Elbie, Hoover, Dodge & Friends!

[KumaAkita]

On a lighter note while we were out one day my Dad bought her a vanilla soft serve in a cone :rolleyes: she loved it. She loved my folks so much she moped all day Friday

But she decided yesterday that her little clamshell pool is a pretty poor substitute for the ocean!

Haaa Rav - your dad sounds like a softie! Astrid has him wrapped around her paw

Her face in the pool is a classic "what the hell do you call this!!???"

So I haven't posted any pics of my fur kids in a while, so thought I had better get around to that today.

Mars and Pepper are looking lovely - seems like they've settled into your new place quite well!

Had the strangest dream last night where Elbie and James were in the same obedience class. There was a third dog as well but I can't remember who it was - I know Kuma was mentioned at one point but I don't think it was him. And Elbie had a bit of a reputation as a clever hound. A non-doggie friend of mine was there and wanted to know the name of the black and white dog was because they'd heard great things about how clever he was

tee hee heee... you had a dream about my doggie ;)

So.. not dog related.. have had a crazy few hours this afternoon. My OH did a very very silly thing and decided to chop his index finger with the stick blender.

Goodness! :yikes: hope that Mr Clastic is ok! Lemme know if you need help with your doggies... they can visit with Kuma if needed.

My mum did the same thing when we were kids. She's a real klutz - which she passed onto my sister and I. She worked in a deli when she was a teenager and managed to slice her finger on the meat slicer. Yuck.

We got up to visit the Old Bus Depot markets at Kingston where I ended up buying a lot of bread, an apple pie, some little raspberry tartlets, merino wool for OH's mother and some Australian flowers for Papa Koala.

Hey! We were at the OBD Markets too!! Just for a few minutes, before OH got the irrits and decided there was too much whacked out hippy crap and even more whacked out hippy people for his liking we ended up leaving after a quick tour of the building. Note to self, next time leave OH at home.

As to the patting without asking, it's pretty common. I'm relieved that neither of our dogs is skittish/aggressive because the number of people who just pat without asking is mind-boggling. The thing is, if a dog bit it would be the owner's fault and the poor dog would suffer.

We don't seem to have that issue - I'd say 99% of people ask if they can pat him before approaching him. Maybe because he's a bit bigger???

Dog school starts up again next week and I'm pretty excited. I think Hoover's going to love dog school. OH keeps joking that he'll be a Nigel because all the other dogs in bronze will know each other from Beginners and have bonded already and won't want to play with him

Don't worry - there were dogs in our bronze class that we didn't know from beginners. He'll be just fine ;)

We're going on Thursday nights, I think it's too hot for Kuma to do Sunday mornings.

Threads of the Day ... there was a crazy thread (since nuked, no idea why) in which someone was basically implying that suburban dogs were miserable and depressed compared to dogs on large acreages. It must have gone nasty or something but it's gone now.

There are some crazy threads on this forum... some people get seriously heated over things Oh well, we're all Entitled To Our Opinions.

I went to Sydney on the weekend for my older sister's birthday and dreamt about dogs both nights I was there! The first night I dreamt that their backyard turned into some kind of pseudo dog park, and all of your doggies were there! _{Well, okay, I can't remember all of the dream, but I know Kuma was in it, and Ava, and I'm sure all the others were around somewhere with my sister's dogs.} So bizarre. My sister's doglets greeted me at their gate late on Saturday night when I got back from having dinner with my best friend and her boyfriend- they kind of blinked at me, realised who I was, then went back to bed! My sister couldn't believe they didn't bark at me, but they were pretty tired after my sister's birthday BBQ. They did make up for it the next morning by howling at a siren or something together though. I met my first pug at her party too. It belonged to a friend of theirs and was an ex-showdog. He was pretty cute and laid back

heeee... you dreamed about Kuma too!! How funny!

*

Nothing much happening around here - too hot to do much else. We went for a bush walk on Saturday morning around Aranda (Black Mountain Tower area). We followed the fire trails most of the way, so the path was wide and reasonablly clear. Pretty steep area, but we did ok! We were out for about an hour and covered about 6Km. When we were heading up the last hill to get back to the car, OH had Kuma with him on lead, and I was lagging behind (little legs find hills hard ) and Kuma was looking back at me with this "WTF are we doing?" face... priceless.

Hope you're all staying as cool as possible!

Edited coz my hands and my brain don't seem connected today...

Edited February 1, 2011 by KumaAkita

[koalathebear]

cleoj: I really hope that we end up in your class this term! Barbara gave me a puzzled call last weekend asking if I'd changed my mind and wanted to put Hoover through beginners because apparently she had put us in bronze but then someone else had put us back in beginners – taking up a valuable beginners slot! I said we definitely wanted to be in bronze … I guess beginner classes are filling up with new puppies or something Anyway, I'm hoping that there will be a nice new card for the red and tan monsters and me!

I think you should totally enter a DWD competition! Shandy is such a beautifully behaved and focused dog and you two work so well together that I know you'd go wonderfully.

wizzle: so sorry to post a snake photo when you're snake phobic. I probably should have just linked to it or perhaps made it smaller …

As to Genevieve in a towel, Elbie tosses the towel off but I sometimes put a little wet cloth on Hoover's head and he looks like "Hoover of Arabia" – very cute. :rolleyes:

lilli_star: I think the doggies fare ok with just a fan so long as they get lots of water. I share your Lack of Air Conditioning Woes and every day I debate whether we should phone an a/c company for a quote or not … As to snakes … I agree Leroy is a cool name. There is no way 'Auntie Koala' is going to be holding her 'Nephew Leroy' though …

ravenau1: I know … Hoover has grown up very, very quickly and his bandicoot ears make him look even more grown-up, although he hasn't quite grown into his ears yet. He still has a puppy's behaviour and exuberance and I hope he keeps that for a while because it's sooooooooooooo cute. Part of me wonders if OH and I will start fostering Kelpie puppies when our two are older so that we can get our 'Kelpie Fix', although Canberra actually doesn't see that many Kelpie puppies abandoned – mostly big brindle boofers. We were lying in bed this morning and both doggies know they're not supposed to jump on the bed so they just rest their heads on the edge of the bed and stare up at their humans as if to say: "Why are you both still in bed???" Sooooooooooooo cute.

I've been keeping tabs on the media around the 'Vick Dogs' and it's good to see some of them come out ok. The whole thing is sickening really, so sad.

The way people can mistreat their dogs like that completely horrifies me. Dogs are so trusting and the whole dog-fighting perversion is such an abuse of a dog's natural disposition towards wanting to please its master. I wonder if any dog can ever be truly rehabilitated following that sort of horror and suffering. I really admire people who bring those dogs into their lives and homes. I feel like a coward but I wouldn't have the courage to do it even though I do believe that those dogs deserve a second chance.

About the threads... yes indeed. A lot of threads here make me raise my eyebrows and I have absolutely not doubt are puppy farmers and BYB's best friends. I am sure there are lots of people who read things here, like a thread in general at the moment about puppy inquiries, that send people running screaming away . I have to say that it was partly things I read on DOL that made us decide against getting a dog from a breeder who shows. No offense to the show people, I just read enough here, and spoke to people at shows and it was enough to scare me completely off. I think people sometimes don't realise how things come off to someone who is really just a member of the general doggy public.

I agree. That "Puppy enquiry" thread makes me feel very perplexed. On the one hand there's this huge (justifiable) condemnation of puppy farm, pet shops and BYB-sourced dogs and people are constantly being told to get a dog from a 'registered breeder' and here we have heaps of registered, presumably so called ethical breeders saying that if you don't contact them in exactly the right way they want, say exactly the right things and not annoy them, then you won't even get a reply … How is that of benefit to anyone? I totally appreciate that breeders put 'blood, sweat and tears' into breeding and raising those puppies and are perfectly entitled and should choose the best homes possible but you would think that responding to an email or query isn't THAT hard even if it's worded badly …. Anyway, there's nothing I can do about it. People like that just make it that much harder when I try to tell people I know not to buy from a BYB/petshop. For them, they want the dog NOW or at least they want to talk to someone nice/helpful who can give them information and let them know WHEN they can have a dog. Thankfully I now have a pretty good list in my mind of breeders I would recommend and people from whom I would run away from screaming like a maniac ... If they're this horrible now, how do know they'd be any nicer when I had a problem and needed their help??? They'd probably reject my email because I used the wrong font.

Astrid is teething at the moment and has some fairly large and scary looking chompers coming through she's also chewing like a maniac, we're going to have to buy shares in the company that makes her favourite chews. I feel sorry for the little muppet though, it looks like it must be uncomfortable. None of her little teeth seem to have fallen out yet though.

Elbie had some bleeding when he lost his teeth but he didn't seem to be in much discomfort. We gave him extra chew toys and he was fine. Hoover was funny though because he didn't have bleeding or discomfort but sometimes we would turn around and we'd find him staring at a little lump on the floor and discover that he was looking at a tooth He seemed to get his adult teeth almost overnight – I loved his spiky little puppy teeth, they were so cute. Now both dogs have Big White Impressive Teeth. Yesterday, I was worrying that Elbie had plaque/cavity because there was some blackness between his teeth but after he ate a bone, his teeth were perfect white again! Instant tooth-cleaning! For Astrid, you could try soaking a cloth chew toy and freezing it. A lot of people like frozen carrots, too.

kyliegirl: funny you should mention that people don’t know what Echo is. I thought I knew what a Doberman looked like but on another thread there's a photo of a red and tan Dobe and it looks an awful lot like a Kelpie, especially with the Kelpie eyebrows. Echo is beautiful and I forgot to mention that I love the name although I always think Echo is a girl because of the myth of Echo the Nymph and Narcissus.

you seem to get around on this forum lol, I do not even come across half of these threads you find.

I read a LOT of threads … I wish I could change the colour-scheme on DOL to trick OH because he'll glance over and say in a long-suffering voice: "dogzonline again…" I TRY to restrict myself to posting only to the more positive and happy threads but I do skim through a LOT of the threads in all of the sub-fora (except the show ring sub-forum). There are a lot of really nice, helpful and knowledgeable people on DOL, there are a lot of people who are knowledgeable but not so nice. I know people aren't always going to agree … that’s just life. The whole 'humanising dogs' thread though was quite baffling … I don't think it's inherently dangerous to gift wrap presents for doggies or call them fur children or whatever

kumaakita: re the OBD Markets - I wanted to go because it's the 'last time' we'll be able to go since dog school starts again this Sunday … although apparently they close at 4pm and after 2pm, all the bread is half price or something Maybe you and I should go there together given that OH was ok with the place but he's not really a marketty person … I want to wake up early enough to go to the Farmers Market, too but I am such a lazy sloth in the mornings

We don't seem to have that issue - I'd say 99% of people ask if they can pat him before approaching him. Maybe because he's a bit bigger???

That's a relief that they ask. I know someone who is super-paranoid never lets children pat her dog because she doesn't trust children and is afraid that if anything goes wrong, her dog will end up being taken from her which is true because regardless of what happens, it's usually the poor dog that suffers. I feel pretty confident that my dogs would never bite and kids would never be in a position to torment the dogs because we're there to supervise. We HAVE put up a green screen mesh across the front gate, though so that the dogs aren't so visible. We are very close to a school and wouldn't put it past little ratbags to walk past, torment the dogs and stick their hands through the gate.

We're going on Thursday nights, I think it's too hot for Kuma to do Sunday mornings.

You'll be with Clastic, Pepper, Mars & Mr Clastic then! It's a shame we won't see you on Sundays anymore but hopefully we can arrange for doggy playdates at other times. Pepper & Mars have made cameo appearances on Sundays before

Finally, I'm still working on rescue dog videos for the ex-Blacktown poundies. I've been very conscious of a lot of the criticisms of rescue for not being upfront about a dog's shortcomings so I do try very hard to be honest in my videos. This is the latest one, a dog named Sassie. Video is here.

She doesn't get along with some dogs and she doesn't like cats. Some people would probably have her put to sleep but to be honest, I think that there ARE people out that that could offer her a good home so long as they know about her shortcomings and can work to manage them and perhaps even overcome them. Lots of people don't have cats and never intend to have cats. At least this way the rescue group will only be contacted by people with their eyes wide open and who know what they're getting into … I think that she at least deserves a chance...

Also – OH, who monitors this thread, says I have misrepresented him and that he didn't put the mat there for Elbie to use as a pillow. He put it there in case Elbie found the dog futon in the crate too warm and preferred to sleep on a mat instead

OT - for other booklovers, the next Lifeline Bookfair will be in March. I'm thinking of geeking out and showing up for the 'opening' at 10am on the Friday so that I can pick out the best books and jigsaw puzzles and then being there for the final 2 hours on the Sunday when it's a $10 per bag affair ... So much fun.

Edited February 1, 2011 by koalathebear

[koalathebear]

Also, please forgive my typos. I cannot edit posts when at work :rolleyes:

[Niques]

As to Genevieve in a towel, Elbie tosses the towel off but I sometimes put a little wet cloth on Hoover's head and he looks like "Hoover of Arabia" – very cute.

Oh dear, I feel a little guilty now. James frequently has a towel thrown over him and it's called his "old woman" look Nothing quite so distinguished as Hoover of Arabia! In my defence, he does very much look like he belongs in a Little Red Riding Hood pantomime playing the Wolf dressed as Granny

Clastic, I do hope Mr Clastic is okay and his finger heals up neatly!

Leroy's a very cute fellow! I always wanted a python as a kid but felt that both me and the snake would soon become bored with each other. Nice to look at, nonetheless! I am paranoid about snakes at the moment - one of our garage doors is broken and won't shut the remaining half inch or so to hit the floor. Plenty of room for a snake to come in and James sleeps in the garage! I'll be putting him back in the safety of his crate tonight - hopefully he won't overheat!

KTB, I like your occasional "controversial threads of DOL" wrap-up They're terrific to read (with a slightly bemused shake of the head) when bored. I must confess to being very frustrated at the "Puppy Enquiry" thread at present. It's aggravating. Speaking of stories like this (ridiculously cute) guy's, I read in the paper the other day, the story of a JRT who was adopted from a shelter before being promptly returned because his colour clashed with the woman's décor

Your OH is very sweet, regardless of the intention for the "pillow"

Glad to hear I'm not the only one having doggy dreams, Lilli_star!

Good luck with Astrid's teething, Raven! And don't feel bad about your lack of knowledge re: Odin's teeth - I casually asked James' vet (when in on a completely unrelated tick visit) what to look for when his adult teeth started coming in and she looked a little bewildered and kindly pointed out that he already had a great deal of his adult teeth

Look at the concentration going on there, Kylie :rolleyes: Echo looks like a very bright spark. I love photos of his and Astrid's paws - dobe paws are so delightfully enormous and cute!

So James and I have started jogging. Sort of. The past few days we've been running the er, 500m () back from the park. Probably good to start off slowly though as I haven't done any running in over a year and James is well...James I still think he's a little young to be doing prolonged running as well. It's much more entertaining for me though and it's actually much easier to control him when we run.

[minxy]

KTB, I like your occasional "controversial threads of DOL" wrap-up :rolleyes: They're terrific to read (with a slightly bemused shake of the head) when bored. I must confess to being very frustrated at the "Puppy Enquiry" thread at present. It's aggravating. Speaking of stories like this (ridiculously cute) guy's, I read in the paper the other day, the story of a JRT who was adopted from a shelter before being promptly returned because his colour clashed with the woman's décor

I like them too. Sometimes I miss these threads until KTB points them out The puppy enquiry thread is annoying me too. There's just no winning that argument. Breeders want puppy buyers to ask questions. Puppy buyers ask questions, but they're not the right ones. Or there's too many of them. Or the breeder's 80 years old and hates email, but has an email address listed. And so on and so on. I found "puppy hunting" to be a fairly frustrating process but I'm soo glad that we love Kyojin and his breeder so much, that we'll go straight to him next time we want a pup.

:vomit: For real?!?! People continue to surprise me. Just when you think you've heard it all....

[Clastic]

Lunch break! Which means time for me to reply to posts!

Thank you to everyone, it was a bit of a traumatic Sunday afternoon and long long Monday but he is home and resting.

I think he has enough pain meds at home to kill an elephant!!

Got to the hospital at 8am and finally left at 4:30pm.. long day with lots and lots of waiting. Finger is now stitched up, he's got a cast on his finger as well as a splint since he managed to fracture his bone in the process of dicing it up.

Finally cleaned up the kitchen last night, but I cringed when I had to clean the blender and think I will every time after this.

Luckily OH is right-handed and he sliced up his left hand instead.

betsy - Glad to hear that Ziggy is fine now, hehe.. sounds like it was nice to have a quiet afternoon though.

Wizzle - Genevieve is hilarious! :D She's such a little princess. When I let the dogs out to do their business, if I stay outside for too long they will just lie in the sun even though there is shade around, its rather silly!

lilli_star - ooooh you had a doggie dream too!!! Hope this week goes better, I have a lot of respect for you being able to teach kids, I definitely wouldn't be able to put up with them all day!

ravenau1 - Snoozy Pepper falls asleep when she's sticky beaking to see what the neighbourhood is doing, tough job really.

Hope Astrid's teeth come through nicely and her baby teeth fall out soon.

KA - Thanks for the offer, I don't know if you would want my two to visit though. My sister loved having them around, but silly Pepper decided to make her dining room a temporary pool by tripping over the water bowl constantly and dragging a towel around. I swear she was just trying to be helpful and mop the floor!

Niques - 500m is still better than what I can do, especially when its stinking hot! I'm so not fit..

KTB - I guess we shouldn't say anything horrible about your OH if he's monitoring this topic...... Although I think its so sweet that he put that pillow out for Elbie, even though he says otherwise....

kyliegirl - Thats great news about the improvement on LLW with Echo, also Echo has a very nice sit! You should see Pepper's - she is the most non feminine pup, he sits are very lazy....

[betsy]

OMG that toxic thread is like a train wreck. I should really stop reading it - but I can't!

Thankfully I found (IMO) a good breeder when I was looking for Aussie Shepherds. I can only say that she has been 110% what I expected . She doesn't show either .

Clastic - glad to hear things are getting back to normal in your household, and I'm really glad it was Mr Clastic's left hand (they can take a while to heal properly)

I feel I am missing out on doggie dreams . Will have to see what I can conjure up tonight.

[minxy]

That thread has certainly shown me who I wouldn't buy from!

[betsy]

Here Here Minxy!

[Genabee]

I love this thread!!!

KTB - You always manage to make me laugh! You have the most awesome knack with words!! And how awesome is your OH!!!

Kuma - You are just as funny!

Clastic - I am pleased to hear that Mr Clastic is at home licking his wounds.

Rav - I too swear by ice cubes and frozen carrots for teething pups. The carrots also help with doggy breath (which I found to be worse when she was teething). I used to put ice cubes in an old sock and wet myself laughing at Genevieve trying to get them out! Now whenever I open the freezer she comes running! She loves ice! (The frozen water variety, not the drug).

How cute is Echo!!!

Don't worry Niques, the old lady look is more Genevieve, rather than the Arabian Hoover! Actually, she kinda looks like a horse being saddled up! The daisies on the hand towel definitely give it the granny vibe though.

Occasionally we get asked if someone can pat the pooch... normally Genevieve is licking that someone to death first before they get to ask anything! The post man has learnt it makes his day easier if he stops to pat her... She barks at him if he doesn't. I did once have a little girl (she was about three) ask me if she '... could pat my puppy...'. Awww she was so cute! And thankfully Genevieve just sat there and let this little girl accost her! It was beautiful to watch (ok, so I get teary at anything these days...).

Well, third night in a row last night that Genevieve has taken to sleeping on top of her crate, rather than in it. Apparently it was too hot down stairs, so she opted for the upstairs view. Today when I came to work I rigged up the fan on top of the dryer, pointing down on her. OH came home to find her on top of the house again! He thinks it is insanely funny. I think it makes her too close to the laundry bench for my liking! I wouldn't run it past her to grow wings and fly one day.

[KumaAkita]

That thread has certainly shown me who I wouldn't buy from!

I guess it would be safe to say I won't be getting a poodle anytime soon!!

[minxy]

That thread has certainly shown me who I wouldn't buy from!

I guess it would be safe to say I won't be getting a poodle anytime soon!!

My thoughts exactly!!! (Not that I ever would anyway.... )

[koalathebear]

Oh dear, I feel a little guilty now. James frequently has a towel thrown over him and it's called his "old woman" look Nothing quite so distinguished as Hoover of Arabia! In my defence, he does very much look like he belongs in a Little Red Riding Hood pantomime playing the Wolf dressed as Granny

OK ... upon reflection, perhaps not "Hoover of Arabia". He was asleep when we put this cool cloth on his head so he just looks a bit goofy

May we have a photo of young James with his towel? I'm sure it's an extremely cute image.

I must confess to being very frustrated at the "Puppy Enquiry" thread at present. It's aggravating.

You should see it now. It's positively freaky ... I was telling OH about it today - how a newbie puppy buyer just can't win ... email too long (annoying for breeder), email too short (also annoying for some breeders), email asking too many questions (annoying and insulting to breeder), email asking not enough questions (stupid and bogan - shows buyer is not serious and has not done research), email sent to too many people (annoying because breeder does not feel special), email in comic sans-serif (ok it's totally understandable if a breeder refuses to sell you a puppy on the basis of this, font is important - check the backlash to the Papyrus font used by James Cameron in Avatar), inquiry made by email even though breeder has an email address (breeder doesn't know how to use email and doesn't like to check it too often - annoying to breeder), prospective buyer asks breeder to call back on a mobile (this is rude to breeder), prospective buyer asks breeder to call back on a landline (this is annoying to breeder because breeder does not like Telstra/Optus etc) ...

Man ... I am so glad I now Know People who Know People so that I never have to cold-call a breeder or recommend someone who is mean to someone who asks me where to get a puppy ... There is a Network of Nice out there ..

Speaking of stories like this (ridiculously cute) guy's, I read in the paper the other day, the story of a JRT who was adopted from a shelter before being promptly returned because his colour clashed with the woman's décor

The good news is that the cute cattle dog (dumped for being an Untrained Puppy) is safe with rescue. I am shocked about the JRT, though... I am a bit shocked that people colour coordinate their dogs like that ...

I was wondering the other day about whether it was bad to choose a dog on the basis of appearance. There are some dogs, I am ashamed to say, that I would rule out of ever owning purely on the basis of appearance! Yes, I am a shallow creature. I am not saying that they are bad dogs. I am just saying that I could never own one because of the way it looks!!! I shall not list them lest I be flambéed by Lurkers.

Clastic: So glad OH is ok! I guess you'll have to juggle both doggies during Dog School this week???

I guess we shouldn't say anything horrible about your OH if he's monitoring this topic...... Although I think its so sweet that he put that pillow out for Elbie, even though he says otherwise....

Heh heh, he dotes on the doggies soooooooooooooo much despite his denials :D I am ashamed that he actually ends up with the heavier end of Dog Duties :p

OMG that toxic thread is like a train wreck. I should really stop reading it - but I can't!

So many threads are like that. At least you're sensible and don't leap in and post _{like I sometimes do}. :p

Well, third night in a row last night that Genevieve has taken to sleeping on top of her crate, rather than in it. Apparently it was too hot down stairs, so she opted for the upstairs view. Today when I came to work I rigged up the fan on top of the dryer, pointing down on her. OH came home to find her on top of the house again! He thinks it is insanely funny.

I can't believe you post THAT and don't share a photo. The image is adorable. Genevieve is such a character. I am generally a medium-large dog person but I swear, I would make an exception for a cav, especially one with as much personality as Genevieve. Or should that be doginality because dogs can't have a personality ... ;)

ETA: Oh wow. That thread. I am so sorry but Evil Koala had to preserve this post before it ended up being deleted ... The witty repartee! The banter! The needle wit!

Edited February 1, 2011 by koalathebear

[minxy]

ETA: Oh wow. That thread. I am so sorry but Evil Koala had to preserve this post before it ended up being deleted ... The witty repartee! The banter! The needle wit! ;)

Ooh, I saw that. Didn't realise it had already disappeared

[koalathebear]

Ooh, I saw that. Didn't realise it had already disappeared

Not yet, but it probably will ...

ETA: To get back on topic ... Elbie appears to have eaten something that didn't agree with him so in the middle of our dinner, he starts throwing up on his dog bed. Alas, although the cushion is waterproof, he manages to aim directly at the zipper. When we pull the cushion out, we discover it's all stained and gross. We decide to throw everything in the washing machine until we notice that the cushion has a hole in it - at precisely at the vomit-stained bit so if we put it in the wash, the stuffing will come out So I have to do some very quick, rough and ready stitching to patch up that disgusting bit so that the cushion and cover can be washed. Meanwhile, Elbie decides he would like to breathe on me and try to give me kisses and the poor doggie's breath stinks ... Ah doggies ... He is fine - the dope appears to have eaten tanbark again ;)

Edited February 1, 2011 by koalathebear

[betsy]

I couldn't help myself - had to post in the thread.

It will be deleted by daybreak I presume.

I had a really cute incident with a child asking if he could pat Ziggy. I was with my mum at a cafe near the beach (Ziggy had just had a good off lead walk/ run there). There were actually a couple of dogs sitting outside with their owners (Corgi, Goldie, WolfHound ). All quite sedate and relaxed apart from my very active/inquisitive working dog. Anyway, the wolfhound had heaps of request for pats (mainly children but my mum also went over ). Poor Ziggy didn't get any requests, until a 6yo boy came outside and asked politely if he could pat him. I said yes but explained that he was a bit bouncy, and I would hold onto his collar so he didn't jump up. He then replied he could tell Ziggy was a Crazy Dog, which was why he wanted to come and pat him. Aparently he was missing his Hungarian Vizla who was in the boarding kennels whilst they were on holidays. And she was also a Crazy Dog! ;)

[ravenau1]

Kyliegirl: Aww, Echo looks so stately in that pic! I've never tried Astrid on raw fish, might pick up some and give it a go, Echo sure looks like he's enjoying them!

KumaAkita: Haha! Yes, she for sure has my Dad wrapped around her paw! Dad is a Dog Person, particularly large-ish dogs and Mum isn't so they're unlikely to every get another dog (they have two cats though!) so Astrid is the closest he will get!

I just noticed your new sig, I love it the party hat!

KTB: Hmm, interesting that you say that neither Elbie or Hoover seemed to have discomfort while teething. Astrid definitely seems to! The other day she was chewing and giving a little yelp every now and again. I checked that there was nothing sharp etc in what she was chewing on, and her mouth looked fine so I just assumed it was the teething. Perhaps we will get the vet to have a look when we get her titre tested before we start obedience in the next couple of weeks.

Poor Elbie and poor you! There's nothing quite like doggie vomit. ~blech~

Niques: Well you and James are jogging about 500m more than I could

Clastic: Plaster too What kind of blender was it? Very sharp and powerful by the sounds of it!

Wizzle: Is it a soft crate so it's like a little hammock on top? How cute!

That thread it's even worse now. I wonder if some puppy farmer somewhere has that bookmarked so they can refer people to it who ask them about 'Registered Ethical Breeders'. It probably will be deleted, which would be a shame in my opinion.

We had our photo viewing at Houndstooth Studio this morning and ordered a couple of canvasses and various prints, can't wait to get them! ;)

I have a bit of a question if anyone has any ideas? Astrid is starting to behave quite differently on walks depending on whether my OH is with us or not. Now, I am at home mostly and OH is at work a fair bit so I do 99% of the pet duties (Dog, cats and fish) and all of the training with Astrid though OH accompanies us to puppy school. He does feed her on occasion though. On weekends and when he's on early shift we all go for a walk together in the evenings and Astrid is pretty chilled out, walks in between us usually and while sometimes she 'whuffs' at things she doesn't like (or are a bit weird) she's generally pretty relaxed. I am finding now that when I walk her on my own (while OH is at work for instance) she gets very 'barky' and seems to be much more alert. By barky I mean that she growls and barks at all sorts of things, from our garbage bin, to sprinklers that come on as we walk past, and the other day she barked at a couple of guys walking past us.

I don't feel more nervous or anything but I think that perhaps I am unconsciously communicating some sort of stress or alarm to her, it's the only thing I can think of. But I'm not sure if that's the case, and if it is, how do I stop? Anyone else's dogs behave differently if their OH is around?

And now for some pics!

In addition to her regular boring id tag, we ordered a couple of new ones and they arrived this week

This one is because when people would ask my OH (usually with a horrified expression) why we were getting a Dobermann, my OH would say that she's the 'Last Line in our Zombie Defence System'

and this one because OH seems to love barcodes. His fave shirt has a barcode with 'human' underneath, and he's planning on a barcode tatt at some stage.

They both have all the details on the back of the tag

[Niques]

ETA: Oh wow. That thread. I am so sorry but Evil Koala had to preserve this post before it ended up being deleted ... The witty repartee! The banter! The needle wit!

Oh yes, I was particularly charmed by that display of intellect.

Poor Elbie! Hope he has it all out of his system. Dog laundry is never a pleasant business. I particularly hate trying to make sure there are no chunky bone bits caught up in blankets before throwing them in the wash

I shall endeavour to photograph "Little Old Granny James" in the morning. It's very cute, if I do say so myself. Hoover looks suitably exhausted from trawling the desert.

No flambéeing here - I'm happy to admit there are dogs that are dogs I don't find visually appealing. Chocolate labs being one, actually. Would have fairly happily taken a yellow if that was all that was available, but couldn't do chocolate.

I did once have a little girl (she was about three) ask me if she '... could pat my puppy...'. Awww she was so cute! And thankfully Genevieve just sat there and let this little girl accost her! It was beautiful to watch (ok, so I get teary at anything these days...).

Oh, that's such an "awwww" moment ;) I'm impressed at Genevieve's ability to seek out a cooler sleeping spot! Very innovative.

[ravenau1]

On a lighter note, I came across these online today

http://sweetchops.com.au/

Cupcake kits for doggies ;) so cute!

[lilli_star]

I agree with your colour choice, Niques. I have always, always wanted a black Lab. We had a yellow Lab when I was younger (silly as a wheel, but lovely ). Roo's mama dog is yellow as you all know, and her papa dog is chocolate. I haven't met him though. I'm just yet to meet a nice looking chocolate Lab. *shrug*

As to the Thread O'Toxicness, when I last read it, it was 15 pages...now it's more than 30! ;) Can't be bothered trying to catch up though.

I'm having a quick look now though- go Niques! And Rav and Minxy! Hee! Evil Koala would be so proud!

Roo has proven tonight that she may just be a Labrador after all- she put her head and foot in the bucket of water several times during her nightly playdate with her best dog friend. Now, if I could just get her to sit in her clam shell....however, I have sad news on that front. I was trying to tip out the water tonight when I heard an ominous crack! I feel the clam shell may not be with us much longer I might have to tip the sand out into the water side and fill the old sand side with water instead until I can buy a new one on the weekend.

ETA Thread went boom!

Edited February 1, 2011 by lilli_star