Elbie, Hoover, Dodge & Friends!

[koalathebear]

Yep... He only likes labs and poodles.

I thought that Kuma could pass for a lab when he wanted ...

Or you could say Kuma was a Giant Japanese Poodle ...

We were lucky with Elbie. The instructor who took his beginners class bred border collies so had a soft spot for working dogs, particularly borders (she ignored the kelpie bit :D. You'll find that the bronze instructors (at least the two that we had) are very breed-neutral. That was lucky given what a motley assortment of doggies we had in our classes - a wide range of purebreds and an even broader range of muttleys like Elbie.

One of the instructors today (who owns a kelpie x) said that Elbie might not become calm until he's two years old because of his kelpishness.

wuffles:

Did your dad mind or did he: "ho ho ho"? It reminds me of my poor uncle in New York. He's very tall and lanky - he is well-fed but just never puts on any weight. One day he was standing at a corner holding his cup of coffee. A passer-by thought that he was a beggar or something and walked past and dropped coins into his coffee cup. Poor uncle and his spoiled coffee

Edited September 26, 2010 by koalathebear

[KumaAkita]

Yep... He only likes labs and poodles.

I thought that Kuma could pass for a lab when he wanted ...

Or you could say Kuma was a Giant Japanese Poodle ...

I think I'll say that next time!

[koalathebear]

I think I'll say that next time!

You've never heard of the Giant Japanese Poodle???? From Okinawa, they grow somewhat ahem larger than their European cousins...ANKC registration pending ...

It's a bit like how my cat-loving OH likes to insist that Elbie's actually a cat ... A large, slightly spastic cat ...

ETA: Also, on a serious note - you are right to be concerned about the heat. OH was saying today that the guys who did assessment on Thursday night probably had a slightly easier time of it because the temperature in the evening would have been a lot better. Today, we were baking in the sun during the assessment itself and there was also a LOT of waiting in the sun as we queued up for the various activities. I'm going to have to wear a hat from now on and we'll probably want to keep water handy for Elbie - there were a lot of very thirsty, hot dogs out there today.

Edited September 26, 2010 by koalathebear

[lilli_star]

Well done Elbie, KTB, Mr Koala! Well done Wuffles and Ava!!! Sounds like you had an awesome morning. Sorry we missed it... Looking forward to starting again in a few weeks. Hope it isn't too hot, don't think Kuma will cope

How's Kuma going in Tamworth? I imagine it would be warming up right now. I used to live there, and my hometown is not far from there.

[wuffles]

wuffles:

Did your dad mind or did he: "ho ho ho"? It reminds me of my poor uncle in New York. He's very tall and lanky - he is well-fed but just never puts on any weight. One day he was standing at a corner holding his cup of coffee. A passer-by thought that he was a beggar or something and walked past and dropped coins into his coffee cup. Poor uncle and his spoiled coffee

My dad thought it was hilarious

Oh we are such Canberrans thinking this weather is hot... it was a balmy 20 degrees I got a tad sunburned. I remember taking Satch to training on a Thursday night when it was still over 30 degrees at 7pm. Big mistake, the dogs just stood and stared at us like we were crazy. The heat worked in our favour today, it calmed down our little livewire :D

Ava just had a play with the Home Alone toy! I put some liver treats in there and they do indeed come out the bottom hole if they pull it and let it bounce up again.

[Niques]

Bit random, but once my dad (who has a beard and a bit rotund) was on his morning walk and went past a little boy playing with a ball. The ball rolled towards my dad, so he picked it up and gave it back to the boy. The boy said with wide eyes, "Oh! Thanks, Santa!"

The heat wasn't pleasant for our obedience today. But hey, the whole training session wasn't pleasant so it hardly ruined the day ;) I seriously considered leaving halfway through. Between James insistently lunging at other dogs, refusing to move because his nose was glued to the dirt, and then throwing himself on the ground every other minute...it was an awful morning! And he kept barking in excitement as well. James never barks so that was a worry.

He knows everything he has to do, he just can't pay attention at all during obedience. I think it's all looking negative in contrast - he'd started getting really good towards the end of beginner's as he knew all the dogs and the class also wittled down so there were only a couple of us regularly turning up at the end. Now in intermediate, some dogs show up one week, some turn up the next week....there's no consistency. Which is probably a good thing in the long run, but god it's hard each week.

And I wore a jumper thinking it would still be a bit nippy in the morning, as usual. Wrong again We were all baking in the sun - I can't imagine how the poor dogs felt.

[koalathebear]

wuffles: Haha. It might have felt hotter because I was wearing my hoody in expectation that it was going to be a cool morning.

Ava just had a play with the Home Alone toy! I put some liver treats in there and they do indeed come out the bottom hole if they pull it and let it bounce up again.

Yay! All the ads show dogs leaping up and playing with it enthusiastically ... I can't imagine they'd sell many if they used Elbie as the model with his half-hearted nose-nudge Hopefully Ava will prove a good endorsement for the product. One thing - that ball is supposed to be for medium sized dogs so I'm not sure how Satch will find it?

Niques:

I seriously considered leaving halfway through. Between James insistently lunging at other dogs, refusing to move because his nose was glued to the dirt, and then throwing himself on the ground every other minute...it was an awful morning! And he kept barking in excitement as well. James never barks so that was a worry.

I think everyone has one of those days now and then when it feels like Obedient Dog has been replaced by Devil Dog ... There was one class in beginners when OH wanted to go home because Elbie just wasn't listening at all and last week, one of the owners was so frustrated with her dog she wanted to leave and the instructor had to talk her into staying. Yesterday, our practice with Elbie was going very badly - his focus was non-existent and my OH who is normally very patient with Elbie got really frustrated and walked off on him. I think the better behaved our dogs can be, the more frustrating it is when they go spazzy because we know what they can do when they're well-behaved.

I know what you mean about class composition ... there are a few very dedicated, nerdy owners like us who show up week after week regardless of the weather but there are days when I look at the weather or how my week's been and think: "Maybe I'll sleep in today." Call me crazy, though - we're enrolling Elbie in a second set of obedience classes so that he gets extra stimulation and socialisation. Plus the classes always make him a little bit tired so that's a plus - also we want him to try his paw at herding again. We are becoming total Nerdy Dog Owners.

James is such a clever and responsive pup - I wonder if the more clever they are, the more headstrong and naughty they can be? ;)

[wuffles]

Yay! All the ads show dogs leaping up and playing with it enthusiastically ... I can't imagine they'd sell many if they used Elbie as the model with his half-hearted nose-nudge Hopefully Ava will prove a good endorsement for the product. One thing - that ball is supposed to be for medium sized dogs so I'm not sure how Satch will find it?

Satch is scared of it so I don't think we'll have any problems

[Niques]

There was one class in beginners when OH wanted to go home because Elbie just wasn't listening at all and last week, one of the owners was so frustrated with her dog she wanted to leave and the instructor had to talk her into staying. Yesterday, our practice with Elbie was going very badly - his focus was non-existent and my OH who is normally very patient with Elbie got really frustrated and walked off on him. I think the better behaved our dogs can be, the more frustrating it is when they go spazzy because we know what they can do when they're well-behaved.

Oh, I'm so glad to hear it's not just me He just always, always wants to play with other dogs. We've made it to the point where he can sit quietly at the side of the path if pedestrians or cyclists go past (although his whole body is quivering with excitement ) but the idea of sitting calmly around novel dogs is an idea that has never entered his head.

I'd love to hear your updates if you do persist with herding - those first videos were brilliant. It looks like so much fun for all involved!

[KumaAkita]

Well done Elbie, KTB, Mr Koala! Well done Wuffles and Ava!!! Sounds like you had an awesome morning. Sorry we missed it... Looking forward to starting again in a few weeks. Hope it isn't too hot, don't think Kuma will cope

How's Kuma going in Tamworth? I imagine it would be warming up right now. I used to live there, and my hometown is not far from there.

He went ok... it was only around the 24/25 degree mark, but he still has his winter coat. He was fairly sedentary during the middle of the day. He was beaten up by my sister's pound puppy - Bobba (after Bobba Fett, the bounty hunter on star wars - yep, nerds) is a bitza, think there's silky terrier and maltese in there somewhere. Bobba would weigh 5 Kg wringing wet, but had big issues... Kuma didn't know what to do!

He slept most of the 8 hours home, which works well for us... he's either sleeping or just checking out the view.

Lilli_star: Where'd you grow up? I grew up out at Manilla, my oldies moved into Tamworth about 5 years ago.

[lilli_star]

Poor Kuma being beaten up by your sister's pound puppy Obviously he was just humouring Bobba.

Lilli_star: Where'd you grow up? I grew up out at Manilla, my oldies moved into Tamworth about 5 years ago.

The thriving metropolis that is Quirindi. My dad is still there, but we're (my siblings and I) trying to get him to move closer to us, since we worry about him being so far away and by himself (Mum passed away 10 years ago). It's not fun when your parents get older

[Clastic]

Bumpity Bump Bump! :D

Gave the kiddies a bath on the weekend, much to their disgust. Their Daddy said because they are inside dogs they have to be clean and not smelly and be bathed when he sees fit. Luckily he actually helps. ;) They both tolerate having a bath; Mars used to whine a lot when he got one and now he just stands there until he's clean. Pepper has always just stood still and hid her head pretending that nothing was happening and it was all a dream.

Getting a brush on the other hand is a different story.. Mars used to hate it, I think maybe it was the brush hurtin him, now he's quite content to be brushed but only if he's on the bed and lying down chillaxing.. if he's standing he puts his sad face on. Pepper hates hates hates it, she sees the brush.. it doesn't even have to touch her.. and shes outta the room. If you try to hold her, she will kick kick kick squirm wriggle kick and squirm until she is as far away from you as possible. You'll give her a treat and try to brush her and its still no go. Maybe when she gets a bit more fur like Mars she won't dislike getting brushed as much... I can only hope. We're working on it.

Recently Mars has developed this horrible habit of asking for food and attention by pawing at me.. its actually rather cute when he wants attention and does it, OH thinks its the most horrible thing that he could ever do. Pepper just sticks her head in your face and inches closer and closer and closer until you pay attention to her.

And to finish off, I thought I would bombard you guys with some pics of the kids from the weekend.. after their bath.

[koalathebear]

Oh they are sooooooo cute ... and they're so good at posing for the camera. Are they looking at food or are they naturally model-esque for the lens?

Recently Mars has developed this horrible habit of asking for food and attention by pawing at me.. its actually rather cute when he wants attention and does it, OH thinks its the most horrible thing that he could ever do. Pepper just sticks her head in your face and inches closer and closer and closer until you pay attention to her.

I think that's cute ... Elbie puts his head on my leg and looks up at me with puppy dog eyes and then when that doesn't work, I get a nudge with the snout ... which is bad because he nudges me in my side when I'm sitting down and I'm quite ticklish :cool:

I love their expressions in this photo:

Same here, Pepper in particular looks mesmerised by something

What a coy little miss ... she could give the flirty Ava a run for her money

Both of them have such gorgeous colouring!

I haven't had a chance to take any photos of Elbie recently - we're hoping to take him to the dog park at Forde over the long weekend so maybe we can get some nice photos there.

[KumaAkita]

we're hoping to take him to the dog park at Forde over the long weekend so maybe we can get some nice photos there.

Oooohhh... Let me know if u want friendly company... We often head to Forde park. It's small and unintimidating...

Cute pics Clastic... They look like sweeties.

[Max#1]

Nicques - you're definitely not alone with the feeling like giving up halfway through the lesson - and I've only had four!!!!! We also had a warm day here last Sunday, and I'm sure even Max was gagging by the end when I tried to give him yet ANOTHER piece of warm frankfurter.... The farts later were the worst ever! Our lesson was so bad, the instructor afterwards wanted to talk to me suggesting that Max had 'lost' his sits and drops and didn't know how to do them anymore. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....

Clastic - those are some seriously cute puppies!

And congratulations everyone for passing!!!!

[lilli_star]

Nicques - you're definitely not alone with the feeling like giving up halfway through the lesson - and I've only had four!!!!! We also had a warm day here last Sunday, and I'm sure even Max was gagging by the end when I tried to give him yet ANOTHER piece of warm frankfurter.... The farts later were the worst ever! Our lesson was so bad, the instructor afterwards wanted to talk to me suggesting that Max had 'lost' his sits and drops and didn't know how to do them anymore. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....

Clastic - those are some seriously cute puppies!

And congratulations everyone for passing!!!!

:p Lol

I started puppy kindy (the next step from preschool) with Ruby last night. It's been awhile since she finished puppy preschool, probably 6 weeks, and I thought we were going okay...yep, until we got there and Ruby was distracted by EVERYTHING! Even the floor! We were shown up by a "Cavoodle"! It was only a really small class (2 other dogs and Ruby) thank goodness because God know what she would have done if there were more! I couldn't co-ordinate the bloody clicker and treat either. I think I was as exhausted as Ruby by the end of it! Poor Roo just wanted to play afterwards, but was seen as a bit of a bully I think because she was bigger than the other two and basically tried to step on their heads... ;) I want to take her to obedience after this, but I'm hoping this will help in the meantime. It's not cheap either I've been practising 'stay' tonight and 'on your mat'. I think we fluked them. More practise needed obviously. :cool:

[Niques]

Clastic, your dogs are gorgeous! Not that Mars isn't a stunner himself, but I have to say, Pepper is a seriously beautiful dog!

James has only been bathed once. I expect one day in the future I will very much regret not getting him used to it, but in the meantime, I'm really not keen on repeating that experience He has good and bad days when it comes to being brushed. Sometimes he'll just lie there. Other days, like today, he runs around madly as soon as he sees it. He has two brushes so normally I give him one to chew on (bad mummy! :p) while I use the other.

The farts later were the worst ever!

:cool:

My sympathies that it didn't go well - hopefully this week both James and Max will be much better behaved!

KTB's post reminded me to ask, how does everyone find the dog park experience? Our nearest one is a 10min+ drive away so it's never been a top priority for exercise or socialising, particularly given we have a regular park just down the next road, but I have toyed with the idea a couple of times over the past few months. I keep holding back though because I know how obnoxiously enthusiastic he is with other dogs and I can just see him pissing one off within seconds of entering And I worry about his recall. Do any of you use them regularly? How managable do you find your dogs to be off-leash?

[koalathebear]

Because Elbie was struggling with his heeling positioning during his assessment, we have been working with him. He is very funny though - check out this

. He basically bounces into position.

The other thing he failed was the sit-stay because he was hot and kept dropping instead of staying in a sit. So since then, we've been making go into a

. He drops easily from a sit, but we discovered that it wasn't quite so easy to get him to go into a sit from a drop. He's getting much better at it but the problem with Elbie is that he likes to anticipate so he'll be bouncing up and down like a jack in the box. Last night, we wanted him to drop and he stared at us intently - waved at me. Then when that got no reaction, he turned to my OH and waved at him, too. We both burst out laughing and Elbie looked so offended.

Of course the danger with making him go into a drop into a sit is that we run the risk of weakening his drop. Ayah

In terms of dog farts ... Elbie's been pretty good for the longest time now. Today he did a flyby fart at me. :p Turns out that the OH had decided to buy Elbie some delicious lamb meat-balls.

Farts aside, Elbie LOVES them and has been incredibly focussed with lamb meat balls to motivate him. I've never seen him heel so beautifully. :cool:

lilli_star: we've given up trying to bring the clicker to training ... OH and I are too unco I can't hold leash, manage treats, pay attention AND click.

Some photos ... Here's Elbie trying to make his other ear stand up using the power of his mind ...

Some of Elbie's classmates from Dog School. This is Harry, regrettably he didn't pass bronze.

The elegant whippet is Shelly. Next to her is Cally the GSD. They both passed and will be with us in silver classes.

Cally with her paw up, begging for treats

Love Shelly chilling out on her mat

Edited September 29, 2010 by koalathebear

[koalathebear]

We tried so hard to get a photo of Elbie and Ava together.

Ava behaved, but Elbie did not

Almost! (BTW - OH is not pulling Elbie's ear - he's holding a piece of devon near Elbie's head

And here is Elbie now - in his dog bed peering at OH and at me.

how does everyone find the dog park experience? Our nearest one is a 10min+ drive away so it's never been a top priority for exercise or socialising, particularly given we have a regular park just down the next road, but I have toyed with the idea a couple of times over the past few months. I keep holding back though because I know how obnoxiously enthusiastic he is with other dogs and I can just see him pissing one off within seconds of entering embarrass.gif And I worry about his recall. Do any of you use them regularly? How managable do you find your dogs to be off-leash?

We have never actually taken Elbie to a dog park. :p He has been in the offleash area of the Dog School heaps of times but the only time we went to the Belconnen Dog Park, we went sans dog to check it out. As with many things, DOL has made us terrified of the dog park experience. Reading DOL makes one terrified to do anything ... I now have visions of our puppy being disembowelled by hordes of vicious DA dogs while choking on chicken bones, a kong and being strangled by his own collar

We haven't made up our mind about the dog park yet but the Forde one seems to have agility-esque equipment there and if we can go there when it's a bit deserted, Elbie and his nervous owners might be ok :cool:

Edited September 29, 2010 by koalathebear

[Niques]

I think this thread has jinxed James - I was just lying here listening to him snoring away like a freight train and a god-awful odour suddenly wafted over And it's not his first today either. I don't know what he's eaten but he's normally nowhere near this gassy.

I love the intensity of Elbie's looks - he has such an intelligent face. Especially with those adorable ears.