rastus_froggy

I read the other thread on re-homing dogs too, it really got me thinking and I have spoken to a number of people about it since coming up with some varied opinions. Personally I could never do it, I become WAY too attached. With both the dogs I currently have I knew from the first moment I saw them that they were the right dog for me. One I saw on the net, as a 2year old, since getting him he has had issues - only 2 actually but one was MAJOR and for this he has had therapy(yes you may think now that I am crazy) BUT I took him on as a rescue dog, not knowing anything of his past and I felt it was my responsibilty to work him through his issues. He has turned out to be a great dog with lots of work. But I hold nothing against anyone who rehomes their dogs as Im sure they all have good reasons and make sure that they go to great homes. I would never cut it as a breeder I would end up with WAY toomany dogs.

When I got Hoshi my cockatoo she didnt like me, and it was about a week before she even thought I was ok to get a feed from but honestly it was the longest week of my life. Everytime I went near her cage she would screech at me, I really wondered what I had gotten myself into. She turned out great even though it was only a short time I had her. You and Joshua will bond, just give it time.

My heart goes out to you, Tudor is now running pain free in beautiful green pastures. He sure was gorgeous boy, you were blessed to have him.

3years ago I lost my young cockatoo Hoshi, to beak and feather disease. I had her for seven months, people thought I was an idiot as I was devistated, even the vet didnt get my reaction to the announcement of her death and asked me if I wanted her to put IT in a plastic bag. AHHH Birds are super pets, three months prior to Hoshi's death I got Froggy my staffy, I dont know how I would have made it through without her. Keep strong Moses and Rusty are now together looking out for each other and you. Maybe you could get in touch with the local vets and see if there are others who have lost pets who may like to get together, maybe not as good as councilling but might help.

To many people what I have achieved this year would be unimpressive to them, but to me they have been major achievements. I completed a few agility courses in trials!!!!!!!! In the previous year when I started competing we never completed even one course, my Froggy gets so hyped up and goes absolutely balistic. We this year even got a few firsts, but the elusive(sp) clear round is still to come.... NEXT YEAR for sure This year we also started working on tricks, they are going SUPER!!!

Mitch was a true champion who I had the pleaseure of looking after while TB was out of action, he was the BIGGEST mal I have ever met also the oldest. And man did he LOVE to play!!! He had these massive feet and would just bound after the toys and then squish it into the ground with his foot then plonk his whole body down on top of it. RIP Mitch Love you Buddy

Unfortunately my friends dog crossed the bridge last night, some problem that undesexed females can encounter, they lost her during an op at 2am, so im now sending this on to them.

That is so beautiful, thank you for posting it.

Kozpink, my heart goes out to you, this is the first time I have read this thread and I cant stop crying. It is so hard when you lose one you love so much, I lost my Rotty last year, he was nearly 13. Even though its inevitable, we never really believe that they will ever leave us, it is not easy, but it will become easier. I hope your rescues are doing well,

I believe they are after adventure, I have 2 staffies, the female is a very curious little thing, I cannot walk past one person in the street with out her having to look at them and wag her tail at them. She jumps on fences to look into yards, sticks her head into driveways to see if theres anything exciting there, and you may say that this is bad, she is not well trained, she is not focused on me BUT...................... I would not change her for the WORLD!!! I love her dogonality!! She does agility and yeah sometimes she gets sidetracked by the judge who she wants to play with or the person on the side line eating hot chips but I wouldnt change any of that either!!! I love her just the way she is.

Is that an ANKC trial? (or NSWDOGS or whatever they call themselves now) Or is it with one of the other associations?

At the moment they hang on the fridge but I have a large picture frame that i intend putting the ribbons and some pics into (we are new to this whole ribbon winning thing so we only have 2 ribbons and a rosette - but they are all 1sts!!!) I must say it really has been worth the wait for them though - as we either come 1st or are eliminated, there seems to be no in between with my little girl.

Great to see that you are training her!! It is funny how most people dont think it is necessary to train small breeds. One of the best dogs at my dog school is a 3kg maltese, she is gorgeous (and tiny compared to all the big dogs in the class!!) Go for it All dogs need training not just the big ones

Agility is my favourite!! We are far from being great at agility but we love it :rolleyes: I am kind of saddened by the fact that one of my dogs just doesnt enjoy it :p but he enjoys obedience. My fave tricks would be the ones they do together (as i know that they were the hardest to achieve) Saxon stands while Froggy jumps over him then Froggy stands while Saxon crawls under her - which is kinda funny coz he barely fits under her, originally the plan was for her to jump over him then for her to crawl under him but she doesnt enjoy crawling as much as he does. I mainly use clicker, marker word, toys and a bit of luring.

Thats one thing i could never do is to lose it with my dogs, i know that their "faults" really arent theirs... they are mine be it by wrong commands or lack of training!

Once i was running towards the tunnel and said (having a blonde moment) OVER... it really surprised me but my Froggy actually listened... she cleared the tunnel straight over...

Hugs to you, at such a difficult time. I rather like this "As a human I was not worthy of your trust and devotion but you gave it anyway, and so much more. I pray I will honor your memory by treating every animal that crosses my path with the same honesty and loyalty that you gave me. Rest well my dear friend until it is time to meet again."

Some of the different things that have been sprung on us are things like, the instructors son (who usually sits on the side line) may ride his trike through the class. Sometimes we make 2 lines facing each other the 1st dog on each line heels down the centre and the instructor may be sitting crouched over on the ground in the centre of the walkway, or she may sit there with a n open box of biscuits and shake them as the dogs walk past. One instructor we had got us to leave our dogs in a drop, she wandered through the calss then called her dog who was on the opposite side of the class(our dogs are all solid on their stays) mind you she did do this without warning us, i would have appreciated a little warning though. Will have a think about whatelse they have surprised me with.

This is for my obedience club Best *Most of the ppl are great!! *I like the way that the instructors spring new stuff on you (i've been there bout 2 yrs and they still pull out new challenges) *fun sometimes Worst *You can never guarantee that when you turn up there will enough instructors for the number of classes (which quite often results in ppl from your own class instructing your class, it doesnt worry me tho when ppl from the top class instruct lower classes) *Didnt like it in the beginning when first learning you would have one instructor tell you something and then the next wk you'd have a different instructor and they would tell you that what you were doing was WRONG and it was exactly what the previous instructor had said to do - i get it now that REALLY both instructors are kinda right because different stuff works for different dogs and handlers. *It makes me sad to see such bad retention rates which i feel is due to lack of encouragement from some instructors

I had my first true experience this morning with my dog toileting on command!!! I was so excited!! We have been working on it for about 6 wks and today was the very first time she did it as soon as i gave the command, usually i just do the following around til its time. Thank you so much for this thread, i had no one all day to express my excitement to, as the ppl i work with just dont get it.

Hi, I have trained Froggy for the 2 years since i got her ($10 yearly membership + $3 per wk - bout 45 wks a yr) so about = $145 yr so roughly $290 on obedience. Probably 25wks a year for agility (done for bout 1 year $7 per lesson)$175. Well worth it I feel (and I STILL think its incredibly cheap!! I love dog school!!)

hehe... I always thought ours was really cheap, but compared to some its not (although i do still think it is incredibly cheap ) $10 membership per year plus $3 per week but isuppose that does include a lucky ticket draw each week which usually constsit of a 5kg bag of dog food + a dog toy and at break time we get a cuppa and biscuits. Agility is about $7 per lesson(no yearly fee), but that is not done at the same club.

Great way of getting a dog ready for stand for examination MrsD Will be taking that one 2 dog school with me 2moro!! Thanks!

With the clicker training i dont always have my dogs associate a click with food, it can be with treats such as play, dont know if this is sticking to the "rules" but it works for me! And when i train it isnt always with the clicker, sometimes they get praise, sometimes food and sometimes play. Whatever you find works for you keep going with it and never be afraid to try new things!!

Yeah hard situation, i know that where I train they dont mind if u train with a check chain or flat collar, when i got my staffy X something big, he was 2 years of age, very strong and had never had any work done with him. I wanted him to wear a halti at dog school and i was really scared that they would object, a few of the teachers didnt like it but i stuck to my guns and he kept waering it, i have noticed that others now have started using them. It may be difficult but i would continue turning up with just a collar, remember positive reinforcement, that is when your dog does something correct praise or treat it, if it does a behavior you dont desire ignore it. Perhaps you could look into clicker training since you cant give food treats at you dog school. Dont give up, do lots of training at home and i find reading training books and articles a great help :rolleyes: