huski

If it was a groen x terv mating and his colouring is terv, he would be classed as a terv :)

Yes you can breed some types together. Groen x terv is a permitted cross.

I avoid places other dogs frequent a lot like dog parks, beaches etc. I do take pups to places like shopping centers, soccer fields, local shops etc etc.

What did the breeder register him as?

I let my pup walk too, but I am selective about where I take her.

IMO there is no situation where I find it acceptable for my dog not to recall, and recall IMO is defined as my dog comes every time I call, the first time I call, immediately. If my dog didn't recall straight away or I had to call them again I would consider that a fail. My dogs will recall off rabbits my chase, their bodies respond to my recall command before they have time to stop and think about it. There may be 'that one time' but I test my dogs in every situation I can think of to ensure they are as reliable as I can make them. Both my beagle and my Mals have reliable recall so I don't accept the "oh but my dog is xx breed and they can't be trained to recall" rubbish! :)

Is this a bad thing? I want Ernie to enjoy other dogs company. He appears to be quite social. Now that he's learned to be polite - why would I deprive him of a spontaneous game of chasey round the oval? I'm not arguing, I'm trying to understand if I'm going about this wrong. Off leash, he stays close unless he's playing - and even then, I've trained him to regularly 'check in' with me - which he does without fail. I can call him out of a game easily so I still I rate higher value then the new dog. It's not bad if you still have the highest value and there's no negative effect on his behavior. But many people set out to make their dogs love other dogs and end up with a lot of trouble - dogs who can't control themselves if they see another dog, dogs that value other dogs more than the owner or any reward they have etc. I personally set out to raise my dogs to see other dogs as something that isn't super exciting. That's not to say they dislike other dogs, they just don't find them particularly valuable or interesting. there is no purpose for me in making my dogs have a lot of value for something that 1) I can't control and 2) will be a distraction they need to overcome later on in training

When you have him in the exercise pen, do you have interactive toys in there for him to play with? I would play with him and tire him out before putting him in his crate or pen. Make sure he has toileted and maybe give him some brisket to chew on. My pup at 8 weeks would happily spend a couple of hours in the indoor pen on her own. i would take her out and toilet her and play with her every couple of hours during the day then put her back in there. I wanted her to see me coming and going a lot so she learnt it wasn't a big deal.

Do you value every person you say hello to? There are lots of things my dogs would choose to do if left to their own devices, but that doesn't mean they are beneficial or appropriate or valuable to me. ETA: also, many people raise their dogs to have a high value for other dogs. Of course these dogs will want to greet other dogs because they have developed value for them. Dogs that aren't raised to have this value for other dogs may be less likely to show interest in a strange dog.

I don't really think about it because I don't take my dogs to places like dog parks. I am happy for my dogs to greet and interact with dogs I know, but I see no purpose or benefit to my dogs greeting strange dogs.

Awww hi Bodhi! Gorgeous!!!

We have ears up!

No getting up overnight here. My puppy has slept perfectly in her crate with no accidents since the first night home :p

I have a puppy pen set up in my house and my pup spends most of her time when she's not with me, in that area. At night she sleeps in her crate. I would personally never want to raise a pup without containment training and management.

Baby Wiz at 8 weeks and then again at age 2

Baby Blaze, taken this weekend :)

Nah. Upgrade to a Mal :p

Thanks everyone for thinking of us. Mum is doing ok, she cleared up his things yesterday. She will get another dog eventually, but will obviously need some time before she feels ready. She is hopefully coming over to Sydney in the next couple of weeks, so I am sure being at my house with a baby pup, two other dogs and Fat Shandi the cat might help lift her spirits!

Almost there! Every morning I always eagerly look to see if they are fully up... no luck yet LOL

And here's a proper pic taken at a training day we held on Saturday. Already loves to work :)

Thanks guys, is she not the cutest?! We had our first night home on Saturday, she slept perfectly in her crate all night. Here's a pic from yesterday :)

In the context of training though, IME for many (most) dogs a good work ethic is something that has to be developed. Yes dogs have developed over time to have pack drive and enjoy our company but many people still have trouble with their dogs in training, even people with more "biddable" breeds.

Go for it! The other thing I would add is that when we train in drive we are not just giving the dog a toy or food reward but a chemical reward, a release of endorphins and dopamine. It is common when we cue our dogs into drive that we see them shake with adrenalin or jaw chatter.

I wrote a blog post about this a while ago. Why would my dog recall off a live rabbit to bite a plain piece of linen? IMO creating reward experience is a big part of it. http://blog.k9pro.com.au/creating-the-reward-experience/

We almost have ears up! :)