the know to know about microshipping of animals. Once at the pound, they would be in for a miserable time and Canberra pound has had 3 (maybe more) outbreaks of parvo in the last year or so. If they have a collar and tag, people are far more likely to grab them and phone us ... It also makes it easier for someone to grab the dog - our two are like slippery little seals without collars.

ravenau1: Our two used to get up really early. Elbie used to get up at 5am - drove me bonkers. The good thing is that now they wake up with our alarm and even when awake, they're happy to chill out in their crates or dog beds as long as we feel like sleeping in. Perhaps Astrid will become less of an early riser later

And yes, sadly the breeds you see at the pound are the more common breeds and I guess they're the more problematic dogs if they aren't looked after ...

We've been doing training with the doggies following the consult with K9Steve - baby steps in the backyard. What I love about it is that it doesn't involve food so I don't have to be messing around with meal portions etc. We'll move to the front yard and our street soon but for now it's going well.

Also, as well as heeling on the spot (turning on the spot and dog stays in heel position beside you),

re-inspired to revisit the rear-end awareness training. We've only done it for two nights but the dogs seem to be enjoying it a lot. One dog is in the crate watching, the other dog is training. I started out with the Yellow Pages on the floor but tonight switched to the white pages. I use 'round' for clockwise pivot and 'turn' for counter-clockwise pivot. Hoover has a lot of natural rear-end awareness - he was the first to put both paws up on the book and wait. Elbie's much better at pivoting in a counter-clockwise position, Hoover is better at the clockwise pivot. No idea when they'll be able to pivot without a lure and without the book on the ground to guide them but we are all having fun. Hoover has an incredibly cute habit of sitting very proudly on top of the phone book as if that's part of the training

I've also been working with Hoover's drop stays and stands. His drop stays were shocking on Sunday but he's doing them from a distance now and staying even when I go into another room. Using Elbie to motivate Hoover for the stays has proved very effective and Hoover (at least at home) is going from a drop to a stand on the spot without moving forward and without being lured. Let's hope he can do it at dog school!

Tonight there was a possum making hideous noises outside, totally freaking out the dogs and making them bark - and freaking out the neighbour's chickens. OH went out and threw an ice cube in its general direction to get rid of it.

Finally, some great news. The red and tan Kelpie girl at Singleton Pound has been rescued! Also rescued is Rufus, the darling, darling little pup with the HUGE ears. Here are some photos from the Australian Working Dog Rescue website. Isn't he absolutely adorable?

Poor baby is so thin

But so proud, sleek and Kelpie-ish

I'm so happy he was rescued - he was scheduled to be put to sleep today so it was very much an 11th hour rescue.

[lilli_star]

Hey lovelies

Just a quick post to say hi.

Miss Roo is staying at her 'breeders' as I've been away on the weekend (and came home to a dead fridge- not fun), and am currently in Dubbo for an inservice. Dubbo is currently having the worst cricket plague EVER!!!! Seriously, the little buggers are EVERYWHERE! I killed about 20 last night in my hotel room and about 5 tonight since I've been back from dinner, and they're in all the shops and restaurants .

Wuffles, I hope your wedding went well and you're enjoying your holiday. I will have to get on Facebook one of these days I guess...

[kyliegirl]

ok I have some time here now

in regards to withholding water, I must be horrible then, at 10pm we go to bed, this is the last time until 5-6 am Echo gets water as he comes inside for bed. Most nights he sleeps all the way through, other nights he may need to go pee at 4am but he does not grab a drink when we go out to pee, he does not seem to phased, I dont stop him if he wants a drink but he literally ignores the water when we pass it.

I also leave a collar on Echo, I understand the risk but our yard is pretty empty and I made sure to prevent the risk, we have no trees (thus why we built a makeshift shelter out of the cat run until we can get around to organising bigger shade) so he can't get caught on branches, we have 1.8m fencing and I lined the bottom of the fencing all the way with mesh 50cm deep and then 20cm inwards to prevent him digging under and getting caught under the fence, his water bowl is a handless bucket, his toys are rounded so cannot get caught to his collar and we remove any unusual objects that may appear in the yard or he finds (like the hand held garden claw thingy, that was quickly removed) we also block off any areas where he may get caught. We also blocked off the passionfruit vine with mulch panels (this also saves the plant from the wrath of echo who loves to pull its leaves off ) to stop him getting tangled in the vines. The chance is extremely low and like KTB said a freak accident case.

I do not give echo free reign of the house, he stays on a lead or under strict supervision if we let him off lead (rare) I doubt I will let him ever be allowed to be left alone inside, I will only let him inside when I am around - there is just too many things which are tempting for him if I didn't watch him.

ravenau- I am glad you are enjoying astrid and you are able to manage her energy, it sounds like she is much more energetic than mine. Echo does love to play but I noticed when i spent most of the day outside with him he was actually quite calm and settled, he would play for about half hr but once we stopped he would go placid and was happy to just wander about and chew his toys or suck on his cat bed. I have to admit I am glad Echo isnt overly active, its nice. Glad you like the vids

Wizzle: OMG thats like me lol! ever since I got echo its more like his blog lol!

KTB: thats great news, cute fella, needs a good feed but its awesome he has a loving home!

[Clastic]

lilli_star - Hellooooo!! We've missed you!!

kyliegirl - ooooh that collar looks very nice on Echo! I know I say this everytime, but Echo is growing up so much and is big and gorgeous!!

KTB - Glad to hear that Rufus managed to get out, he is so cute with those massive ears!

[koalathebear]

lilli_star: sorry about the dead fridge. What a pain! What did you do with all the food? Also, you will definitely have to join facebook - I suspect that that's where KumaAkita will post her Vietnam holiday photos

kyliegirl: You sound like you've been very cautious! I fear that there are things that the dogs could snag their collars on in the yard but we'd have to be really unlucky. I was talking to a girl at work today whose golden retriever died because she was eating a lamb bone and it went through her throat - the dog had been eating the same sort of bones for the last 10 years with no problems. It's not possible to protect against all eventualities, I fear.

Hoover and Elbie will wander fairly freely through the house if we're home - although if they wander off too far, we will call them back. They are also sent to their crates and dog beds fairly regularly. The increased access is a fairly recent thing, we used to have a baby gate which kept them contained to the study and kitchen. They've been very good, though and earned their increased privileges.

KumaAkita - I hope you're feeling better!

I've had a frustrating day. Work is generally exasperating (but there shall be a change Very Soon) ... But for the immediate frustrating stuff -

1. We've wanted to fix our front yard up for ages - it's a mess. At least three of our neighbours have made less than subtle remarks about it, telling us to follow up with the landscaper etc etc. It's been months since the initial quote because of an apparent shortage of Large Rocks at the quarry - long story. Finally the landscaper comes by today and does part 1 of the landscaping which is pulling out some weeds and spraying weedkiller on others. Tonight one neighbour came to speak to me and I thought she was just being friendly until it became apparently that she's worried the weedkiller is hazardous to her children and may affect her chickens' eggs - the chickens are in the backyard. I've explained that the spraying was a one-off. Argh we can't win!

2. Elbie and Hoover have been perfect with their loose-leash walking in low distraction zones (backyard) so I thought it was time to let Elbie move to the front yard. He walked on a loose leash and at my side but his focus was clearly elsewhere, so I kept stopping until he paid attention and looked up at me. He was doing quite well for a while - until I heard a car. I tried to head back into the house or at least back up the driveway before the car went by. It was a misjudgement as I wasn't fast enough. Elbie saw the car, wanted to lunge, didn't lunge but instead went into berserker mode and started attacking the leash ferociously. Sigh. Unless your dog goes into Berserker* Mode/prey drive overload, you won't know what I'm talking about - it's like they're possessed. Hoover has never gone into berserker mode.

Anyway, he snapped out of it pretty fast, looked ashamed and OH was able to get him back down the road, walking around, ignoring a car and then back into the house without berserker mode returning, but alas, my first week's email report back to K9Steve was a woeful tale of Stupid!Koala Misjudgement. Ah well Let's hope week 2 has less Stupid!Koala Misjudgement in it ...

ETA: Was reading one of the threads about low drive dogs. It's really interesting about the pros and cons of high and low drive dogs. Elbie when he is not in berserker mode is so amazing - heels so beautifully. Perfect posture, so attentive, walks at your side. He's just amazingly responsive. Hoover's far more lazy ... attentive but not quivering with focus like Elbie - but far less exhausting ....

_{*Berserkers (or berserks) were Norse warriors who are reported in the Old Norse literature to have fought in a nearly uncontrollable, trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the English word berserk.}

Edited March 2, 2011 by koalathebear

[lilli_star]

Hi all

Not having a fridge sucks I was hoping the fix-it people would have rung me today to let me know whether it was fixable or whether a new fridge was in order, but no word I'll ring them tomorrow. The fridge wasn't completely full, but the freezer was. Which may have been why it died...that and the fact that I had been meaning to defrost it for weeks but hadn't So when I got home on sunday night, the freezer was defrosted, and the fridge was hot. Nice. In the meantime, no fridge = very limited dinner choices (mowed the lawn and couldn't be bothered going to get takeway after that), so dinner consisted of tinned spaghetti heated up ;) I snavelled a muffin from breakfast at the hotel today, so I can have that in the morning rather than sitting at the staffroom table eating cereal when everyone gets to work like I did on Monday

Koala, I'd be interested in hearing more about your trip to Steve. I've been dreadfully slack with Roo's training, but life is pretty mixed up right now, so there's not much else I can do. Hopefully things will settle down soon, but I have no idea when.

Ruby has her collar on all the time. Her collar has a snap thingy rather than a buckle though. Lately I've been taking it off her at night when she goes to bed. No reason for that really though Ruby doesn't get water in her crate at night either. She's usually asleep on the floor at my feet by around 10, so I take her out for her final toilet break a little while after that, then its bed for her.

My cat found a mouse on Friday morning His first real live mouse (as opposed to toy mouzers) and he had NFI what to do with it! I think he chased it all night, but I was the one who caught it in an ice cream container and threw it outside.

I hope it eventually just died of shock I couldn't set a trap because a) I didn't have any, and b) I was going away for the weekend, so I'm just hoping that it doesn't have a family in the house here somewhere

When is KA going to Vietnam??? Did I miss that?

_{I may already have a Facebook account under a fake name that I never use...}

[Clastic]

KTB: Weedkiller harming her kids and her chickens' eggs?! Were her kids outside playing at the time of spraying or is she worried that they might roll around on the weeds in your front yard? OH was outside spraying weeds yesterday, he got covered in the stuff but I'm sure he'll be fine - I'm more worried about Mars, Pepper & I who were inside with the doors and windows closed, some of it may have seeped in through the cracks and we breathed it in! Crazy neighbours..

Hope you have a better day tomorrow KTB!

I had better run, will reply to other posts when I get to work tomorrow morning.

Edited March 2, 2011 by Clastic

[Clastic]

cbjk I see you down there! I promise we don't bite!

[lilli_star]

KTB: Weedkiller harming her kids and her chickens' eggs?! Were her kids outside playing at the time of spraying or is she worried that they might roll around on the weeds in your front yard? OH was outside spraying weeds yesterday, he got covered in the stuff but I'm sure he'll be fine - I'm more worried about Mars, Pepper & I who were inside with the doors and windows closed, some of it may have seeped in through the cracks and we breathed it in! Crazy neighbours..

Hope you have a better day tomorrow KTB!

I had better run, will reply to other posts when I get to work tomorrow morning.

Apparently Roundup is fairly harmless* as weed killers go. Goodness knows my dad and brothers and anyone on the land have practically bathed in it when spraying paddocks!

* I am by no means an expert. Annecdotal evidence only

[koalathebear]

OH remarked that the Elbie thread appears to be slowing down

Here are some photos of Ginger, the very expressive and animated rescue dog we filmed/photographed on Sunday for the purpose of making a music video for her. She has such a funny and lovely face and OH got some great shots of her:

[koalathebear]

[lilli_star]

What a happy, smiley doglet! I hope your video finds her the perfect forever home

[ravenau1]

We leave Astrid's collar on too. I've never actually personally known anyone who has had a dog get strangled by their collar, but I know of plenty of dogs who have escaped or been accidentally let out of their yards. I feel much better knowing if that ever happens our contact details are right there and she may never have to go to the pound to be scanned etc.

KTB: Astrid gets up at 4:30am when OH is on early shift and will go back to bed if I decide to have a lay down after he's left for work so that's not too bad, usually for a couple of hours, but we generally go to bed around 8pm. The problem is late shift, she gets up at around 6:30am and will maybe go back to bed for an hour after the loo break before she wants to be up and about. Problem is, I don't want to be up before about 10am ;) So basically at the moment one week out of the fortnight I get to sleep around 3am and get up at 6:30 or so, though sometimes I manage a snooze in the afternoon! On Sundays OH gets up with her though, so at least I sleep then She seems happy though! She has a little sleep in the evenings then wakes up when he comes home then happily stays up until we go to bed.

A possum! I can imagine what the doggies thought of that I know possums can be scary and make unearthly noises!

Rufus is lovely, those ears!! I am sure he can hear things happening in Perth

I don't think I could stand your neighbours

Berserker mode I know what it means but every time I hear the word I get this scene going on in my head, from one of my very fav movies, Clerks. "My love for you is like a truck, Berserker!". Def not safe for work or kiddies, lotsa swearwords.

lilli_star: I hate some crickets, are they the little stripey ones or the big spiny ones ~shudder~ I'd be wearing gumboots and carrying four cans of bug spray!

[Clastic]

lilli_star - Sucks about the fridge. Hope there are no little mouse families around your place! I'm freaked out by 'wild' mice, I've had pet mice before.. but ones that just pop out of no where, I have no idea where they have been and don't wanna get bitten.

We've got about 5 crickets resting on our garage door at the moment, no idea why they are there.. our door is cream, unless they think its like... wheat? Who knows.

KTB - Ginger is gorgeous, she sure has a big tongue! Hope she finds a home soon.

Collars wise, my 2 have their break-away collars on when they are out in the yard or out for a ride, when they come inside they get taken off. They both used to have collars on permanently, but the tag which they have was leaving a grey mark on Mars' white chest fur and I was worried it might start staining his fur. Pepper gets so excited when her collar goes on in the morning, it means she has the whole day without Mum and Dad around and she can go crazy and dominate Mars, or I think thats what she is thinking.. They go to OH's brother's backyard during the day so its like a mini excursion for them.

I have lamb shanks in the slow cooker today, haven't used a slow cooker before.. hope it cooks OK.

[betsy]

HI All Have been reading but not posting, as been busy at work lately...

KTB - good work with all that help and support you are giving rescue. The subforum makes me too sad to regularly read.

Sounds like Elbie and Hoover are getting some intense K9Pro style training from you and OH. I will be interested in hearing how it all goes. I have my suspicions that Ziggy is a bit like Elbie (and not at all like Hoover). However not as focused as Elbie. He is nearly 30kg and it is very hard to control him if he gets too excited. However he is getting better, not worse, and I think I am a little bit stricter when we are out. My theory will be tested at training tonight as we missed last week...

Lilli_star - hope the fridge is fixed soon! Don't you hate it when appliances break down with no warning .

Clastic - waiting to hear how yummy the lamb shanks are.

Ravenau1 - Astrid sounds like she is going along well, although the early mornings/late mornings sound a bit hard! I am known to enjoy an afternoon nanna nap at times too

Wuffles - hope you are having a lovely holiday with the doggies in tow!

On a bit of other news, Ziggy caught the frisbee midair tonight at least three times. I never thought it would happen, I just thought he was not co-ordinated enough! He was pleased with himself. He also then just had an attack of the crazies, waded in the pool, did laps of the yard, then attempted drying himself on the lounge .

I have also been trying to teach the "shy" and "dead" trick, however at times he blends them together, neither particularly good efforts, and looks like a slightly bashful cockroach. Maybe I should just rename the trick !