Elbie, Hoover, Dodge & Friends!

[Clastic]

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 !

I had a bit of a giggle imagining Ziggy incorporating 'shy' with 'dead'. 'Cockroach' Ziggy, 'cockroach'!

Awesome stuff with the frisbee!! Is this something that is teachable, if so how did you teach Ziggy? Mars likes to catch balls, but always seems to wait for the frisbee to drop before attempting to grab it.

ETA: The lamb shanks seem OK, I've lost a bit of sauce but otherwise they seem fine. Am yet to actually eat them though, another 1/2 hour.

We went to the vet yesterday for their yearly injection and check-up, Pepper isn't 1 yet but I wanted to take them both at the same time, seems silly taking one now and the other in a couple of months. Anyway, found out one of the vet's there is leaving. :cries: She is so nice and takes the time to chat to us and take care of the pups, we never feel rushed when she's seeing us and she always answers all my silly questions about the kids. I'll miss her and I'm sure the pups will miss the crazy amount of treats they get from her all the time. Its just nice to have a vet that actually seems to care.

Edited March 3, 2011 by Clastic

[Genabee]

Oohhh Lils... Mice *Shudders* The last place I worked at we had a mouse problem. I had to set traps as we weren't allowed to put down rat sack... I would come in to work often and see a dead one lying in a trap. Once I heard one get caught in the middle of the day and it made the most horrendus screeching noise. SO not cool.

We have a rat problem at work at the moment (different place). Or rather, the restaurant a few doors up does. We share a staff car park with them, which is off a lane way that runs behind the street. Every day, without fail, I see another dead rat. And they are giant bastards. I named the first one I saw 'Bindi' and now all the rest are 'Bindi's friends'. Gross. Needless to say the stench of lane way is not helping bring in the customers (or my morning sickness that seems to have returned with a vengance). There is one that has been run over so many times that it now just looks like part of the dodgily graveled lane.

I gave up trying to teach Genevieve 'shy'. She has no snout, so I couldn't put anything over her nose to get her to paw it! Even sticky tape didn't work - she just tried to chew it! We have taught her kiss though, and if you lean in to her and say 'kiss' she gives you ONE lick on the nose. Occasionally she tried to sneak a second lick in, but retracts her head so fast because she knows she isn't allowed to! It is pretty cute!

KTB - Those pics of your latest rescue puppy are sooooo cute! I can't understand why so many dogs are abandoned... so so sad. We don't abandon our kids, so why our pets?

Clastic - Genevieve is due for her 12 month boosters at the end of this month. Just out of interest, how much did your vet slug you for the shots? I am contemplating changing vets as I felt rushed and unheard the last time we had Genevieve there... I know she might be a pet, and to them no different to any other dog that visits, but I had questions and didn't like the way I was treated. I also think he charges like a wounded bull.

Genevieve has learnt to sleep in, finally! Well, at least she has been the last few weeks! I have been getting out of bed close to 9am and when I go in to her, she is either on top of her house or in it, just wagging her tail at me!!!! We have been having latish nights though, where we have Mummy-doggy snuggle time before I put her to bed! Very cute!!!

[betsy]

Awesome stuff with the frisbee!! Is this something that is teachable, if so how did you teach Ziggy? Mars likes to catch balls, but always seems to wait for the frisbee to drop before attempting to grab it.

Not sure I really taught it but I do throw his treats up in the air for him to catch most of the time, so maybe that has made him a bit more co-ordinated?

Hope the shanks were good!

Wizzle - my dog has a snout and we are still struggling with shy. He seems to just swipe his nose! Dead mice/multiple mice in lanes sounds gross

Training went ok. Really like the trainers so it makes a difference. However they have recommended going back to the harness so guess I will try that again.

[Clastic]

Clastic - Genevieve is due for her 12 month boosters at the end of this month. Just out of interest, how much did your vet slug you for the shots? I am contemplating changing vets as I felt rushed and unheard the last time we had Genevieve there... I know she might be a pet, and to them no different to any other dog that visits, but I had questions and didn't like the way I was treated. I also think he charges like a wounded bull.

Genevieve has learnt to sleep in, finally! Well, at least she has been the last few weeks! I have been getting out of bed close to 9am and when I go in to her, she is either on top of her house or in it, just wagging her tail at me!!!! We have been having latish nights though, where we have Mummy-doggy snuggle time before I put her to bed! Very cute!!!

Woo hoo to sleep ins!!

Lets see.. Annual health check was $60 per dog and the annual vaccinations were $35 per dog. Discount of $6 for one of the dogs. Grand total of $184!! I know there are other places cheaper, but 1) I love the staff there 2) pups love going there 3) close to home.

[Cleo's Corgwyn]

Just quickly popping to share a video with you; its a litter of 7 week old Cardigan Corgi puppies being tested for herding instinct with ducks. I thought KTB, and Clastic and Wuffles and any others who've done some herding would be interested in how young they can display behaviours.

Plus,

A. They're adorable - look at those hairy little hobbit paws

B. its hilarious to watch puppies ths young starting to herd - watch those lttle, white tipped tails wag!

an

C. The little girl who's doing so well in this video actually reminds me of Ava - the white mismark head looks kinda similar

[koalathebear]

Oh gosh they are cute and that is so hilarious to see an Ava in Corgi Puppy form!!!

[Clastic]

Just quickly popping to share a video with you; its a litter of 7 week old Cardigan Corgi puppies being tested for herding instinct with ducks. I thought KTB, and Clastic and Wuffles and any others who've done some herding would be interested in how young they can display behaviours.

Plus,

A. They're adorable - look at those hairy little hobbit paws

B. its hilarious to watch puppies ths young starting to herd - watch those lttle, white tipped tails wag!

an

C. The little girl who's doing so well in this video actually reminds me of Ava - the white mismark head looks kinda similar

They were having so much fun! Pouncing around, circling around those ducks, those little waggy tails!

I've got to take Mars for a bit of herding again, he enjoyed it last time so it would be nice. I'm not quite sure about Pepper and how she would be..

[lilli_star]

Ohmygosh Cleo, that is just the cutest video I've seen in ages! What gorgeous little puppers! If you hadn't told me they were Corgies though, I would have thought they were Border Collies or Aussies

No fridge yet Fix-it people said it was the thermostat and they've ordered a new one (around $150) and should arrive tomorrow. I hope that means it will be fixed tomorrow. I was charged $55 just for them to look at it to start with! Is that standard now???

Operation mouse trap will begin tonight. I wanted some of those traps that just open like a peg that you put peanut butter on, but the supermarket didn't have any that I could see (and the 12 year old shelf stacker I asked had no idea what I meant). I didn't want to get the old school ones where you have to melt the cheese on, so I bought this. Cost about $5 and I have no idea if it will work, but I'll set it up tonight. The Laziest Cat in the World is lounging in Roo's Very Expensive Dogbed being lulled into a false sense of security that the house belongs to him again. Ha! Enjoy your peace while it lasts, cat. Roo is back on the weekend. And by the way, was that a mouse you were eyeballing last night behind the heater???? Did you even attempt to catch it while I was slaving away at work to keep you in kitten crack and the doglet in rawhide? Hmmmm?

Wizzle, dare I ask why you named the dead rat Bindi??? (and hee! at Miss G's lack of snout )

[ravenau1]

Just quickly popping to share a video with you; its a litter of 7 week old Cardigan Corgi puppies being tested for herding instinct with ducks. I thought KTB, and Clastic and Wuffles and any others who've done some herding would be interested in how young they can display behaviours.

Plus,

A. They're adorable - look at those hairy little hobbit paws

B. its hilarious to watch puppies ths young starting to herd - watch those lttle, white tipped tails wag!

an

C. The little girl who's doing so well in this video actually reminds me of Ava - the white mismark head looks kinda similar

~steals puppies, stashes them in my pockets, then runs away~

SO cute!!!

[minxy]

Cuuuute pups! I didn't realise Corgi's had that variation in colours. I want to steal one

Also, at Corgi Ava. It really does look like her!

[betsy]

Thanks CleoJ for the super cute vid (and the Ava doppelganger!) Love it though how some of the puppies just want cuddles!

[KumaAkita]

Howdy Folks! I've been reading the thread, just not posting - sorry. My darling husband brought this most vile virus into the house and we've both been blighted. Head cold, aches, pains, you name it we've had it! oh well, we're on the mend. I had this week off work (yep, it was that bad) which is good... and bad... I have soooo much to do and only have 1 and half days in the office next week before we go on holidays. I have a trip to Sydney on Monday and Tuesday, and then we're on leave on Thursday! We head up to sydney on Thursday night and fly to Ho Chi Minh on Friday. So scared and excited all at the same time. I really can't wait to have a proper holiday!!

Kuma has loved having me home all week. He's been a real sooky-la-la and mostly slept all day. He got a bit antsy yesterday so we went for a very ginger walk around the 'hood. He's very particular about where he toilets, in the sense that he likes not to do it in the yard... so being confined for a week was messing with his mojo! He was sooooo excited to see the outside world, but was observant of my leisurely pace and didn't pull like a maniac (much).

Norty Kuma theifed a cooked chicken bone from the dining table the other night - little bugger is tall enough to grab things off the top of the table! I was petrified that he was going to choke, it was going to get lodged, it would perforate his stomach... nah, he's fine. i stressed for nothing! I got up in the middle of the night to make sure he was ok - he told me off for waking him up!

Our neighbours got themselves a little puppy this week - a pug x jrt and no, they don't call him a Jug (thank god, I might have to slap 'em). The little guy is really cute - he looks mostly pug. He's soooooo tiny! I think Kuma was that small when he was 3 weeks old... Anyway, I had a long cuddle of the little pup last night and when I got home, Kuma was soooo jealous. He sniffed me all over. I was laying on the couch and he was sniffing all over my chest and arms - on and off for about an hour. I had to go change and have a shower! I'm sure that he will have fun rumbling with the little guy when he's old enough. Oh and he's the little guy at the moment because the don't know what to call him.

*

Ok, so now to comment on some posts... not all that I've missed - that would make this the longest post in the history of the world!

Those Corgi's are sooo cute - I think it's hillarious that they look like long legged dogs as pups, but as adults have such widdle legs! sooo cute.

Lilli_star - sux about your fridge. Hope it's fixed soon. We're starting to get that cricket plague here. Kuma loves pouncing on them, not so sure what to do after that.

Great photos of Ginger - such a beauty. Hope someone welcomes her into a family soon.

Betsy - yay on Ziggy and the frisbee! I've smacked Kuma in the middle of the forehead a few times with the frisbee and treats. He's a bit slow

There were some other beautiful photos of echo I'm sure... He is looking lovely and shiny!

Hmmm... that'll do... I'm sure I missed heaps! Hope you're all doing well and that your dogs are in top form. I'll be in and out over the next few days while we get ready (soooo much packing!) and then will be absent for a few weeks

[koalathebear]

lilli_star: I am not a huge fan of rodents. I might have screamed if I saw a mouse, even though that's such a cowardly thing to do Sorry the fridge woes are ongoing. We have bought a vertical freezer from Aldi. OH was sceptical but I'm so happy – means we can easily accommodate food for the doggies and for the humans!!!

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?

Nope. As far as I know, they were in the house. The chickens and eggs are in the backyard. The landscaper used a long targeted nozzle to apply the Roundup – it wasn't sprayed every which way. It was pretty frustrating … I've left a note in the neighbour's letter box to let her know what weed killer was used. I'm now wondering if they're going to complain that the bobcat (when it comes) is too noisy. We never complain about their incredibly noisy barking dogs, about the fact that He Neighbour stands on the fence with a saw cutting branches and sets of our dogs and also the fact that He Neighbour holds up his dogs and chickens over the fence to make our dogs bark!! No mice or crickets here but apparently we had stacks of little lizards in our front yard.

Sorry about your vet … we love our vets – you could come and see them! I guess they're a bit far from you though

betsy: Having a dog who can be high energy is really interesting – with lots of challenges and rewards. I am not sure what I'd do it Elbie was 30kg! I think our two are both below 20kg still but they can be mighty when they want to pull. It's very weird having two dogs with such incredibly different personalities. Last night I went back out the front with Elbie to practice his distraction and loose-leash walking. Backyard and in the house he's mega-focused. I can get him focused on the driveway but he looks away towards the end of the drive although he still continues to walk on a loose leash. He did well with cars last night- although I was careful to maintain a distance. No lunging but he did break his sit and come to a stand as the cars went by. The other neighbours have a Small Beige Fluffy that constantly escapes the house and runs around on the road – Elbie was very distracted and barked but didn't lunge. I am hoping that as he calms, he will stop barking like that.

I've been heeling around the house with Elbie. He is so funny when he is in super focus mode – head cocked to look up and pay attention. Hoover has nowhere near the same degree of focus but fortunately he is very obedient and food-motivated. Both are doing really well with their rear-end awareness training although still not doing it on a voice cue alone – I have to step them through it. What's hilarious is when Elbie's excited, instead of pivoting, he leaps into the air, spins around and looks like he's doing a flying kung fu kick.

It's funny when they catch Frisbees! Elbie's a Frisbee catcher, Hoover is not – although Hoover is better at fetching than Elbie. Hoover's also got this hilarious 'dance move' where he walks down stairs – at each step he does a hugely happy bum waggle and he looks like he's boogying his way down the stairs like a scene from a bad eighties musical movie

I gave up trying to teach Genevieve 'shy'. She has no snout, so I couldn't put anything over her nose to get her to paw it! Even sticky tape didn't work - she just tried to chew it! We have taught her kiss though, and if you lean in to her and say 'kiss' she gives you ONE lick on the nose. Occasionally she tried to sneak a second lick in, but retracts her head so fast because she knows she isn't allowed to! It is pretty cute!

Hahahahaha! Our two have pointy snouts and I long for the days of puppyhooded, snubby-nosed sans-snoutiness! Seems like shy can be quite tricky – from memory, Clastic's Mars was so placid about it that he just sat there with all kinds of Stuff on his face.

KA: glad you're on the mend – so sorry you've been poorly. The weather's been so weird that you must have been feeling quite uncomfy. Have a great time in Vietnam – I love the place. I've been there twice – well three if you count being born there Yoicks about Kuma eating the chicken bone but I'm glad that he's ok – or are you still on Poo Watch?

Pug / JRT puppies are really cute but then they get older and some of them have the body of a pug and the head of a JRT – freaks me out a LOT because it looks like a weird photoshop job come to life!!!

Glad other people liked Ginger, too. We thought she was gorgeous even though she's not the sort of dog we'd ever own – but OH was playing and dancing with her and laughing and patting her. Here's her

As I mentioned in the other post, we also took footage of Delta the Pit Bull. She was as calm and dignified as Ginger was bouncy and crazy.

Delta's music video is here.

I hope they both have homes to go to soon! I have 3 more videos to make and they're going to be challenging ones because I rarely get 'pretty' or 'cute' dogs to 'market'. It's usually the big, gangling boofers who people ignore because of appearance …

Edited March 4, 2011 by koalathebear

[Clastic]

I gave up trying to teach Genevieve 'shy'. She has no snout, so I couldn't put anything over her nose to get her to paw it! Even sticky tape didn't work - she just tried to chew it! We have taught her kiss though, and if you lean in to her and say 'kiss' she gives you ONE lick on the nose. Occasionally she tried to sneak a second lick in, but retracts her head so fast because she knows she isn't allowed to! It is pretty cute!

Hahahahaha! Our two have pointy snouts and I long for the days of puppyhooded, snubby-nosed sans-snoutiness! Seems like shy can be quite tricky – from memory, Clastic's Mars was so placid about it that he just sat there with all kinds of Stuff on his face.

Yes, that was us.. my failed attempts at teaching shy. I have now devised a plan to put sticky tape over his eye/on his eye lashes and see how that goes. I think it will be so annoying he WILL have to brush it off.. hopefully with his paw and not just shaking his head.

I hope they both have homes to go to soon! I have 3 more videos to make and they're going to be challenging ones because I rarely get 'pretty' or 'cute' dogs to 'market'. It's usually the big, gangling boofers who people ignore because of appearance …

I hope Delta and Ginger find homes soon, I must say I was never too interested in the boofa types (other than Rotties) but seeing how gorgeous the staffies and the pitbulls are in your pics and vids, they kinda make me melt.

I totally forgot to post this the other day, kinda gross but for me it was amusing.

OH normally picks the pups up like kids, well the other day the dogs were doing their business and when they came back in OH picked up Mars and cradled him, talking to him and everything so Mars licked his face as he normally does. Poor OH.. Mars had just eaten a poopie meal and his tongue must have still been stinky, OH ran to the bathroom to have a shower with the most disgusted face, I don't think he appreciated it when I said "Lucky we worm them eh?"

[wuffles]

omg corgi Ava She even has a little white spot on her back like Ava does! The Ark can tell you that Ava was herding chickens at that age. She just decided at 6 weeks old that the chicken may be more fun to eat than the chase

Just got home from the coast so will have to catch up on the rest of the thread and post some piccies later!

[Genabee]

Our neighbours got themselves a little puppy this week - a pug x jrt and no, they don't call him a Jug (thank god, I might have to slap 'em). The little guy is really cute - he looks mostly pug. He's soooooo tiny! I think Kuma was that small when he was 3 weeks old... Anyway, I had a long cuddle of the little pup last night and when I got home, Kuma was soooo jealous. He sniffed me all over. I was laying on the couch and he was sniffing all over my chest and arms - on and off for about an hour. I had to go change and have a shower! I'm sure that he will have fun rumbling with the little guy when he's old enough. Oh and he's the little guy at the moment because the don't know what to call him.

:D :clap:

PMSL!!!! KA, you are hilarious! Some of the things you come out with at times! Tell them to call him Beanie... I imagine he looks like a beanie toy!

I can't remember who asked... But I named the rat Bindi in memory of one of the girls I used to work with. Her name was Belinda and she suggested I name squished mouse 'Bindi' after her (not that we ever called her Bindi anyway). So it became a bit of a joke. So now, in my head, all mice and rats in squished or otherwise deceased forms, are known as Bindi!

Clastic - I think I might bring Genevieve to Canberra to visit your vet!!!!!!! That is sooooooooo cheap!!!! I am looking at over $100 for her next round of vaccinations. I think I really need to look into a new vet.

[wuffles]

OK, I've been through the thread and replied to lots of things... sorry anyone I missed Now I just need to sort through our pics and videos from the week!

Thanks for all the congrats everyone!

kyliegirl: Oh Echo is gorgeous in your videos! I love the big eyes while waiting for his dinner :D Satch drools if you make him wait too long And Echo is such a calm boy, well done with his training

ravenau1: Any Aussie questions yet? I noticed you asked one about colour in the Aussie thread, I think you chose the hardest to answer question out there considering we don't know what colour Ava is genetically!

Regarding dogs on the bed, Satch is not allowed up, and he doesn't really have a desire to do so (he sleeps in the lounge room anyway and only comes into our bedroom if he's afraid). OH was very against dogs on the bed but Ava is allowed up occasionally -- only when explicitly invited. Generally I only let her up if OH is going to be up late or is out for the night. She does take up a lot of room and I have to take OH's pillow off the bed because she loves that And sometimes she does wake us up with her dreaming ("moof! moof! *kick*).

Ava's energy really used to frustrate OH but she has calmed down considerably and he is smitten with her now. Hopefully Astrid turns out like our little miss has -- she's always ready to do something but at least chills out every now and then these days. It seriously felt like she never slept when she was little

KTB: I'd probably put Elbie and Ava on a similar level of drive but different types of drive, would you agree? Elbie is very herding oriented whereas Ava is... foooooood. FOOD. OMG FOOOOOOOOD. ;) And Satch is way down in the next-to-no drive category. I have booked in with K9 Steve on April 30 and I think I might try to take both dogs. I'd love to see if there is a way I can motivate Satch, whereas I'd like to get some trialling advice and try some training in drive with Avie-bear... Thank you again for the pressie by the way :D

betsy: Yay for Ziggy catching a frisbee Ava will never do that. Sometimes Ava mixes tricks up, for example my hand signal for spin is similar to roll over so sometimes she starts spinning then throws herself on the ground for a roll

KA: Pug crosses tend to be robust little things so I'm sure Kuma will have fun when the puppy gets older Hopefully they don't talk too much through the fence though!

I leave collars off mine because I think there is more of a chance of them getting caught than escaping. There's no way they can go over the fences (touch wood) and our gates are locked. However, they do jump up on the fences, and mouth each other's necks in play, AND Ava squeezes herself into small spots (like behind the BBQ) so there are plenty of ways for them to get caught.

Ava is due for her booster shot next week too. Thankfully she loves the vet!

[koalathebear]

OH normally picks the pups up like kids, well the other day the dogs were doing their business and when they came back in OH picked up Mars and cradled him, talking to him and everything so Mars licked his face as he normally does. Poor OH.. Mars had just eaten a poopie meal and his tongue must have still been stinky, OH ran to the bathroom to have a shower with the most disgusted face, I don't think he appreciated it when I said "Lucky we worm them eh?"

Hahahaha! OH lets the dogs lick his face all the time but when Hoover was going through his (thankfully brief) poo-eating phase – he didn't let Hoover lick him anymore. Dog saliva makes me a bit itchy so I don’t usually permit any licking of my face – Elbie's naughty and will lick legs and feet though, which is grosser for him than me …

wuffles: I agree … and perhaps that's why Ava's calmed down so much whereas Elbie's still mental. He is just a very high drive dog all round – food drive high, pack drive high, prey drive VERY, VERY high and when activated, it trumps all other drives … It makes him incredibly easy to teach things and he just 'gets' so many things in a way that I find quite astonishing sometimes – but when he gets excited …. Ayah! I'm still finding the whole high drive/low drive thread interesting. I haven't quite figured out where Hoover fits in yet because although he's never gone into berserker mode like Elbie and he isn't stimulated by cars/blankets being waved around etc he is very, VERY food motivated and is also easy to teach things, although he needs more repetitions than Elbie.

I have booked in with K9 Steve on April 30 and I think I might try to take both dogs. I'd love to see if there is a way I can motivate Satch, whereas I'd like to get some trialling advice and try some training in drive with Avie-bear... Thank you again for the pressie by the way

Hope you have fun! One day after we get Elbie's crazy prey drive under control, I'd really, really like to start doing training in drive with him. He has such focus he's not 'activated – he can seriously sit there and stare for ages and ages, following your every move and command – I just have to find the way to train him properly … baby steps … baby steps … :D

[wuffles]

is a video of the doggies at Tomakin Beach. We went there on Wednesday and were the only ones there, until a man with a metal detector arrived... of course the doggies had to go say hello to him (ignoring our calls :D) but once they'd had a sniff they came back of their own accord. Satch got used to the waves pretty quickly, although still didn't like when they broke on him, whereas Ava was a bit more wary in general. Poor Satch, Ava spent most of her time chasing him and hanging off his neck...

The house we stayed in was nice and dog friendly of course! The backyard was grassy and secure. Satch hated the floors (laminate floorboards) but we worked around that.

On Thursday we went to one of the beaches just south of Broulee which is 24 hour dog off leash. There were a few other people there and some kind of surf carnival on the northern part of the beach but it was so expansive that we had no trouble letting the doggies off for a big run.

Love this pic - rawr

Weeee

wuffles and the doggies

Satchmo takes off

Doggies play

Poor Satchy

[wuffles]

And here is a wedding teaser pic :D We won't get the professional photos for a while yet.