silentchild

Many people I know freak out once when they hear some dogs eat out of human plates.. I guess it is a squicky issue. How do you train them to not stare?! Keeping them at a distance or in another room is all well enough, but I'm not sure I could get Emma to avert her eyes! That would be a handy trick for when she pokes her head into the bathroom when I'm showering lol..! I'd like to know this myself.. I assume it's the dog getting as close to you as possible and looking up at you / drooling / whining?? I can relate with the commando crawling!

Just out of fun and curiosity, what do you all do regarding your dog's manners during meal times? When we eat, my dog Emma is not allowed anywhere near us, the food or the table - she is relegated to lying on her bed in the corner of the room. She is not allowed to beg or steal food off our plates. She's very good with this, and only comes closer once we have finished and we tell her to come over. Regardless, we still find her fur appearing magically in our food... sometimes I wonder why I even bother! Sometimes if she feels we have left her in the corner for too long she will start "grumbling" and turning herself upside down so we will look at her lol. However I do have the occasional slip-up where I'll be sitting at the computer having a snack or something and she will come up... to which I will look into her melting eyes and say OH DOGGY AREN'T YOU ADORABLE HERE SHARE MY SNACK. :D What about you and your furkids? Do they lick the scraps off your plates after meals? Do they lie at your feet as you sneak them peas? Or do you keep them in their crates? If you do or don't, why? Do share!

More of a training book, but I've read Click To Calm by Emma Parsons and I found it a great book to introduce clicker training and made it very simple and easy to understand. Four paws up! I've read a few other dog books but I can't remember them off the top of my head right now. The clichéd Marley & Me comes to mind. :D

Omigosh, they are all so cute!! I've only seen a full grown Lappie once in my life, so it's absolutely fascinating to see their development from puppyhood in these photos!! Absolutely adorable.. I'm in love with Snowflake!

How about just using a towel? When my dog was partially immobile after surgery we helped her walk around by supporting her back end with a towel as a sling, as suggested by the vet.

Not really dress-up, but Emma does have a few good coats for when it rains, or when it's really cold. Doesn't hurt that I pick out coats that look nice as well! I figure may as well look good as well as being practical lol. She also has some fun outfits that were mostly gifts from other people, one of them is a 'security guard' costume and the other is a bright red baseball jumper. Other than that it's just party hats for her birthday, fun things like that. I agree with whoever said above that this post should turn into a picture post of your dogs in clothes! :D

My dog is completely an indoors dog. The first half of her life was spent as an outdoor only dog, cooped up all day long by herself on a small verandah (this was before I got her) and she never got into any trouble or did anything destructive but you could tell she was miserable. Now living with me as an indoor dog she is completely in her element - loves it. She stays indoors when I go to work too and is more than happy to spends days lazing away on her bed. Even when I let her out to play she will go sit by the door to be let back in with a look that says "Stuff that, let me in!" lol! Personally I love lazing in front of the tv while patting her with my foot, she loves it too & we wouldn't have it any other way!

For my dog I had a photo (the cutest photo, or one where the dog is asleep), a resume, a cover letter about the dog emphasizing that she is house trained, any obedience training, her daily routine etc etc, all vacccination, registration, microchip papers etc. It's good to be able to convince the landlord that you are a responsible owner, your dog is well-behaved and is a part of your family. Also include references from vets, groomers etc. I went all out and offered to pay an extra pet bond as well and also had an agreement basically saying that in any unlikely event the house or land is damaged due to my dog I would incur all responsibilities and repair fees etc. You probably won't have to go as fas as I did, as I was pretty desperate and my dog being a Rottie that I was determined to keep indoors didn't help lol! It all worked out in the end tho. Also I didn't just limit my searches to places that were advertised as pet-friendly, I also enquired after properties that didn't mention anything about pets. Sometimes they will consider you if you show you are a responsible pet owner. It worked for me as the house I'm currently renting with Emma didn't mention anything about pets at all and they approved my application.

The bionic cat was incredible! Such a horrific accident to happen. I must admit I teared up when he got his new legs and was walking around for the first time.

Thank you so much everyone for all the useful links! I will certainly check them all out.

Hi all, just would like to know if you give your dog any stick treats, such as bully sticks, beef sticks, pork rolls, etc - treats of those kinds, especially those that are good for cleaning teeth - which kinds do you give and where do you get them from? Emma loves her treat sticks but I have a hard time trusting the ones sold in pet stores as I never know really what ingredients goes into making them and have been looking to buy some online. Thought it would be useful to ask if anyone knew any good websites who sell them made from good ingredients? (Cheap is a bonus too! ) Thanks in advance for any recommendations! (I'm sure there have been heaps of threads like this in the past, but my search skills are seriously failing me right now..)

I've stayed at this one http://www.coastcottages.com.au/ near Apollo Bay and it is great - private property with fantastic walks through farmland, bush and beach... my dog loved it. The cottages themselves are not fenced though, so your dogs have to be inside with you. The view from the cottages are to die for.. I literally gasped out loud when we pulled up in front of our accommodation! It sounds like a truly incredible road trip you have there.. driving all the way from Canberra!!

Congratulations on your new puppy Kashing, and it's very good of you to ask for advice here, I agree with what all the other people have said to listen to your breeder's advice. Also I have to say again how important it is not to push your puppy too much or let him play with the Maltese for too long.. puppy's bones are very delicate! My dog is also a large breed dog (rottweiller) and when she was a puppy she broke her leg simply by tripping and falling down a step, so we learnt this the hard way - please don't leave your puppy unsupervised, especially when he is playing with the Maltese, not even for a second! Also puppy school and obedience will definitely benefit both of you, especially as you are lacking experience with dogs. People have given your great tips for toilet training, just remember to be consistent and you have to take him out to toilet very often - most likely you will need to get up numerous times during the night for his toilet as well. Just remember to give lots of praise when he does toilet at the spot you want him to! Enjoy your new puppy and allow him lots of rest! Good luck! :D

:thumbsup: Simply adorable!

What fantastic stories, full of the warm and fuzzies! Thanks for sharing!

I like the Front Walking Harness because it gives me a certain degree of control over my dog - and I need it especially as I am a petite chick with a large 35+kg dog! My dog is a chronic puller and we have tried almost everything... check chain, being a tree, going in the opposite direction, clicker training, martingales etc.. you name it we've tried it. With the front walking harness she still pulls at an angle, much like your dog Sas I believe, but she is not able to pull as much, I can easily pull her back when needed. The next step I think we will see a trainer because although she is starting to walk quite nicely with the front clip harness, when she sees another dog / bike / cat / bird / dust particle she will still pull with all her might and no strength of any miraculous harness may be able to keep me from being dragged down the street with my nose in the pavement!

You sound a lot like my neighbour who has a Border Collie, haha. OH and I were walking our dog past their house on leash, we had actually gone past the house when their border collie suddenly rushed out of nowhere, leapt clean over the hedge and went straight to attack my dog. OH freaked out and tried to shield our dog with his body (stupid I know, but we were panicking at the time), dog's owners came running out and grabbed their border, didn't even apologize for leaving the front door open and their dog free to rush out. A very traumatic incident for us, so please please try to keep your dog contained, and get a behaviourist if possible. You can get some great recommendations from here if you let us know your area.

Sorry to hear about your situation. Whose names are the dogs registered under? If me and my OH broke up, he would probably get the dog because she is registered with the council under his name, and also because he was the one who bought her originally, despite the fact that I pay for all her vet bills, food, daily care etc. So legally I would assume that she is his dog and he would have full right to her. I agree with the other posters that it might be a good idea to discuss this over and I hope you can come to a solution that works best for the both of you. All the best.

Do you have Lenards nearby? They may stock them. How about your local butcher / farmers market? I also get mine from Coles.

Your dog will definitely remember you, my dog when I was younger lived at my old home with my parents, then I had to go abroad to study. I came back a year later and my dog definitely remembered me, he was so overcome with joy to see me again!

Went to this today and it was simply fantastic! Got to cuddle with some GORGEOUS pugs & shelties, watched the fantastic obedience demo by the Dally club (my fav breed!) and met lots of lovely people (perhaps a few were DOLers, but I have no idea) especially a wonderfully patient Japanese spitz breeder who answered every single one of my questions while having her lunch! Looking forward to coming to this again next year, this time with my Emma in tow!

Emma will hopefully be getting some fancy schmancy new dog tags, a Thundershirt, a cooling jacket for summer as well as heaps of treats! ...That is, if I actually remember to get all of those in time for Christmas.

My dog (Rottie) would definitely take the walk over a bone any day! A walk is the best thing on earth to her. She goes crazy with joy the moment we even lay a finger on her leash. Although I've had dogs before whom I'm pretty sure would much rather stay home chewing away on a bone rather than huffing and puffing off on a good walk!

My Emma is like that too, as soon as she's out in the backyard she puts her head down and grazes non-stop... I'm beginning to believe she is half-cow!

This sounds like so much fun! I would love to bring my dog, but she gets waaaayyyy too over-excited when she sees other dogs, it would probably be disruptive. Maybe I'll just bring the OH just to have a look-see & meet all the lovely dogs.