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Ollie's new mum, despite having the task of doggy wrangling and settling Ollie into a new home sent us wonderful update on Ollie's first day with him - which we appreciate so much! ( Read more... )
Aug. 26th, 2012
There are a lot of people out there who say that you can't have a working dog in a suburban home. Those people would be wrong. There are certainly some working dogs that are unsuitable for a suburban home - but this is not the case for all dogs. It's just not the case that if you plonk the dog on a property that he or she will be happy.
Working dogs need physical exercise, they need intellectual stimulation and they need sufficient human time. We have three Kelpies in a medium sized backyard and they are happy, well-adjusted and not destructive at all. Well Dodge is a bit destructive, but he's special :)
The most important things are:
1. They need to be taught to chillax
2. They need some physical exercise
3. They need LOTS of intellectual stimulation even if it's just training over dinner or something more formal like dog sports.
For the more active humans out there, below the cut is an introduction to some dog sports which can be very satisfying for both human and dog. ( Read more... )
Working dogs need physical exercise, they need intellectual stimulation and they need sufficient human time. We have three Kelpies in a medium sized backyard and they are happy, well-adjusted and not destructive at all. Well Dodge is a bit destructive, but he's special :)
The most important things are:
1. They need to be taught to chillax
2. They need some physical exercise
3. They need LOTS of intellectual stimulation even if it's just training over dinner or something more formal like dog sports.
For the more active humans out there, below the cut is an introduction to some dog sports which can be very satisfying for both human and dog. ( Read more... )
"Crate is great"
Aug. 26th, 2012 04:19 pmWe always say that to our doggies because we really believe it's true. All the dogs who have come through our house have been crate trained. See these photos here.
Crates are not cruel if used properly. Most dogs love them.
It's a place to sleep, it's a place to hide from the world, it's a place to chill. It's a way to make sure the dog doesn't wander your house restlessly at night. For puppies it's a great toilet training tool. For older dogs, it's great if you need the dog to sleep in a strange place overnight - like at a friend/relative's or while you're on holiday. There have been holiday places we have rented where they would not have let us stay there if our dogs were not crate trained, like here:
If you have multiple dogs, it's a good way to have a time-out if they get too hyper. It's a good way to transport a dog. It gets them used to the crates/cages at the vet. The crate is a good place for a dog to hide away if overwhelming visitors come to the house, if you need to keep the dog contained while you need to do something else.
Our foster Nutmeg was quite shy and reserved and she LOVED her crate so much.
None of our dogs or foster dogs came to us crate trained so we had to train them from scratch. There is a lot of information out there on the Internet about crate training, but we like to keep it really simple. ( Read more... )
Crates are not cruel if used properly. Most dogs love them.
It's a place to sleep, it's a place to hide from the world, it's a place to chill. It's a way to make sure the dog doesn't wander your house restlessly at night. For puppies it's a great toilet training tool. For older dogs, it's great if you need the dog to sleep in a strange place overnight - like at a friend/relative's or while you're on holiday. There have been holiday places we have rented where they would not have let us stay there if our dogs were not crate trained, like here:
If you have multiple dogs, it's a good way to have a time-out if they get too hyper. It's a good way to transport a dog. It gets them used to the crates/cages at the vet. The crate is a good place for a dog to hide away if overwhelming visitors come to the house, if you need to keep the dog contained while you need to do something else.
Our foster Nutmeg was quite shy and reserved and she LOVED her crate so much.
None of our dogs or foster dogs came to us crate trained so we had to train them from scratch. There is a lot of information out there on the Internet about crate training, but we like to keep it really simple. ( Read more... )
Nova: Day #1: 26 August 2012
Aug. 26th, 2012 06:39 pmLaWanda dropped off her new foster dog Nova today for some training and socialising with our dogs. This is our preliminary assessment of his behaviour.
Name: Nova
Sex: Male
Age: 2 years old (approximately)
Weight: 20.9 kg. He is underweight - ribs very visible.
Breed: Kelpie
AWDRI entry: http://www.workingdogrescue.com.au/2012/06/yard-29-kelpie-male-das-act/
Petrescue entry: http://www.petrescue.com.au/view/173082
Gotcha Day: LaWanda got him on Saturday 25 August, he arrived with us Sunday 26 August.
Initial Observations: As set out below.
Progress Table ( Read more... )
Name: Nova
Sex: Male
Age: 2 years old (approximately)
Weight: 20.9 kg. He is underweight - ribs very visible.
Breed: Kelpie
AWDRI entry: http://www.workingdogrescue.com.au/2012/06/yard-29-kelpie-male-das-act/
Petrescue entry: http://www.petrescue.com.au/view/173082
Gotcha Day: LaWanda got him on Saturday 25 August, he arrived with us Sunday 26 August.
Initial Observations: As set out below.
Progress Table ( Read more... )