SmoothieGirl

She's beautiful, she has a really feminine look about her too.

Thanks PF. I love the ears and his clipped out face, think I'll want the top of mine's head a little shorter, but otherwise VERY nice.

Some ideas for you there PickledRoo.

Slightly OT, but PF, do you have pic of one of your dogs with a sporting clip? I think that's the clip I would have on my 'someday' Std Poodle, but I rarely see photos of it.

Riley's tidying up for you, how perfect

I have to spend 10 minutes picking up toys and 'bits' of toys, leaves, bark and toilet rolls before I can even get the vaccum near the floor. I'd have Riley's little quirk implanted in my dogs any day.

PF, you beat me!

What PF said!

I'd leave water, but no food. If she hasn't finished her last meal in 5 minutes or so, take it away.

The reason PF is suggesting getting her to a groomer now isn't necessarily to clip her out to suit the weather, its to allow her to get used it while she's young and open to new experiences, rather than waiting until she's older and needs a to a groomer for a full clip. That could end up a nightmare for both the groomer and the pup if she doesn't like the noise, feel or even handling by a strange person. Groomers can and will refuse customers based upon poor behaviour/experiences with a dog. Sending her regularly, maybe every few weeks, for a mini face, ear, feet trim and a clean and brush up will ease her into the whole experience. Much calmer process for puppy and groomer.

Good idea rebelsquest, that's probably doable for those of us that work FT. I pay for a trusted puppy walker to come in and do lunch feeds, but that isn't practical for everyone, nice compromise.

You might just want to be mindful of how cold a laundry can actually get at night. Being tiled and full of white goods, they generally aren't heated and don't retain warmth and one little bundle of fluff isn't going to generate enough body heat to keep the room toasty. Laundrys, bathrooms and toilets are convenient for pups that aren't house trained yet, but they are all the coldest rooms in the house generally, not great for a pup that can't control its body heat yet.

Have you considered crate training puppy and keeping her next to you in the bedroom overnight, with you hopping up to toilet puppy in the night when she wakes and grumbles that she needs to go. Its a bit of an inconvenience for we humans, but only fair to pup with a tiny bladder.

Your daytime set up is the same that I use for my pups, irrespective of the weather. They have a solid kennel with an offset door, plenty of snuggly bedding and with some pups I also use the microwavable doggy heat discs. My kennel also has the benefit of being undercover in an alcove, so has some extra protection.

Good luck with your new puppy, enjoy her and take lots of photos now - she will grow like a weed

If you are prepared to deal with the mess when you get home from work, what about paper towel or toilet rolls, without the tissue of course.

You could either scrunch up the ends of a couple, with maybe just a couple of treats in them for her to have, or just give her them to destroy without treats, which my two enjoy just as much.

Is she toy orientated? Maybe a nice squeaker toy or even just a plastic bottle for crunching, or one of the soft toys you can put a plastic bottle in. Or if she likes squishy toys, something nice to cuddle and nuzzle. Rotate every 2-3 days so she gets a new surprise every now and then.

Its hard in her situation, but I think you will find you are on the money, at her age she'll be sleeping lots, so she probably only needs a couple of distractions during the day.

Oh, another thought, what about a flavoured Nylabone? That might be nice, she can have the taste without the impact on her diabetes.

Smoothies (aka Smooth Collies) do shed a bit but less than a lab and it tends to be seasonal. A good scrub over with a hound mit, a rubber curry comb or a slicker once a week would really help with that though. My rough only gets 35 minutes of grooming a week and I'm a bit neurotic about hair on the carpet. They have lovely temperaments but more full on than the roughs and they tend to be bolder too. They can be barkers though. I'm baised I think they're lovely, very gentle obliging dogs. That damned nose though is into everything, you'll never unpack a bag or wrap a present in peace again.

Can suggest a lovely breeder too.

Spot on NC, especially the bit about that nose, its pointy for a reason.

Congrats on the puppies piper, love that first shot of mum and pup.

Only caught up on a few pages, but I'm in love with Indigo, he's just lovely.

This thread is hilarious!!! I love the squintng!

I'm glad Asti's a girl... Ive never had to worry about lipsticks! it crackd me up that you put the photo in a hidden section of the post! ;)

Sometimes I think I own an Asian Bulldog

and Asti is really good at one position... the "put with your back to the camera and look over your shoulder" pose

Ahh,yes, the Renee Zellwegger!

Love the squinter and the lippys too

Its a pretty cute pose though, let's be honest. Its her Red Steele

I really like the third shot of the horses, the two chestnuts grooming. It really captures horses and their relationships with each other, on its own I would make a nice study.

Hi i have had our french bulldog for about 3 weeks and we have him already toilet trained to use his doggy grass loo but he also goes out his doggy door to the grass. I have to admit i didnt really do much he just started using it he now goes straight to it when his doggy door is shut. I just got the cheap one from the warehouse and got extra grass mats from city farmers, i got the large size then cut them in two! Its so easy to clean and i havent had a problem with the grass bit smelling. Its a great idea for when we do leave him inside and im quite surprised at how quickly he took to it.

I now alot of people think they are a waste of money but in our case its worked great and i only paid about 40 for it. What breed are you getting?

Thanks for the replies. I might go with CollieLover's idea and try the doggy grass loo things. They're pretty cheap on ebay and then I'll just buy extra grass from Bunnings

P.s Getting a poodle

Luuurrrrrvvveeeee poodles - don't forget the photos!!!

Smooth Collie suits until you talk about killing rabbits, they are more likely to chase, catch and cuddle. Personally I wouldn't want to recommend any of the herding breeds to do that job as they may just translate it to larger sized animals, like your neighbours sheep or cattle.

They won't exercise themselves either, just living on land doesn't mean your dog is going to go out there and wander the property to exercise itself for you. They closely bond with their humans and will want you to be out there interactive with them, otherwise, they'll be lying next to your feet or nudging you to get off the couch and go outside and play.

Do they want a pet or do they want to do any kind of more formal activities with the dog?

Luci is so cute. I know that look, mind you the one I get is usually two inches from my face and the end of a Collie nose, a Collie who has two paws up on the couch and is expectantly wagging her tail, thinking 'DOL and Farmville are fine mum, but a walk outside sounds like HEAPS more fun'

Not something I've had to worry about as my team have access to the outdoors, but I've heard good trainers suggest using the closest thing to the real thing when training them. What I mean is, the fake grass of the dog loo will probably give you a better chance of transfering the training to real grass when puppy is old enough.

Can't speak to the smell of them, but there are others around here that probably have some good tips on managing that.

Maybe put the crate close to where you are sleeping for a bit, she maybe be giving you some subtle signs that you can't hear. If she barked to go out, that would suggest she probably is house trained, but if you aren't hearing her its working against her. Pop her on a lead and take her out to the toilet for a bit too, just to supervise and really monitor the situation.

She's a BC, she'll get it no worries.

With the new format of DOL I can't figure out how to search, but there was thread here a few weeks ago that discussed favourite places to buy pretty collars and leads.

I've just discovered one that I don't think was mentioned and they have some really lovely stuff on it:

http://www.barkerandmeowsky.com/

Also just ordered a Spot Dog collar and lead set each for Bronte (Orange)and Ren (Lime), I'm such a sucker. Oh the best part, its a US site, but they do deliver to Australia.

I applied Advantix to my BC about a week ago, before we left home for a little trip. I think she might have picked up some fleas as she is scratching in those "fleay" type places & I can't find any ticks on her....I thought I saw a little black thing running through her hair. I am not surprised that the Advantix hasn't worked. Can I give her Comfortis as a precaution in case the Advantix hasn't worked It is only about 10 days since I stopped using Proban .

I'd give your vet a buzz to find the answer for this, I'm not sure I'd take advise from anyone without a vet degree on this one just in case.

Hope the itchys stop soon

I've been lucky my dogs and developed a lovely relationship almost immediately, but I can imagine it can 'feel' like a bond isn't formed straight away quite a often for a few reasons:

- we are so excited to get them we have probably WAY too high expectations of the situation, especially if they themselves are overwhelmed and constantly learning puppies

- being overwhelmed by a new pup or dog doesn't mean you aren't bonding as such, more that you are still learning about each other and what form your relationship of hopefully many years will take, try not to have too many preconceptions

- we have to factor in the pups personality as well as our own. some dogs are just don't deliver want we want from them. if people are looking for a sooky, cuddly dog and they end up with an independent, self sufficient type, then it may come across as not bonding. look deeper, you probably have bonded, but doggy just doesn't want to be smothered and fussed all the time, changes may need to be made in the type of interaction you have with them

- at the end of the day, while a domestic dog/human interaction has been developed over history, they are still a vastly different species to us, and we need to respect that

PA I imagine you are doing a great job. All of the photos of Scooter shows a very happy healthy pup. Try not to focus too much on your 'bond' as such, because that starts to bring up thoughts of connection of the soul and mindset, BIG demands of a dog. Instead think of it in terms of a relationship, of which you may have many variations of it with him. You will have your play relationship, your working/training relationship and also one of co-habitation (well when he's solid on toilet training you will). In each you will have different demands of your pup and him of you. Development of these and establishment of mutual understanding will solidify your relationship. You might surprise yourself, if you focus on these things and give yourself a break, in a little while I think you'll find that 'bond' has quietly snuck up on the both of you.

Little example - Bronte is a great working dog, but I have learnt not to actually pat or touch her as a reward during obedience. She simply doesn't like it, she would prefer verbal praise, to watch my face change or for me to clap my hands to applaud her, and of course food or toy treats. BUT...this dog LOVES sleeping on my bed and morning cuddles. Just one her quirks that it took nearly two years to discover.

Oh no, its so unfair, poor little one. Enjoy the other side Tip, angel kisses to you and hugs to you Teebs.

Humans are the meanest things on this planet

We have all paws and fingers crossed here for King Tip. He has such a bright little face, he has to pull through to live a bright future.

Awesome work TSD!!!

It was horrid weather in Melbourne today, I agree, making your achievement even bigger and better.

I agree too, there doesn't seem to be an imbalance, but again I like the option. We are the other way around though, our dumbell retrieve is pretty good, but Miss Clingy always runs the risk of creeping too far before nailing the COP. I've got to test both of these this weekend before I decide if I enter our first CD attempt in early June. Mind you it'll be the SFE free that will be the real test.