Dog Owner Chat V. 5

[Velveteen Hound.]

Holy crow Gizmo is getting big.
He is about 3x as big as Tep is now.

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I have noticed something kind of odd though ... his fur is ... like bleaching out? I don't know how to best describe it, but he has random patches of fur that are turning much lighter, like literally yellow, like bleaching in humans. It's not thinning out, it's the same hair that has always been there ... but it's like roaning out? I know some breeds do this, but he is not one of those breeds. I don't think it's anything medical, but it's just odd.

Hmm don’t think I’ve ever seen that on a kelpie (he is a kelpie right) is he purebred? If so who knows Certainly makes him unique lol

He is suppose to be full kelpie.
I am really starting to wonder though. I know that he has a lot of Kelpie in him, but there are several things about him, that just aren't quite right for him to be purebred.
*Number 1 being that the breeder is not getting back to me, and has not answered question for about a month.

Now ..... Before every one jumps all over me..
I did do some vetting. No the breeder is not a full fledged breeding organization. However, I did do some checking before I agreed to take a puppy. They had 2 previous litters, vet records, and lots of references of previous puppies, owners, character refrences etc. I mentioned several times that when starting to look for a dog, I wanted a dog and not a puppy - but then this whole situation came up - and it is a LONG story.

To make it shorter, and to put in perspective. I know/(knew) one of the references the people gave very well, and they had nothing but good things to say about the breeder. So I probably had more faith in them than I should have. I did go and look at the home before bringing Gizmo home. The mother was on site , and they had records of the father - (But to be honest they were a bit hedgy about the identity of the father) Again .. long story.
I should have done more homework. If I ever do get another dog it will 100% be a rescue, I don't want to have to deal with this mess again - even from a full fledged breeder. I know there are lots of good ones out there, but I am done, I prefer mutts.


I do not support back yard breeders by principle. However- For now, I do have Gizmo, and while I wish things had turned out better breeder wise, I do not need a pure bred kelpie, and I have no interest in breeding him further. I wanted a pet, and I have put so much work into him, I'm not turning back now.

Some red flags:
- He is much larger than I would expect a full blood kelpie to be.
- He has LONG legs on him, I know Kelpies can be leggy, but not quite like this one.

[Spirit23Wolf]

^^ oh well live and learn I guess
Having worked with purebred kelpies yes they are a decent sized dog but not that big and they aren’t really leggy like you said more low to the ground to be able to move cows and such better and keep up with them because if they are leggy then they tend to have a harder time turning fast. And you know if you love him what dose it really matter

Here’s a photo of one of the kelpies that I work with (yes I know it’s not the best quality) and as you can see he is quite stalky and low to the ground with shorter well muscled legs to pivot faster and easier

[Cardinal]

Holy crow Gizmo is getting big.
He is about 3x as big as Tep is now.

--

I have noticed something kind of odd though ... his fur is ... like bleaching out? I don't know how to best describe it, but he has random patches of fur that are turning much lighter, like literally yellow, like bleaching in humans. It's not thinning out, it's the same hair that has always been there ... but it's like roaning out? I know some breeds do this, but he is not one of those breeds. I don't think it's anything medical, but it's just odd.

Its his undercoat peeking throuhh the outer coat. Its rreeaalllyy common in black n tan dogs to have a grey or tan undercoat, even rotties that are well bred!

[Crossflare]

Molly my rescued purebred Aussie has all her fluffy puppy fur she's still growing in her coat so the house is full of puppyhair. Like I am having a blast with my 3 1/2 month old aussie puppy.

I don't care thstshe sheds I vaccuuum on weekly basis now cause of it.

[Ja986]

Its his undercoat peeking throuhh the outer coat. Its rreeaalllyy common in black n tan dogs to have a grey or tan undercoat, even rotties that are well bred!

Oh yeah Trumpy got that, he started getting little very light spots on the side that doesn't show his four big spots very much, my brother described it as moldy XD He still has it but you can't see it as good unless your in the right lighting.

[Velveteen Hound.]

Holy crow Gizmo is getting big.
He is about 3x as big as Tep is now.

--

I have noticed something kind of odd though ... his fur is ... like bleaching out? I don't know how to best describe it, but he has random patches of fur that are turning much lighter, like literally yellow, like bleaching in humans. It's not thinning out, it's the same hair that has always been there ... but it's like roaning out? I know some breeds do this, but he is not one of those breeds. I don't think it's anything medical, but it's just odd.

Its his undercoat peeking throuhh the outer coat. Its rreeaalllyy common in black n tan dogs to have a grey or tan undercoat, even rotties that are well bred!

I figured it was something like that, I have not seen in in such big patches though. Those pictures don't do it justice. I can't get him to sit still for long enough for me to get a good picture. I know it's not something to really worry about - it just looks a bit odd.

[PemCorgis]

It's not dominance related. It's simply that doing what he wants is more rewarding then doing what you want. You need to change that around as well as manage his behaviors. I'd recommend also working on reward scaling, introducing life rewards (if you haven't already) and well as putting behaviors on a variable ratio reward schedule. You can do this by randomly rewarding him for attention/wanted behavior as well as varying the reward you give him. For example most times you just give him verbal praise or petting as a reward for doing a well known behavior, but occasionally you still give him something extra special. He'll want to keep offering that behavior because he never knows when the reward is coming (think slot machine).

Schedules of Reinforcement - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLx5yl0sxeM
Reward Scaling - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7XxG5KchQ8
Building Attention 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTSuPk2Ccjo
Building Attention 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POM8wwnRSk4
Building Attention 3 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFhtFt6Qy6g
Building Attention 4 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEpmEh2prnM
Enforceable Statements - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mwoU_rxR-M
Teach Your Dog to Pay Attention - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVhCD5CV1P8
How to Get Your Dog's Attention part 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFuNqv0BByo
Stopping Unwanted Behavior - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLr3ame9Ptk

Also try to take a step back and look at what is really going on. If Trump isn't listening to you because he's over stimulated (in need of exercise, in a new environment, etc.) than the answer may that he simply cannot pay attention to you in that moment and you need to address the distraction (exercise, moving away from distraction, etc.). Dogs don't generalize well. For example if he's been in your house for months with only your immediate family then you suddenly have fifty people over for a party it is simply unrealistic to expect him to show the same amount of attention/obedience when his environment has suddenly become so overstimulating. And remember what is boring to you, like squirrel running past on a walk, may be enough to send him over threshold and be too distracting to him. As another example he may understand not to nip at people in the living room, but not yet understand not to nip at people in the backyard because he hasn't generalized the behavior.

And last but not least pay attention to how you're using your dog's name. If you're using his name in conversation all day and he's not getting reward most of the time he's going to tune it out. Humans talk a lot and we (myself included) tend to nag. So it might be worth it to try and use a nickname to refer to him in conversation and/or train a separate attention noise.

Dog Name Strategies - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEmaUSFRFpM

I wish I could like this repeatedly and share it over and over. This is exactly what I used to tell my students! Especially when they have young 8wk+ puppies. The earlier you play focus/attention games the better your dog is at this, even through adolescence!!! These videos are fantastic, I'll be adding them to my share info repertoire!

[mierose]

Honey and I have been having a lot of fun lately! We've started practicing backyard agility and it's been a blast as she's incredibly smart and also incredibly food motivated. So far we've mastered some jumps (her nickname is Honey Bunny, she'll jump with or without a hoop or hurdle), and she's just started to pick up weave poles, though they're quite spaced out as she's just started. I was concerned about tunnels but as I mentioned, she's very food motivated and will go over and through anything for a treat. She doesn't seem fearful and zooms right through, and if it's a good enough treat, she'll very excitedly hop/bounce through, which is cute but something we may need to work on. Anyway, we've been having tons of fun and it's really helped to curve her destructive tendencies now that she has something to put her energy into. Very good things all around <33

[Crossflare]

Week 1 with new puppy I am irritated the puppy excite peeseverytimr I come out of my room in morning. No matter how much I try not to excite her she always ends up peeing and I always end up cleaning it up.

So while I love my dog I sm frustrated with her behavioral issues.

It ain't getting any easier the whole family is irritted we're foing training classes next week with a professional trainer at petco. Also puppy playtime as well so she'll get her socialization and won't bug our cats.

I am also concerned about the petco trainer she said positive dog training which I hope doesn't mean she's going to tell us to ignore the bad behavior.

[Blue_Aussie]

I'm not sure if this is an option but, maybe if she sleeps in your bed with you she won't get so excited. This works with a dog I watch a lot, if she's in another room sleeping and I come in she will whine and bark, but not if she sleeps with me.