Smith has taken over puppy minding for their mum Abbey ... they are purebred red cattle puppies that we have hand raised from two weeks, they are now six weeks.

They just won't leave him alone they follow him everywhere and he is really gentle with them. He drags an old stocking around to play tug with them and takes them for walks around the house.

that is so sweet he is playing at being big brother. how is smithie's recall going is he starting to listen to you

we are getting better, he has started dog obedience again so maybe that is helping. Or perhaps Dizzy is not playing with him as much... heh heh she has been locked up cause of the rain so no running around. She slipped in the mud and went under the fence cutting her legs so I have confined her to barracks...

What georgous pictures. Smithie looks like he is having much fun as the puppies. How old is Smithie? Just asking because Izzy my Kelpie x was also very unsettled if that is the right term. She is coming along in leaps and bounds since we have started obediance too. She isn't jumping on us as much as she used to and is listening to what I am saying instead of being converted to "blah blah blah" in her head. lol. Is that what you have found with Smithie? He is a beautiful looking boy, when I was deciding to get a Koolie I either wanted a red merle or red solid. Isn't it great that he gets on so well with the little tykes.

Smith looks relaxed and comfortable! In his element and having fun - wonderful to see. Thank you for posting pics!!!

He is nearly 11 months old. I got him at 5 and half months old and he was a bit of a wild child. Don't think he had been on a lead before. I walk on the rainforest tracks so they don't go on a lead much. As I already had Harley at Dog Club, Smith just ran wild some more. The first time on the lead he fought and fought and then it all just clicked into place and he understood that he was required to just walk beside me. He has such a beautiful nature always ready to please, once he knows what is wanted he tries his hardest.

He just likes the horses, he would spend all day with them.

He is only class one at dog obedience but he already heels, sits, drops and does a short stay and of course does an excellent recall except when he wants to go check where the horses are... and we have found he likes to play with the cattle too..

i got up to level 4 with spice before i moved down here and i really miss going to training and i think spice does to. but now i have my own little school going we start with spice then summa and then quin, greyson and finish with kaos they all get 10 mins each of training i don't do any training with ellie because she does not need any. the only dog that i am having trouble with is greyson his back legs just don't bend for the sit i have tried treating him with chicken and sausage's liver ham mince but as soon as it go's past the top of his nose he thinks ho well didn't really want it anyway and just keeps on standing there and i have tried holding the treat just above his nose and pushing down on his butt at the same time nope i am not that strong i need two hands on his butt to push plus a third to hold his collar an maybe an elephant to help out by sitting on him as well. but he heals very nicely and is starting to drop but just no sit. it is still early days with him and kaos is coming along well he is getting the idea of staying at my side and to sit but no drop yet it's to soon for that yet i try to get each thing set before we move on to the next command

Poppy, Pixie and Harley are at level 5 and when Smith gets there I will start again to get the girls to trial level. I would dearly love to do agility, but TIME!! and getting to training sessions.

Plus I have a couple of male red ACD's that take all the training time at the moment to straighten their kinks out as they are real problem children. Koolies are certianly more placid dogs!!!

Koolie junior boys have always made the best nanny's

When we have a litter here, the mum normaly weans the babies by 3/4 weeks and is off out to the paddock.
Then the boys come and play and teach them doggy manners, it is all too terrific.
People always comment on how steady and calm our pups are and I believe this is why.

love your photos JackieH, it is always so pleasing seeing young dogs do this, you just know they will make the very best adutls.

With the ACD's when the puppies are little the mothers are super protective of them until about three weeks, they start to let the lookers in... unfortunately this litter was an accident and had several casualties along the way and went from eight puppies to four and the mother, Abbey, who was not supposed to have any more litters of puppies was not really interested in them. She did raise them to weaning stage and now will not have anything to do with them. (She is going in to get desexed in two weeks to make sure this time there are no more accidents)

The Koolies have taken over the task of looking after them, and mainly Smith.

I was so amazed at how gentle he is with them. The male ACD's (brother and father) try to just ignore them or step out of their way. Not very sociable at all.

So sorry to hear how hard it has been with the babies, poor litte things it must have been heart breaking for you.
Still you have Smithy and he make a wonderful mum, I wonder how the pups will turn out.
Please let us know.

Jackie, Smithies story sounds very similar to Izzies. I got her around the same age and she was very unsure of herself and was up to so much mischief (I have a chewed recliner to prove it). So sorry about your hard time with the puppies, but they look well looked after now. I bet Smithie will be sorry when the go to their new homes.

TJ would you believe that was one of the reasons that I got Ceejay from you was how you raised your puppies. I do go for the whole communal thing with the dogs, that is how they do it in the wild so why not with us humans. I had a friend who bought a german shepherd pup who had spent all their time in a whelping cage. The muscle tone on this puppy was very poor and she had to gently exercise it until she strengthened up.

I love the kind of house where dogs run inside and outside and tussle with each other I know instantly what kind of person they are.

It is very unusual for a dog not to sit. Usually it's the first thing they pick up, sit for dinner, sit for pats, sit to be let off in the morning...etc

At the clinic i run a puppy pre school, as do most clinics. When we show people how to get their pups to sit i alwasy show them that if they have to "make" their dog sit then to apply pressure behind the dogs back knees. For two reasons, one, young pups, especially the big breeds we get through shouldn't have too much pressure applied down on their growing hips and backs. The second reason is that if you push the dogs knees in under him, he really has no choice but to sit! Try and only ask twice, sit then sit with assistance. If you keep pleading with him to sit and he doesn't then he will just learn to ignore the word all together! Doesn't sound like he is very food driven, i would ditch the treats, still use the hand signal, but reward him with lots of praise and a rub instead.

Hope some of that helps a bit! Good Luck!

thank you i had not heard about the behind the knee thing before as i have had very food driven dogs TJ told me about it this morning as i asked her for some help with greyson aproching me he only comes so far then stops he is not being disobeadant just does not know how or what to do