Two Best Dogs!

I'm afraid some of the colours are kind of hard to tell apart, is it possible to maybe put some lines or patterns on some? Primarily the 3 offleash green-blues and orange-limited vs no-dog-ever-red? With some wrangling I see you can click on them, nifty! Great idea though! Now if only the info was easier to find and people would obey the signage/rules enforced enough that people do (not on your map but Point Addis is On Leash only, clearly marked...only leashed dog was mine )

I have woken up and immediately come to this thread to smile over Justice and Gruff. You go, little guys. I think blinkblink and dididog should get special "therapy dog for other dogs" medals or something XD For having such standout helpful pups with helpful owners.

I've been hoping silence meant good! Oh look at the two darlings! I hope the regular catch ups go well. What a set of champs. So glad for you two! Go blinkblink They're totally a matched set, and the little scampering at the end...

I would err on the side of caution before overreacting, the only concern I see here is the "trouble" statement (easily something I can see said offhand to make light of embarrassment) and putting him in the back of a ute on a hot day (but not illegal, possibly lives close by?). As someone who, when my dog got out and I was contacted, also had someone ask "what's wrong with her" because she came to me in a nervous little slink/tummy crawl - am not keen to jump so fast to the abuse judgement. I hadn't raised my voice, I've never raised a hand, she wasn't in "trouble" - nethertheless with strangers who had cornered her in the yard and called me, she came to me in that submissive-appeasement position...contrary to her usual recalls where she tries to knock me over. No doubt my finders had similar concerns to you but thankfully no-one called the RSPCA on me, even though at the time I was too flustered to explain she is simply a timid/scared dog and the difference/newness of the situation has put her into her crawling mode. Not all signs of a timid or nervous dog means guaranteed abuse or "beltings", food for though I hope.

She's not normally so skittery in public (these days) but she was giving some pretty clear "can we go back to the car now!" signs that I was ignoring: standing behind me, back to the person, pretending like they're not there. Not stiff as a board but personal space bubble bigger than usual. Her "I'm tired and at end of confidence lets go" stuff so I should have just respected that and ended the conversation and gone home but still a bit frazzled myself Will do that next time. I usually try to end before we get even close to that stage sorry thistle. I won't ignore you next time, you did great earlier in the day at the store and walking past construction workers and other dogs. A+ try Fingers crossed for justice and gruff to have a great relaxing time! You can do it justice!

I was dumb and dropped Thistle's lead while talking to a stranger in a new location, she immediately backed off about 3 metres - heart attack because 15 metres away was a pretty busy road! The stranger was very understanding when i told them to slowly back up about 4 metres and stay quiet/not a distraction so I could recall her. The little heart-attack inducer did recall perfectly once the stranger was over, albeit in a an uncertain belly crawling cower. Not because she was in trouble, just at the end of her confidence I think. Been a hell of a week for both of us and strangers in and out, wouldn't be surprised if she's picking up on my general unhappiness this week. Have to say, I'm really looking forward to classes returning in a steady manner, so we can get some kind of routine back and keep working on that confidence/obedience under "stress" Keep putting my feet in it with her this week, sorry Thistle. I'll be a better best mate now and let you relax some.

Thistle doesn't believe in treating water with respect, it's jump in or not at all: Y'know what, I might go fill up both shells right now, see what she does. (and one day I intend to fill it with icecubes!)

I hate acronyms ;) so I only have tiny little goals :) - proof recall away from exciting things like dogs, dididog, wallabies and rabbits <- priority - a nice close concentrated heel - to get sit, stand, drop, pivots both ways and back from a distance of 5+ metres - hold items in mouth while moving - stop barking at guests in the house - to get lifetime membership at my obedience class (we will BOTH need to pass advanced)

Party time for excersise! Important to have a hidden walkie spot, even if on long lead :p

about 30mins later she was back to her usual self! I've been focussing so much on proofing her behvaiour in places I take her to, I have overlooked proofing guests who come to us! The last set of guests were back in october x_x and not scary vet types. Major shock to her system i guess, silly baby. Looks like I will be having preapproved people over more often to practice with. Step 1: Ordering pizza delivery :p

A minor setback in terms of confidence for both of us: Mobile vet made it 2 steps into the house and Thistle immediately started cowering, peed all over her bed, started barking, peed next to the bed, moved far away into the corner, peed more then started growling from her cower. I leashed her and managed to encourage her to follow me into the yard. Poor pup was so scared almost into nonresponsiveness and seemed to struggle with being frozen. Hasn't overreacted to this level before, she went from perfectly happy to almost shutdown in the split of a second. Usually she just goes to her corner bed, no peeing or barking, and looks worried. Never had her growl at a person before :C Can’t believe she was that scared, even the behaviourist (big man, beard, beanie) isn't that scary. But I am glad that she growled, she's so quiet normally I was worried I had a dog who wouldn't warn when at end of the tether. The vet (here to vaccinate the bunnies) was understanding and is thinking she smells a lot like clinic/sick animals/the vet + it being in Thistle’s home versus a clinic where she expects it. (In the clinic she is tense, but not overly so, and stays quiet/calm. Later on we may try Thistle meeting the same vet BUT in the usual vet surroundings to see if it was that vet in particular or the "clinic smells invasion" or the typical vet outfit in Thistle's house. (Thinking it being home ground made her fear so extreme?) After vet left, Thistle took a lot of coaxing to get back in the house and has been slinking around making sure the vet is gone. I am just so sad for her. Not even 2 years old and so scared. I keep forgetting that what she might be okay with on the street/outside the house is different when brought into her own home. I feel so bad for inadvertantly contributing to her being so scared. She peed 3 times! in like 30 seconds tops! On the plus side, rabbits are vaccinated and in good health. If old, with old age related mobility issues. - Edit, had a chat with the behaviourist. Going to start really working on her guest behaviour. The run down is this: - she goes to her bed and she stays on the bed, calmly and quietly - shove treats in mouth, like a bed based LAT - when dog is on the bed guests do not talk, look or interact with her (i already have this rule but worth restating I think) He did agree the peeing as soon as the vet came in the door is a bit abnormal. I also just realised her bed, the safe place, wasn't available for her to retreat to as it's currently still being fixed - so is in the middle of the floor.

That's absolutely teeny! Baby and toddler clothing might be worth consideration? A friend had to put a shirt on his whippet to get him to leave his stiches alone. Was much calmer with the shirt than a cone. (we wondered if maybe it also worked the way a thundershirt is meant to)

Could you perhaps put a longsleeved shirt/trousers (I've missed which leg it is) on her that covers up the plaster? Or is she not the type to tolerate clothing?

You do realise that people were yelling at us for our dogs weeing? Would like to see you scoop up a wee. Between reading your comments, then driving home and thinking about dog poop and then typing up mine I forgot...

I've never been yelled at myself but then I'm quick with the poop bag so I guess no-one has felt the need. Or maybe aside from not picking up, people around here give benefit of the doubt? I'm not sure, I have yet to see someone else's dog taking a dump so idk if they'll just be embarrassed or rude if I confront. It's a ninja! Or a walk-and-pooper? I just finished doing another load of "spray" with hopefully dog-nose-offensive eucalypt/oil/water and lavender essence now that the rain has stopped. I'll do another batch tomorrow then once a week. MRS RB, I have heard that napthalene is bad for doggies? I don't want to harm them. Just move them along. - - - - - - Days with out strange dog poop: 1

It could be a very small child with bowl issues I probably shouldn't discount that :laugh:

Update, So I used the citronella and it's been good for about 3 weeks, but could also be coincidence because it was only happening every few weeks. This week it has happened THREE TIMES that someone has let their dog shit there and not picked up. I'm narrowing it down to weekdays, and today sometime between 11 and 12:20. It could be one owner with one dog, or multiple owners with varying dogs. I'm seriously miffed. It's raining so I'm assuming I need to top the citronella up again but there's no point in such a big downpour. I don't want to have to sit at my window trying to catch the culprit(s) so I can run out and tell them off! I also don't want to be that person to have to put up a sign but I'm considering it. I'm gonna try vinegar and eucalypt oil in hopes the smell will get it to piss off. Spot test with the dog, she hesitated then went around the grass in the backyard I sprayed with the mix. Have sprayed it around the border of my strip.

OMG go Justice!!! And we'll done Didi, she is such a gorgeous dog <3

This might help....Greyhound, Whippet, Italian Greyhound A little bit, they're awfully similar! I'm going to try to go with pointy nose and more...whatever pose you call the IG is in. I could maybe pick them out in a lineup but on their own... XD 2 big puppies! They're going to be so fat XD all the milk

Those sound like some very fine differences I don't yet have the eye to recognise :p I will try though hahah

psst, Neko is an Iggy (italian greyhound) :) Don't worry, I don't know if I would necessarily be able to tell the difference just from photos either :) Its very obvious when you see them in real life as Iggies are just so incredibly petite! It's an easy mistake to make if you haven't had much contact with the breeds. Hell, I even got t-shirts made! http://www.redbubble.com/people/whippeteer/works/15918685-its-an-italian-greyhound?ref=recent-owner Haha I am sorry! Yes you are right, I haven't had much contact so I struggle to tell the difference It appears your shirt is down so I cannot properly laugh at myself With photos, what would you say is the quickest way to tell difference between the iggies and the whippets? Since it's hard to see the height. Oh poor Arky

I didn't even try getting a dog until I bought a house. I had enough landlords "change their mind" on the rabbits that I didn't want to risk a dog. It took 10 years to save up for the house. Believe me if I could, I would have had a dog over a decade ago.

Oh no Ness Is Lira okay? Thanks Snook, we did some quiet LAT at the store today to, idk, reinforce our "bond" or whatever you want to call it. To remind myself she's doing well, that leaving her alone with different people is not something we have worked on so of course she's hesitant. She let strangers walk past her with minimal side eye and no trying to move out of sit or behind me. She sniffed a dog that looks like this. But it had I think naturally short fur? It was a cute dog, I feel like we're slowly getting down to polite on lead not-squashing greetings with littler dogs. Dididog is going to practice long lead doggie recalls since Didi has amazing recall and I can use the guidance :p It's also nice that I can take the time to actually look and admire another person's dog.

Monchichi Since you know where they live, you can report it to your council and they'll likely give them a warning and possibly a fine. Not with my dog, but my housemate's dog, we had a similar situation where someone kept letting their dog run around and it would run across the road to bark and nip at my housemate's dogs. It got me on the leg once too (I was dogless at the time) I got so irritated I reported it. Never saw it allowed loose in the front yard again (the kind of decorative fencing with wide spacing a dog can easily fit through). It was a menace to everyone and itself. When you report to the council, and you can check if it helps you, they do not reveal your details to the person. They just say they had a report. If it's happening often, chances you're not the only one being rushed so it'd be hard to pin it down on you exactly. If possible I would also stop walking locally, sounds like you have a dud street

I do my best to avoid the time slots of those lazy owners who walk around the pathways with their dogs off lead. I don't care if their dog is jesus reincarnated, they are being selfish and preventing the rest of us from also walking our dogs. It's very irresponsible. For the offlead dogs I haven't managed to avoid, I throw some of our treats on the ground and turn around and walk away very fast (I practice "turn" with the dog a lot). Soon I will probably start yelling at them. I like Roova's idea too :p