Mega Thread MFC Dogs Thread - sponsored by dee_mac

[Toump Ass]

They are very cute, even if small.

I have found whenever you have two animals they each pick a different person. Stretch follows me around obsessively - every room I go to she appears and crouches somewhere staring at me. Got a bit weird during lockdown. Ron has decided my partner is somehow the alpha and rolls every time he stands up. Doesn’t do the same for me - just treats me like furniture. Unless he is on top of his tree or on the bookshelf, then he attacks the head of anyone passing regardless. Pets are a bit strange.

Yup, pets are wonderful like that . Kiki’s particularly odd, sadly. His first owner returned him to the breeder after a month or so, and we flew him to Victoria shortly after, but something happened along the way and he’s completely terrified of humans now. I thought I’d chase him around the house the first day he arrived and he’s never forgiven me. He literally hides underneath the house when people come over

 

[Proper Gander]

Yup, pets are wonderful like that . Kiki’s particularly odd, sadly. His first owner returned him to the breeder after a month or so, and we flew him to Victoria shortly after, but something happened along the way and he’s completely terrified of humans now. I thought I’d chase him around the house the first day he arrived and he’s never forgiven me. He literally hides underneath the house when people come over

Yeah one of my cats is neurotic. I can’t even source the reason. They are essentially cousins born in different litters at the same place two weeks apart. Ron is entirely fearless, loves everyone, even the home Vet, but Stretch hides for hours when there a guests. Disappears for a good 20 minutes even for a pizza delivery. I can’t really work out the psychology behind it. I guess animals come with different personalities

 

[Dark Avenger]

I was never really a cat person until I met my current partner almost 10 years ago. Below is a picture of Freya. I remember asking her age & was told she was 11. My follow up question was How long do cats usually live for? Freya will be turning 21 in December. We had a real love hate relationship with each other but in the past couple of years she has finally accepted me.




My partner grabbed this doofus while she was adopting a cat for her mother. I was furious when she told me on the phone that she got us a kitten as well but within a day I couldn't stay mad any longer. He isn't the smartest or bravest cat around but he does have a beautiful nature. We named him Zod.


Would love a dog but I'm not too keen on repeatedly picking up the dog shit.

 

[Bluelegs]

Meet Baz he is 13 months old now

View attachment 1155958View attachment 1155959View attachment 1155960View attachment 1155961View attachment 1155962

Our dogs are the same age!

 

[Crimson Azure]

Possible pup pics coming tomorrow! Was set on a traditional black and white border collie but found one with makings I've never seen before and it has me interested...

 

[LeverPuller]

This is Lulu. She passed away in 2019 at the age of 15. Whip smart but also a smartarse who never did anything unless food was involved. And a big sweetie.


And this is Saffi. She’s completely neurotic and has anxiety but is also totally adorable. Sadly she has cancer and had her spleen out and probably will be gone in 12 months.

Both mad Melbourne supporters.

 

[CWaffles]

These are my two, Lucy the Golden is super intelligent and loves going to he park to play with her ball, follows me everywhere.
Hank well, he likes to sleep, eat, sunbake and fart.

 

[Crimson Azure]

My new boy. Thinking of either Indy or Loch, which name should I choose? This needs a poll.

 

[Proper Gander]

My new boy. Thinking of either Indy or Loch, which name should I choose? This needs a poll.

View attachment 1158675

He is beautiful, Crimson. I like both of those names.

Two days ago I thought Border Collies were all black and white, like the dog in footrot flats, now there are brown collies everywhere!

 

[Crimson Azure]

He is beautiful, Crimson. I like both of those names.

Two days ago I thought Border Collies were all black and white, like the dog in footrot flats, now there are brown collies everywhere!

Look up different types of border collies and you’ll see there’s heaps of different colours. Even tri colour and merle.

 

[AmericanAFL]

 

[AmericanAFL]

View attachment 1159301

That’s Bailey. She’s the nervous type, which makes her an ideal demons supporter.

 

[Proper Gander]

View attachment 1159301

If I get some forensic people on this image then we all have your phone number

 

[AmericanAFL]

If I get some forensic people on this image then we all have your phone number

Sounds fun. First one to call wins.

 

[Crimson Azure]

Sounds fun. First one to call wins.

I'll organise for Tmac to call you.

 

[AmericanAFL]

I'll organise for Tmac to call you.

My first typed out response to PG was “jokes on you, that’s Tmacs number”, but I decided that didn’t really make sense.

But good to see we are both on the same wave length here.

 

[Crimson Azure]

Man getting a pup is hard work! It's been around 18 years since I last owned a dog and and almost 25 since I trained one. Forgot how disobedient they can be as they try to test you, especially intelligent breeds like border collies.

Anyway, in the first week I have managed to get him to sit, lay, jump up onto something and jump down off something. He also knows bed and box as we are also trying to create train him. He knows his name and 'come here' but telling him to come here is still optional depending on his mood.

I have decided to go the positive reinforcement training style for the most past instead of the punishment route and it seems to be working, but I've had to be quite stern at times as he is always testing the boundaries.

Any tips or suggestions that worked with your dogs?

 

[Bluelegs]

Man getting a pup is hard work! It's been around 18 years since I last owned a dog and and almost 25 since I trained one. Forgot how disobedient they can be as they try to test you, especially intelligent breeds like border collies.

Anyway, in the first week I have managed to get him to sit, lay, jump up onto something and jump down off something. He also knows bed and box as we are also trying to create train him. He knows his name and 'come here' but telling him to come here is still optional depending on his mood.

I have decided to go the positive reinforcement training style for the most past instead of the punishment route and it seems to be working, but I've had to be quite stern at times as he is always testing the boundaries.

Any tips or suggestions that worked with your dogs?

The best thing you can do at this stage is socialise your dog as much as possible. This period of early puppyhood is the most impressionable period of their life, and once they get past it they may develop certain attitudes and behaviours that will be incredibly difficult to change down the track. Lot's of positive experiences in lots of situations they will need to expect in every day life. You want to train your dog to normalise everything that you probably don't even think about. Things like interacting with strangers on the street and at home. Interacting with other dogs in different scenarios (just be cautious of parvo).

When we got our dog my fiance would just sit outside coles with him while I did the shopping. She would have literally dozens of all different kinds of people of different age, ethnicity, and gender approach her to interact with our pup, and she would give him treats every time he interacted positively with someone.

Keep lots of little tupperware containers of treats all over the house. That way when he does a behaviour you like spontaneously you can give immediate reinforcement.

 

[Dory_77]

Second what Bluelegs said about socialising in as many different situations: at night, in a park, in the street etc. Helps build confidence and a good way to teach positive behaviours. Also a good way to mix up training too as you can have them jump on/over things like benches, sit at crossings etc

Recall is a pain but just a lot of practice from my experience. No real trick, just try to do it regularly each day and reward each time they do come. A retractable, or extra long, lead can help though as you can let them run off a bit but gently give them a hint if they're not responding.

Getting used to going in the car is handy too, I know some dogs can get spooked by it or never settle in the car for longer trips.

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

Man getting a pup is hard work! It's been around 18 years since I last owned a dog and and almost 25 since I trained one. Forgot how disobedient they can be as they try to test you, especially intelligent breeds like border collies.

Anyway, in the first week I have managed to get him to sit, lay, jump up onto something and jump down off something. He also knows bed and box as we are also trying to create train him. He knows his name and 'come here' but telling him to come here is still optional depending on his mood.

I have decided to go the positive reinforcement training style for the most past instead of the punishment route and it seems to be working, but I've had to be quite stern at times as he is always testing the boundaries.

Any tips or suggestions that worked with your dogs?

Lots of treats and cuddles.

No... wait, that's what I wanted.

 

[Proper Gander]

Man getting a pup is hard work! It's been around 18 years since I last owned a dog and and almost 25 since I trained one. Forgot how disobedient they can be as they try to test you, especially intelligent breeds like border collies.

Anyway, in the first week I have managed to get him to sit, lay, jump up onto something and jump down off something. He also knows bed and box as we are also trying to create train him. He knows his name and 'come here' but telling him to come here is still optional depending on his mood.

I have decided to go the positive reinforcement training style for the most past instead of the punishment route and it seems to be working, but I've had to be quite stern at times as he is always testing the boundaries.

Any tips or suggestions that worked with your dogs?

A good one for lively dogs that will grow to be medium or large is to turn your back on them when misbehaving and excited so jumping or nipping you. If you keep facing them and lecture them, they don’t understand it and can interpret the attention as encouragement so will keep doing it every time they want your attention. So you say no firmly once, and turn your body to face away from them and don’t engage again until they have settled.

Another one my Mum was good at (I wasn’t) is insisting that every time you open a door you go through first and the dog waits and follows. It takes a while, but it reinforces the notion that you are the alpha in the relationship and the dog is a pack follower. Basically if you raise a dog that thinks it is the alpha decision maker it becomes a problem quickly, and if it is a biggish dog it can be a massive problem and even potentially dangerous in the fighting breeds like pit bulls or rotties or even some terriers. Owners of those dogs need to be sure they can control the animal once it is fully grown.

 

[Proper Gander]

Oh yeah - I took a dog to puppy class for a bit once. I reckon they are good value for early socialising and advice on early training. Also all the friends Pong made were really cute - her best friend was the cutest 4 month old brown Doberman

 

[Dory_77]

Oh yeah - I took a dog to puppy class for a bit once. I reckon they are good value for early socialising and advice on early training. Also all the friends Pong made were really cute - her best friend was the cutest 4 month old brown Doberman

Also second this! We got Dusty at just over 12 months and he probably had mixed socialising experience but went to a class that was very good and gave us some practice of new commands and tricks. He's always been a bit nervy and reactive around other dogs but the class helped settle him a lot and gave us more confidence in keeping him in check (which is half the battle I think).
Although with socialising don't make every meet with a dog a big play and run about session, or only see other dogs at dog parks. It can make them too worked up when they see other dogs (Dusty is like this quite a bit). Get them used to a quick sniff and go on your way.

Waiting for doors and crossing roads is a good one. Good way of training patience and making sure you can get their attention when you need. We do it with his food too - get him to sit and wait before he gets his meals. He's still a dickhead sometimes, especially when he sees other dogs, but it has helped keep him mostly well behaved out and about.

 

[00Stinger]

my wife takes our puppy to puppy school on Sunday mornings

He is an angel when he is there and a devil when he leaves

 

[Crimson Azure]

The best thing you can do at this stage is socialise your dog as much as possible. This period of early puppyhood is the most impressionable period of their life, and once they get past it they may develop certain attitudes and behaviours that will be incredibly difficult to change down the track. Lot's of positive experiences in lots of situations they will need to expect in every day life. You want to train your dog to normalise everything that you probably don't even think about. Things like interacting with strangers on the street and at home. Interacting with other dogs in different scenarios (just be cautious of parvo).

When we got our dog my fiance would just sit outside coles with him while I did the shopping. She would have literally dozens of all different kinds of people of different age, ethnicity, and gender approach her to interact with our pup, and she would give him treats every time he interacted positively with someone.

Keep lots of little tupperware containers of treats all over the house. That way when he does a behaviour you like spontaneously you can give immediate reinforcement.

Have been asking every dog walker on a walk if he can approach to meet them as he's had a week since his second vaccination. Also, my brother has a blue and red heeler so he has already bee there to visit 3 times for the evening. Great suggestion on the shopping centre as he's a cute dog and people have been losing their mind when they see him so he'll get plenty of attention. Got what I can the canine version of crack (liver treats) which every dog seems to love which are good rewards for good behaviour.

Second what Bluelegs said about socialising in as many different situations: at night, in a park, in the street etc. Helps build confidence and a good way to teach positive behaviours. Also a good way to mix up training too as you can have them jump on/over things like benches, sit at crossings etc

Recall is a pain but just a lot of practice from my experience. No real trick, just try to do it regularly each day and reward each time they do come. A retractable, or extra long, lead can help though as you can let them run off a bit but gently give them a hint if they're not responding.

Getting used to going in the car is handy too, I know some dogs can get spooked by it or never settle in the car for longer trips.

Now he can go out I have been doing this, had him jump up on a few different things and he complied which was good. With recall I remember it taking only 10 minutes to teach my last do but I can already tell Loch doesn't have the same desire to come to calls hes still more interested in exploring new things rather than fixating on me. Last time I had my wife hold him in the sit or lay position as I walked away and release him as I call him, so I plan to try that again.

A good one for lively dogs that will grow to be medium or large is to turn your back on them when misbehaving and excited so jumping or nipping you. If you keep facing them and lecture them, they don’t understand it and can interpret the attention as encouragement so will keep doing it every time they want your attention. So you say no firmly once, and turn your body to face away from them and don’t engage again until they have settled.

Another one my Mum was good at (I wasn’t) is insisting that every time you open a door you go through first and the dog waits and follows. It takes a while, but it reinforces the notion that you are the alpha in the relationship and the dog is a pack follower. Basically if you raise a dog that thinks it is the alpha decision maker it becomes a problem quickly, and if it is a biggish dog it can be a massive problem and even potentially dangerous in the fighting breeds like pit bulls or rotties or even some terriers. Owners of those dogs need to be sure they can control the animal once it is fully grown.

Good idea. I have already been doing this. I make him sit at the door before I say inside so he learns that he shouldn't just barge in. I will add the going in first as I had been doing this but not consistently. I'll also try the back turning tip.

Oh yeah - I took a dog to puppy class for a bit once. I reckon they are good value for early socialising and advice on early training. Also all the friends Pong made were really cute - her best friend was the cutest 4 month old brown Doberman

Have him booked in for puppy school but I hope to have him trained in all the areas they are going to teach by the time I attend. I want to do this for two reasons; 1 to show off how my dog is better then all theirs and 2 for the social aspect for him to normalise being around other dogs in a foreign environment. I'm also planning to try to get in to a more advanced class to pick up some training tips on how to get him to search and find things and more technical things like that.

My sister asked me if I plan to train him as well as my last dog and my response 'better', so I've set a high standard and my last dog was so smart I've put high expectations on the boy too.

Thanks to all of you for the tips, some great ideas. Happy for any more you might have.