Lesley

Hi Kelly Yes Kelso is on Val's page. She is 6 months old as well. We are doing obedience but today Kelso was practicing disobedience which she came top of the class in!

On Monday we took Kelso to her first Christmas party. I was at the canine association where we take her for obedience lessons. It was a fun night with Santa being pulled on a sleigh by Alaskan Malamutes. We entered a few competitions one of which being a few jumps and weaving poles. We had to run the course with the dog and Kelso just loved it (as did I!!!). She also got to watch some expert flyballers in action. Can't wait until we start as it is so much fun!

I am interested in sheep/stock dog trials. We are in Australia (western australia) and I don't know where to begin. Any ideas?

As far as I am aware digging is a very natural habit for all dogs (some species more than others). Dogs dig burrows/dens to shade from the sun, shelter from the cold and raise pups etc. We have avoided the garden excavation by allowing Kelso to have her own where digging is permitted (although sometimes the area we want her to dig in and the area she wants to dig in don't match). We bury her toys in this area and sometimes even treats so that if we are not there to praise her she is still being positively reinforced. Other suggestions i have had (but never put into practice) is to put the dogs poo in the holes you don't want them to dig again or bury water balloons which will burst and frighten them. Also a guy I know with a Malamute used tabasco sauce on eggshells! Good luck

Im glad to hear i am not the only person who does not favour choke chains. We went to puppy classes and were advised to get one and the obedience classes we have started recommended them. I have never liked them and just put it down to a personal dislike. We prefer to encourage Kelso to come instead of choking her to our direction. What is the point in using positive reinforcement and then ruining all your hard work with a choker.

We just had our first experience of an Obedience class. Kelso just wanted to play and was really useless but we had lots of fun anyway. She is only 14 weeks but is not too bad at basic commands but really inconsistent. At the class there were some BCs in higher classes so we showed Kelso what we expect of her and I think she understood. We can't wait until next week to show mum up again!