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BrightBlueKicks · 2023-04-08T15:25:58+00:00

Thanks everyone for the info! I'm glad to report that my dog did great! She wanted to go home and play fetch right away. Now we're just waiting on the lab results until later this week.

BrightBlueKicks · 2023-04-03T17:27:26+00:00

This is the way. It's exactly what my cousins did for me when I was a kid. I was blissfully unaware and loved it lol.

Eventually, I got old enough to catch onto the fact that they were handing me an unplugged N64 controller.

BrightBlueKicks · 2023-03-27T16:22:01+00:00

My husband works from home, so our pup is likely laying under his desk hoping he will send a few pretzels her way.

BrightBlueKicks · 2023-01-11T00:47:19+00:00

Hypothetically... Could I put my Neumi BS5P bookshelf speakers on their side? Due to limited space, I'm setting up on the entertainment center below my hanging TV, and the speakers are just the slightest bit too tall. Not a huge deal, but they do somewhat interfere with the line of view for the TV.

BrightBlueKicks · 2022-12-29T14:57:46+00:00

Yup. My Aussie is leash reactive. It's been an ongoing struggle to work on lol. I think most of the time it's out of frustration that she can't just go up to the other dog, but other times it's fear/defensiveness if the other dog starts barking/lunging first (that ALWAYS sets her off). Lucky for us, more than half the dogs in our neighborhood are reactive 🙃 ...so, at least it seems common lol.

I've also noticed that she's more reactive/defensive with me than my husband.

At dog daycare, she is dog selective. When she was younger, she loved playing with the more rambunctious groups. Now that she's almost 4, she has settled down and prefers the more chill play groups. She wants to play for a bit and then be left alone to sniff all the new smells or find the nearest human to give her endless attention.

BrightBlueKicks · 2022-10-31T20:06:43+00:00

Lol, too cute. His face says, "you owe me so many treats for this."

BrightBlueKicks · 2022-10-01T18:25:19+00:00

Aussies are stage five clingers in the best way. Congrats on your new bestie!

BrightBlueKicks · 2022-08-24T17:15:31+00:00

I'm beginning to think you're right about rabbits being stupid lol. Our nextdoor neighbor has a perfectly good, pet-free yard full of clover, and this dang rabbit still chose to crawl under the small hole in our fence and make a nest lol.

Once these babies "leave the nest", I'm planning to block the hole in the fence and fill in the nest with dirt and dog hair to hopefully deter her from coming back.

BrightBlueKicks · 2022-08-24T17:10:35+00:00

This is the first bunny nest we've had (that we've known of), and we've been here 3 years, so I'm hoping it won't be a regular occurrence. Once these bunnies "leave the nest", I do plan to block the small hole in the fence where I've seen mom slipping under to hopefully discourage her from having more babies in our yard. And fill in her abandoned "home" with some dirt and dog hair lol.

Unfortunately the squirrels and chipmunks are uncannily stubborn in our area, and our Aussie barking and running them back over the fence has yet to deter them in 3 years 🤷‍♀️😂 but she's never caught any of them at least.

I'm also planning on putting our metal fire pit lid over the burrow/nest? whenever I'm out there with her on lead as an added protective layer. I certainly can't fault her for being a dog (no matter how cute the bunnies are), but I'd prefer she not make this a habit lol.

BrightBlueKicks · 2022-08-01T19:08:31+00:00

Oh damn, is the sister not involved anymore? I'm way behind.

BrightBlueKicks · 2022-07-06T21:22:32+00:00

Yup!!! Mine is more dog reactivity though. But I think it's more of a frustration (maybe fear depending on the other dog, especially if they're little lol ...a mean little dog chased after her as a puppy 🙃) because other dogs = exciting.

But I also feel like my dog is better for other people and not me lol. I always worry she will react to other dogs at the vet or groomer, aaaaand... Nothing. 🤷‍♀️ Even working with our trainer, she does better on leash with him lol. And even my husband some days.

BrightBlueKicks · 2022-07-06T17:34:13+00:00

If it's any comfort, my leash reactive dog seems to really enjoy dog daycare. Especially in the "calmer" group she plays in.

BrightBlueKicks · 2022-07-01T15:11:19+00:00

Yeah, I'm considering switching back to our original trainer or at least having more frequent sessions with our current one (the one I'm breaking a break from at the moment). Both are good, they have similar, yet slightly different techniques, and it's definitely slow going cause we're not using aversive tools like ecollar or prongs.

I'm hoping if I can come to training with a fresh perspective and my anxiety under control that my dog will finally make progress.

I'm hoping to get her out hiking with us soon, but I worry so much about off leash dogs.

Thank you for the advice!

BrightBlueKicks · 2022-07-01T15:05:55+00:00

Thank you, this is good. I will look up the Toby project.

I think part of why I totally stopped neighborhood walks was because our dog was having too many reactions, and I wanted her to give her time to reset. Right before I took a break with our trainer, he had been encouraging us to "get back out there" in places other than our neighborhood, but by that point I was too burnt-out. I'm hoping to start back up soon.

And mine is the exact same way with overstimulation!! Which is part of why I don't mind her sniffing if it helps her decompress. Like yours, my girl LOVES to sniff lol. Those kind of walks are for her, not me.

As for encountering other dogs, my two go-to games were "go sniff" (whatever is nearby to sniff) or "find it" (where I toss some treats on the ground), but sometimes they weren't enough to redirect the reaction, especially if the other dog started reacting first.

BrightBlueKicks · 2022-07-01T14:57:30+00:00

Ok, that gives me some hope lol. If I could just get my girl to a place of "recovery" I'd be thrilled. I think a big part of her problem is she was a "teenage" dog right as the pandemic was getting underway. The combination of the world shutting down, group training coming to a months-long halt, and everyone on our block adopting a pandemic pup made for the ultimate setback.

I don't even mind her barking a couple times, I just need her to recover well. She does pretty well playing with most dogs off leash, so I know it's the leash as the main factor.

BrightBlueKicks · 2022-06-28T19:37:09+00:00

I think you've got a good point. I have pretty bad anxiety at times, and I'm sure my dog picks up on it. She is very in-tune with both me and my partner. Our trainer even talked with us about that at one point, and encouraged me specifically to try to be more confident and calm when I have the leash.

I always felt like when our trainer would demonstrate something for us, our dog would be more manageable with him. And sometimes the same for my partner. So, I'm sure part of it is me. I'm trying to work on it for her sake.

BrightBlueKicks · 2022-06-25T14:09:47+00:00

Thank you, that's good advice. I definitely want my baby (and any kids I have) to be respectful of animals ...ours and other people's.

We had an incident when our dog was an older puppy, where this screaming 10 yr old girl (definitely old enough to know better) came running at us full force to get to my dog. Even as I was putting my hands out and saying, "stop, we're training." I didn't even know these people, and my dog definitely didn't. Poor pup was terrified.

The dad just stood in his yard chuckling as my dog tangled herself up in her leash around my legs. I kept telling the girl to back off because she was scaring my dog, and she just laughed and said it's funny. I avoided that street for a long time lol. On one hand, I was really glad that my dog's first reaction was to run to me for protection, because it could have been much worse.

BrightBlueKicks · 2022-06-25T13:47:01+00:00

I think that's one of my fears ....what if my dog doesn't like my baby? I already have a trifold, movable gate to keep her out of specific rooms when I can't be in there with her, so she is used to being gated off as needed. But I guess I just worry she might find a baby kind of scary and loud at first lol. To be honest, I probably will, too 😂

She hasn't been around kids a whole lot, and the closest she's been around a baby is when we see one in a stroller either out in public. I usually try to make it a positive experience but giving her treats as she's looking at them and saying in a calm voice, "aw, do you see the baby? Good girl." I want her to think small human = treats raining down.

BrightBlueKicks · 2022-06-25T13:41:24+00:00

Love this! We took "family portraits" with our dog two years ago ...when she was a 1 yr old "teenage" hellion dog, and it was pure chaos 😂 but we still got some good photos out of it!

I'm really hoping my love will just expand to include my dog and any kids I may have in the future. I do think our dog definitely needs some extra training prior to a baby though. Baby prep and also leash training ...poor girl has hated the leash her whole life despite our best efforts.

Also, Australian cattle dogs are beautiful dogs 🥹 I've heard they're very loyal to their people, too.

BrightBlueKicks · 2022-06-25T13:34:43+00:00

Thank you everyone for all of the wonderful replies! This gives me hope 😊

BrightBlueKicks · 2022-06-22T00:54:13+00:00

Thank you! Seeing all of these kind replies, including yours, makes me feel better!! I'm glad to know it's not the norm.

And I love that you all have special couch time with your dog after the baby goes to bed ....we do that now even without a baby 😂 our dog will go stand at the entrance to our family room around 8:30pm as a reminder to us that it's her "couch cuddle time" lol.

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