Introductions: Meet Aila!

A

AilaPup

Forums Novice
Hello, everyone!

My name's Heather, and I live with my husband in Vancouver, BC. This is my first time posting, though I've been stalking the forums for a little while now. Sheltie Nation was so helpful when we were planning on getting our first dog, and I'm happy to say we got ourselves a blue merle sheltie and she is the light of our life.

Her name is Aila, and she's a year old on Friday!

You can see a gallery of photos of her here: https://pixelfed.social/Aila

She's currently in the middle of blowing her coat; so much soft undercoat down floating everywhere! We've been doing lots of brushing but it's doing little to stem the tide. :lol:

Personality wise, she's energetic, fun-loving, curious about everything, and whip-smart. She constantly brings us toys in an attempt to entice us to play; if we're busy, we end up with a pile of toys at our feet. She's not a huge barker, thank goodness! She only really barks when she's excited and playing, she doesn't bark in reaction to sounds or other dogs. Crossing my fingers she stays that way! XD Other than barking she makes the most adorable vocalizations, little murmers, yips, grumbles, mlems, yammers…

She has a couple vices, the biggest one being: Skateboards. We live in an apartment in the city, and there are lots of skateboarders around. If she hears or sees one she goes ballistic, barking, yipping, struggling with all her might to escape and chase them. It's only the boards she's after, not the people, and it doesn't seem to be a fear response so much, more of a crazed "I REALLY WANT TO PLAY WITH IT" reaction. We bought her a skateboard to see if we could desensitize her, but we haven't had much luck. It doesn't do anything to stop her freaking out at them on the street. Even if she sees a skateboarder go by on the street from our balcony window, she'll flip out and start barking. Even though skateboarders are the worst, she's expanded this behaviour to little kids on scooters, too, which is also a problem because we live very close to an elementary school…

Anyway! Despite some little problems she really is the best dog we ever could have hoped for. I'm looking forward to chatting with you all here as I get more used to being a sheltie mum. :biggrin2:
 
Welcome, Heather, Aila, and hubby!
What wonderful images you have shared! A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!!!

It looks like you guys have done a great job with Aila. Are you doing any classes with her? She looks like she is smart and fun!
Love her coloring!

It always cracks me up when people say they are stalking Sheltie Nation. We are so glad to have you guys and best of ALL we LOVE your pictures!
The video is great too... although I found my head to be spinning afterward.

I am sure you will enjoy the site and the wealth of information it provides.
 
AilaPup said:
Hello, everyone!

My name's Heather, and I live with my husband in Vancouver, BC. This is my first time posting, though I've been stalking the forums for a little while now. Sheltie Nation was so helpful when we were planning on getting our first dog, and I'm happy to say we got ourselves a blue merle sheltie and she is the light of our life.

Her name is Aila, and she's a year old on Friday!

You can see a gallery of photos of her here: https://pixelfed.social/Aila

She's currently in the middle of blowing her coat; so much soft undercoat down floating everywhere! We've been doing lots of brushing but it's doing little to stem the tide. :lol:

Personality wise, she's energetic, fun-loving, curious about everything, and whip-smart. She constantly brings us toys in an attempt to entice us to play; if we're busy, we end up with a pile of toys at our feet. She's not a huge barker, thank goodness! She only really barks when she's excited and playing, she doesn't bark in reaction to sounds or other dogs. Crossing my fingers she stays that way! XD Other than barking she makes the most adorable vocalizations, little murmers, yips, grumbles, mlems, yammers…

She has a couple vices, the biggest one being: Skateboards. We live in an apartment in the city, and there are lots of skateboarders around. If she hears or sees one she goes ballistic, barking, yipping, struggling with all her might to escape and chase them. It's only the boards she's after, not the people, and it doesn't seem to be a fear response so much, more of a crazed "I REALLY WANT TO PLAY WITH IT" reaction. We bought her a skateboard to see if we could desensitize her, but we haven't had much luck. It doesn't do anything to stop her freaking out at them on the street. Even if she sees a skateboarder go by on the street from our balcony window, she'll flip out and start barking. Even though skateboarders are the worst, she's expanded this behaviour to little kids on scooters, too, which is also a problem because we live very close to an elementary school…

Anyway! Despite some little problems she really is the best dog we ever could have hoped for. I'm looking forward to chatting with you all here as I get more used to being a sheltie mum. :biggrin2:
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She's very pretty!! Welcome! When you are outside on a walk and a skateboard passes you by, cars also, bikes, whatever sets her off, have her do a sit stay looking at you. Do this with her right in front of you and close to you. Have a treat in your hand, ready. This may help, that's what I did for my reactive older sheltie. I have to do this every time for him and he has gotten much better! Good luck!
 
Thank you ghggp, Karen, for the warm welcome! :)

We took her to puppy classes when she was really little, but honestly, she's been so good just with us working with her. She can sit, lie down, "look at me", leave it, shake a paw, high five, crawl, stay, "jump up" (jump on a chair, boulder, wall, etc.), "jump down", "dance" (gets on her hind legs and waves her front paws once or twice), spin, "between" (she goes between our legs and then wraps around to the front again), "on your bed", "in your crate", and some more I'm sure I've forgotten…! She's getting better at "heel", though she still needs some work. ^__^;

I'd love to try agility or some other kind of structured activity with her. I'm sure she would love it! Unfortunately, there aren't many agility gyms in the city and none close, and I can't transit with her anywhere. We don't have a car yet, so our options are limited. One day!

Karen, I try to do that every time, yes! I'm so glad it worked for you and your sheltie. We'll keep trying… thing is, she's not very interested in food/treats at all, so trying to get her attention with them when she's so worked up is proving quite the challenge.

She also loves the taste of metal. XD She tries so hard to get at our keys so she can lick them, and can spend ages licking at a metal zipper pull on a sweater. Does anybody else's sheltie have that quirk?
 
Welcome, Aila is a pretty girl. Blue is the one color I have not had, now on Shelties # 5 and # 6. Lots of good information to be found and friendly and funny folks as well.
 
Welcome! Aila is adorable. Thanks for sharing her pictures.

Sorry I have no suggestions for the skate boarders - Shelby does the exact same thing, skate boards, basketballs, kids kicking or throwing balls. Pretty much anything she wants to chase or play with and she can’t get to. We tried but for us we couldn’t be consistent with trying to keep her under control - so we found it easier to try and avoid those situations. We used to live in a very kid friendly neighborhood so I completely understand. But I am sure that with consistency you will be able to teach her to not react.
 
AilaPup said:
Thank you ghggp, Karen, for the warm welcome! :)

We took her to puppy classes when she was really little, but honestly, she's been so good just with us working with her. She can sit, lie down, "look at me", leave it, shake a paw, high five, crawl, stay, "jump up" (jump on a chair, boulder, wall, etc.), "jump down", "dance" (gets on her hind legs and waves her front paws once or twice), spin, "between" (she goes between our legs and then wraps around to the front again), "on your bed", "in your crate", and some more I'm sure I've forgotten…! She's getting better at "heel", though she still needs some work. ^__^;

I'd love to try agility or some other kind of structured activity with her. I'm sure she would love it! Unfortunately, there aren't many agility gyms in the city and none close, and I can't transit with her anywhere. We don't have a car yet, so our options are limited. One day!

Karen, I try to do that every time, yes! I'm so glad it worked for you and your sheltie. We'll keep trying… thing is, she's not very interested in food/treats at all, so trying to get her attention with them when she's so worked up is proving quite the challenge.

She also loves the taste of metal. XD She tries so hard to get at our keys so she can lick them, and can spend ages licking at a metal zipper pull on a sweater. Does anybody else's sheltie have that quirk?
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It's harder when they're not as treat motivated as most Shelties! Try a toy? Your keys? You said she likes metal, lol
 
Welcome As you know by your lurking in the Sheltie shadows this is a friendly and such an informative and helpful group! Alia is a beautiful girl and sounds like lots of fun:) Cooper will be 9 months soon and he has no issues with skateboards ( we have a skateboard park down the street ), but noisy motorcycles or trucks set him off! Zippers and keys?? lol That’s a new one, but they each have their own little vices :). We look forward to lots of pictures in the future.
 
Wendy C said:
Welcome As you know by your lurking in the Sheltie shadows this is a friendly and such an informative and helpful group! Alia is a beautiful girl and sounds like lots of fun:) Cooper will be 9 months soon and he has no issues with skateboards ( we have a skateboard park down the street ), but noisy motorcycles or trucks set him off! Zippers and keys?? lol That’s a new one, but they each have their own little vices :). We look forward to lots of pictures in the future.
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lol Read that wrong...Karen suggested keys ha ha.
 
welcome to Aila and her family :yes:
thanks for the lovely pictures.

Yes, skate boards are bad - fortunately we rarely meet them.

When Minnie was a puppy she could also go completely into a trance
if she could reach her metal nameplate that sat in the collar:winkgrin:
 
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