Two Best Dogs!

Doesn't pack her toys away and im tripping over them all the time! Knocks all the pillows off the couch to make a bed on the floor... Next to her bed!

The kind of accident I wish would happen to me :laugh: I'm glad he's fallen into your life, what a charming old man!

I use it on occasion, it's in my approved box along with blackhawk and stayloyal *thumbsup* Didn't lose any weight, not much change in poop, fur still soft-ish and energy is still go-go-go!

There is a dog near me. It isn't declared but it seems dangerous to me and their fence is horribly old. I stay far away from that street for fear of similar happening.

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Sorry Kirislin, I only saw your post now! That's a bugger The park is lovely and so is the market! Lots to see, do and sniff (dogs) (and there's yours truly, but with the unfortunate side effect that I show up towards the end when it is quieter...) Maybe one day the whippet fun day could come to the market? The bichon group are coming this weekend and the bernese mountain dog clubs descend on the market (the latter was an incredible site! some 10 VERY BIG dogs :laugh: ) Perhaps one day the whippets can have their days too

Poor little pottering old pup :) Could you set up some fencing/barriers so he is not wandering too far from his bed at night? Or does he let himself out to go potty?

Me too ;) I am so ready for cooler weather!

I was knocked back on a couple of dogs because I "work too long" :') but with a bit of planning and preparation I think you can make it with a bit of work. I took 2 weeks off to help mine (a mutt chosen on behaviour description versus looks except short hair and largish lol) get settled. The first week getting to know each other and set up ground rules, the second week slowly imitating a work day routine. My first week back at work was also a short week. I would start late and finish early. I was worried when she had to become an only dog But a camera has revealed indoor or out she sleeps all the time. This is a dog who I was warned has a bit of separation anxiety and needs a companion. I'm thinking being out of the foster system, having a place of her own and a set routine is all she actually needed. Actually living with her is incredibly low fuss. I'm the one with the separation anxiety from her lol. Our routine of you need ideas: Walks :p it'd be a lie to say I do it every day but every other day usually. For days that run late and winter where it is too dark and creepy for walks I got a long treadmill off gumtree. What else. We have a digging pit. I hide food around the yard so she spends the first couple of hours looking for that. Flirt pole and brain games. I leave work early on Thursdays or Fridays to take her to pet warehouses and the park (summer). Every 3 weeks or so I use extra work hours to take a whole day off to take her on play dates with friends. The whole weekend is usually chores and time with the dog. I have had to change my social life. I go out less, but as an introvert it pleases me to have a reason not to be out every night. I can't really do holidays without the dog like overseas because she's stranger scared. , through temperament or shit luck. Doesn't matter to me much though as I prefer road tripping around Australia so I just bring her. This did however make my nana's illness and passing very difficult, mostly because of bass strait. Lots of brain games. But overall I think it is good for me and the dog to learn to spend time apart and I don't think she is harmed by my daily absence or that working and unwind a dog is impossible.

We did a successful Stand for Exam again! Whew! I would like to thank the lawnmower and the robot dinosaur for helping to proof it. We have a new trainer this week (supervised by previous trainer). It makes sense to put the new ones on the second most advanced class. It's basically a whole new class since Thistle's best lab friend graduated to advanced and I think the heeler who distracted us last week is going to be moved up soon (a tiny part of me thinks that's unfair cause when she broke she ran up to thistle, when thistle breaks she runs up to me not other dogs). But the previous class had a bunch of graduations too so now there's like 10 more dogs in the class, and we only 'know' a couple of them (including brown poodle she pancaked squashed in hello the one time, and a staffie who started about the same time as us etc). She's very interested in the two huskies. They seem like teenagers to me, very bouncy and vocal. I think she wants to play "squash me" with them. Trying not to think about how I have spent more than half a year in the one level it's so hard not to think about it (this will be me, watching longingly with my face ugly-pressed against a window) Thistle got a bit whiny and excited when the schnauzer #1 was loudly playing tug but quieted down. She only broke her distance sit twice, to drop - not move from her spot, which I guess is improvement. There was lots of recall practice. So used it as an opportunity to reward her for the few times she stayed in a drop while other dogs recalled. She really struggles with holding her position when others move. Like, she moves towards me (and not them) at least, but is choosing to end her position ;) So I did lots of 2-3 metre drops and gave her treats for not moving or getting ready to move but settling at an "ah!". I like seeing all the different breeds. Only 1 lab in this new version of level 3. 2 schnauzers, 2 huskies, 2 rotties, a staffie, a different type of staffie, the blue heeler and two poodles of different sizes. Puppy sessions have gotten huge! I counted 5 classes! There is a beagle puppy and nose is always down, but is keeping an ear out and doing commands :laugh:

He looks like he's in jail! What a happy detainee ;) I've got some extra bits of security from bunnings too - They are in the baby proofing section and are these little white straps to keep doors from being opened. They keep the sliding door to the kitchen shut a treat and the fridge door shut Bless bunnings

I think you all deserve a nice calm weekend with lots of treats for ALL of you, not just Annie. Take some self care days to rebalance yourselves from all the stress

Haha I currently do not have any chooks, this was a few years back and I just ran a fence down the yard since the bunnies free ranged. This place has a healthy feral cat population and a couple of foxes Rabbits only get supervised play and no chooks until I have a VERY solid enclosure, roof and all. I'm going to learn how to weld :p

They may not be evolutionarily adapted to hunting but crows and Ravens are smart and could do some serious damage if they want to. Even my old chickens were a vicious bunch. The rooster would make a lot of show about taking us but the hens would flock and attack my rabbits. Some nasty injuries before I put a stop to that. I'll never forget the mouse I chased out of the feed shed. It ran into the pen and the hens caught and tore it apart. It screamed a lot So I can see a couple of the smarter birds taking on bigger things. They're smart, can communicate, learn and pass down little "cultural" techniques. May not be seen often but it's not unheard of for them to attack (as evidenced around the thread) So I'd be careful with small guys if they were around. Fortunately the hawk keeps them away from my yard...:/

Currently around the $300 vet bill mark this year - but that includes the bee sting and all this back and forth thing over the urine issues (a lot of these were free considering many are just urine tests to track where we at. Knock on wood, nothing going on right now and only slightly higher ph and she stops trying to kill the last few bees of Autumn) 2 years old and peak health though. I expect it to go up with age and dog count ;) Edit. My rabbits are currently $160 which is good considering for the old arthritic one. Foster rabbits are covered by RSPCA.

Haha we are still day 1! She's too excited? Anticipating commands and tricks. She wants to DO something so I can never get past the 15 on count down before she offers a behaviour. She's whines nearly the whole time too and her tail is non stop wagging. So i hold off on rewards until slow wag or no wag. Just calm attentive (already tweaking the protocol to suit us XD ) Leaning tower lol! Relax Malcolm!

Thanks grumpette :) I am very pleased she didn't take the other dogs approach as an attack or scary thing! PK yay!!!!!! He must be feeling so much less worried! Good on him! I am using these protocols to help teach thistle that yes, as grumpette says, you stay in position until I say so XD ill take it out to the park on Sunday.

I have the book! Right now in my bag. I'm about halfway through and after reading the book I am going to read the study. John is a very compelling writer. The book starts out about his previous dogs who first had him wondering the extent of them learning words. Lots of shaping in his classes and humerus stories. Each chapter has a story theme, I am currently on "herding words" - he has taken chaser back to the farm to see how much her genetics and intelligence pull through. There are bits I have been dog earing to share later with friends. Quotes or descriptions or phrases that really stand out to me. I'm also a member of Dognition but have been too busy with our basic obedience and rehab to focus on the tests I get emailed. But we are young and there is time :) Chaser is a great dog and it's a great book. I live how he on occasion compares his previous dog (GSD X) to chaser. Both equally smart but with johns knowledge growing he can really push chaser.

I thought this was a really furry bat diving downwards for a split second :laugh:

Woohoo well done! Thistle breaks on day 1 too. Something about counting out loud and hyped to relax I think. Those MP3 will be so useful. Go Malcolm and Pk!!

Well done! I think I will try doing it (properly) this week as well.

They are so big already

Happy 1 year of obedience classes! Good news first: Well, she did Stand for Exam in class (twice!) and she also did a dialed-back version of it after class with the head trainer. We did some useful exercises where everytime Thistle would move towards the trainer I would give her long pats on the side and I would stop when she moved backwards. I would also release and play every 15 seconds or so. Except that towards the end she wasn't wanting to move away and play - she was wanting more attention from the trainer! Which is good. Bad news: Still not in advanced because Thistle broke her 10m distance drop (long line). First time she broke it because her best lab friend broke and ran over to other dogs and Thistle wanted to as well. She recalled instead though. Second time she broke because a bee flew past and she needed to kill it (that was funny because she was jumping in the air for it, but also not on ). Third time she broke because blue heeler broke and ran...up to Thistle and past Thistle who broke to chase after, then they rolled over each other and got tangled in each other's longlines, then more rolling over each other. There was a lot of growling (from blue heeler?) but the trainer reckons they were playing with a lot of noise and the owner confirmed the other dog is a vocal player. She said their body language was all loose, I'll take the word for it! I was tunnel visioned on going over without turning it into a negative experience and untangling the long lines from them and splitting them back up (easily done once the line was off). The heeler's legs in particular were really tangled up in Thistle's line and close to her head so I was worried if someone needed space they couldn't do it. Like I tried to recall her and her head came towards me but the tangle forced it down again. Thistle's side release martingale also came off in this at some point. All in all, considering they were two strange dogs tangled up in long lines - could have gone much worse. No-one was bearing teeth or snarly or trying to bite the other. But if they are playing, not with long lines on please! I could see the heeler getting a broken leg easy I was quite featherheaded afterwards, and lingered about (my car was boxed in ...). I guess a lot of people were watching or saw cause it was commented on (mostly that it sucked other dog was able to get over to us in first place) and the lower levels gave us more space than usual when classes ended. I think overall the class was a win? Her issue now is staying in position and not chasing after bees or dogs that run past her face. But nothing bad happened. Except that I am officially the last of my group to go to advanced... Not my weekend tho Too many worried emotions for me. I'm almost resentful it's as sunny and nice as it is outside. I want a nice thunderstorm and blankets!

I hope so! I will watch it keenly for hope of it spreading thank you. I'm not strongly attached to any one breed at this time, as too many I think could work fine for me (with tweaks on my end) and it is the individual that matters more... Easier and harder when one prefers to get teens. But that is a long way off, lightly watching in mean time because so interesting! Simply grand, I agree! I would love to see the shelter puppies have something similar to this to help give them that extra boost in life. Very important life skills at important time they could be missing out on! I would equally watch rescues that did this. To help the little guys be as prepared for new life as much as possible... Great work!

My first close up encounters with Rotties was as a volunteer dog walker at a small Sydney pound. Everyone should have that experience. Such beautiful dogs .... I would love one when all my littlies have gone to God, but I will be too old Will become a foster carer, though. :) :) I'm so close to conversion too but I'm not sure a rottie is a good fit for me. But between this thread (where I have fallen in love with the in depth puppy raising method. If there is a listing of breeders of any type who go these extra miles I would jump on that...) and the two ppl I know currently with darling rottie puppies I have entertained thoughts and the odd day dream!