kasoo

Would love to help. Erny has helped us sort out our dogs issues in the past and I would love to send some love back. Sending some positive vibes to Erny. For the quilt - Are you looking for patchwork? What size blocks would you like? Could you do with a few from me? (Sewing is my other love)

Ambrosia your puppy is just too cute. Smartypaws - I will say I don't have a favourite yet. In each photo we get there is alway one boy I like better than the other but their markings are so similar I really don't know which one it is I might have a better idea at our next visit. Once they are running around playing their personalities will really show.

Smartypaws I know how you feel. The litter we are waiting on is currently almost 4 weeks old. Our breeder has been fantastic by emailing us loads of photos about twice a week and we had a visit at 2.5 weeks and have another one coming up at about 5-6 weeks. We are getting a boy which will be one of two but the breeder will make final decision based on which one fits our needs. It has been wonderful getting so many photos but I don't want to grow attached to one and not the other. Below is a pic of the cheeky blue merle boys in question taken at 3 weeks.

Croydon District Obedience Dog Club is where I go. I've only been there 3 weeks in the Beginner 1 class and finding it great. Everyone I've met are friendly. They meet Sunday mornings from 9:30. I think their office is open a bit earlier for new members. There link http://www.cdodc.com.au/

I am reading 'The Focused Puppy' and finding it exactly what I need to prepare for a little one. Very happy to hear, have just purchased this book. The book is big on using a clicker or marker word. And our obedience club uses very similar techniques. I am practicing on my sheltie. She is picking it up much faster than I am. It's just the coordinating the hand signal, command, click to mark the moment she is doing it right then treat. I want to get my coordination right and then start my new pup with this training.

The boys all decided to be blue merles so they made that easy. They are all beautiful so I will be happy with either one. The breeder will make the final decision so we made sure she knows what we are looking for in this new family member. I am reading 'The Focused Puppy' and finding it exactly what I need to prepare for a little one.

I've been floating in and out of this thread for a while and loving all the puppy pics. They are all just gorgeous! We are patiently awaiting an Australian Shepherd pup. They are 3 weeks old today. Our breeder is pretty sure we will be getting one of the boys which I am happy about. We had a visit with them last weekend which was lovely. Waiting is definitely difficult.

My sheltie gets a full wash and blowdry every 2-3 weeks. Sometimes she starts to smell so she gets a quick bum wash which does the trick.

We have a sheltie and her dog blankets and towels go into our frontloader each weekend. Usually after our people washes are done. It's been 3 years and no problems yet. I keep meaning to check the outlet hose/filter just in case but haven't done it yet!

Dandenong Creek Trail is great and has some bushy areas and some open rural areas. It is all dogs on lead though. If you go from Shepherds Bush/Nortons Park end off High Street Road Wantirna and continue south 3-4km it will take you through Jells Park which has picnic/bbq areas and shelters. Or a great walk which is not so long is around Jells Park itself. Sorry Megan, you read my mind!

Hi Michelleva, I also have a sheltie who has a very sensitive stomache. She would also end up with blood/mucus in her poos or full on diarrhoea after eating anything different than her Iaams dry food. Liver treats, cheese, pigs ears, schmackos would give her an upset stomache. My vet is happy with her just on Iaams dry food. Give her a break from food for today to let her stomache settle. I found treats for training were getting scarce for my dog. She is very food driven. We did find that plain cooked chicken worked well. So over the weekend I roasted 4 chicken breasts which I then chopped into tiny treat size cubes, bagged them and stuck them in the freezer. I just pull out a bag each morning to defrost in the fridge. Afternoon training is back on. :rolleyes: It might be just trial and error to find out what works for your dog. Try just a little of something new and see what happens for the following 24hrs. Hope this helps.

Hi, We go to Knox Obedience and found they are very good. There are a variety of trainers there who have helped us out. They start back in February on 1st Sunday. Might see you there.

Great info here for a new mum of a sheltie pup. My pup is 4 1/2 mths and puppy fuzz flying everywhere.

Teaching a command word for toileting is a great idea. I have an 18 wk old sheltie who is going through toilet training. Her command word(phrase) is "Hurry Up" At first outside at 5am on cold rainy morning waiting for 25 mins for that wee. When she finally wee's I say excitedly "Hurry Up, your such a good girl". It has to be while she is still going and do it every time. Well, tonight I had success when I took her outside. I gave her the command and she immediately started sniffing the grass and Hurray!!!! She did it! This didn't happen overnight. It's taken 6 weeks for this small success. I am still expecting puddles in the house, hopefully less than the last few weeks. I also recommend puppy school or some kind of professional training. It's really helped me with training issues and just my confidence in the whole process. I hope you're feeling better. Honey will get there and become a great companion. Keep the updates going on her progress. I'm interested to hear how it goes.