Willowlane

With my husband and my 2 dogs home we have a pack of 8 at my mum and dads place but they all have their place in the open plan living room/kitchen when it comes to dinner and a distinctive order of feeding. 1st Fudge outside on the verandah - he can be aggressive when it comes to food 2nd Hubert in the Alcove 3rd & 4th Holly & Mapie over by the buffet 5th Oaki by the bookcase 6th Willow in her crate near the couch 7th & 8th Emi and Boo in the Kitchen Until the puppies Willow and Oaki came we use to give them bones and just keep an eye on them, they would occasionally swap but no fights. They always worked it out among themselves however since the puppies have come we have not done it the pack is still too unstable with the new arrivals.

Wow I would love to do EKKA and Melbourne Royal...What do you have to do to compete at Sydney Royal? That would be a dream come true! For the horses you have to qualify: 7 wins at 7 different shows of a specific level in open competition. What is it for dogs?

Yay I finally got around to posting the professional photo taken while we were competing in Bungendore. I Just love it, shows off how gorgeous she is and how much she has grown up already So my issue recently has been where to go to show???? 5 weeks and no shows to go too mmmm not a good idea for a little puppy (and beginner handler) just learning the ropes to be out of practice for so long so were heading of to Canberra for the ACT Ladies Kennel Club Inc Championship Show on the 15th & 16th of August. Its will be lots of fun to be on the road again with mum and little one as she gets called at home and this time we will most likely camp to save some money, fingers crossed its not raining :laugh: Then the idea is to compete at Campbelltown, Newcastle, the Spring Spectacular & New England Ladies KC at Gunnedah and then Hunter KC at Hillsborough. Ive just gotten a job that has me working Monday/Wednesday/Fridays. So I cant compete Fridays but its a 7am start on Fridays and (I think) I finish by 1pm, so I can travel on fridays and the best thing is no weekend work so I can show every weekend if I wanted to...not that the budget would allow it but hopefully every 2nd weekend can be the norm :) What I really need to get use to is doing one day shows on my own...how do you do it people??? gazebo up and down, tables, chairs, show gear bags, jackets, food, drink etc etc set up is ok but pack up is exhausting. Whats the secret to going on ones own? So far Iv'e always had a helper but eventually Im going to have to go it alone.......... So please I need some opinions! :D

Willow - Bungendore July 2015 3months 3weeks

Thanks Poocow x

Thanks for posting Taliecat :) I didnt know if anyone was reading the posts as I never get any replies or comments.

This weekend we took on the big leagues at North of the Harbour at Erskine Park and whoa was I nervous! The first day was terrible, I just couldn't get my things together but by the 2nd class on the 2nd day things had improved quite a bit and we managed to come 2nd to her full sister in her baby puppy class. I was really happy with this. It just showed me how much I have to learn!!!!! I was so down on Saturday night but every day is a new day I guess. and it was only my 4th show ever as my husband kept reminding me. Im buying a photo of her from Bungendore will post it as soon as I get it in my inbox she's grown up so much.

I got to see our fenced off patio area where we are going to put the dogs when my husband and I are at work. It looks awesome! Poor girls will think their being tortured though being in there lol

lol omg thats disgusting but oh so cute

Im lucky my girls can be fed anytime, they dont care.

My almost 2yr old Cocker get 1 night feed plus a few chicken necks through the day as treats. Her dinner is kibble and read meat or chicken necks My 14wk old ESS is on a a small amount of puppy kibble, read meat and chicken necks. She gets morning kibble and meat, morning tea chicken necks, night kibble and meat, and chicken necks for supper in her crate. She also chicken necks for lunch if my mums home but thats very rare. She's a really picky eater so we can only give her tiny amounts at a time.

oo that sounds helpful!

Its an enclosure in our yard, we have a 2m wooden fence around the whole property :)

What does DELETE do, sorry my ignorance

My puppy has to endure this crazy chase game where I fling a fluffy, tassely thing on a string and a stick around until she catches it then she has to play tug of all things with it before being forced to let go of it and start again. She hates it so much her eyes go like giant saucers every time she sees the toy....its horrible!!

So hopefully we have resolved the situation. We have an undercover area where we have 2 outdoor chairs and the dogs biscuit tubs and the grooming table and its all paved and a while ago we bought a 1.2m fence to put up in an L shape to enclose the area. My husband put it up on the weekend, as im in hospital I have no idea how it looks but it gives the dogs about an 8mx4m area to romp around in whilst im at work (5.5hrs). No idea where we are going to keep the big chairs but we can keep the grooming table around the corner. The dog biscuits have a very secure lid. Im going the put out two crates for them, one material and one metal with a canvas cover. Lots of toys and lots of water but no food so no fights. They are great together so I dont for see any problems there. One question I have is what do people usually do for pee and poo in a courtyard???

I wish I could take photo's of my girls and put them up but im in hospital atm so its a bit hard at least mum brings them in every few days to say HI!

So now the competition, it was cold but no where as cold as the weekend before in Canberra! We did get snow on Sunday in the surrounding hills Saturday brought us no placing in the sweepstakes but she worked amazingly and everything I had learnt in Luci's lesson I brought forward to the ring which is all I could ask for. She also won her Baby puppy class but no luck in the best puppy in group. The best part of the weekend came on Sunday when she placed 3rd out of 14 puppies in the sweepstakes 3-6months!! I have won so many national horse titles but I have never been so happy to win a 3rd place lol. She also won her Baby Puppy Class the clever thing :) So now another Monday rest day then training tomorrow, I say training but training only ever goes for 5-10 mins and its all fun. A lesson with Luci on Thursday and the North of the Coast on Saturday and Sunday at Erskine Park. Its going to be a big show for the springers with 31 entered on Saturday and 29 on Sunday including having 3 of her siblings in her Baby puppy bitch class oooh no we aint in Kansas any more I got some photos taken while we were in Bungendore so will put some up if they come up ok :)

Well for 7 days things have just been a whirl-wind of training and events!! First off was a well deserved rest day for Willow from training on Monday. She just got to play chases with her best buddies 6month old Border Collier girl Oaki. I dont know where she or they get their energy from really... Tuesday Mum brought Willow into me in hospital and we went to the local park so I could train her. It was ok but for the first time I felt a bit stalled in our training, just like it wasn't coming together especially after watching the video's my husband took of us from Canberra. Wednesday was a huge day, firstly we had an amazing session with Willows breeder working through some training routines and little bits and pieces. I learnt so much as I always do. Then we went to the Castle Hill Training Night which was great. Thursday we took the big drive to Hill Top (1.5hrs away) for a 2nd lesson with Luci Ellem and I learnt so much. Coming from a horse world it was the equivalent of going for a lesson with one of the 'big wigs of the australian scene' lol I learnt so much. Of course I have no idea if Luci is a 'big wig' but at this stage she is helping and thats all that matters. I guess her way of teaching is working for me well. Friday we headed in two directions, Willow went to the hair stylist to be washed and I went for a pre employment medical then we were off to Bundgendore :) I also clipped her up for the first time myself that night, a bit rough but not too terrible Lucky my doctor gave me a pass to get out of hospital for the 2 nights to compete.

Well Im obviously a terrible dog owner: - They ask to jump on the couch and having no back bone I let them - they wont get up unless I say yes though - At least they do sit before being fed I guess - My Cocker likes to lie under dads feet or lie on her back getting tummy scratches whilst giving him ear kisses - The puppy is forced to run inside and out of this huge big red crate over and over again - When there at my parents place my puppy plays from dawn till dusk with her puppy prisoner Oaki....Its puppy Hell, they get so dirty they come in black with bark, leaves, sticks and twigs all over them, its disgusting but no back bone here still lets them in - Both puppies have to be washed every day they get so filthy - cold water hose down like in Alcatraz for sure hehehehe - They have 12 types of treats to chose from at home for 2 dogs - No tinned food, minced meat, pro plan biscuits and chicken necks is the slop they suffer for dinner - After the house has been cleaned and Iv'e been told the dogs have been told to stay outside I let mine in - When people are over my dogs are allowed inside - all the others outside - I wash my puppy and she gets towelled off then the heater put right in front of her crate. - When its raining and the dogs are wet I let them in and towel them off a bit and let them warm up in the heated living room :) Hehehe guilty much

ooo Love the ideas!! Food dispensing compartments maybe Mini TV's for each crate?

I thought it might be fun to create a mythical dog car (still road worthy so no fido sitting in the front seat with a seat bealt on lol. Here is my first idea...your turn now :) - Good ventilation when the car is off - this is without having to put the windows down!

Thanks Bjelkier, were coming from Queanbean should our trip be ok?

ooo will there be any snow near bungendore? Im showing there this weekend but would love to introduce my girl to snow in the afternoon

Unfortunately I feel very much attacked in this post rather than helped and would much rather run away from my accusers than return and ask for help again but for the sake of my dog here I am. She has a crate 3 times too big for her to start with (shes only a cocker spaniel and she loves her crate, she spends no other time in it except those 5.5hrs, even at night she sleeps on our bed the rest of the time is outside or cuddles and sleeping next to mum. I DONT want to do this and it would be a complete short term measure until we could stabilise the problem. So for now im going to leave this discussion and just ring Steve and seek his professional advice on the matter. Please try not to be so judgemental people.