Two Best Dogs!

It's looking like coats are half my answer, it's reassuring others have them outdoors no problem. Anyway, I am talking to annie about getting a custom cosy warmer and a custom hipster allsorts. Because Thistle has such a thick neck for her thick head, some alterations on the neck need to be made :laugh: The hard part now is choosing colours and patterns! I think for the hipster, green or brown. But for the cozy? no idea. Considering vibrant retro pink?

She looks so cozy and warm! The hipster warmers right? Good idea to make a layer option!

Oh which one is that rebanne? No pictures for us? I have sent a msg to Annie on Facebook. I just need to get some measurements of thistle because her neck is much thicker than a grey I am thinking I will splurge and get both a comfy indoor one and the hipster warmer one :)

Ray White enters lucrative doggie real estate market with the sale of very first prestige kennel, sold for $1.25million :p Happy April Fools!

Lol I don't mind! When I brought this I was overcompensating by buying her loads of stuff and she was indoor only at the time. It was the only coat instore that would fit around her chest (retrospectively not made with long barrel chested dogs in mind!) It is not up to scrap now. I do have two other coats, which fit much better and made for the hound shape, but as they're walking/raincoats not so comfortable for the sleeping. I found this place: http://www.anniescoats.org/ so going to try and line up with one of their upcoming stalls so we can get a proper fit. No more naked bottoms! It's scandalous ;)

Pros: can show off your dog and a very emoticon friendly app! Lots of competitions you can enter. Lots of different types of dogs and dog activities in a "daily snippet of life" type of style. There's lots of pet specific small businesses. Cons: can only upload on phone, pictures get cropped into squares and videos have a 15 second limit. Random people follow you and get angry if you don't follow back? Spam bots are pretty common too. No different from anywhere else - people can steal your photo. Idk how common it is, but seems purebreed dogs with nice clear photos are more at risk of being stolen. Easier to find is my guess. I am ThistleTheMutt! There is another ThistleTheDog XD he is cute.

In my books it is not so cold, but seems she is not as tolerant! I am reluctant to put the heating on when it's only 17 degrees! Positively warm! But then I am wearing clothing. I got a bit silly but she loosened up and fell asleep I am looking into those greyhound coats for indoor sleeping, her proportions are similar. The other 2 coats are raincoats so loud and crinkly and stiff. And this weekend, Op shop! I'll grab 6 or 7 $1-2 blankets and place them about. Some hay too, hopefully it will be a nice place to hide. She sleeps most of the day anyway.

Work is busy oi Thanks everyone! Looking like making the kennel a nice warm base is best. Yyes scottie I got a plastic kids cubby to convert. A Bunnings pallet fits in it perfectly and the orthopaedic large snooze fits on top of that perfectly. Like all 3 were made for each other! It's got cute decorative Windows that make nice airflow in summer but in prep for winter I think I will board those up and take all he insulation suggestions to turn it into a nice warm den. Rugging her up I will keep for when I am home. Can't help but worry! Side note I had not realised dallys need so much rugging up! Good to know as one of the few breeds I have consider for in the future.

Yeah it is a very thin coat! No fur at all in some places and the rest is very sparse. Just how she is. I think technically her winter coat is coming in this time...it's slightly thicker on her back but that is it XD Hmmm. It's a plastic converted kids cubby. For kennel positioning it's south facing and backed up to a fence - but hopefully those cold southerlies are negated because it's facing the back door and that area of the yard is all narrow? So pretty protected. The bed itself is on a pallet so not straight on the cement. Cooling for summer but hopefully alright for winter? I don't expect it to get to the negatives here. Gets a bit of morning sun. I'll draw a shitty diagram when I get to work XD I'll go op shopping for those discount blankets. straw is easy enough to give her, I've got a few bails laying around. Give her that nice comforting smell. Thanks perse! It's baffling when I think back on all the past dogs and realising they had some nice thick coats. It's a new dilemma. Oh. Inside at night of course ;) and yeah will look into increasing what she eats. She's already on double the suggested. just high activity and fast metabolism. *shrug*

I think there was a thread discussing at what temperatures you hide dogs inside from the heat/don't walk them etc so here's one for the opposite! I am loving this cooler weather but feeling a bit bad for the thin coated dog. She does have a winter coatrug to keep her warm but I am hesitant about leaving it on her when I'm not there and especially when she's outside. Seems like a bit of a choking risk? More bits to get stuck on things etc. She's not got much in the way of body fat...maybe there's a way I can make her kennel warmer. First world dog problems ;) Am looking forward to introducing her to snow! Ideas are welcome!

I use these guys in Kew http://www.positivek9training.com.au They do one on one sessions in addition to classes, there's quite a lot of excitable teenage gsps (and dobermans and huskies and all manner of excited big dogs that pull and need manners) in the classes so you wouldn't stand out or anything if you decided that way. He sounds like a very excited boy!

We had a Didi date for easter and...well, they had a blast... https://scontent-lax3-1.cdninstagram.com/t50.2886-16/12876488_1678355645750751_318065666_n.mp4 I got completely flattened like that poodle pancake :laugh: I've still got a bruise all up my leg It was lovely though :) We walked past lots of people and she was a good girl. Next obedience class I am attending the pets market afterwards! I go towards the end of the day when everyone is packing up and not as many around. She goes back to her very quiet worried self during this so am not as concerned about her squashing dogs, lots of opportunities to reward slow sniffs. I think the smooth collie will be there again, that dog really got her to loosen up and show some curiosity. The bichon x too, who is probably going to be our main "friend" to practice being gentle with little dogs. We got a treadmill too! She's been using it for about 1-3 minutes now but sounds like yours is electric? I got a self powereded one so it can go pretty slowly and she chooses the speed (and only one long enough that didn't cost $3k...this one was $15 on gumtree). There's no way to make an electric manual is it? Where it only goes when they pull? Another thought, is it cause he can see the ground moving, so if you get him to raise his head and "not look" - perhaps he'll be a bit more confident? I find her stride is better if she doesn't look down and realise she's going to "run out of space to run"

Thistle doesn't have to model for easter, I make these old buggers do it: And like all bunnies, they disapprove and want their dandelions :laugh:

I feed BlackHawk Grain Free and StayLoyal (all grain free), with various mixes of raw. I went with them because all the other affordable foods made her skin kinda flaky and her fur all coarse. They also had lots of corn and stuff. The emu oil in BlackHawk I think is good for the coat and skin I think

He's got half the height so has to do double the work! A great job :D

Awww well done to the little old man! I imagine he must lose contact with the ground quickly XD

And with Snooza you get a free repairs service + lifetime guarantee (you have to register for this. Bonus, they send your dog a birthday present every year). The initial price is expensive though. For single beds, check out your local salvos or brotherhood for discount ones?

Is there something else he likes more than food? For my first few lessons my dog wouldn't eat at all and spent most of the time on edge and cowering behind me - even with all the space between us and the other dogs/people - alas at 15 metres, her safe space, i cannot hear the instructor. So i stuck purely to calm/quiet praise and patting. But each time she was a little less stressed when "nothing happened" and started looking around as she got used to seeing the same dogs/people every week. By the 4th-5th week I could start rewarding with food. She wasn't relaxed by any means, but it made it easier to let her know it was okay. But I still have times where I need to step back and move us further away. I also find when she is up to eating food, scattering it around us encouraged her to move and relax a little. Imitation exploring. Yes there is so much to learn and so many ways! It can be intimidating. One thing I've been trying to do is only focussing on "the next step" instead of worrying about the entire journey to get where we want. We are still a ways off (makes my tummy do flips thinking how far to go, and how far we have come!) and sometimes there are set backs but each time is a little better as we get new habits. My current mental goal is for her to sit quietly while strangers (men) walk past. Getting there! I do hope you try positive k9 training, for the purely selfish reason that they have been working so well for me so I want everyone to be as helped as much as me XD and we can wave at each other from a huge distance (I am really enjoying the social aspect too. Nice bunch of people. Not something I specifically was looking for but turns out the social support here on the reactive thread and from the people at my training school have been invaluable. Especially after set backs :) ) Do you know LAT? I don't know the specifics of it but I've been doing a version of it I think - everytime my dog looks at something that scares her (that is far enough away she is only looking not freaked out) - I give a treat. The basic idea I think is that they learn to look at the scary thing (and nothing bad happens) and eventually associate it with positive/good things. This worked better for me with dogs than with people, even now I keep treats at my door incase of guests. This is why dog classes are good I think, because you can look at other dogs in a controlled environment and know trainers can step in if you're too overwhelmed (cause we can get overwhelmed too :) )

I'm also in the northern suburbs but I've been going out to kew to attend positive k9 training. I attend the group courses to build her confidence around dogs and to reduce reactivity/improve inpulse control - but before attending group courses reactive dogs get assessed in a one on one by the head trainer to see if they're ready to step into group sessions albeit with extra space. http://www.positivek9training.com.au You could contact them to see the best fit. There are 4 or so trainers and they get rotated around so you can see different approaches and methods. I like some methods more than others but they've all been beneficial in their own way. i have been learning a lot and she has really come far. Still a bit to go (also reactive to ppl as well as dogs but now I would say is more dog tolerant thanks to the classes) but am glad I joined. They're great at answering indepth questions outside of class too - ranging from texts, emails, Facebook and phone calls. I've had lots of questions as challenges arise :) Good luck!

Mine has this amazing power to stay out of focus!

Oh they're all so sweet. I have to wonder, is there a name for the opposite of a runt like with Thumper? A whopper?

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This thread is the whole reason I keep coming back, everyone is so helpful and supportive and give many types of advice to try! Malcolm sounds very lucky with all the work you have done with him, fingers crossed the prozac helps!

Thistle greeted a poodle (not sure the type, medium sized? smaller than her of course but not tiny) today. The first time just some nice calm sniffs, a bit reluctant to return to heel when I called her but she did. The second greeting I wasn't ready for as I was packing the mats away and the other lady told her dog to say goodbye (we are packing up in class) ...they sniffed...then Thistle squashed/jumped on her - I think rude play? She immediately got off the dog at my "OI!" and other dog seemed really confused/a bit stunned but not upset. I apologised of course, trainer and owner both said it was all alright. But I am still mortified! That now makes it 3 times she has done a squash/tackle on smaller dogs (and there's been times where she has tried but I've stopped it before contact). This one was the squashiest of them all! Poodle pancake! I think it is play behaviour (and not hunting behaviour), but it is really rude play behaviour! Am not sure how to stop this? Usually for greetings I have her sit first and I try to avoid greetings when she is excited or too many repeat greetings where she is "intense" (like how BC gets? She gets like that). Do you think for next lesson I should have us near the dog Thistle squashed and reinforce her for looking at it calmly? And perhaps dial it back to the 3 second sniff and only one sniff with that dog? I want to reinforce the good behaviour or guide her to not being a rude rugby player. Hypocrite of a dog. Doesn't like it when it's done to her, loves doing it to others. I am reminding myself of how polite she was with the mini poodle at the vet and to the bichon x at the market so I don't get all down again. She didn't squash those ones at least. It's just so rude! And can easily look bad or escalate from either dog I would think D:

Canine Bloat Study by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Michael A. Harkey,Beverly Torok-Storb, 3/15/16