Archive for September, 2007

What a difference a day makes

Lucy is out from behind the bars at the Lost Dog’s Home and she now has a second chance at a wonderful life.

The staff at the Hobart Dog’s Home were wonderful and for $155 we collected Lucy who had been wormed, vaccinated, vet checked and de-sexed.

Right from the moment she set her paws in our car, she’s fitted in super well. She’s a sweet, cheeky little dog … but like anything training takes time and needs to be consistent.

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Canine noses out of joint

It’s important for us to remember how upset our Jack Russell, Indi, will feel with the introduction of a new house dog into our lives.

Even though we know Lucy is only here temporarily until we retrain her, Indi doesn’t know that. And her nose is somewhat out of joint.

The first day Lucy was here, Indi took to her bed in a state of depression.

Our Indi is called Indi because she comes ‘Indi house’ and rides ‘Indi ute’. Suddenly there’s another cute dog doing those things and it was too much for Indi to bear.

To help her adjust we make sure Indi is always fed first and fed the best bits.

This is pack language where we, the head ‘wolves’, are giving Indi the cue that she’s higher in the pack than new dog, Lucy.

We are also giving Indi special privileges like extra attention so she knows she’s still top dog.

Dog Rescue Mission

Meet Lucy, a 4 month old pooch looking oh, so cute but sad, at the Lost Dog’s Home. Lucy is about to come home with us for training and to start a fabulous new life with our friends.

About eight years ago I put in a little bit of time training their Dalmation, Milly. Just three weeks training in her youth was enough to make sure she had a good recall and some manners.

The foundation training ensured she could run free in the park and be obedient to her owners. Recently poor Milly was put to sleep after an illness, so my devastated friends contacted me again about training another ‘fur person’ for them.

Normally, due to lack of time we have to say no to such requests but when my friend’s Penny and Rosalie said they wanted a dog from the Lost Dog’s Home, I had to say ‘yes!’.

Lucy won’t be the first dog from the home that we’ve re-trained and I’ve a feeling she won’t be the last … stay tuned for her journey from the orphanage to her cushy life in her new family.

It’s so rewarding to know we’re giving a dog a second chance in life. For Tassie adoptions phone the Hobart Dog’s Home on 6243 5177 or volunteer at your local Dog’s Home.

Fascinator Frenzy

Feathers and flowers flowed on the kitchen table last night and even the phone got a fascinator make-over.

It’s amazing how creative I get after a glass of wine or two! (I can’t help talking like Dame Edna now when I talk on the phone!) What’s the reason for the feathers at the Treasures?

We’re gearing up for our Woodsdale Footy Club Presentation Dinner tonight. Bigger and more glam than the Brownlow.

Come back next week for a fascinating fascinator report of all the goings on at Woodsdale.

By the time Melbourne Cup Day rolls round, our style-setting designs will be making as much impact as Twiggy’s mini-dress did back in the 60′s. Bye for now Possums!

Holiday Heaven

We took a few days off last week to enjoy school holidays on Tassie’s stunning East Coast.

We took pups to train and Blossum for the kids to ride on the beach.

When I saw this image of me and my little two year old, it’s little wonder I love being an author in this state.

Having the pony on the beach reminded me so much of the final scene in my new novel The Rouseabout.

That sunny day with my family on the beach prooved to me dreams can come true.

Using our Jack Russell as a training aid

Our Jack Russell is used as a training aid sometimes.

We let her scoot about on the beach to raise the excitement for pups. Then, when the pup is fully focused on the little dog, we call the pup and use the long horse lung lead to ensure he gives us his attention and comes away from his Jack Russell chasing activity.

This teaches your dog to come to you every single time, no matter how exciting some situations are.

Many people say their dog only comes to them when they call it when there are no distractions.

Setting up a training opportunity such as this will lay the foundations of a dog who comes when it calls 100 per cent of the time so they are socially acceptable and safe around stock.

Come here to me!

Here’s Lumpy, our border collie pup, on a horse lunge rope.

It’s the best way to teach a dog to come to you when you call it every time.

We never call a dog unless we know it will come to us, otherwise you are training the dog to ignore you.

Letting a dog run in a high excitement environment like a beach is a great place to start to teach your dogs to come when they are called every single time by using the long lead.

Treats in the pocket help, but Lumpy loves a pat and praise just as much.

Take your working dog with you

Just because your dog is a working dog, doesn’t mean it has to stay at home on the chain when you go on holiday.

We always take young pups with us because we can spend quality time with them and help them socialise to different situations, people, animals and smells.

Here’s Lumpy learning to sit. Note my body language and his eye contact.

We’ve achieved this using food rewards and loads of praise. We’ve got three young pups on the go and we’re busy with kids and all the rest. Lack of time is no excuse.

Farming Faux pas

Many of us have experienced the unpleasant discovery of dog poo on ones shoes.

But another farming faux pas I discovered this morning is placenta on on one’s boots.

In my rush to hang washing out, change nappies, get smoko for crutching and hastily assist a ewe to lamb, I didn’t realise I was carting this tasty morsel about on my boots until the pups showed intense interest in me!

Such a social slip up can only happen in the country! (Or in a scene from a Monty Python movie.)

Art ‘de la Beer Garden’

People are saying to me ‘hurry up’ and write your next book! But I’m having to much fun.

Here is my new look beer garden. A stove that was headed to the tip and some cement sheeting to stop the rails of the deck burning.

Plus stylish seating — hand chipped convict bricks that were foundations of the old shearing shed.

On Sunday I decided to clean out the fridge and get rid of the half bottles of open wine that kept jamming the door.

Wine tasting at its best. The flat champagne went down the sink, but the white wine was enough to get me all arty farty so here is Rachael Treasure on fire as a beer garden artiste!

I think I’ll stick to writing books, but I had a ball being ever so arty farty, while John’s team (The Roos) got flogged by my team, (The Cats) in the Aussie Football League.