shekhina

Sorry about adding them one at a time...stuck on dial up until they reconnect my broadband Daegon:

Is anyone still making signatures? I would love to have one done of the three dogs for Christmas please if it's not too much trouble for somebody clever? These are the photos I'd like used please, and maybe having them wearing santa hats or something like that? Or you can be creative and do whatever you think looks good Kovu:

Very sorry Horus RIP Cleo

I have just had KC through all of my dogs here too. Daegon copped it the worst with spitting stuff up occasionally, but considering I think it ended up being fairly mild for them all.

So sorry RIP Sooty

Thanks, I will definitely be giving this stuff a go...first of all, I need to get Dad outta the house I think

Oh god, I am so sorry ;) RIP Ally

I guess the difficulty, that I see anyways, is that when I tell the dogs off they almost always listen and don't repeat the behaviour...the only time they don't is when they are so excited like when someone is visiting. So I think in those situations a blanket over the crate is a good idea I will give the body blocking a go too, thanks I hadn't thought of helping the kids teach them tricks. I don't know if much can be done with Kovu at the moment...he is VERY full on, and VERY prey driven...he is fine if it's just him and no distractions, but he's not a dog I would let kids throw a toy for. He's very good with me and will sit and look at my face for me to throw the toy, but he gets frustrated quickly and he may jump up at them. So toys+kids+Kovu = no ;) Daegon on the other hand is a big gentle boy, so long as he's not competing with Kovu for anything. I feel that Kovu and Daegon should not be together around the kids unless they are crated, they are big strong boys and will have possession scraps and I'm not going to risk anyone getting hurt. So total separation with the boys if there is any food/toys/cats/etc., but both can be with Jaida with these things and no issues there at all. I have tried to explain to the kids that Daegon is just trying to give them kisses because he loves them...they will giggle about it, but then will get back up on the back of the couch. I have had this problem in the past with these particular kids and Kovu when he was younger and even the cats...they were really scared of the cats. Problem was, when their father was around they were scared...when their father wasn't around they were asking me to put the cats on their laps ;) I am wondering if a similar thing is going on here, and if I can get their father out of the house for a while and have the kids and Daegon to myself if they would react differently and gain some confidence. That's just what I was thinking Pandii...that if the dogs learn to lay quietly on their mats while people are around that it'll help the kids settle and help the dogs curb their excitement. I so wish I had dogs who didn't react to people coming in the door (well trying to GET in the door ) How long can you expect this ignoring them when people come over thing to take until the dogs realise that bouncing around all over the place doesn't work? I think that's a really good idea, incorporating them teaching the dogs something and them being rewarded for it also. Daegon wont be going anywhere...I'll be shipping the kids off to you before Daegon! ;) I wouldn't allow the kids to feed the dogs. I need to feed both males together to get Daegon to eat, and I wont put a child in that situation where there is even a remote possibility of an argument. The dogs are trained to sit, wait and watch before given a command to eat, but dogs will be dogs. Jaida is not good with food either, she is a pig and may accidentally nip in her attempts to get at the food...although again, she is trained to sit, wait and watch...with direct supervision and her restrained it could be done safely. Daegon could certainly be fed by the kids on his own, same as Kovu...but then Daegon might stop eating again. Complicated I know! I could certainly trial having them fed separately, one kid for one dog, and see how it goes.

Thanks, I will try this I usually start out with the dogs in the crates, the kids are fine then. They are far more interested in playing with the cats though, so perhaps we need to make some time for learning how to be around the dogs without the distraction of the cats? Daegon will bark at people while he's crated, I think it's from excitement and demanding attention perhaps? He will not do this to me, he knows he'll cop it from me. When he does this to other people should I be the one to get stuck into him for it or should the people he's barking at simply turn away from him and ignore him? Ignoring him works for some things with Daegon, I find when he's really excited though that I need to verbally reinforce that he's doing the wrong thing. ETA: and what about Daegon being told off when he's not doing anything except walking near them, not being excited, nothing like that...just being there? I guess it's about training the kids as well, but how much can you really expect?

Thanks for the tips How do I go about curbing the excitement? The dogs do not jump on the kids, they (Daegon especially) just put their faces into them because they want to be close but that is scaring the kids. How can you just get the dogs to ignore them for the most part so that they're not so interested in getting so close to them? It would be nicer of course if they could all just get along, but I don't know how that's going to happen if the dogs don't stop with some of the excitement. From watching the dogs it's just at first, then they settle, they're the same with me. But Daegon can't even walk up to the kids and be close without them trying to get away and climbing onto the back of the couch. He's not doing anything wrong except standing next to them and wagging his stumpy stump. The poor dog is getting told 'no Daegon, no Daegon' every time he goes near them

I am moving house next Friday and I'm wanting to start off well by creating some new rules for the dogs. Now, I am a bit (or a lot) naughty, and I do allow my dogs to get away with things that other people might not...simply because those things don't bother me too much. Things like asking for a drink from an empty sink, or giving me a hug (jump up) when I ask for it when I get home, stuff like that...but this new place may have young kids (two 7 year olds and a 6 year old) moving in at some stage, so there's some stuff that needs to stop and I'm not sure how best to go about it. I guess the main problem is excitement and being very in your face...both boys are like that. Jaida isn't a problem, she's an older dog and is very calm, but the boys are very much 'hello there, I really like you, I'd like a pat now please'. Now they're only like this with other people, not me, they know they are to behave differently with me and they wont demand anything and they are calm...but when people come around it's like they've never been trained What's with that?! :cool: So...how do I teach the boys NOT to get too excited when people come around and NOT to shove their faces into the kids? The kids have said it frightens them so it has to stop, I'm just not sure what the best way is to teach this? I mean when I taught them not to do that with me it involved ignoring the behaviour but that's not going to work with the kids, it's been tried and the kids aren't getting it so the dogs are not learning. So what to do? The kids will be visiting regularly from when I move, so there will be times to practice things. Another thing I'd like the dogs to learn is to lay on their own mat in the lounge room while they're inside. I don't mean all the time, like come inside get on your mat and don't move, more if they're getting in the way they're told to go lay on their mat and they go, and they stay, and I don't have to keep telling them and they don't keep getting back up and annoying whoever. They are crate trained, but I do not want crates in the living areas anymore and I would much prefer they are on a mat instead of in crates. Oh, and how do you train three dogs for these things at once? Am I getting myself into a nightmare? ;) ;) Edited for typo.

Poor puppy sounds absolutely terrified!

Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear this RIP Max

So sorry to hear this shepmax RIP Zana

All three of my dogs have it at the moment, passed on from a stray dog (I HATE stray dogs ) through the gate. None of my lot have been anywhere near other dogs for weeks, so it could have only happened that way and the strays are everywhere Kovu and Daegon are not vaccinated for it, Jaida is...Jaida was the last to come down with it, but she has it none the less.

My dogs are not vaccinated against it, I choose not to. I'm not currently showing Portia, so they wouldn't have got it there. The last couple of weeks they haven't mixed with other dogs that I have seen either. But being the area it is there are stray dogs running around here all the time and quite often they come to my gate and stir my lot up...Daegon could very well have caught it like that. It breaks my heart to hear him coughing and looking unwell, hopefully he is better soon :rolleyes:

Thanks everyone for the advice

Thanks guys. It's impossible to keep him away from the other dogs here, so I guess unfortunately they will all get it. Hopefully it's all over with quickly for them.

I am so sorry to hear this Cassie, what an awful shock RIP Oakley

I've never had a dog with early stages of Kennel Cough, only a foster in the last few days of it, so sorry if this is kinda 'well der' Daegon has a kinda cough, it's more a wheeze/rasp outwards thing, but I guess a cough. He's shaking his head a bit with it, eyes are a bit watery but I think that's probably from the 'coughing'. He's not doing it all the time, I've just let all three outside for 5 minutes and I can't hear him doing it now, so it's only in bursts really. He still seems pretty happy within himself, he's even still eating and Daegon is fussy at the best of times, but obviously I'm concerned about him. I've left a message with someone to hopefully get him to a vet tomorrow to check that it's not something else. If it's kennel cough is there anything I should be doing? With three dogs it's probably going to spread to all of them I guess...if it does I'm really concerned about Jaida as she is much older than the boys...how do the older dogs go with it? ETA: have just done a very quick search (really need to get back to bed as I'm sick myself) and morgan has posted about using bryonia to help it settle, especially in the early stages. Has anyone had any experience using bryonia? I'll see if I can find some somewhere, Daegon was first coughing last night so hopefully it's still early enough.

I am so, so sorry to hear this GR :cry: RIP Sambucca

Oh that is is sad RIP swallow

So sorry Kaffy RIP Mac :rolleyes:

Such a beautiful old girl. RIP Belle :D

I am so sorry to read this RIP Kaeleigh