Aroura

I'm excited! :D Make sure you give us the link as soon as its up :angel:

Oh no, this is getting all to confusing for me!!! :lol: Can I just have my Milva now? :lol: :wink:

I don't even know what brand it is!!! :lol: I just bought it with all intentions to swap it for a black dog next week, as they had run out of black dogs in Lilys size and just gave me this one for the meantime. It fits her fine and she's used to it so I think I'll stick with this one thank you! It was only $9, black dogs are $23. Donna is doing fine on hers too. To get them used to it just get them in a calm mood and put it on them so they hardly even notice it, give them treats etc until they are used to it. The first time you take them out they may paw at it, don't let them because if they realise they can get it off they'll just do it again and again, instead, if they go a little crazy, get their attention, get them into a sit and just keep giving them treats, one step, treat, another step, treat. soon they realise it wont hurt them and if they just walk nicely its more pleasant for them and walla, no more tuggin! Glad to hear my story has inspired some others, its definatly kinder than having them pulling and choking themselves too :wink:

Good to hear you found the book! Even though its an australian book its not in any of the book shops here and you have to order it straight from Dr Ian Billinghurst himself. I just havn't got the money to buy it right now plus I am right in the middle of reading Raw Meaty Bones Promote Health by Dr Tom Lonsdale. I'm going to ask for it for christmas though! :lol: Cassy, about the brown splotches, I know exactly what you're talking about! We thought our poodle cross was naturally brown and grey with a bit of black, since the switch we have realised that underneath it all she was always meant to be a black dog!!! :lol: Its funny in a way, but thinking of the ill health that she must have been in due to commercial food to get that way is a rather sad though :-?

I just wanted to say that I bought Lily a halti collar yesterday and as well my friend gave us one for Donna. Donna hasn't used hers yet but I took Lily on a little walk earlier to see how she went and after about 5 minutes she was an angel! She was heeling perfectly and I hadn't even asked her to! And when we got home, instead of ripping my arm off to chase the cats she calmly walked besides me like any good little dog! We also walked past a few dogs that she normally would have gone ballistic at and she just walked on as if they were just a stick on the path or something. It was like heaven compared to our usual walks!!!! :) I am going to use Donnas for Tess at training. Training with Tessa is a nightmare, its also rather embarressing. She wont even look in my general direction despite me waving treats in front of her face. I hope this works because otherwise I am just about to give up on her. She's an angel at home but at dog training is a different story and I'd really like to have as much fun with her at training as I do with Lily. If it works I'll buy her one of her own 8)

Thanks Goo, some very good suggestions there :) I havn't been feeding her near the bag, as the dogs all get chained up in the yard at meal times to eat their bones, but what I have been doing is just having the bag in the room, distracting her attention from it and if she does see it, she sees it. It doesn't go away and it doesn't hurt her either, she's free to either approach it or leave it and go to my bed and sleep. Its always in a different spot and I havn't been trying to get her to approach it with treats since the first time she saw it and freaked out so badly but I think she's getting used to its presence now. It seems so silly trying to desensitise a big buff boxer from a little brown bag! :lol: She did go and sniff it last night, after running in and it was in the loungroom between the chairs. Thats a good start. She is progressing and honestly, I would rather her to get used to it than put it away, its one of those fears she should be able to get over and I want her to know that she is safe and the bag wont hurt her. As they say here in aus, "she'll be right mate!" :lol: :drinking:

Yeah, so true Rowie, its getting cheaper every year and is no more trouble than a yearly vaccination, just slip it in and there you go, lifetime security that you wont loose your dog! Wouldn't it be cool if they also had tracking devices built in? Think of what you could do, if it were law that all dogs were micro chipped they could track down illegal pit fights and every thing. Pretty cool idea if you ask me :wink:

Thats interesting Courtneck, I don't think I'll pay to get it cleaned though, its real 60's and kinda, uh, unique? so I'm not sure if I'll really ever wear it, or at least not enough to worry about paying to clean it. Peng1z, I've seen those "toys" in those discount shops here, I'd never get one!!!! That is the sickest idea, the worst thing is alot of the people who make this type of thing actually catch and kill peoples beloved family pets, so they can make it look like the same thing, only deader and sell it for a couple of bucks. I know what you mean about the rubber hazel, I have the same thing with my rattie, if he smell something he wants he will go to any length to get it! Its funny because he's so small, yet so persistant... :lol: Despite everything, its kinda cool having a "mysterie" bag in the house! :lol: :wink:

Yeah I've been sitting through the whole thing as the plot unfolds, its so cool to hear such a story first hand... imagine you were the owner!!! I'm in love with that dog...

[quote name='Kaleb124']Hubby wanted to get Kaleb a big STEAK! I thought it was funny. So now Kaleb will have to "suffer" through eating a 12 oz sirloin. Poor Guy! :lol: [/quote] LOL, some people are such softies!!! Dads cat, a gorgeous Siamese, Meeko, has got the most beautiful coat on him and is rather pudgy for a Siamese seeing as every body in the neighbourhood has fallen in love with him and feeds him cheese and steak every day!!! :lol: Its good to hear things are all going as well as planned. As for the books, are you getting Ian Billinghursts give your dog a bone? Although all raw methods of feeding give comparitivly good results compared to kibble, I've heard alot of good remarks about "Give Your Dog a Bone" and although I havn't been able to get my hands on it yet, when I do I'll spend all my time reading it until I'm through! And i wish I could find whole chickens at that price!!! Gosh, meat here is so expensive, if I lived an hour away I could buy it directly from the wholesaler but unfortunatly I have to spend inflated supermarket prices. Fortunatly I know the manager of one of the local butchers very well, well enough that I get in trouble with him if I don't go to pick up some free bones every week :oops: :lol:

About that last link to the raw feeding list, substitute rawfeeding for rawdiet and I'm sure you will find a MUCH friendlier, more accepting list. The attitude from many of the people in the rawfeeding list almost turned me off BARF completly, if I didn't know better I would have forgotten about the whole idea there and then, but the rawdiet list is so much friendlier and the people are a lot more knowledgable. I have left the rawfeeding list and now am just a member of a variety of other lists :D

Huskeys and Border Collies are two breeds they are most likely to have blue eyes, so I'd say Lab crossed with either of them. The best way to tell if he's more likely part husky or border collie is by looking at his temperament, both breeds have very different temprements.

It could have something to do with the breeding. I intend to show mine so hopefully after paying a fortune for a good dog and feeding it a BARF diet (makes dogs shed less) shedding shouldn't be too much of a problem! They are so cute, the more I think about them the more I want one now!!! Need... will.... power... I was actually thinking that once i move out and have a steady income I might see if I can find one to rescue before I think about showing and breeding, there's no way better to find out about a breed than to own one, and in the process I'd be saving a life! I want to rescue one now, but I think 4 dogs in one house is quite enough... maybe when Claire takes her dog I can think about it more seriously. I don't want to breed until I'm absolutly certain I will have enough money to do it properly and only breed 100% quality dogs. I looked up Papillion breeders on the Royal NSW Canine Counsil page and there were only two registered breeders in Aus!!! Bentley, how long did the little fella live for? And did he have any hereditary problems?

Just thought I'd post this link from another forum I'm in, havn't yet reached the end of the story (story still hasn't ended, you'll see what I mean) but its looking up right now. Go see it for yourself, its storys like these that put a smile on my dial that lasts a week :D [url]http://forums.dogzonline.com.au/index.php?s=61dc45c7bfe7f6ea376ccaebc7e4b01c&act=ST&f=6&t=3517&st=0[/url]

I got the information from my trainer who has just been to a seminar on dog aggression down in sydney. I wish i could have been there but it was right in the middle of my exams. I'm not sure about the whole letting them sort it out amoungst themself thing, I guess it depends on what you mean by it. If i were to let Lily and Tess sort it out amoungst themself I'd probably end up with a dead dog and loose an arm in the process. I have to know what triggers their fights and stop it from happening before they even get in the situation where Lily is eying Tessa, because once that happens and a fight does break out unless there is someone with me who knows what they are doing there is no way i can break them up alone, it is simply physically impossible. Last time I was with a friend who didn't jump in STRAIGHT AWAY and Tessa nearly lost an ear. Favouring Lily because she is obviously the pack leader only makes her worse, as does favouring Tess because she is the older dog, as Lily only wants to fight more if Tessa is consistantly favoured. This is why I am doing these exercises, to teach them that it is OK for the other to be priveleged as they will also be priveliged if they wait their turn.

Apparently the old idea that you should feed, pat, play with etc the dominant dog is just that - an old idea. The new theory is that because dogs have been domesticated for so many years they have lost much of their pack order instincts and should be treated equally. Lilys trainer came over to talk to me about Lily and see her in her home environment. She also suggested a few exercises I should try with her. Seeing as she is "status seeking" and is mostly aggressive over me she suggested that I get all the dogs and take turns in taking one of them away at a time and playing with them while someone else holds the others on leads, distracting them with treats. This should be done in a random order each time. Also she suggested letting the dogs inside in random order, making the others wait unil it is "their turn". I think the key here is to do everything randomly, do not "favour" one over the other and don't let them think either one is of higher rank. If a fight does occur, get the dog at fault and rouse on it, standing over it and making it back off so you are completely dominated and that they know that what they have done is wrong, then isolate them for a time. If both dogs are at fault do this to both of them. Keep us posted, and good luck!

All 4 dogs and both cats are chipped! It costs $22 to get it done at the pound, registration is a different matter....

Ahh, you just can't win with some people huh? I remember when I was a kid, all those mothers who thought their kids couldn't do anything wrong always had the biggest brats who got into more trouble than the rest of us put together!!!! I'm just glad it all worked out fine in the end, you of all people deserve to keep your reputation as a "good dog mum". I hate it when other people land you in trouble and then aren't even there when the shit hits the fan!

I think it was his school bag, though I've heard storys of them hunting rabbits and foxes, maybe they did it after school? LOL, its kinda freakin me out! I think I'll put it away whenever Lilys around, the other dogs aren't phased by it anymore though :-?

Thanks for the link Sanvean :D Every time I look up Papillions in Australia I only ever get two or three tops links to Papillion breeders in Aus. I think they are still pretty rare here because I've only ever seen two in real life and have never seen an ad in the paper for them! Apparently one held the title for agility championships one year, thats what I like, a lap dog who you can do sport with!!! :thumbs:

Thats what I was thinking. Its just so weird!!! Lily isn't scared of anything, but this bag!!! It didn't phase Tessa and I could even get shy little Puddles to get over it. Maybe its Lilys protective instincts coming through, being a guard dog breed, maybe it makes her more determined when she does find something she doesn't like?? :watpliwy:

It sounds pretty serious, I'd take her to the vet. Is she having trouble breathing? If she is that swollen around the face she is probably finding it difficult to breathe, especially with that short nose, take her to the vet asap or she may very well suffocate!!!!

Yeah come on guests, join the family!!!! Your pooches will love you for it, but do prepare to become addicted :evil_lol:

This is crazy. I've got this bag that was given to me by my Uncle, its old and leather and for the first time the other day, the dogs saw it. Donna saw it first when Lily and Donna were on my bed, as was the bag. I picked up the bag to move it and Donna just went crazy!!! She was barking and carrying on so much that she woke Lily up. Lily saw it and just went off her tree!!! So there I was, in my room with a bag in my hands with two dogs going mental, growling, barking, tail between their legs. So I brought the bag out to the loungroom where Puddles saw it and quick as a flash was under the chair, barking and quivering. Long story short, with cheese and coaxing I got Puddles and Donna to explore the bag and now it doesn't bother them... but Lily!!! No way, all she would do for the next hour despite all the coaxing in the world was sit under the table with this low menacing growl, her hackles up and her tail between her legs until I brought her back in my room and closed the door. That happend the other day and since then I've spent hours trying to convince her it isn't going to hurt her but the look in her eyes and that hound from hell bark she does every time she see's in is just un explainable. I would just put the bag away and leave it at that but I know that fear of that sort is unhealthy for a dog and I just want her to know its ok. She saw it through the window about two hours ago, and despite taking it out of her view she is still sitting outside with a low growl. How can I show her that it isn't going to hurt her? I've never seen anything like the way she is right now, its almost scary... :scared:

That sucks big time Courtneck. Thats one thing that REALLY pisses me off, when people come to YOUR HOUSE and expect you to put your dog out for them. Where do they think they get off? No offence to your sister but that kind of stuff really gets to me.