koalathebear

foxyboi: Ike is super cute. Can't wait to meet him in person – are you going visit BDOC this Sunday to see what you think of the grounds and classes? We could have a meet and greet – there's another Shiba at BDOC who might love to say hi to Ike. How is Ike going – is he fully recovered from his injury yet? Poor little thing. betsy: sorry about the average training session. Those times are inevitable, I fear. I know that there are some dogs that seem to be consistently placid and well-behaved but I know with my two that sometimes they're angels and sometimes they are so distracted and crazy. One week, there was a lot of construction work going on near the dog club and a lot of the dogs were distracted. There is also something very painful about how strong a dog's lunge can be when you're not expecting it. Ouch. Hope your shoulder is recovered. OH received a leash burn across his hand the other day when one the dogs lunged and he was holding the longer recall leash – I think it injured his thumb or something. Last night for no reason, I started looking at a video on youtube about how to 'stack' your dog. The dog in the video was as placid as a table and the handler was moving his legs all over the place and the dog wasn't budging. I headed into the kitchen and OH said: "Elbie! Quick! Run away! She's going to try to stack you!" Elbie was VERY puzzled by what I was doing – I got him into a stand, moved his legs but the problem was he had his head twisted around to stare at me with an accusing: "WTF – what are you doing?" look on his face. I don't think I will ever be able to stack him because his head will be moving around too much as he tries to keep an eye on everything that's happening. Toxic thread for the day is here. I hope the dog in question is all right.

How is the adorable girl going? I hope she is well

Dxenion: Your dogs are sooooo beautiful - even the headless one! Squoosh-headed photo made me laugh aloud and GSD puppy photo had me cooing. Also that 'line' of GSDs on dog beds made me want to go rushing over to your house for dog cuddles. :D KA: he looks adorkable - and strangely comfortable despite the uncomfy position. I love the Kuma Fluff on the dog bed, too. His mattress looks very comfortable - is that a dog futon?

I would be concerned at any anxiety, mainly because I'd be worried about what might happen if a bad thunderstorm broke out and we weren't home. During his first thunder storm, Elbie barked a couple of times and paced a little but we've had a few storms since then and he has settled and now seems very unfazed by thunderstorms. I think what helped a lot was that Hoover has never been bothered by thunderstorms and can sleep and rest through the most noisy and dramatic of storms - this seems to have rubbed off on Elbie so now the two of them will play with each other or snooze during the storm.

Nope. Haven't tried it yet - will take a look in Pet Barn. The monsters are greedy gutses and are guaranteed to love them ravenau1: those photos are gorgeous and the one with Astrid hidden except for a dobe paw is hilarious!!! The puzzle is a custom puzzle from The Puzzle Castle in the US. You send a photo, tell them how many pieces and they send you the puzzle quite quickly. We had a puzzle made there once for my mother-in-law and Panda Puzzle here is also a custom puzzle from the same place. Incidentally - that thread has photos of my OH's LEGO Millennium Falcon Stand is really, really hard. Try the tips here. We were able to make Elbie stand but his issue was that he always took a few steps forward. Once he stood to a voice cue, I tried the one where I sit in a chair and he sits before me and I make him stand from a sit. It took us a long time though just to make him stand on cue so to be honest, I'd work on that first even if Astrid's taking a few steps forward. Keep luring her - she'll get it in the end. . I'm still luring Hoover with his stands although I'm able to tell him to 'wait' and he will hold the stand position - which is progress. Have you tried teaching her 'touch' with the nose and 'paw' with the paw yet? That's quite a fun one for them and relatively easy and we've been able to turn it into the little tap tap tap routine in the post higher up Ooooooooooh - that is exciting. Another dobe? Learn from my suffering - don't ask for advice about it on DOL If I'd listened to this thread, Hoover would never have joined our pack! The thing is in that thread, I wasn't even asking people if I should get a second puppy, I was just asking about socialisation periods.

Max is, as always, adorable. Some more sleeping puppy photos from me:

The speed adjuster is in the edit tab: And yes, I can see how unwise it was to come to a purebred dog forum and ask for a Peekapom but I suspect that the answers received are hardly going to send the person into the arms of a registered breeder I've seen other threads, better handled where the person was dissuaded from a Labradoodle and ended up buying a Schnauzer. KA: Hope the tank is full again! When we went to visit Mama Koala today, the dogs still had access to the kitchen via the dog door. When we got home, they were very dry - clearly our tough working dogs had elected to stay inside in the kitchen rather than hang out in the yard. Max#1: gorgeous video of Max. How did you manage to teach him the head tilt? Is it cued? Hoover has a natural head tilt when he hears anything strange and new but we haven't cued it yet. Clastic: That's great news - and how very multicultural of Mars to be eating bok choy instead of your garden variety Western vegies. I laughed once when I was in Woolworths and they had either a wombuck or a bok choy and they had labelled it: "Chinese vegetable" as if there was only One Type of Chinese Vegetable in the Whole World. We've also bought Baby Bok Choy, a name which OH finds somewhat hilarious and he'll walk around muttering: "Bok choy, baby." Ah the . That still makes me laugh. OH has actually been teaching Elbie to honk on cue, which is hilarious. The funny thing is that Elbie thinks that he's supposed to be lying on his side to honk so at present, he only honks when he's lying on the ground as though he's dead. lilli_star: I haven't tried my two with carrot yet except in the cake so will see how they go I would love to get them pigs ears but I am still traumatised by how farty Elbie was when we had a pigs ear, so am too scared to try again cleoj: thank you. You would not believe how many people laugh at Elbie's funny expressions. He and Hoover have such contrasting personalities. Also, tonight I've started teaching Elbie that paw to foot trick you showed us. He's not as elegant as Shandy because sometimes he gets my leg instead of my foot but he appears to understand what the objective is. Current efforts are . Hoover's version is hilarious and ends with him collapsing on my foot

OK - this post had to have been a troll! They might as well have said: "Please hit me! Very hard."

Thanks all. I can't believe how fast Elbie grew up either. If I'd known he was going to grow up so fast, I'd have cuddled him more when he was tiny! I can't believe how different his face looks although he still has those mournful eyes that look as though he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. He and Hoover have such different temperaments – Elbie is constantly on alert. With Hoover, he will crash out unconscious – oblivious to the world, but Elbie, even when he's sleeping – he will snap to attention in a second if he hears his name or hears any sort of activity or movement. He's constantly anticipating commands – no wonder he looks anxious! Dandybrush – you are right about how expressive Elbie's face is. Sometimes he looks almost human in the way he stares at us, processing what we're saying, desperately trying to 'understand'. Max#1: more about the being alone thing. We will deliberately take one dog out and leave one behind to get them used to being alone and having 'alone time'. Elbie's normally fine and will whinge a little bit but not much, Hoover on his own was more likely to get up to mischief – for instance, get himself trapped in No Man's Land, dig a hole, trap himself behind the shed. Fortunately he has settled and doesn't do those so much anymore, although OH has discovered a new hole in the lawn. Good luck on the post count thing. You could get involved in a debate which would require vigorous and plentiful rejoinders, but the danger there is that you will attract the scrutiny of Non-Like Mindeds and get fur as singed as mine has become … For the cake – they each got a 'cake bone' with the first letter of their name on it 'inked' in low fat peanut butter. I also cut a small pieces of the main cake for them. The frosting was just plain low fat cream cheese which shouldn't be unhealthy. Clastic: are you using windows movie maker? I find that that is relatively easy in terms of cropping/changing speeds/splitting etc. lilli_star: Elbie frequently looks mournful and doleful enough as it is – if I put a hat on him, I'm sure some of you would have reported me to the RSPCA. His expressions are so hilariously mournful sometimes and I have no idea why. He does have happy faces, but the camera tends to put him in a pensive frame of mind because he knows he has to keep still and maintain eye contact. dandybrush & betsy: I think they liked the cake a lot. They were soooooooo patient with their waiting even though the cake was sitting in front of them. They also loved the batter because it had a very strong peanut butter smell to it so were sniffing around like crazy. They were the most uncritical audience I've ever had for my cooking! They also ate the cake in very typical fashion! Hoover gobbled it down in about 2 seconds flat. Elbie carefully licked the frosting of first and then delicately and warily chomped his way through the cake. kumaakita: Kuma has the most speaking eyes. What a cutie! minxy: I understand why some of the breeders didn't want that post in the forum but some of the 'tones' were quite unkind. I used to think that people on DOL were abrupt but well-meaning but I've come to the conclusion that some people are nice, some people are abrupt/a bit rude but ultimately helpful and caring. Some people are just unkind and there's not really any way to dress it up. Nooooo!!!!! This thread is supposed to stay the cosy corner that remains a celebration of dogliness and the things we love about our dogs – and the things that drive us bonkers but do not detract from that love. We just keep an eye on toxic threads and for my part, I am trying to avoid them now The toxicity is far too great for any of us to have the antidote … wuffles: very exciting! I am sure you will be fine! Although looking out the window right now – I'm guessing you have rainy day contingency plans in place!

In other news, OH has been working on the puzzle I gave him at Christmas of the two monsters. He has made a lot of progress!!

Someone from work when she found out that it was Elbie's birthday, gave me a recipe for a dog birthday cake. The cake was easy enough to make and OH helped me mix the ingredients. I have never tried to decorate a cake in my life and probably never shall again. Peanut butter wasn't the easiest of writing materials ... OH thought that they looked hilarious and asked me if I had made them look so bad to ensure no humans mistakenly ate the cake! The dogs waited very, very patiently for their photos to be taken. I also cut out little cake 'bones' for them with a wonky 'H' and 'E' on them in peanut butter. Hoover starts to get impatient Elbie seeks divine intervention and wonders if he actually has to eat the cake Hoover's distracted but Elbie continues to look very focused Doggies The Birthday Boy

There's a thread here about pros and cons of getting a second puppy. Most people recommend against it - details in that thread. We got our second puppy when our first pup was 8 months old. The second pup was already 3 months (i.e not a tiny puppy anymore) and there are just five months between them. You'll see from the earlier thread that we've really had no problems and are very happy with our decision to get a second puppy. They're the same age, breed, energy level - love to play with each other. Training has been fine and the second one got house-trained and crate-trained a lot faster because of the first. There were some issues to iron out but the second puppy settled in very quickly. There's no doubt that it's more work to have two pups rather than one but as long as you're mentally prepared, I don't see a problem. We have been told many times that bad to have two dogs of similar age because you will have two elderly dogs at once and probably lose them in swift succession. We're mentally prepared for that, too.

Max#1: You could try some of the threads that I've started. Here are some safe ones that have no flaming or nasty people. Healthy Weight on Dogs Sleeping Puppies Mind and Scent Games for Puppy Sooky Puppy Some small successes for puppy Others may have some 'safe' threads that they can recommend so that you can get your post count up Good luck! Although you may learn more than you ever wanted to know about DOLers in the Off Topic sub-forum. There was a particularly gross one about zit-squeezing recently :D

Thanks all :D The monsters will enjoy today - but I think they enjoy every day. I keep trying to get video but they always stop when I film. They chase each other around the backyard at dizzying speed. I can't believe how fast and agile they are with the way they leap, spin and hurtle! They definitely keep each other very well-entertained. Both got a raw hide bone each for Elbie's birthday Supervised of course!

Today (15 February 2011) is Elbie's birthday. He is one year old. He arrived in our home on 4 April 2010 - naughty, mischievous, hyperactive and ridiculously clever. Despite his weird traits - he is such a little character - so quirky and filled with personality ... He has enriched our lives immeasurably since arriving and we both love him dearly. He's grown so much and we love him just as much as we ever did. Sincere apologies for the awful cropping (and the hugeness of the images) ... - OH will be horrified and aghast - but here's a selection of photos of Elbie from his wee days, to present Wee Elbie Still wee Not so wee Fully grown (we think) Happy Birthday darling, beloved Elbie.

ravenau1: OH noticed this photo: It appears that you have the same LEGO Millennium Falcon that he has? KumaAkita: that drinks post. :D My mind is boggling yet again. The Goldenoodle thread was bad enough. Max#1: Don't worry - I was extremely worried about Elbie, too. From the time he was 8 weeks until he was about 7 months, he had never really been left alone for long stretches of time. OH and I were both off work so were home most of the time. For the first few months we had him, because we were renting and couldn't let him in other rooms - we were with him almost all the time in the kitchen. Then even after I went to work, OH was still at home with him. When OH's grandmother died in September, he had to go back to Canada for 2 weeks and Elbie was left at home every day - some days as long as 12 hours because I was also going to the hospital because of my father. He certainly pined and spent a lot of time looking for my OH but in the end he was totally fine - although you should see the video of Elbie being reunited with my OH. Elbie was soooooooooooooo happy Also, notwithstanding snot and drool, those photos are adorable and I would totally frame them. clastic: we are still waiting for the evidence betsy: great photos of Ziggy! He looked like such an ewok/teddy bear when he was wee ETA: Lilli_star - clearly True Love cannot be thwarted!!

Here's the dilemma for Max#1 - you need to have enough posts under your belt to be able to access off topic but posts to the Elbie thread don't count because posts to the Photo sub-forum don't count. You'll have to post madly outside the Cosy Corner and brave the Wrath of DOL ... survive the trial by fire to gain access to the Off Topic Sub Forum! Also, I dare not post in that Goldenoodle thread but while I am not a defender of designer dogs or crossbreeds, I do not agree that anyone who buys a designer dog MUST be stupid and that all DDs are of bad temperament/ugly/stupid. The fundamental downside of a crossbreed is supposed to be that it's unpredictable, which means that there are no guarantees that a crossbreed will be of bad temperament/ugly/stupid. You're taking a risk yes but there are good and bad ones out there. On DOL alone, there are the owners of crossbreeds/designer dogs whose dogs are not ugly/stupid/of bad temperament ... I know a few people who own labrador x poodles, cavs x poodles, spaniel x poodle and I would not be so offensive as to say that they are stupid and that their dogs are ugly ... I do not approve of backyard breeders and puppy farms, but I can honestly say that there are registered breeders out there who are probably no better and certainly no nicer than some of the BYBs out there and that mere ownership of a pedigree dog does not make one better or even smarter than someone else ...

I think that I have the right day. Happy First Birthday Ziggy!!! You are exactly one day older than Elborino! I hope that you and your human have a wonderful birthday!

clastic: great photo! The synchronised bowing is great! I shouldn't laugh but I love how stoic Mars is: "I will endure all this gunk on my face because my human wants it so…." i.e. that he thinks the trick is endurance rather than swatting the object off of his face I have no other suggestions! You've tried everything I can think of. I suppose the only other thing is that Hoover was a bit stoic like Mars so sometimes I would tap my finger very lightly where the tape was so that he would be 'reminded' that something was there and that would make him swat. Elbie bows very nicely – the trick for us is keeping him in the bow. Hoover bows naturally but we haven't tried to capture the behaviour yet – we should, but we have been a bit slack In the morning when they wake up, they sometimes stretch and play bow each other and sniff each other's faces – it looks a bit like a good morning kiss. Very cute. kyliegirl: stand is incredibly difficult for a lot of dogs. We have only JUST got Elbie standing on command. He will stand from a drop or a sit. I'm still luring Hoover into a stand although he's heaps better at keeping the stand position for longer so that's progress. I am hoping that I can drop the lure soon. I think Echo's doing very well, especially given his age. As for class #2 of this term's dog school. OH said Elbie went pretty well but as usual was very crap at heeling. He sat still for pats but moved his head. He's doing well with OH dropping the leash though which is good. Hoover was still very excited before class but settled nicely during class. I was really happy with his controlled greetings – not a single lunge. During class his focus has been pretty good – sometimes another dog will move towards him so he gets excited and wants to say hi back – but he can be controlled with a 'leave it' or a 'go to your mat' cue so I was pretty happy about that. There's a Cavalier King Charles x Bichon Frise that has amazing focus – doesn't seem to take his eyes off of his owner! I don't think I'll ever get to that point but I am hoping Hoover's focus will just get better as he gets used to the distracting environment. One interesting thing was that he was really good on the first run of the loose-leash walking obstacle course – went around the traffic cones, ignored the toys, sat automatically, dropped on cue … but about 10 minutes later for the second run-through, he was very distracted. I think he suddenly noticed all the other doggies on the field (i.e. suddenly noticed the two beginner classes and the silver class) so he didn't want to sit at first.

I was wondering just yesterday how a cav would go with attempting to balance treats! It's always the shower! I think: "It will be just a quick shower!" In that time, destruction can be wreaked by Little Dogs... lilli_star: It's a very interesting show and those dogs are amazing. I'm always very impressed by how versatile labradors are - not only are they good as guide dogs and therapy dogs, they also do search and rescue so well. I don't think I've ever seen a Kelpie as a therapy dog. ;) Despite the fact that soft-hearted OH has been leaving the crate doors unzipped at night, the dogs haven't been wandering at night ... until this morning ... I heard skittering on the floor, got up and stared into Hoover's crate which was ... Empty ... I looked into the study and he was in neither dog bed. Elbie was staring out of his soft crate balefully. Hoover was nowhere to be seen ... I walked down the hallway, looked down the stairs at the front yard and saw a dark shape. Behold, the monster was located ... At dinner time when we're doing his training, I am lazy and point to the front door mat for his 'go to your mat' exercises. Clearly at 6am, he had a compulsion to go to his mat for some reason. :p When we get home, we don't let the dogs in immediately. Here's Hoover trying to see what's going on inside the house ...

kyliegirl - don't worry too much about the puppy classes. Elbie's classes were held at our local vet's and gosh Elbie would get excited. Sooooooooooooo excited. We absolutely hated the classroom segments because all the other dogs would be sitting there quietly and Elbie would be lunging and wrestling and trying to get to the other dogs - OH and I both ended up with scratches faces from a paw to the eye, a paw to the face ... We would just be holding on for the play session in the yard. The only other dog that got more excited than Elbie was Lloyd the Boxer who was not only boisterous and exuberant, he had the Happy Wee From hell. What was interesting is that at obedience class, Elbie settles down much faster so I'm not sure if it's age or venue ... Also, Elbie (and even Hoover) still lunge on the way to dog school - they get so excited to see all the other dogs ;)

A rather lovely story of Skye, a stray puppy that was rescued a year ago but seems to be making a new start in life. The story, with photos is here. I have no idea what breed she is - appearance-wise she looks quite Kelpie-ish.

He still has excellent teeth!

*gasp* I think that speculating like this is just too Dangerous. I feel like I am imperilling the rest of the world (move aside Large Hadron Collider) ...The guesses of the Profoundly Uninformed could bring about Armageddon and the End of days etc etc ... Just guessing could cause a tsunami of apocalyptic proportions! What if I tell wuffles that Satch is part Cavalier King Charles and she tries to put him on her lap and is squashed to death? I'd never forgive myself Or worse, what if I tell wuffles that Satch is part poodle and she tries to clip his hair into a Continental Clip???? OK, feeling very brave and speculative, my guesses for Satch are Labrador and Great Dane and Giant Border Collie. OH suggests Mega-Kelpie. Here are my guesses for my two monsters. Hoover's are entirely premised upon his ears. On a serious note, though. Elbie despite being a cross-breed is actually quite reflective of the breeds of which he is comprised. Border collie/Kelpie isn't just a common cross for working dogs, but it's quite a close cross and Kelpies are in fact derived from the English collies and the earlier Kelpies like Bantry Girl are in fact border collie crosses. Furthermore, over the years, there have been a number of border collies crossed into the Kelpie lines. So while crossbreeds tend to be very uncertain and unpredictable, almost everyone who looks at Elbie identifies him as a Kelpie cross and sometimes a border collie cross. His temperament and personality are very much that of a high energy border collie or Kelpie. I know that one person on the forum has said that he probably has Other Breed in him, but to date all of his traits seem consistent with his two composite breeds. ETA: Elbie sometimes looks and plays like a cat. He sounds like a goose or a monkey. When he puts his ears back, he looks like a seal. ravenau1: I just saw the videos! So cute. Astrid is adorable and shiny - and I love how she's trying to toss the food in the air to catch it ... Basically after she gets used to the ham, you can move to kibble or treats. The dogs try to eat the kibble off each other's noses though

I had a terrible time getting replies by email but had much better luck after I phoned first and then followed up again with an email. Everyone was very helpful after the phone call. It took quite a bit of work but there was no unpleasantness from the people who I phoned and those who couldn't help, were happy to provide referrals to someone who could help. I love the breeder from whom we finally got Hoover. If we ever got another dog (haha!) I wouldn't hesitate to get one from her and I would very happily recommend her to anyone else who wants a healthy, well-adjusted working line Kelpie with a beautiful temperament and an off switch. She's not good at email at all but wonderful on thep hone. As soon as we had confirmed that we were getting Hoover, i emailed all of the other breeders I had contacted to thank them for their time and let them know that we had found a Kelpie puppy elsewhere.