Introducing myself.. New to this site.. A few issues

SheltieChe said:
some dogs are just not interested in toys to begin with so you need to teach them. Play with toys yourself, make funny sounds, lots of noise, movement etc be guffy:yes:
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Some dogs are just not motived by toys. I would have agreed you just need to teach them to enjoy it until I met Ember. She does not do toys at all. Period.

I tried for years to get her engaged in toys. All my other dogs love toys. I have a video of 6 shelties playing with a ball and everyone is running around having a blast. Where is Ember? Laying in the dirt by the fence watching the world go by.

Ember does love walks, praise, food!, bouncing up and down, this beep game I taught her were I poke her on the shoulder,me rolling around the ground with her, playing with my feet, playing with my hands under a cover and barking. Ember has also always had an issue with her weight because she doesn't play like my other dogs.

Ember loves to do obedience and is a multiple High in Trial(Canada, UKC, AKC) , multiple high combined(AKC) obedience dog. It keeps her sane. She just doesn't do toys.
 
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Emma

First, welcome to the site, it rocks, I am a newbie myself. A newbie to the site but not to shelties.

My first sheltie, was aloof, it is sometimes their way. She would only stay on the bed with me for a minute before she jumped down. She also loved to eat but shelties gain quickly so you have to watch them and not confuse loving them with over feeding them. O'Keeffee my first, became a porker early on and I had to take control.

Emma will protect you, it is in her sweet nature. She will also gain trust and happiness with you as long as you realize her need for independence. Girl shelties are more independent than boys, has been my experience.

My sheltie Seamus is a bigger than average sheltie, at 20 inches but we keep him at 29-30 pounds. Overweight will hurt a dog in the long run, it will affect their health, just like humans.

Best
Kate
 
Congratulations! How wonderful to get a perfect walk straight off. Bet next time you get that harness out she starts the sheltie spin from excitement!:wink2:
 
dawns2shelties said:
I was wondering have you had her thyroid checked? I didn't see any mention of that.
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This is actually a good suggestion, I will have that done; however I will say that Emma's sister (BB, my daughter and son in law's Sheltie) appears just a tad bit bigger than Emma in height and length, but about the same poundage! I was talking to them yesterday about this and my son-in-law said: "you did see the parents! They were bigger Shelties too" (I never noticed) LOL

Ok walk #2: I took Emma for a walk today (sorry had to miss Wed and Thursday; daughter in Hospital, surgery and I had both the Shelties and grandson (he was sick too) with me and back and forth to hospital). Emma was once again a champ!! She stepped right into the harness very excited and went straight to the door and was trying to nose the door open. She did wonderful on our walk today; almost has a prissy bounce to her!!

I would have taken both Shelties for a walk while BB was here but BB will have NOTHING to do with her leash. But the girls wore each other out as they played for 3 days together.

So...yesterday after everyone was back in their own homes I went on my shopping trip to Pet Smart and loaded up with some toys and a harness for BB! I took the harness to them; they put it on and BB planted herself as if in cement. When they tried to walk with her (in the house) BB freaked out, tucked her head and slipped her paws out of the harness!! She would NOT walk on it, so I stayed; I put it on her and worked with her. She eventually walked with me in the house and in the back yard. She will take a little more time to get use to it little by little.

Toys: so far the ball is just a ball and is being ignored. I want to get the busy dog ball but was a bit concerned about ordering it because it was not a secure site (according to my computer). I got the Occupi chew toy where you put a treat inside that...she loved it! I also got one for my Chi (she devoured it!) and one for BB (she ignored it). Got the laser pointer: ignored by all canines in my house! And still working with the tug rope toy!
 
famous seamus said:
My sheltie Seamus is a bigger than average sheltie, at 20 inches but we keep him at 29-30 pounds. Overweight will hurt a dog in the long run, it will affect their health, just like humans.

Best
Kate
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Are you sure Seamus is 20 inches? I will have to measure Sandstorm again, as he is 18 inches, or so I thought. I can't imagine a taller sheltie than mine!! SS weighs 32 lbs, I cut his food down by about 1/4 cup. I want pics of Seamus!
 
Emma said:
Wow, suddenly I feel like a bad Sheltie Mom. I will post another post to answer some of the questions and advice (ALL very good BTW). However, I just took some pics of the 3 girls and a few older ones I have as well; but can not figure out where and how to upload them for y'all to see them. Help?

Also, I did upload a pic of Emma on my profile; I thought it would be my avatar?? Guess not. LOL

Thank you ALL for very good advice. Oh, I did measure Emma; she is 18" tall (top of back to floor), 29' long (from back of head to bottom) and waistline is 28". Her sister (BB) is a hefty gal as well and my daughter crates her and controls her feeding time. Could it be we just ended up with big girls?
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Hi, welcome, I reald all your posts and you obviously love your dogs and take care of them. Your sheltie is happier already!! But she is fat. :sadsmile: I think the problem can be fixed though, and you have started already by walking and excersizing her. Other members here have given you great advice. When you start measuring her food that will help with weight too. Not easy! Please let us know of her progress,
 
Also depends how you 'stack'them when the are measured. To get almost an inch off Deska for flyball comps I make sure his back hocks are vertical so how they stand makes a big difference to their heights.
 
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