Lawgirl

Oh he is adorable! Puppy fluff overload!

If fetch is a very high value reward, you can use a couple of throws of a ball or toy as an extra special reward when she has been very very good, or to signal that this is the end of a training period, but it is very important to be consistent with whatever you decide to do. And you must control how long you play for. A couple of throws, and then the ball or toy goes away, and does not come out again until you decide it is time, not in response to her puppy dog eyes, lol. This is also because fetch involves a lot of sudden acceleration and deceleration, and twists and turns, which is not always good for a growing puppy's joints. I would consider teaching her to tug rather than to fetch, if you can.

Attachment and bond building is not just a one way street - it is about interactions and making yourself someone and something that is interesting and rewarding. You build your bond by having frequent interactions that are rewarding for the puppy. Quick little sessions of trick training (even as simple as luring her into sitting, rewarding and making a fuss about her) several times a day, gradually adding in new tricks (e.g.down, roll over, give a paw, sit pretty, bark on command and so on) where you reward for success and always always end on a positive. Talk to your puppy, even if you are not really asking her to do anything. Play with her, but keep control so that she does not get obsessive. You do not need to give her constant attention, that builds up to a new potential problem, and dogs need to learn to handle time outs and alone time, as like toddlers they can get overwhelmed and throw a tantrum, but attachment is a thousand little interactions, communications both verbal and by body language. It can take time, so do not expect it to happen overnight. Work on a gradual build up of trust. And we have BCs who like to sleep all day, but will still follow us around as we go from room to room and sleep in the room we are in, or keep us in sight where they are sleeping, and wake up when we move. This does not necessarily mean they are not attached. For example, all four BCs were in the same room as my partner yesterday, but all asleep and not all in arms reach. The one by himself and furthest away is incredibly attached to my partner. You may have been lucky enough to get a puppy with a natural off switch, rather than the stereotypical constantly hyperactive BC. She will still be active when out, but switch off when there is no 'work' to do. PS we had to get an extra larger couch because of our dogs.

Welcome to the Boards! Quincy looks like a real sweetie - I love his ears at the moment, although they will likely change as he grows. You have all the fun of "What will I do with my ears today?" ahead of you.

I do so love puppy pictures!

Yay mol for early success in different types of training! That effect you have noticed where her brain switches off after too much fetch is not good, and to be avoided at all costs. Nosework is a really good way to work the mind. You can work up to hiding a toy or treat somewhere in the room, or in the house/apartment and having her go searching to find it. Another suggestion is to google agility foundations. These tend to be game type activities, which, even if you never intend to train her to compete in agility, will work her mind and build up core strength, hind end awareness, etc, which is all good. There is also "101 things to do with a box", which is a range of tricks to train using captured behaviours around a box, again which works her mind. Then, after a short training session (do 5 to 10 minutes only, but you can do it several times a day) and her brain has been worked, then train her to stay on a mat, or in a crate, or anywhere that can be her designated place, quiet and still. This is training her off switch. Work is done, time to turn off and relax. SOOOOOO IMPORTANT! Good luck with your gorgeous girl!

In case any of us are isolated at home and want to fill a few minutes watching some sheep dog trialling, I came across this video of an old (1981) sheep dog trial from New Zealand. https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/a-dogs-show-1981 Interestingly, the first two dogs are New Zealand Huntaway dogs, who have, um, a very different style of herding than I am used to seeing. And I then went down a bit of a rabbit hole and found another video on the site that may be interesting https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/dogstar-1986 (Quote from site) This doco looks at the relationship between dogs and shepherds in Kiwi sheep farming. It covers the history of dog and man, and reveals Dog Show-worthy secrets behind the dogs' training and personalities, from ‘heading dogs' who stare sheep (and geese!) "into submission" to the "loudmouth" ‘huntaways' who drive flocks on vast high country stations. Hope everyone here is staying safe!

Hi mol! Edie is gorgeous, congratulations on your puppy! I always joked that my dogs had a period at around 6 months old where their brains fell out, and they forgot everything that they had learned. Recall? Forget it, even if it was rock solid before. Loose lead walking - gone. Welcome to dog puberty and their teenage time. There may also be an element of second fear period as well, given some of the reactivity you have described. My advice would be, consistency, consistency, consistency. Keep persisting with the rules, keep expecting the same behaviour, rewarding the good. Do not allow the obsessive behaviours to persist (and fellow Aussie here - I commiserate with your fly problem - I have one dog who is terrified of flies, also live in an older house and cannot keep them out, resulting in a regularly freaked out dog). Don't be too worried about Edie not being too interested in other people. Some BCs are like that - interested in their people and no one else. So long as she is not hostile to them, I would just accept that as her personality. Disinterest and ignoring is acceptable. I am not necessarily a believer in random exercise as being what a BC needs to calm; often you are just creating a more athletic and energetic problem. You need to give Edie work, something to challenge her mind. Have you tried looking into nosework? Or going into more trick training? Something that requires her to engage her mind and switch on leaves her less energy to be reactive. Anyway, my advice is just some suggestions, and you may already have tried them. It is good you are consulting a professional trainer, and I hope things work out for you and Edie.

Interesting short article, about the impact on dogs and other pets of evacuations, and treating them. Dogs get PTSD too. References a study after Hurricane Katrina as well. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-04/pets-suffer-trauma-after-bushfires-natural-disaster/12021174

Thank you for sharing. I am sorry for your loss, and excited that you are sharing a new journey with your new puppy. She is gorgeous by the way. I lost my Oscar on 9/11 last year at seven years old to sepsis, so it was sudden and very unexpected. About a month later, despite having other BCs, the hole demanded we fill it with a new BC, and we adopted a two year old from a local rescue, called Buddy. What melts my heart (and my eyes at times) is the way my new dog does things that only Oscar, out of our four BCs, used to do, like jump up on the bench next to the door while waiting to go outside, or sleep on the rug under the window in the bedroom, or demand cuddles and pats while simultaneously pushing you away with his paws. Buddy is not Oscar, but there are times he is heartbreakingly similar, and I treasure those moments, because it keeps Oscar alive for me.

So a dog in Singapore tested "weakly positive" for Covid-19 after its owner was found to be positive. People have been advised not to kiss their dogs if they are in quarantine for Covid-19. I am not panicking as there is no evidence that the dog is symptomatic. I know there is canine coronavirus, which humans do not catch, and human versions of coronavirus dogs do not get either. This may be an exception, or the dog may simply have some virus due to exposure without full infection. On the other hand, I had to buy toilet paper yesterday, as we were down to our last two rolls, and the couple in front of me each bought four packs of 24 rolls, the maximum per person. 192 rolls. Stockpiling for a condition that does not cause diarrhoea. And we live 30 minutes away from the factory that is working 24 hour shifts making toilet paper. Who ever thought there would need to be store imposed limits on TP! If we were talking about a three month quarantine, or a cholera or dysentery pandemic, I could understand the obsession with toilet paper. But seriously people....

Welcome from a fellow Aussie! Your girls are gorgeous, and I love their names.

We sit just inside the back door with the towel, and only let the dogs in one at a time, grab them, make them sit and clean their 'tootsies' as soon as they enter. This is helped by the fact that we have a fridge on one side and a wall on the other, right next to the back door, so there is limited space for the dog to try and get past us. We also have one of those "magic mud grabbing" mats at the back door, which may or may not actually help. It does seem to pull moisture off.

That is CLASSIC!

Possible topic hijack here - sorry beachdogz! I don't think we get mud quite like you get, but we have hot dry summers where our lawn takes a real beating, and four BCs in a smallish yard means we inevitably have bare patches, which result in muddy paws whenever they go out for most of the year. Our solution has been a small mountain sized pile of dog towels at the back door used to wipe every dog's paws as they come inside. But there has to be a better way. So I was wondering if anyone had any experience with a portable dog paw cleaner type contraption? Something like this: https://www.amazon.com.au/Small-Green-Petware-Mudbuster-Portable/dp/B01N0EDVXO/ref=asc_df_B01N64D5FF/?tag=googleshopdsk-22&linkCode=df0&hvadid=341791787261&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11085893069673429682&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9072423&hvtargid=pla-309635066778&th=1 I would look at getting one if I thought it really worked, as having to wipe and wipe and wipe 16 paws multiple times a day is frustrating. Not sure how it would work for multiple dogs? I realise I would then need to dry the paw off, but drying a wet paw is easier than trying to wipe mud off.

Incredible achievement, you should be so proud! Way to go Kylie!

That is awesome, what a clever girl!

I have only had one agility dog, and he was for sure a much better dog than I was a handler, but we learned together, and in the end the important thing to me was that he had fun. Every course we ran, he came off grinning! In fact, I have so many photos to prove he had the biggest grin on his face around every course we ever ran. No one will expect you to be perfect with your first dog (other than maybe yourself!), but if you are willing to learn from your mistakes, don't push yourself or your dog too hard, listen, watch and play agility, things will be fine. Unless you are aiming to compete on the higher levels of competition. Then you will want to be fully focussed on doing everything right from the start, and foundations, training and perfection count. But if you just want to go out, have fun, run some courses as best you can, keep learning and improving and building your bond with your dog, dig in and have a go! BTW videoing yourself and your dog is THE MOST USEFUL THING IN THE WORLD. Watch the videos. Watch them over and over. See how he responds to you, especially the things you did not know you were doing (E.G. turning shoulders, dropping arm, slowing down). See where things went right, see where things went wrong. See where surprising things happened and work out why. You can see how Aed is jumping (early, late, or in good time), is he getting good clearance, landing awkwardly, where is he looking? How much space does he need to turn? Is he focussed on you, or is he driving ahead? Do you need to work on drive, or bringing more control back to him? Videos will tell you what you need to work on for your dog especially, and for you. USE THE VIDEO!

Please forgive me if I am wrong about this, but it sounds as though it is not so much that you don't think Aed can do what you need him to do, but that you do not know what to do with him. The only way you can learn is to educate yourself. Try going onto the website CleanRun, and having a look at their magazine. There are a range of free articles on various topics. This can start you learning the language of agility (which is challenging enough!) but also what is important to know about a course, handling, training, conditioning etc. There are also blogs, and agility forums etc. The next thing I would suggest is to go to a few trials just to watch. I found it strange how sitting and watching different people handle their dogs through the same course really showed me how the things I had read about worked in real life, but also gave me confidence that it was okay to stuff up, because that happens to everyone - and I mean everyone! Seeing how different people approach the course, even just how they work out what to do while walking the course, can also teach you, once you know the basics. I have also found that agility people love to talk agility, and will often be willing to educate you about what is going on in the ring. You can also learn a lot sitting and watching videos of the big competitions on Youtube, eg Crufts and Westminster etc. Watch the qualifying rounds, watch the finals, all sizes etc. Watch how each person handles the course, what works, and why or why not. Did they push their dog out too far, did they turn away too early, were they too slow to get into position to show their dog where they were to go next? How did they get from one obstacle to the next? Agility is not something I think you ever stop learning, but do not let you not knowing what you are going to be doing on a course stop you start training Aed. You won't get on a competition course for quite a while when you start training for real, and you will learn about stringing obstacles together at the same time as Aed learns. Agility is a lot about the bond between you and your dog. I would see if you can skip the intro course, given you have done it before, and go straight into beginners. He is old enough that there is no worry about joints etc, and if you have the obedience base, then lets try to move beyond. They may want you to show them he can do the basics, but I wish you luck!

That is so much fun! Was I the only one who had visions of Family Guy running through my head? I guess it is where I know that song from.

KevTheDog, ANZAC biscuits are a much loved tradition in Australia and New Zealand. This is a pretty good version of the recipe. I have an old family recipe which I use, but this one has a good explanation, variations etc. and is pretty close. I do add a bit of water if the mixture is dry, and I prefer a chewy biscuit. You can also reduce the sugar if you want to, a lot of people do. https://www.recipetineats.com/anzac-biscuits-golden-oatmeal-cookies/

This is not desirable as a primary treat, but as an extra special, rare and top quality treat, my dogs went absolutely bonkers for homemade ANZAC biscuits - we used to call them doggie crack cocaine. If I absolutely needed to hold my dogs attention, that was what I used. They contain no meat, but are very sweet, hence why they are only occasional treats. I made mine soft, so I could tear bits off in tiny pieces, or hold a bigger bit in my hand and gradually reveal a little bit more at a time, so my dog was fixated on getting a little bit more, a little bit more, a little bit more... They are made from ground oats, golden syrup, butter, flour and sugar and last for ages. Otherwise, I suggest buying a dehydrator and trying to dehydrate your own treats - lung, tongue and hearts were favourites with my boys, along with straight out meat. There is a smell associated with this though. You can also dry things out in an oven on very low. Another option is to use deli meats - again sparingly because they contain a lot of salt. I have used what we call fritz ( I think similar to bologna?) or pressed chicken loaf. It is essentially cooked, and can be cut into tiny pieces. I will often intersperse it with cheese, so the dog will get some meat and some cheese, and is less likely to get bored with a treat during a session.

Oh I absolutely love this! One of our dogs would always respond to my other half blowing into an empty bottle to make a sound by starting to howl, but I like your dog's response much more!

This is a good article to see where you can donate. It includes links to the volunteer fire services in NSW, Victoria and South Australia, as well as Red Cross, wildlife organisations and a Rural Renewal charity. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-01/bushfire-relief:-how-you-can-help-frontline-services/11835156 There is also an appeal being run by a female comedian on Facebook; her parents-in-law have had to be evacuated from their home in Eden in NSW. It started off looking to raise a few thousand for the NSW Fire Service, now has raised over $40 million. https://www.facebook.com/donate/1010958179269977/ I woke up this morning to a red sun and a smoky day. This smoke has come more than 600km (over 370 miles) from the fires in the Gippsland, and is bad enough to trigger my asthma (which I usually only suffer when I have a chest infection).

There is a little seaside town in Victoria called Mallacoota, which has had to be evacuated by our Navy due to the bushfires. This is the most famous photo of that evacuation. Thankfully our Navy has let all the evacuees take their pets with them on the ship. This is another photo from the bushfires, although I do not know where it was taken. It has been a rough few months, although not too bad where I live (only a couple of smallish fires in the region). The traditionally worst two months are yet to come.