Elbie, Hoover, Dodge & Friends!

[koalathebear]

wizzle: good to see you back but sorry to hear you've been poorly. I hope things improve soon and you're able to be up and about again.

aussielover: what is a hotspot? I keep hearing about them and all I can imagine is a pimple from hell or something. Having a second dog around is nice because the two tucker each other out - except when you have to intervene because one of them keeps stepping on the other dog's head

minxy: kyojin is very cute and so is the signature. I particularly love the expression on his face in the middle picture. Are akita puppies particularly vocal? Hoover is an incredibly quiet dog but when he wants to play or get your attention, he gives these very cute and demanding little barks.

betsy: will swap you the rain for the heat we're having here. We don't have a/c in this house, just fans so I'm melting a little. I just have a little Sony point and shoot but OH likes photography so he has a DSLR and his photos of the monsters are always clearer.

Niques: Hoover's ok ... the vet couldn't find an ulcer or anything. We just have ointment to put on his eye twice a day but he seems cheerful and as untroubled as usual. He was very happy to be collected from the vet's and wee'd all the way from the back out into the reception area :D

*

OH says Elbie did his first suburban off-leash recall in an unfenced area this morning ... It was a bit nerve-wracking apparently but it went well.

Edited November 13, 2010 by koalathebear

[wuffles]

Slightly dog - unrelated: I've been really unwell. The doctor has given me something for it to take the edge of it (supposedly, I am yet to notice a difference), but I've had a few days off work passed out on the couch (or the bathroom floor ). All the scans revealed there is one healthy little Wee Wizzle (for a brief time we thought there may have been two!), so that is the main thing.

Good to hear from you Wizzle and I hope the sickness improves soon!

Mindy only had 3 stitches and she probably only needed two as the incision was only about 2-3cm.

How is Ava doing wuffles?

Ava is doing well but she is proving very difficult to "keep calm" and it's only Day 3 We have been out for a few short periods and left her in the pergola and Satch in the backyard (there is a gate between the two). Well when we got home they were both panting and had crazy looks in their eyes so I am sure they were somehow playing through the gate! Then we let her inside and she wriggled and squirmed and bounced and generally acted like a little feral. Although she is happy to be crated generally she will not enjoy being in there for hours on end and I think she may thrash around, hence the pergola. Her incision is looking a bit red, but not swollen, so I am keeping a close eye on it. I have some Wound Guard that I might start applying, she doesn't seem to be licking it much but I'm paranoid... sigh. I am going to be sooo stressed when we go back to work on Monday!!! And to top it off it's predicted to rain :D

Satch had hotspots last year when he had allergies. They were horrible and nasty. One of his went from a tiny little clean bald patch on his rump to a huge, weeping, nasty sore overnight The poor baby had to have his bum shaved, ointment applied and a bucket on his head for two weeks... now I am super vigilant as if you get on top of them right away they go away much quicker!

Just wondering what type of cameras everyone is using for their photos? I have a point and shoot but considering buying a DSLR..

I have an entry level DSLR, the Canon 1000D. I love it!

[minxy]

Very cute signature, Minxy. How big is Kyojin now? I can only imagine how fast he'll grow.

We weighed him about 2 weeks ago and he was 17kgs then. They put on quite a bit each week, and he is certainly WAY heavier. I'd say he's gone past 20kgs now. I tried to pick him up last night and it was pretty difficult!!

minxy: kyojin is very cute and so is the signature. I particularly love the expression on his face in the middle picture. Are akita puppies particularly vocal? Hoover is an incredibly quiet dog but when he wants to play or get your attention, he gives these very cute and demanding little barks.

Thanks I do love that one, even if it was taken on my crappy phone. His face is so sweet in that one. He doesn't really make any noise actually. He is already protective of his yard though, and just started barking at our neighbours for mowing too close to our yard. But other than that, he doesn't really make any noise. He has such a deep, manly bark though!

[Clastic]

KA - Hope the conferences aren't too bad, I'd miss my kiddies so much if I ever went away without them.

KTB - Ah.. so thats where you were this morning, was wondering but never got around to asking Mr KTB. Love the pics of Hoover sleeping on top of Elbie, just love the look on Elbie's face!!

wuffles - Hope all is well with Ava, Mars got a bad arse tattoo as well when he got desexed, it doesn't look too bad now after all the excess ink has come off. I think that I will most definitely be taking days off when Miss Pepper goes for her desexing.

Wizzle - Sorry to hear that you haven't been feeling too well, hope it gets better. Very exciting though that you got to see wee wizzle!!!

Sorry, I'm sure I've missed quite a few people and posts.. really have to get on here more often!

[lilli_star]

Yay Wizzle! Good to hear from you, but I'm so sorry to hear that Wee Wizzle has been making you so sick. Did the drs think you may have twins because you were so sick? I've heard that twice the babies, twice the sickness Hopefully you will be feeling better soon, and not be sick the entire time.

KTB, how is Master Hoover? Was it conjunctivitis? When I was living (and teaching obviously- no way would I have voluntarily chosen that place to live if it hadn't meant a job! :D ) out west, the kids at school would often get "the junc", and I have to admit, I was always a wee bit disappointed I never caught it because it meant a couple of days off school! Silly really. I think wearing glasses would make it harder to catch anyway ;)

KA and KTB- I never get to go anywhere near as exciting as you two for conferences/inservices! Damn teaching! :D ;) KA, one of the families at school's father is a doctor. Last year his wife brought in a "present" for the then teacher of one of her children who was also the computer co-ordinator- a mouse pad that was sponsored by Viagra! We thought it was HILARIOUS!!! ;) I'm pretty sure she meant it quite innocently though (non-Australian background).

Miss Roo had her stitches out today. Of course she bounded into the vets, tail wagging (she started as soon as I did a u-turn and parked as she must have worked out where we were ) and looking for treats. She weighs 22kg now She was pretty good while the vet took the stitches out and waited almost patiently while I chatted to him about Ruby's tummy upset (note to all- diarrhoea by itself is not too worrying from a vet's perspective. At most, withdraw food for 24 hours and gradually reintroduce afterwards. If it's combined with vomiting, and goes on for more than 24 hours, then it's a worry.), although she did try to have a bit of a stickybeak in their bin.

Aussie, I remember when you said Mindy only had 3 stitches, so I was bit concerned to see 5 in Roo! To me, they looked pretty untidy too, but I suppose as long as it heals well, that's all that matters. I'm having lunch with my sister tomorrow who is up from Sydney, so I'll shamelessly use her for her veterinary knowledge and see what she says

After I brought the wigglebum home I then went to the first of our next level of dog training classes with MDTL. There will be 6 dogs including Roo, mostly older owners (no cute single men. Sigh), but they all seemed nice. Quite an assortment of dogs too- there will be a Lab X, a GSD, a Husky and I can't remember the other two. I also got to play with MDTL's assistant's Choc Lab puppy :D So cute! Hard to believe Roo was that little not that long ago. He was so well behaved too!

After the introductory class I did the dog first aid with MDTL and 5 other people. It was really good and I learnt lots that will come in handy. I learnt how to find and take a dog's pulse. Did you know a dog's normal body temperature is between 38 and 39 deg? Now you do! ;)

[koalathebear]

My puppy's so tough ..

He's got ink ..

No, not the strange dot dot dot Canberra 'tattoo in the ear post-desexing' one, but this one.

No, he's not a member of a gang ... not unless you count registration with the Working Kelpie Council :D

[koalathebear]

KTB, how is Master Hoover? Was it conjunctivitis?

I'm not sure what it was! We have ointment for him and they didn't seem worried about it but gosh green goop looks gross.

I'm glad Miss Roo's stitches are out. Good luck with the tummy bug ... poor thing. Elbie threw up some froth in his crate this morning which was a bit worrying... OH occasionally worries that he has bloat or something but he seems pretty healthy apart from the occasional throwing up of things he shouldn't have eaten to start with :p

After the introductory class I did the dog first aid with MDTL and 5 other people. It was really good and I learnt lots that will come in handy. I learnt how to find and take a dog's pulse. Did you know a dog's normal body temperature is between 38 and 39 deg? Now you do! ;)

How do you take a dog's pulse???

*

We got back from obedience this morning. Apparently Elbie did well and did his first ever proper stand for pats - although he Failed Miserably at the controlled greeting. Lunge! While there's no way he's going to pass silver, we'd like him to do ok in the assessment. :D He also did the recall well - OH dropped the leash, walked a distance away and called him and Elbie came! Elbie's neighbour refused to budge, then took two steps towards her handler and then bolted off somewhere else to eat grass ... Oh dear.

Hoover was again unable to join the class so we just sat on the edge of the grounds - Hoover on his little mat and I fed him his breakfast while he got 'socialised'. Lots of pats, lots of big scary, lunging, barking dogs - Hoover remained unfussed. He only lunged twice and always came back when called and spent most of the time working for treats or chilled out on his mat. The dog accessory store owner (owns a golden retriever) said that Hoover had a 'strange and funny face'. Then Elbie's classmate (whippet named Shelly) and her owner came up and her owner said: "We've come to meet Hoover, your OH says he has dopey eyes."

Here's my dopey-eyed dog on his little mat today. His leftright ear is definitely On The Rise.

Close-up of dopey eyes

Elbie and Tuffie

After class, Elbie and Hoover played in the offlead area and ran around with a Shiba Inu and a large lab named Champ. All had fun, although Hoover tried humping Nugget the Shiba Inu The shiba's owner started calling Hoover the little homo OH and I were mortified at the bad manners of our dog.

Edited November 14, 2010 by koalathebear

[wuffles]

We got back from obedience this morning. Apparently Elbie did well and did his first ever proper stand for pats - although he Failed Miserably at the controlled greeting. Lunge! While there's no way he's going to pass silver, we'd like him to do ok in the assessment. :p He also did the recall well - OH dropped the leash, walked a distance away and called him and Elbie came! Elbie's neighbour refused to budge, then took two steps towards her handler and then bolted off somewhere else to eat grass ... Oh dear.

Yay for Elbie and his first stand for pats!! Hopefully it has now "clicked" and he will keep doing it well for you guys ;) I think he'll do great in the assessment! We had to skip training today even though I'm sure Ava would have loved to go. Stitches? What stitches? I think I am going to do the CCD runthrough with Ava for assessment (which starts at 6pm, whaaaaat?!) but I am not even going to attempt the silver assessment with the 'Mo

After class, Elbie and Hoover played in the offlead area and ran around with a Shiba Inu and a large lab named Champ. All had fun, although Hoover tried humping Nugget the Shiba Inu The shiba's owner started calling Hoover the little homo :D OH and I were mortified at the bad manners of our dog.

I won't tell Ava that they got to play with Nugget and Champ as she will be very jealous!

Rain and dog desexing don't go together Seems like Little Miss will be relegated to the laundry tomorrow which I was hoping to avoid, so we'll see how she copes in there for 9 hours ...and how I cope at work stressing all day

[Niques]

LS, dog first aid sounds really interesting. Is it a one-off class or an ongoing thing?

Well done to Elbie for his "stand for pats" and recall! There's nothing like the warm, fuzzy feeling when they come racing back to you in a recall. James used to make everyone laugh with his. All the other dogs would leisurely trot over (one dog had the slowest amble I have ever seen - that was hilarious) whilst James would hunker down and sprint over as fast as he could. The trouble is braking him before he crashes into you. I've since learnt that one should not recall him at the base of an incline - the momentum just has him going so fast that he won't stop.

Hoover is looking distinctly Yoda-ish with his ears in the 10 and 2 position. Very cute!

[betsy]

After another child incident at the only dog off lead park in town (nothing serious, be assured, just a child scared of a dog), I was feeling a little jaded.

However I then met a couple of lovely dogs and their owners. Our dogs had a great time chasing each other around, and we had some wonderful general dog chatter. I was telling them what happened and they were of the same opinion - why do these people come to the off lead dog park?????

Anyone, one of the dogs was a lovely kelpie border collie cross. Not as handsome as Elbie but looked very much like him. They had great fun herding each other at top speed then jumping in the river. A good ending at least. Now the boy has been washed and brushed and smells much better!

[wuffles]

After another child incident at the only dog off lead park in town (nothing serious, be assured, just a child scared of a dog), I was feeling a little jaded.

However I then met a couple of lovely dogs and their owners. Our dogs had a great time chasing each other around, and we had some wonderful general dog chatter. I was telling them what happened and they were of the same opinion - why do these people come to the off lead dog park?????

Reminds me of once we were at a fenced dog park when a man and his son (about 4 years old) entered, sans dog. The only dogs there were our big boy Satch and our friend's Japanese Spitz. Anyway, this child proceeded to throw a ball at my dog's head, yell at the dogs and the best part, he tried to kick my friend's dog (and thankfully missed). The father said "hey, that's not nice, apologise to the dog" (ummm, I think it should have been more like "we are leaving immediately and I am so sorry for my son's actions") and the son said "NO!" So I went against the social norm and told the child not so politely that's not how we act around dogs, and said I was taking my dog to the other end of the park so that we would be left alone. They left pretty quickly after that. Why you would trust a child, especially an obnoxious one, around an unknown 40kg dog?

I am quite paranoid about my dogs being around children even though they are fine with them. These days all a dog has to do is frighten a child, which doesn't take much, and they can be declared dangerous. If I'm ever in a multi-use off leash area like our local oval, I am super vigilant and stay as far away from them as possible. Ava's recall is great but sometimes running, squealing kids, especially playing ballgames or the like, are just too much excitement. She goes back on leash if I think she's going to go say hello! That being said, I train with her quite regularly around kids on the oval -- one flying a kite came within about 2m of us doing heeling training a few weeks ago and a simple "uh uh" stopped her going to make friends

PS. betsy, a breed trait of Aussies is meant to be that they are "wary of strangers" so I don't know why we have these problems

[betsy]

Wuffles - glad to hear its not just my aussie that hasn't read that bit of the standard!

I too make sure we steer clear of any kids in the multi use areas, and generally don't have him off lead there. Unfortunately these people were ages past us (all the while I had him on lead) and then obviously they caught his eye whilst I was picking up poop and he was off. Quite unexpectedly.

His nature is very friendly, he is not DA or HA as far as I can tell. However, he is a working breed and this is the only true off lead at all times/parts area and really the best place to get great exercise. The lament of the dog owner!

[koalathebear]

I'm so happy! Ferdinand (video

) has been adopted. Apparently he has gone to a lovely family with a bereaved shepherd, who started to perk up within 20 minutes of meeting Ferd. Kate says that the video helped them to want to meet him. Also, they think he's extremely handsome! Woohoo

Also ... before we got Hoover, I used to get so stressed/guilty when I had to dump Elbie in the yard on his own for long periods of time or after dark. These days he's totally fine so when dad got rushed to emergency yesterday, we just put the dogs in the yard and they were totally fine for as long as they needed to be alone. Dad's stable for now and back home but I can tell you that having Hoover there to keep Elbie company is a ridiculously huge load off of my mind when I'm already stressed!

[Max#1]

Sounds like everyone has had a good weekend!

LS - very interesting about the first aid course. I'll have to find Max's pulse now! Do you look on their belly? Nah it has to be their leg?

And what's the best way to tell the dog's temperature? When we picked up Max post-desexing, the vet told us to keep him warm as the anaesthetic lowers their body temperature. I did notice he had particularly cold feet. I like to check his feet now

As for off-lead parks. We just got back from a walk in ours. We'd die without it, and the socialization and training that comes along with your dog being able to play. Max's recalls are going from strength to strength, and I think its because we practice them so much at flyball training. Only in extreme circumstance (young girls, running and throwing two balls , with a swf dog, straight past us) do we need to bring out the squeaky ball to get him to come back now.

Well - a report on the National Flyball Championships (which I hilariously heard described on the radio as doggie high-jump):

A rainy miserable Melbourne day. Tents full of people and dogs. Then the racing began! There were so many different breeds doing it, though the bc are definitely the fastest. There was a CKC spaniel that was pretty quick! Lots of Kelpies - KTB its kelpie paradise! Solid colours, two-colours... just beautiful. I don't think I've ever seen a black/red (I think red is how you'd describe the other colour) in real life - so strikingly beautiful. And the solid colours also just devine - very rich and chocolatey! They seemed to have a funny way of doing flyball - they'd run fast, then spring high to go over the jumps - a lot higher than necessary, just adorable! There was quite a few mini-poodles, one that got around on the front of this lady's wheelchair. Very cute. And even a pug was having a go! He was definitely not fast, but did his little waddle along! It was great. I thought of Wuffles and Betsy as there was one team called Para and the Aussies - made up of three identical aussies, mostly white, but with some red and merle (I think?), as well as another dog. They were so striking! There were even a few labs! And they were particularly fit-looking! I got to be 'ball shagger' a few times (I pick up the balls as the dogs finish their run) - so I got to be IN THE RING!!! I had my new team cap on, and was very proud! One of the dogs in our team is probably the fastest in vic - just beautiful to watch him - he flies! Another dog in our team has the cutest tendency to get distracted by balls and will try to carry two in his mouth. Obviously not good, and after a few runs he got over it and did very well, but even the judge had a laugh.

Overall I would highly recommend going to watch a competition!

I think that it makes dogs get too excitable is also a fallacy. What dog wouldn't be excited in those circumstances? Lots of dogs around, lots of barking, lots of balls. In fact I think they're remarkably well behaved all things considered! And their day consists of sitting in their crate in a tent with ten or so other dogs and not screaming the tent down (challenge #1), coming out for a toilet break from time to time, standing under a tent with six other dogs in very close proximity (challenge #2), actually doing the flyball and not running off somewhere else, getting distracted by the raucous barking, the bleeping noises, the man on the microphone, or crossing the line to meet-and-greet the other team (challenge #3). You can imagine!

Meanwhile while I was at the flyball competition, my OH took himself and Max off to the local rescue center (animal aid in coldstream) to check out a 6-yo bc girl called Maggie. I was very surprised when he told me when I got home! But she's on hold already, and the waiting line is three deep, so I'm guessing she's safe. Great for her! But I think the OH is getting a bit excited about a two dog family!

[minxy]

Have had a wonderful weekend. Took Kyojin on his first actual walk yesterday, and another one again this morning. We just came back from the dog park where we met up with another DOLers two Malamutes. Every Sunday arvo a big group of Huskies and Mals meet there. I think he really loved having a good run with other dogs of his own kind. Poor little thing's exhausted now though!

[koalathebear]

Yay for Elbie and his first stand for pats!! Hopefully it has now "clicked" and he will keep doing it well for you guys ;) I think he'll do great in the assessment! We had to skip training today even though I'm sure Ava would have loved to go. Stitches? What stitches? I think I am going to do the CCD runthrough with Ava for assessment (which starts at 6pm, whaaaaat?!) but I am not even going to attempt the silver assessment with the 'Mo

Thanks. Even if by some fluke he passes silver, we'll make him redo it because we think silver's actually got lots of skills that we think he should try to master better before he attempts gold. He did well with the 'weaving' today so that made OH very happy. I was squinting across the field to catch a glimpse of you guys and didn't see you and assumed that it was because wet grass + wet doggy belly + wet stitches = not good. 6pm??? What time will you have to leave work to get home, get dog and get to class? For me, I'll have to leave work early on the Thursday ...

I can't believe that you're not going to take Satch through Silver assessment. :D Is he coming back next term?

Seems like Little Miss will be relegated to the laundry tomorrow which I was hoping to avoid, so we'll see how she copes in there for 9 hours :D ...and how I cope at work stressing all day

Oh gosh ... what will you do about toileting??

Niques: That's hilarious! I take it you stand with knees bent whenever James is running around you?

Max#1: The competition sounds fascinating. I'm hoping to see a flyball contest in Canberra soon if OH isn't too dogged out ... He is understanding and tolerant of things dogly but doesn't share my level of enthusiasm for things dogly :D

It's been a pretty rainy day today and just a few minutes ago it was bucketing down while OH was outside with Hoover after dinner trying to get him to 'eliminate'. Both came back inside very drenched. It was a nice and lazy Sunday though. I fell asleep on the sofa in the lounge while OH played Rockband and the two doggies were sleeping in their dog beds. Then later, while Elbie gnawed on an antler, Hoover decided to use Elbie as a head-rest.

You can see from

that it can't have been a very comfy pillow!!!

[wuffles]

I think that it makes dogs get too excitable is also a fallacy. What dog wouldn't be excited in those circumstances? Lots of dogs around, lots of barking, lots of balls. In fact I think they're remarkably well behaved all things considered! And their day consists of sitting in their crate in a tent with ten or so other dogs and not screaming the tent down (challenge #1), coming out for a toilet break from time to time, standing under a tent with six other dogs in very close proximity (challenge #2), actually doing the flyball and not running off somewhere else, getting distracted by the raucous barking, the bleeping noises, the man on the microphone, or crossing the line to meet-and-greet the other team (challenge #3). You can imagine!

To be honest this is what I worry about with flyball and I am debating whether to put Ava on the club's waiting list or not! My issue isn't so much over excitability but the BARKING! I really can't stand the barking. So it's a mixture of not wanting to encourage Ava to bark, and not being able to cope with the noise from other dogs myself!!

Thanks. Even if by some fluke he passes silver, we'll make him redo it because we think silver's actually got lots of skills that we think he should try to master better before he attempts gold. He did well with the 'weaving' today so that made OH very happy. I was squinting across the field to catch a glimpse of you guys and didn't see you and assumed that it was because wet grass + wet doggy belly + wet stitches = not good. 6pm??? What time will you have to leave work to get home, get dog and get to class? For me, I'll have to leave work early on the Thursday ...

Yes and we are not meant to do any exercise more than a short on-leash walk. Don't want her insides falling out I'm pretty sure the redness around her stitches is from her being too active I'd say I'll probably leave work around 4pm for the assessment which shouldn't be an issue...

I can't believe that you're not going to take Satch through Silver assessment. Is he coming back next term? ;)

:D Not sure what I'm going to do with him next term. Classes are good for him but I'm not sure how good they are for my sanity :D

Oh gosh ... what will you do about toileting??

I'll probably come home at lunch time. Even then I'm sure she can hold on, she's a big girl. I'll see how much rain is predicted during the day, as even though our pergola is covered, if it rains lots it still gets soaked. She probably won't go to the toilet in the pergola either because there's no grass in there!

Max#1: The competition sounds fascinating. I'm hoping to see a flyball contest in Canberra soon if OH isn't too dogged out ... He is understanding and tolerant of things dogly but doesn't share my level of enthusiasm for things dogly :D

Maybe you just need to be like me and go to all the doggy things by yourself OH did come to Dogs Day Out but he's not so enthusiastic about everything else.

[koalathebear]

As posted in the Kelpie sub-forum, I have noticed the two Elbie clones at the Blacktown Pound.

Elbie does seal-ears like this all the time.

Elbie also does this 'mouth-breather' look

This poor Elbie clone was dumped by his owners because they're expecting baby #3. Yes - I am Judging.

[lilli_star]

This poor Elbie clone was dumped by his owners because they're expecting baby #3. Yes - I am Judging.

I am too Slightly on that topic, I learnt yesterday that the RSPCA in town has drop off pens for after hours and apparently people use them all the time because then they don't have to pay to give their animals up

[lilli_star]

It drizzled on and off today. My sister and brother in law dropped by to take me to lunch and to tell me how gorgeous Ruby is :D My sister was surprised that Ruby had 5 stitches (she asked me if it was a prac student!), but said that it was healing fine and should continue to heal well. Ruby showed off her "tricks"- she sat, shook hands, high fived and dropped for me and them when they asked! Yay Rooey! We went to lunch and when we came back, Roo was having a Mexican standoff with the magpie family She was lying there while Mama or Papa Magpie were thieving food out of her Kong! Later on, I looked out the window, and this was what I saw

Ruby doing her Little Orphan Annie impression- fast asleep in the rain on a square of cardboard. Apparently it was too much effort to go into her shed

Poor puppy! :D