whiskedaway

Ziggy looked fantastic TSD! What a great run! We're only starting in agility. Akira got given the go ahead to train off lead two weeks ago after proving that she was finally listening. Last week she got that privilege revoked after a lovely run through a tire, through a tunnel and over a jump... then instead of stopping kept going and did an amazing high speed run around the oval before finally recalling to the trainer (who she adores) not to me. Two days later Halo's obedience instructor made a joke about whether Halo would be getting some super fast agility times when she was older as well. Not sure I'll be living that one down for a while. Naughty Akira! As Akira's only 13 months old, all jumps are low (she can just run over the top of most of them) and she's not allowed on any colours yet until she does her carpet properly. Funnily enough, she's understanding what touching the carpet means, but she still refuses to drop half the time at obedience.

SO true. While we picked our Sibe knowing full well what we were getting into and believing she was the perfect breed for us, we still had to change our lifestyle to fit in with her - we had holes dug from one end of the garden to the other, so we redid our backyard and made it dog friendly. We had washing pulled off the line so we looped it over so she couldn't reach it. We put in place really strict boundaries that we didn't need with our previous dogs. Since Halo has come along, Akira hasn't had time to be naughty, though, which is fantastic, and she doesn't push the boundaries quite as much.

When OH and I got Akira we had a list of breeds a mile long - in the end we narrowed it down to a Samoyed or a Husky. We're both pretty active people, and both having owned dogs before we thought we'd be up to the challenge of a Spitz breed. We decided on the Husky in the end because OH really doesn't like white dogs and we both just loved the independent nature of the Husky. Akira came home at 10 weeks old, and we had a few issues along the way - she'd never been inside before we got her, she wasn't well socialised but we worked through it (and in some cases we're still working through it) and she's a fantastic dog now. I fell in love with Lappies by reading DOL, and met a fair few along the way. Akira is a bit of a breedist, and won't play with other Huskies - no clue why - but she adores her Lappie friends. I liked the fact that Lappies were still independent Spitz dogs, but I also liked the fact that they don't push the boundaries like Sibes do - one dog that pushes the boundaries is more than enough for our household! So we added Halo to our family. I like the fact that she is a high-drive Lappie - I don't think a couch potato Lappie would be a good fit for us due to the fact that we're active and love doing things with our dogs. She's been a dream to own so far, and I think the fact that the boundaries are already in place has helped. In the future, I'll definitely have more Lappies. OH and I both agree that we'll probably have another Sibe one day as well, however for us we'll never have two Sibes together.

It will! I felt like that too when Halo came home - three weeks later and she was sleeping until 5:30, now she sleeps until the sun wakes her (weekdays until 6:30, weekends can be as late as 9 because we have the rollershutter down). So it doesn't last too long.

I think I've been lucky, because Halo has never whined too much being in her crate. She'll wake up and whine, but that's normally to let us know that she needs to pee and most of the time (as long as Akira hasn't woken up) Halo is more than happy to go back to sleep after we take her out. I think us having two dogs does help - Halo always has something to do if she's put outside. There have been a few times where she's whined if Akira's inside and she's outside, but she's normally pretty good.

My Sibe is not trusted with cats - she has high prey drive and has never been around them. If a cat darts past on a walk, all you can do is hope you're holding the leash extremely tightly because she gives chase. She's almost killed other small critters before (chickens) so I just don't trust her.

Completely agreed. My Sibe has an issue with SWF dogs due to the neighbour's dog continually barking at her and being an aggressive little shit. I don't think she'd purposely hurt a SWF, but she would get much too over the top and accidentally hurt it. She is allowed off leash in designated areas, but if someone with a SWF comes into the park, I make sure she's clipped up straight away. On Saturday we were sitting at footy with both dogs on a leash (the sibe sitting under my chair, the lappie asleep in the dirt behind it). I had a tight hold of both leashes and was enjoying the match. Some idiot with a SWF off lead walked past and let their dog walk straight up to Akira. Well she went mental and I nearly got yanked off the chair by her bolting upright so quickly but was luckily holding onto her leash tightly. The owner gave me a dirty look because of my dog's reaction and she got a few choice words (which were echoed by the people sitting in front of me). The fact of the matter is, this dog probably never walks up to strange dogs (and hopefully never will again after Akira's reaction). But the one time it did could have ended badly if I weren't holding onto the lead so tightly.

Akira's favourite is cabana, Halo goes stupid for cheese.

I haven't shown much yet being a newbie, but I really enjoy the night shows (not sure I would if it was bitterly cold though). I make sure to enter specialties (working dog, Spitz, will travel if there's ever a Flappie specialty) and if there is a judge from Finland/Norway/Sweden/Denmark I will definitely enter because they are much more likely to know my breed. Being in SA it's not often that we travel anywhere away from SACA Park. However I'm heading to Mt Gambier and will be doing Sunbury at Melbourne Cup weekend - I know there will be a few from my breed then and I am looking forward to having some competition (and seeing interstate friends).

Fantastic! That's awesome!

Aha, no April Fool's joke, it was actually announced yesterday - http://oneclick.indiatimes.com/photo/08sGeRqa6H3xq?q=Sydney

You know, seeing things like this popping up today... I really hope we're not being taken for a ride with an April Fool's joke!

Not sure if you have them in NSW, but I got my show suit from Savers in SA - they had stacks of stuff when I went there, but I also went to a Savers in Vic and found them to be rather crap in comparison to the one in SA. But op-shopping is fantastic and you often pick things up for very cheap.

The only way you can tell if she has good hips is if she's xrayed Well, obviously. However as a four month old pup, she's not going to be xrayed yet. She won't be hip scored until she's an adult. I was only saying what I was told the other day.

If you decide to go with a harness, bring a washing basket/box just in case. Halo was a LOT smaller than I thought she was going to be when we picked her up, and the car harness I had didn't fit her for a good 4-6 weeks.

I heard May from someone, but I can't remember who it was.

Aww Rebus is gorgeous!! Halo came home on the 26th of January, and she's now 18 weeks old. These photos were taken last night She's losing her baby teeth now and will soon be getting some adult coat. She is growing like a WEED.

I get dried liver treats from yellowgirl's shop Adelaide Dog, but I only get small bags because they're an occasional treat due to Akira's sensitive belly.

Good luck to Zoey, hope she pulls through!

This is from Wiki - I know you can't always trust Wiki, but this seems pretty decent info.

Wayrod (a member on here) is fantastic. He always recommends that the pups fly in their own brand new crate.

x 2. I would be soooooo furious it's not funny.

How do you know I haven't done that? Exactly. Shortstep, we've actually known these dogs are here since August or September last year. It came up in both the Spitz breed thread and the Sibe thread when they were still in quarantine. I believe there are a few people who have actually spoken to her via email.

Especially seeing as there were only males in that litter - she could have bred them to her male if there'd been some females.

They can only be shown in UKC shows in the US.