Gayle.

When Benson was a puppy he used to nick off with shoes, socks, slippers, undies etc and I'd retrieve them and give him a reward. Til I realised he was deliberately walking past me with things in his mouth, "daring" me to get it off him so he'd get a treat. Smart little bugger. But I think the cleverest thing was when I saw him "measuring" gaps in the fence til he found one baby Dusty could fit through and then showing her where to break out of the puppy run. Had I not seen it, I would NEVER have believed a dog could be so clever. The thought process he must have used for that just astounds me. Firstly, he had to recognise that she couldn't get out to play with him. Then he had to want her out to play with him. Then he had to understand that HE had to find a way to get her out, then he had to discover that the escape hatch. And measure the spaces between the fence posts and recognise one gap that was a half inch wider than the rest. And after all that, he had to make her understand that she could get out in that spot and guide her to it. Had she tried to get out of any other spot, she'd have got her head stuck but they did it 3 times before I realised what they were doing, then another two times while we watched them and she never got stuck once. He was only 10 months old at the time, so technically still a puppy himself. Aren't you glad they don't have opposable thumbs? They'd give us humans a run for our money!

I liked the Sporn harness until Benson chewed it up, It works and it's very gentle on the dog......and unlike a head collar, he didn't mind it one bit. Benson was a puller, shockingly so. He's not now, but I had to do heaps of training with him to stop him from pulling.....but I still had to walk him every day and some days I just wanted to go for a walk, not constantly correct him, make quick turns to keep him guessing, continually have to be aware of how fast he was heading in front of me and when to apply the correction. Sometimes I just wanted a peaceful, pleasant walk with my dog and not come home with my arm half out of it's socket and my hand hurting from leash-burn. So anything that stopped him pulling without hurting him was a blessing. He hated head collars, but the Sporn head collar wasn't bad. The harnesses were good, because he didn't hate them and they allowed both of us to have a nice walk.

I used one for Benson when he was a puppy and yes it worked, although they still pull, they don't pull hard and it's easier to correct them and praise them for being in the right position. Has she tried a Sporn head halter? I found that was much more successful than a halti and kinder to the dogs face. It's basically a webbing collar with loops, and a narrower, padded nose piece that loops around the collar and over the dogs nose. When the dog is in the correct position for a given length of time, you can slip the nose piece off and just use the collar as a flat collar.

Unfortunately, dry cleaning or steam cleaning carpets often brings the pet smells to the surface and makes them worse rather than making them go away, so your carpet probably didn't smell as bad before you had it cleaned. I will be interested to try Odour Go too, as my Maine Coon cat has pissed on an expensive Belgian rug that I haven't been able to remove the stink from, despite wetting right through, scrubbing til my arms ached (with Biozet) and leaving in the sunlight to dry. We aso tried vinegar, carpet cleaner, bi-carb soda and dishwashing detergent.

In the interests of good neighboly relations, if they come back with a bill, I'd be paying it if I were you. The pup didn't enter your yard, but by an unfortunate circumstance, your dog hurt their pup and that's the bottom line.

Here is the story of The Great Puppyrun Breakout! I wrote it on another thread and have copied and pasted it for you. Your Border Collie would not be beyond this type of behaviour, I reckon he might be a bit of a thinking man too. "There's a story attached to our puppy run, and I'm sure you've got time to hear it. We built if from fence panels made up of thin vertical rods welded on crossbars (available in Bunnings and popular for childproof fencing) along with a matching gate. We sectioned off an area from the garden shed to the back fence, making a sizeable run that contained a shady tree, an insulated kennel, bedding, toys, water and plenty of soft grass for her little toosh to lie on. Three days before I was to go back to work, I road tested it by leaving my pride and joy, 9 1/2 week old Aussie Shepherd puppy Dusty in there while I went grocery shopping. Our other Aussie, Benson, had the rest of the backyard and they could see each other but not be together. I thought he was a bit too big and boisterous to leave Dusty in his company for any length of time. She screamed, cried and stamped her little white feet as I drove off down the road and was still hard at it when I got home 2 hours later. I lugged groceries inside, put them away to the sounds of a puppy tantrum in full flight, then as I was finishing up, I realised she'd stopped so I made a cuppa and sat down for a rest. Next thing I heard a happy little "yip, yip, yip" right outside the dining room window, which is a long way from the puppy run. I looked out and there was my little ball of girlie fluff merrily cavorting with her big brother. I went out, checked the run for holes, bricked up some questionable areas and popped the little screamer back in there for another go. She let me know in no uncertain terms that this wasn't very cool, and I left her to it and went back inside. Ten minutes later, I heard the same happy little puppy sounds where they weren't supposed to be coming from. Yep, she was out again. We repeated the exercise. This time she got out before I made it back into the kitchen. I checked the entire run from top to bottom, there was absolutely no way she could get out. So this time, I put her in, went around the side of the house and hid from view and watched. She ran along the fenceline inside the run. Benson walked along the fenceline outside the run, peering very intently at the gaps between the vertical rods. He tapped them with his paw every now and then, and when he got about 3/4 of the way along, he tapped his paw over and over and Dusty came running. She stuck her head through the gap, turned it sideways, squeezed her shoulders through and popped her fat little body out the other side. Freedom! I couldn't believe what I'd seen, so I went and got my husband and we both watched as they did it again. Benson was "measuring" the gaps and had found the only one she'd fit through and made sure she found the right one. When we measured the gaps with a tape measure, every one of them was 3 inches except that one she was getting out, which was 3.5 inches. You couldn't tell by looking at it, we'd never have picked it, but Benson figured it out in two hours and somehow communicated to Dusty to squeeze herself out. We lined the whole fence with wire mesh after that. Never underestimate the intelligence of our dogs."

When we got Dusty, Benson was 10 months old, she was 8 weeks. I took 2 weeks off work to settle her in, she slept for almost the entire two weeks. Completely wasted my leave, I might as well have taken just a day off. Before I went back to work, we built a puppy run in the backyard....just a sectioned off area where we could leave her with a kennel, shade, water and some soft grass to play on. She could see Benson and they could "talk" through the mesh fence, but they couldn't get at each other. It took Benson approximately 2 hours to work out how to break her out of there. We had to fortify it like you wouldn't believe because Mister Cleverdog can figure stuff out and he kept showing her how to escape. She lasted 2 weeks in there while I was at work. She apparently screamed the place down the whole time I was at work, aside from when she wore herself out and had a nap. After that, she just stayed in the yard with Benson and they were both a lot happier. He absolutely loved having a puppy to play with. She absolutely adored every single inch of him. He could do no wrong in her eyes. She was the most amazing plaything he had ever had. It was a match made in heaven. They are now 3 and 2 and they are best buddies. He still thinks she's the best playmate ever, and she still thinks he is the worlds greatest superhero.

The two breeders I bought my dogs from have both had dogs returned to them since I got mine. Benson's breeder had two dogs returned, one was around 5-6 years old, the other was Benson's brother. They were taught some manners (neither apparently had any), groomed properly and rehomed. Dusty's breeder had a boy returned to her and she started showing him and just this weekend he gained his championship title. I don't believe it is a legal thng, and I don't think there are any authorities breeder can be reported to for refusing to take back a dog they bred. State canine councils seem to be toothless tigers when it comes to dealing with recalcitrant breeders. It's more of an ethical, goodwill thing.

Gorgeous commercials and congrats to the stars of the show!

Now just imagine all the interesting conversations you could have with members of the public when taking your blue merle collie boy and blue merle Aussie pup for a walk. The quality of the questions could be raised to a whole new level.

Smoothie, talk to Leopuppy. I think her next litter might be bred for exactly that. Not sure when she's planning one though.

Can you get them soemething to use as a toilet indoors so that if they really HAVE to go, they can use that? Something like a large shallow tray (think litter tray but bigger), with a thick wad of newspaper in the base. Leave it near the backdoor when they are to be left inside, but put it away when you're home so they don't get into the habit of going in the house when they can easily be let outside. Dogs are smart (as you are no doubt very aware), and they'll figure it out quickly. Finn might not feel so bad if he has a proper place to go.

Now, see I love the tri-colour collies, and the merles. Sable would be my last pick although a darker sable with sparkling white trim is a sight to behold. We are contemplating another pup when we move (if we ever sell this place) so we could be looking at around the same time. Dusty has a bunny tail, Benson has a longer, but still natural bobtail. Next dog will have no tail, cos trying to brush Benson's britches drives me crazy. He has the fuzziest pants ever, they are like velcro cos they attract everything, and he hates me touching his tail so trying to get under it to use the brush can be a real problem. Whereas Dusty is easy, cos there's nothing to move out of the way.

My husband made and installed a doggie door for a friends two dogs, they were about 5 and 7 at the time. We spent a couple of hours luring them through it with treats and they soon got the hang of it and after we left (we'd been staying there for the weekend), they came and went as they liked and my friends were thrilled with the arrangement (now they could sleep in and not have to get up at 5.30am to let dogs outside to toilet). The one he made was wooden as it had to match the house which was over 100 years old and very special. The dogs soon learned that if one went out, they other had to wait until the door stopped swinging before following otherwise they'd get conked on the snout. They figured it out quickly and it soon became just part of their daily lives.

Cool, now you have to decide on a colour and a breeder! I can highly recommend black tri's, they are extremely pretty, but then the merles are nice too, and the red tri's are divine. Dusty's breeder has some black tri's right now, they are almost the same mating as Dusters.....same sire (Gr Ch) and the dam is a generation from Dusty's dam. Impresslive looking litter and I can highly recommend the lines, they are LOVELY dogs, sweet temperaments, highly intelligent and very cruisy to live with.

I got weekly emails and very regular updates from Dusty's breeder and the fact that this breeder isn't doing the same would make me wonder if she really cares about the home the puppy is going to. It sounds to me like she's just treating it as a business transaction.....money for goods.

My son has an English Setter, he brought him here over Christmas. Gorgeous boy, sweet disposition, totally lazy but I think the different intelligence quotient would frustrate me. The Aussies are quick to pick up on what I want them to do, quick to learn something new, responsive in every way. The setter, well.....he just wasn't. My son says he's the dumbest dog ever born (he might not be far off the mark) but I expect he's not representative of the breed.

Old English Sheepdog? Big, hairy, very very hairy, lovable and sweet natured. Lots of hair. Oh god, loads of hair. Good looking too.

Haha, I saw one of them at a show once, a gorgeous girl named Diva. Apparently there's something like a 5 year waiting list for pups.

Mine came with pedigrees, parents health tests, vaccination records, hearing and eye test results, microchip papers. A detailed list of diet, general care and how to socialise the puppy. And the tail-less one came with a letter from a vet attesting to the fact that she was born without a tail and that she was not docked. Handy, with todays inflammatory legislation.

I haven't shown for a while as the Dustmite doesn't like it very much, but it's pretty friendly and there doesn't seem to be a lot of bitching (although maybe it just passes me by). When we first started I got heaps of help from some of the long-time Aussie people which was really appreciated and they seem to love seeing newcomers to the ring.

How many do you have now, and what happened to them? It's relatively easy to tell which pups will be high energy.... they are high energy even as little babies. Neither of mine were bouncy pups and they didn't grow into high energy dogs, they just stayed pretty much the same and got even calmer with maturity.

Mine get by on a 30-40 minute walk a day, none if I can't be bothered, and a frisbee run once a week or so. They are very laid back inside, generally just lie around looking gorgeous and angling for pats and treats. I think they would be a good match for collies, they seem to have similar temperaments. Maybe contact Kerry Webb (Ngalla kennels in Tas) she breeds both Aussies and Collies. She'd be able to give you a run down on how they get along together. How many collies do you have now? You had 3, didn't you? I am also considering a different breed for my next dog, after we sell our house and move, but I keep coming back to Aussies because they are just so easy to live with and so responsive. Other breeds I'm considering......Finnish Lapphund, Collies, Pointers (big departure there but I adore them), Tibetan Terrier.

Mine aren't anything special, but they do have meaning to us. Benson was actually named by his breeder. We went to see the remaining three pups in the litter and picked him, then arranged to collect him the following weekend. On the way home we talked about what we could call him, but unanimously agreed that he suited his name to a tee and so he stayed as Benson. Much to his breeders delight. We got to choose his registered name, and as soon as I saw him, Darktown Strutter sprung to mind so that's what he got. It also suited him perfectly. Dusty came to us by photo first, when she was just a day old. We saw her grow from birth to 8 weeks by emailed pics and decided we wanted an American/Australian name for her as we are an American-Australian household, and so she became Dusty for Slim Dusty and Tahoe Rose (her registered name) for Lake Tahoe in the US.

My cityborn husband also wants acres when we move out of town, but I remind him often that he has trouble maintaining an 800 sq metre block with a house and shed on it....which doesn't leave a huge amount of yard to maintain. Not sure where he thinks he's gonna find the time or the inclination to manage more. I would not leave Kane unattended. He might be fine, but he also may wander and you'd be putting his life at risk as farmers WILL shoot a dog that's on their land. They don't know the dog doesn't care about the stock, as far as they're concerned, a stray dog is worth a lot less than a valuable cow and they'll shoot first and ask questions later. Or maybe not even ask questions.