Lab_Rat

Hi and thanks. Yes, Tishy is a kelpie cross (supposedly with a border collie, but I will let you guys decide where that might be!). She is not 18months yet, but she wants to be such a good girl, she just finds the self control too hard at times. lol It is okay, I like her personality (heck, I am besotted with her) and I know she does the things that are important in our house. The other dog I have is a ten year old male. Not really sure what breed he is, but I would say a lab/staffy cross. Would be interested in everyone's thoughts on that. Okay, I think I have worked out the whole picture thing. lol First one will be Tishy, then the other one Yep Id have to agree with you Bedazzled2!!! Lotso Kelpie in there!! Even your other dog TM looks like he/she may have some kelpie by the look of his/her head Silly Wandy upset her toe again this arve and it was going so well.......Thats it!!! On lead for the next fortnight - no ifs or buts! And back on the rymadil..... Sorry to hear about Toby RV, hope his tooths and spider bite are ok I forget about Wandys missing canine, until she yawns

Ok true never thought of it that way,point taken. Perhaps its the cynic in me thinks, if they ask for money that actually shows the "care" for the dog, it has "value" rather than just giving it away Apart from a few exceptional reasons, the "excuses" for rehoming dogs (and cats!) these days for the new job o/s, new baby, disobedience, wrong fekkin colour, moving house,blah, blah, blah annoy the hell outa me - to put it mildly!!!! Once a month or so I read our states trading-post type paper........and its full of these types of things.... Wish I new what the answer was

That is because Kelpies are the bestest Arent they though :thumbsup: I love my little dingo-monkey to death Oh, and her little foot is getting lots better!!! No squeaks in the last few days and she went for a little amble off lead this morning out in the recently ploughed paddock Might take them for a bush walk Sunday!!

I dont use her breed as an excuse, but do know that she will be more difficult to train than the kelpie......I can use my lack of knowledge as one though So should I be ashamed if I admit that I haven't trained a really reliable recall with one of my dogs because it has been too difficult? I've put much, much, much more time into his recall than my other dog yet he's way less reliable than her. Edit: I'm not saying that training a great recall on him is impossible, it just takes too much work and management than I am prepared to put in. Even getting him to recall in the house is almost a full time job :p One thing I did discover with the help of a behaviourist/trainer is to teach my dog to stay (at varying distances) rather than to try and rely on a dodgy recall!! And it works When my Hound looks like she wants to head off into the bush rather than screaming her name out loud a dozen times for nothing, I yell or say, depends how far away she is, Stay! Zola stay! While that is not yet 100%, its more reliable than a recall...And I try and remember to practice it anytime, in and outside. I dont feel ashamed that I cant teach my dog something, but I do feel "thick" sometimes when I cant figure out how to train something differently Meant to add, that although my RR has poor recall when distracted, I still use and train for it

Our previous RR had the nickname of "Eventually" coz thats what she was like....Sit, oh yeh - I will eventually :D Whe I ask Zola to do something she will often wag her tail, yeh mum I hear ya, but look the other way.............and not do as shes told Re the Kelpie traits - my OH calls Kelpies "DingoMonkeys" because of their little personalities!! I reckon it sums them up pretty well too

Welcome to DOL Tishas Mum If you have Kelpie crosses and they are a bit untrained, the great news is they are very trainable!!! We have a ridgy and a kelpie....And the kelpie is by far easier to teach things to than the ridgy. Mind you they seem to think they know better in some situations, which can be frustrating - but they are such loyal little souls and love their humans, so that more than makes up for it :D I would never be without a Kelpie. There is an unwritten DOL rule - you MUST post pics or your pooches :thumbsup:

Such a sweet looking girl, glad she is coming home to you Having had a tripod dog, I have a big soft spot for other tripods

totally agree! Would also add that it is worth having a good think before deciding that something is not a problem & doesn't need to be fixed. Unless you can 100% guarantee effective management, lots of things people choose to live with actually do need to be fixed. Sometimes tackling one thing thoroughly makes tackling other things much easier. Vickie - I totally agree with the bolded part of your quote! If a particular behaviour doesnt have any negatives - why try and "fix" it Rev Jo - While I would like to not base my dogs "behaviours" on her breed, having two very different breeds sometimes makes it a tad difficult. I see that my girls think differently, react differently and go about things in a different manner. I quite often feel inadequate an owner for my ridgy girl, as I cant figure out how to think outside the box when it comes to training her To the point of upsetting me to tears! With the Kelpie its soooo easy, almost too easy! So perhaps I do need to stop obsessing with the "breed"?!? And perhaps I also need to expand my repertoire of dealing-with-difficult-dog books I definitely need to figure how to "unlock" my brains way of thinking - so I GET different things, like "training in drive".....Im embarrassed to admit, I dont get it!!! But at least I added the disclaimer of not being a dog trainers big toe in my last post!!!

Im not a dog trainers little toe, but just wanted to add my bit I have a Kelpie and a Rhodesian Ridgeback - two vastly different dogs to train as most of you will know! Wandy (the Kelpie) was a dream to train, almost too easy and she is always willing to learn something new. Zola (RR) is a whole different kettle of fish She is our 2nd Ridgy and I thought I knew it all after the first angel.....how wrong I was. She is such an independent dog, has been from day one, but I had no idea about such dogs. After lots of hard work, by her and myself, she is slowly getting to be a well trained dog - but its an ongoing project. The more I learn and understand about dogs and training, the easier it becomes to train her to become the calm, relaxed dog I want. But I have to be one step ahead of her most of the time. By no means is she a "bad" dog, but because of my lack of knowledge she is not as balanced as she could be. Her independence comes through in several ways - and it is independence NOT stubbornness. We can be outside, after a play and I will ask her to sit....She will stand there and wag her tail, and may even look up at me therefore I know she has heard me, but just decides NOT to sit! She will then be made to sit, then rewarded.....We are working on communicating better, but I have to keep reminding myself Zola is not Wandy, and so needs to be treated differently. The downside is that sometimes Im a bit too hard on Wandy, but am usually forgiven by her, not before getting the guilts on though! Having had working dogs all my life my brain isnt set up for hound behaviour, but Im slowly getting it...I think! I guess what Im trying to get across is that every dog is going to be different and our training methods have to be flexible enough and our minds open enough to deal with these dogs. The OP needs to find a training method or methods that works for both her and her dog.....and it may take a while! Zola is almost 5 and Im still trying different things with her Any suggestions most welcome :thumbsup:

Beautiful dogs Nekhbet - but far too much dog for me!!! Hope they find some great homes

Saw this on our local news - not nice!!!! Poor woman having to discover that by herself RIP Crystal.......

sounds good when and where as i will propbably have to bring the two skin kids too :D I would love to attend my first DOL meet I must admit - I continually get confused skipping between DOL & FB as I dont personally know some of you!!! When I post I will then wonder, sheeeet - did I get the dogs name right???? or some other such stoopid thing...So yes, a DOL meet would be good, even if it is just for my memory's sake :D

Sorry to hear about your rollercoaster ride Julzjc!!! But fantastic to hear the dear little one is now home and that Indie seems to have turned a corner!!! Hoping all continues to improve in their four week lockdown! Good time for you and your family to have a little relax and de-stress time, you must be feeling totally bombed out after all youve been through Big hugs for you all, dogsters included

Something used for retrieving I presume???? Cute pic of the Kelpie btw ;)

Ok, what the hell is a dokken??

It certainly is a neverending journey B4K!!! I do feel bad for my girl, she lives entirely on lamb based food.....any other meats and she reacts - either with diarrhoea or extreme itchiness of ears and inside her top lips (which she scratches to bits with her dewclaws!!). She seems to tolerate fish quite well at the moment. The Kelpie can eat anything and everything, with no effect - but I have to be so vigilant with what Zola consumes. She also wont eat bones, so I fear her teeth will be the next problem I look forward to the time when all dogs I have at one time have NO food issues

Hi Lab Rat, did you find the probiotic took poos from soft to solid? Was that the issue you were having? Also, it seems she is tolerating chicken frames minced, if you feed this each day can it make them constipated being it's got bone in it as well? Just wondering as I know bones can harden them up. Has anyone else had success on Thrive D too? Sorry for not replying sooner!!! To be honest Im not sure how it helps Zola! As she hasnt been diagnosed with anything in particular, other than having meat-protein issues, I figure the PAW probiotic powder just supports her digestive tract when it is under stress After reading a bit about EPI and SIBO Im fascinated about what can actually be going on in our dogs digestive systems!!!! Ill be reading as much as I can (I found the Merck Vet Manual site to be pretty informative!).....Im hoping to maybe discover just what on earth is wrong with my girl. Although I wont be holding my breath!!! Do these conditions only occur in the GSD???? I hope you find some answers for you dog

What are these Kelpiekaye????? They are the rubber liners from the inside of milking cups that go on cows. Great to throw, shake, tug of war etc Thankyou!!! I was racking my brain trying to figure out what on earth they were!!! Will have to visit my aunty & uncles dairy farm and get some :D

What are these Kelpiekaye?????

X2!!! I cant wait to see what the results are Erny How is your boy at the moment??? I think about you two quite often (coz Mandela being a RR and all )

Welcome Stordimento - beautiful dogs :D I love DDB's and most other big red dogs I agree, travelling from Esperance to Perth for shows is a little too far!! I reckon travelling from where I live (near Donnybrook in the SW) is too far!!! Feel free to post as many pics of your gorgeous dogs as you like :D

Wow Emery, Chance is very handsome!!! Great pics also of Mason and The Red Kids CC, wish I could take decent photos I decided to join the group of injured/ill canines on Friday - with a crook neck Ended up at the physio, missed work and have had two nights of about 12 hours sleep thanks to Mersyndol :D Am feeling a little less stiff and sore today, but I think its going to take a while!!! Wandy's foot was going great - til yesterday I let her have a little wander in our newly seeded paddock, and when I called her back to me as she turned she must have put a little too much weight on it, or it was on the wrong angle - any way, a little kelpie squeal, and she held it up for a bit (long enough to get cuddles and snuggles from me ) but was then ok....Poor kid! She wasnt even running around or misbehaving!!

Wow!!!!! Hope everyone is feeling lots better real soon Specially you Emery - food poisoning is yucky!!! Ditto for all ill/injured dogsters! Wandy is lots better.....Had a vet visit on Friday, her toe isnt broken thank goodness! But she is on light duties for another two weeks Poor kid has been penned (with Zola) for the past two days, so is jumping out of her skin!!!! She was sooooooooo excited when Mum got home tonight! She is NOT supposed to be doing any running, jumping etc., try telling that to a Kelpie Mind you its easier to keep Zola on lead and let Wandy mosey around and do her thing.....All Zola wants to do is zoomie with Wandy and tries to body slam her!!!!! Oh, and well done RV - sounds like youre doing really well with you studies Sorry you lost a little one ST, the babies are looking very velvety!!

Poor Ruby, RS Hope she gets better soon too!!! Wandy has been on Rimadyl all week - think I may stop tomorrow and just give it to her when she really needs it! Emery, I hope poor Zeus gets over his runny tummy soon for both your sakes Dogs with the runs are not my favourite things!

I feel for you Ness Im feeling impatient about having to have Wandy on "light duties" for another fortnight....No maddies with the ridgeback, no rounding up her sheep on the outside of the paddock.....On a lead for all outside activities But at least my little one doesnt have to be crated, and she only has an injured toe. I dont know who is more frustrated, Wandy or Zola Hope your kid has a speedy and complete recovery :D