Elbie, Hoover, Dodge & Friends!

[koalathebear]

patch doesnt sound like the right dog for them then

raz can still be destructive, but he is a working dog, so i expect that, i also give him things that he is allowed to destroy like boxes and drink bottles. If they put in a bit of effort they would have a well behaved dog, but working dogs arent for everyone IMO as you have to be willing and able to give them what they need

I hear this about a lot of dogs so I'm suddenly curious - are there actually any "easy" dogs? Sounds like all dogs need a lot of hard work.

It's bit like the intelligence thing. Growing up, I was told that dalmations and red setters were stupid but these days the intelligence lists seem to make it sound like EVERY single dog is smart, it's just a matter of whether it's "trainable/obedient smart" or "get stuffed human, don't expect me to perform like a monkey when I am an independent snob smart" :p

Edited October 15, 2010 by koalathebear

[KumaAkita]

Compeltely agree - Their kiddies really wanted a dog, but instead of getting a nice gentle "family" breed (oh, something easier to train, less exercise IYKWIM) they got a dog that needs 100% time committment! Last I heard, Patch was going to "the farm" because he wasn't the right dog. Their daughter said "that's ok, you can get me another dog" :p

the OH threw a cardboard box at Kuma the other weekend... he was so scared of the box and the noise it made he ran away. I gave him a small bit of the insides and he happily munched away.

That reminds me... do your dogs have any irrational fears? Kuma is deadly scared of alfoil being pulled out of the roll. Slinks out of the room scared.

ETA: KTB we must have been posting at the same time. I think there are "easier" dogs, not "easy" dogs. For example, from my understanding CKCS are easier to train and easier to look after than, say, an Akita. BUT - it doesn't mean they come out of the womb trained or "easy". There are "family friendly" dogs that fit in a pecking order well, don't fuss with the kids, enjoy sleeping on your couch... those kinds of things. Working Dogs require a bit more "work".

This is all IMO, not qualified or substantiated in any way

Edited October 15, 2010 by KumaAkita

[koalathebear]

ETA: KTB we must have been posting at the same time. I think there are "easier" dogs, not "easy" dogs. For example, from my understanding CKCS are easier to train and easier to look after than, say, an Akita. BUT - it doesn't mean they come out of the womb trained or "easy". There are "family friendly" dogs that fit in a pecking order well, don't fuss with the kids, enjoy sleeping on your couch... those kinds of things. Working Dogs require a bit more "work".

OH keeps maintaining that cats are less work so we should have got a cat despite my deathly allergies He has already decided that upon my death, he will go and buy 2 cats. :p

[dandybrush]

i agree with you kuma, honestly, the more work you put into a working type breed the "easier" they are to live with :p however the smaller breeds and calmer breeds bread as companion types do not need as much work though are still the better for it if you put in the time IFKWIM

[KumaAkita]

ETA: KTB we must have been posting at the same time. I think there are "easier" dogs, not "easy" dogs. For example, from my understanding CKCS are easier to train and easier to look after than, say, an Akita. BUT - it doesn't mean they come out of the womb trained or "easy". There are "family friendly" dogs that fit in a pecking order well, don't fuss with the kids, enjoy sleeping on your couch... those kinds of things. Working Dogs require a bit more "work".

OH keeps maintaining that cats are less work so we should have got a cat despite my deathly allergies He has already decided that upon my death, he will go and buy 2 cats. :p

Norty Mr Koala... I'm sure we can find you some good drugs to keep the allergies at bay. Sure, cats are easier - we had cats when I was a kid - but there's nothing quite like the devotion from a dog. Cats hang around because you dish out the food, dogs hang around because they enjoy your company**

** Again - all IMO. I am not relying on any professional studies or substantiated data to prove my point

[dandybrush]

:p

[koalathebear]

OH is naughty. He already picked out the names for the two cats. "Koala" (but my real life name) and "Stupid".

One small win. After 2-3 days, Hoover is getting better at his house-training. He walks to the kitchen door and while he doesn't bark to be let out, he licks the glass to let us know he wants out. :p

I can certainly say that my two puppies are a LOT of hard work and only to be taken on by the most crazycommitted of owners.

ETA: re tomorrow morning - hope everyone likes Jindi cheese.

Edited October 15, 2010 by koalathebear

[wuffles]

I was going to ask if you wanted me to bring some cheese and bikkies, KTB! We'll be doing the grocery shopping tonight so let me know if I should get anything.

We always say that Satch would be a great dog for an elderly person or couple. He likes to go for walks but if you don't take him he doesn't mind and doesn't get stir crazy. He's big but so gentle, they wouldn't trip over him! He has a few issues but most of those wouldn't be a problem if he could just laze around the house all day!

Greyhounds are also really easy dogs to live with in general. The one we fostered fitted in so quickly. We took her for a walk every few days but she probably didn't need it, and she got tired after 15 minutes. She walked well on leash, travelled great in the car, LOVED the crate, wasn't toilet trained but didn't have any accidents in the house anyway... just a sweet dog overall.

We had a CKCS growing up and boy was he an easy dog to live with! He was a totally inside dog, had free run of the house since he was a puppy. He never destroyed anything. His only bugbear was that he was a REALLY fussy eater, in his last few years he pretty much had to be handfed! Probably our fault though, he was spoiled Here is a pic (not a very ladylike pose, I know :p) of little wuffles with our CKCS Pokey and our friend's toy poodle, Sophie.

ETA: I see Wizzle lurking so I'm sure she'll like this pic!

Edited October 15, 2010 by wuffles

[Genabee]

I'm so jealous of all these people who don't have allergies and can have their doggies with them. _{Although doesn't that make it kind of awkward when you want to get romantic or do you just turf the poor dog out or cover its eyes and plug it into an iPod and no I can't believe I just vocalised that Thought Bubble. Ahem.}

:p KTB, don't worry, I have asked this question too... but on another forum!!!

I'm a mean Mum... We throw a blanket over her crate and hope for the best! A couple of times she has barked to be let out!!!! There is no way I would let her roam free in the room though - she would want to join in!! We only have to try and cuddle standing up in the kitchen and she gets all jealous! I can't concentrate shall we say, if she is there, so she gets thrown out and bought back in later, most of the time.

Sorry to keep it short, just had to reply to that. On my way out the door!

PS. Loving all the pics!

[koalathebear]

We're fine for snacks - maybe bring along any preferred beverages? :p

[Max#1]

Well we're safely home again now. Max seems fine. Didn't want to leave the vet - I had to carry him!!

He's been having a little lick of his stitches, and when I tried to move his head away, he actually had a little growl at me. That's not nice. They look all big and swollen and sore. We have an 'elizabethean collar', however I can't figure out how to put it on him. And yeah right in a dreamland, he's going to let me! Ha!

I gave him some food, and he devoured it. Poor hungry puppy. And to divert his attention from his 'pinched pockets' (what the vet nurse said...) I've given him some kind of bone to chew on. I put it in the crate, and he was happy enough to get it out of there after having a sniff. But wasn't going to stay!! That's okay, we take it slow. He's lolling around on his blanket now in front of the fire.

Oh I hope the licky thing doesn't get worse!!!!

Wuffles: that's so cute! We had mini poodles when we were young - they looked just like that!!!

I don't know what to say about easy vs difficult dogs. Its hard to know before you get a dog I think, what it will be like. And the owner-dog combination I think has a big big big influence on how things go. And just like people have different standards of cleanliness, people have different standards and expectations for their dogs - so its hard to judge objectively.

ETA: have a great time at the puppy-welcoming party too everyone who's going!!!!

Edited October 15, 2010 by Max#1

[aussielover]

patch doesnt sound like the right dog for them then :p

raz can still be destructive, but he is a working dog, so i expect that, i also give him things that he is allowed to destroy like boxes and drink bottles. If they put in a bit of effort they would have a well behaved dog, but working dogs arent for everyone IMO as you have to be willing and able to give them what they need

I hear this about a lot of dogs so I'm suddenly curious - are there actually any "easy" dogs? Sounds like all dogs need a lot of hard work.

It's bit like the intelligence thing. Growing up, I was told that dalmations and red setters were stupid but these days the intelligence lists seem to make it sound like EVERY single dog is smart, it's just a matter of whether it's "trainable/obedient smart" or "get stuffed human, don't expect me to perform like a monkey when I am an independent snob smart"

Yes.

My aussie Clover was a very easy girl. thank goodness as we had no idea what we were doing LOL. She was a dream puppy

She never chewed or jumped and was never trained using food. She was always well behaved in public as she had no interest in other people outside the family or other dogs. The only slightly naughty thing she did was try to herd us as a family if we did walks. She also preferred to walk behind us as i think she felt she was herding us LOL.

We were nice at at one stage when we were in the posiution, we gave her some sheepies and ponies to play with.

Great dog

Mindy is also easy but she is more of a typical puppy and we've had some minor normal puppy issues with her.

[aussielover]

Well we're safely home again now. Max seems fine. Didn't want to leave the vet - I had to carry him!!

He's been having a little lick of his stitches, and when I tried to move his head away, he actually had a little growl at me. That's not nice. They look all big and swollen and sore. We have an 'elizabethean collar', however I can't figure out how to put it on him. And yeah right in a dreamland, he's going to let me! Ha!

I gave him some food, and he devoured it. Poor hungry puppy. And to divert his attention from his 'pinched pockets' (what the vet nurse said...) I've given him some kind of bone to chew on. I put it in the crate, and he was happy enough to get it out of there after having a sniff. But wasn't going to stay!! That's okay, we take it slow. He's lolling around on his blanket now in front of the fire.

Oh I hope the licky thing doesn't get worse!!!!

Wuffles: that's so cute! We had mini poodles when we were young - they looked just like that!!!

I don't know what to say about easy vs difficult dogs. Its hard to know before you get a dog I think, what it will be like. And the owner-dog combination I think has a big big big influence on how things go. And just like people have different standards of cleanliness, people have different standards and expectations for their dogs - so its hard to judge objectively.

ETA: have a great time at the puppy-welcoming party too everyone who's going!!!!

Those e collars are so annoying to make up!!!

I'm sure max will make a quick recovery

[KumaAkita]

Glad Max is ok! Re crate training... Try K9Pro website for Steve's program. Easy to follow and works!

Dashing out now...

[Niques]

Wow, this thread fills up fast!

Glad to hear Mars and Max coped well with their surgeries! Fingers crossed they leave their stitches alone for you both.

KA, that's an interesting fear! Isn't it cats for whom you're meant to lay al-foil down along thresholds you don't want them to cross because they don't like the feel? I wonder if it applies to dogs. James has no fears...except (and this is getting embarrassing now, at his age ) he won't go downstairs. Hell, he has all sorts of stairs problems. He won't go up or down the external stairs that have no backing (i.e., it's just the flat slat to stand on), but will go up and down the crude rock staircase in the backyard. Still prefers to go around it, down the garden bed, though. He'll go up the internal stairs but flat out refuses to go down.

We didn't crate train James but basically achieved the same effect with his playpen. He now sleeps in his (enormous!!) soft crate in the bedroom. Technically, he's not allowed in the room unless en route to his crate, but somehow that holds no meaning for him at 5:30 in the morning when I've been awoken by a plaintive, "I'd like to do a wee", whimper. As soon as he's let out he starts sniffing around and hiding under the bed. Which is ridiculously cute, mind you - I've been meaning to get a photo of his Wicked Witch of the East (West?) impersonation, with his little legs just poking out. He normally starts off the night in his playpen and then gets moved when I'm ready to sleep.

Raz's colouring is really spunky!

And I've forgotten a whole pile of posts that I will get back to at some point!

I hope we get lots of photos out of the Hoover Meet 'n' Greet tomorrow!

[lilli_star]

Hee hee you girlies are funny And you've been so chatty again today.

So much to catch up on.

Hope Max and Mars are lounging comfortably and not feeling too sorry for themselves.

Roo is better today, but I've stuck to mashed pumpkin and chicken for now. Maybe tomorrow morning I'll give her a little more pumpkin with biscuits, then go to just biscuits and mince tomorrow night. Decisions, decisions.

Dreadful weather here today. When I left for school, Roo was still sitting in the rain, the silly doglet. I'm about to put her outside bedding in the dryer. I don't think we got as much rain as they thought, but with the wind it was blowing sideways, and got under the back garage door and there was water on the floor and some boxes got wet (nothing that important, just old school stuff), and the same thing in the laundry, but again no big deal as I have layers of newspaper on the floor under the cat's litter boxes (yes boxes plural. 1 cat, 3 boxes *eyeroll*). We're supposed to get worse weather through the night and tomorrow it's supposed to snow :p I'd really like to keep Roo inside for a lazy day, but she hasn't worked out that her Very Expensive Dogbed is for lounging in- any suggestions?

Max- how did your job interview go?

Re crates- I've had 2. The first one was from eBay and it wasn't til I unpacked it (the day I got Roo) that I realised it was not going to practical at all since it had a wire bottom. I made do with cardboard over the top and bought a much sturdier one about a month ago. It's heavier though too. I scoot it between the loungeroom and my bedroom on cardboard, which to be honest is ridiculous, but it's what I do. I'm SO glad I crate trained Ruby. It just made everything so much easier, especially since I have an inside cat who is not all that keen on being Roo's pal. I bought one of those Topbuy soft crates, and...it's still in its box in the garage My house just isn't big enough for it as well I don't think. Plus, I cannot be completely sure that Roo wouldn't want to destroy it. I could sell it I spose...

KTB, I hope Hoover has a better night tonight and the weather down your way is not as horrid. Hope your welcome meet and greet party for Hoover goes well. Would love to be there, if I didn't live here. Look forward to pics and videos though

Wuffles- weren't you a little cutie??! Hope you're feeling better.

Wizzle, hope you're doing okay too. Are you drinking lemonade and eating Saladas?

Hi to all I've missed. It's the weekend- yay!

[Clastic]

Max#1 - Hope Max rests well tonight and doesn't lick his stitches too much.

Well.. I'm a cruel cruel Mum.. or I'm sure thats what Mars thinks anyway.

Picked him up from the Vet's, he had his sad face on and looked rather snoozy.

Mars has an e collar on, or the vet called it the 'naughty collar'. She said she gave him a few chances not to lick his stitches, but he kept doing it.. so the collar went on.

He perked up after we gave him a few treats in the car on the drive home and he's almost back to his normal self. Poor boy is just trying to get around with the collar on and he keeps bumping it on things. The way he was looking at me while we were at the vets made me feel so horrible..

Poor Mars wanted to scratch his ear just then, but that darn collar was just in the way so I gave him a bit of a scratch. He's being a bit sooky now lying on the bed attempting to sleep with the e collar on.

A few pics of my sad puppy.. sorry the quality isn't great..

Edited October 15, 2010 by Clastic

[Niques]

This one has brilliant lighting:

"Greetings, Earthlings. I come in peace."

Poor boy! How long does he have to keep the collar on for?

Edited October 15, 2010 by Niques

[Clastic]

This one has brilliant lighting:

"Greetings, Earthlings. I come in peace."

Poor boy! How long does he have to keep the collar on for?

Well, he needs to keep the stitched area clean and dry.. depending on how he goes, he may have to keep the collar on for the full 10 days.

I'll see how he goes, if he stops licking I may take it off for him.. but I will most likely keep it on until the swelling has gone down.

[koalathebear]

yes coolies and kelpies are from the same beginnings, i believe. though i have been told that coolies are like kelpies only they have an off switch so all i have to say is nah nah

*cough* Behold what my two do every evening and a large chunk of the day ...

And yes, that's Hoover still encroaching on Elbie's bed. KumaAkita's letting us have Kuma's old bed so hopefully Hoover will start leaving Elbie's bed alone

Just give me a buzz when you take Hoover out to explore the world and I will bring Pepper along one Sunday, or even Saturday.. off-lead area will be better.

Will do. I was hoping to bring him to BDOC to play in the off-lead area after his second vaccinations kick in but OH seems to think that might be a breach of BDOC rules. Not quite sure how ... isn't everyone safe? Hmmm.

Those photos of Mars are golden. I just feel so sorry for him ... I'm so tempted to send a copy of one of them to Heike because she'd think it was darling. Poor Mars. He's got an: "I can't see my toes" expression on his little face ... 10 days seems awfully long!!

the OH threw a cardboard box at Kuma the other weekend... he was so scared of the box and the noise it made he ran away. I gave him a small bit of the insides and he happily munched away.

That reminds me... do your dogs have any irrational fears? Kuma is deadly scared of alfoil being pulled out of the roll. Slinks out of the room scared.

Elbie's fine with the noisy washing machine and dryer but the vacuum cleaner and electric mixer make him very nervous. He'll dart around the house, skittering in and out. He doesn't bark, just clearly ill at ease. Hoover on the other hand is as placid as a cow and even though he's never been socialised to barely anything because he grew up on a farm - he seems very unfussed by loud noises. When I was using the electric mixer tonight to make the cupcakes - I saw a flash of black as Elbie darted up the stairs. Then I saw red and tan. "Was that Hoover?" I asked OH.

"Yes, but he's not afraid - he's just following Elbie."

Our family dog Kitt was terrified of drains/grates etc and would walk around them in a very annoying manner.

Greyhounds are also really easy dogs to live with in general. The one we fostered fitted in so quickly. We took her for a walk every few days but she probably didn't need it, and she got tired after 15 minutes. She walked well on leash, travelled great in the car, LOVED the crate, wasn't toilet trained but didn't have any accidents in the house anyway... just a sweet dog overall.

I've heard that as well but a while back I read an extremely toxic thread about a failed greyhound fostering and it scared the crap out of me about greyhounds. Before then, I'd always been pleasantly disposed to them, hearing that previous racing greyhounds adapted well to a home environment despite having no prior socialisation etc. That thread made me want to run screaming for the hills.

I adore Cavalier King Charles Spaniels ... so cute and disapproving looking but I just couldn't see OH trotting around BDOC with a cav. Also .. Mini Wuffles? Soooooooooooooooooooo cute!!!!

He's been having a little lick of his stitches, and when I tried to move his head away, he actually had a little growl at me. That's not nice. They look all big and swollen and sore.

Oh no. Poor Max. Elbie's stitches were fine but I did worry he was going to try to unpick them like he unpicks his stuffed toys. Good luck diverting Max's attention - he is such an active, bouncy little thing ..

I don't know what to say about easy vs difficult dogs. Its hard to know before you get a dog I think, what it will be like. And the owner-dog combination I think has a big big big influence on how things go. And just like people have different standards of cleanliness, people have different standards and expectations for their dogs - so its hard to judge objectively.

This is absolutely correct. A while back, I was reading someone's profound frustration about a dog they had acquired and how it was lovely and smart but way too active and lively for them and so much hard work and blah blah blah. They could have been describing Elbie but while we think Elbie is entertaining and he keeps us occupied, on our toes and merry - this person sounded quite frustrated with her dog. So yes ... I could imagine that Elbie in the hands of someone else would be a rehoming candidate but we love him to bits - as does Mama Koala who doesn't even like dogs!