Bill The Housesitter dot com Video #9: Dog Training Lite

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This is the blog section of the Bill The Housesitter site. See above tabs for ‘About’, ‘Availability’, ‘Contact’ and ‘References’.

Nothing really much to say here except that it’s a delight to spend time with these two dogs, and we use a few little training tips every day in play and walking time.

Here’s what some of it looks like.

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My 2016 Dance Card Is Now Full

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This is the blog section of the Bill The Housesitter site. See above tabs for ‘About’, ‘Availability’, ‘Contact’ and ‘References’.

As of this morning, Bill The Housesitter is now booked until at least 5 January 2017.

I have some dates already booked in for the first half of 2017 – see my Availability page for full details.

However, all dates are now spoken for in 2016, and hopefully will stay that way, the various good gods-willing, and if the creeks don’t rise and the crops don’t fail. 😉

In fact, I’m even taking two weeks for myself and having a holiday in Queensland, NSW, ACT and Victoria. This is something I would not even have considered towards the start of this year.

But while some cruel and even tragic* things have happened this year, on balance, it goes well. Good things are happening, and a little time for #1 is in order.

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Full as a goog, as my old mum would say!

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Bill The Housesitter dot com Video #8 Part B: Wide Open Dog Park

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This is the blog section of the Bill The Housesitter site. See above tabs for ‘About’, ‘Availability’, ‘Contact’ and ‘References’.

One of the great joys (of the many to be had) when you housesit is when you strike upon a winning formula with two new furry friends from the get-go.

I’m here in beautiful Capalaba, south east of Brisbane, a short drive from the coastline including Cleveland, Raby Bay and Redland Bay, with Wynnum and Manly a little to the north. It’s then a hop, skip and a jump to the ferry terminal down south for the islands: Stradbroke and Russell to name just two I can think of without consulting a map!

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Raby Bay. Image courtesy of www.peterbellingham.com

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[Reference] Wavell Heights, Brisbane (One very expressive sharpei cross and a low maintenance budgie)

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This is the blog section of the Bill The Housesitter site. See above tabs for ‘About’, ‘Availability’, ‘Contact’ and ‘References’.

My house-sit in Wavell Heights was one of a few I’d lined up while still in Sydney, so it was great that a few people like Samantha and Dan were prepared to take me on, sight unseen, before I had even arrived in the great south east of Queensland back in February 2016.

(And it’s also a testament to the value of collecting these references, and I offer my sincere thanks to everyone who has provided them for me.)

Like a good one-third to two-thirds of the places I visit, I’d never heard of Wavell Heights before I lobbed there in June 2016. Put a gun to my head and there’s no way I could have pointed to it on a map of Greater Brisbane.

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Like most of my canine companions, Gus had zero interest in the Tour de France.

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Bill The Housesitter Video 7: Postcard From Burleigh Beach

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This is the blog section of the Bill The Housesitter site. See above tabs for ‘About’, ‘Availability’, ‘Contact’ and ‘References’.

It’s been a while since the last blog post and video here. So long that I’m currently under roof #12 for calendar year 2016.

This evening on Burleigh Beach, as I was trying to simultaneously drink in all the scenery and document it to within an inch of its life, I realised this was prime video material.

Et voilà!

I can’t tell you how much I adore drifting up and down the Burleigh promenade. Yeah, it’s tourist central, but this is mid-winter.

I adore it.

A hive of activity, people of all ages, nationalities, and descriptions. And I have more conversations and shared moments here on one evening’s walk than in some whole weeks elsewhere. Continue reading

A Day In The Life Of Bill The Housesitter by Overheard Productions (Bill Quinn)

Sergeant Schultz und Colonel Klink Mit Wilhelm Quinn Fur Ein Tag
Sergeant Schultz und Colonel Klink Mit Wilhelm Quinn Fur Ein Tag

Welcome to a Day In The Life of “Colonel Klink” und “Sergeant Schultz” von Liverpool, New South Wales, Australie.

Those are not their real names and the location given is the area rather than the actual localité.

Today I want to show you what a typical day…. wait, scratch that. I do not have typical days and neither do the pets.

NOT having a routine is a good thing for almost all sentient mammalian beings. Unless that being has severe chemical or physical or mental issues, in which case, the more strict the regime the better.

That is not the case with these two. Sure, Klink has traditionally been extremely anxious, and Schultz has had some real challenges in his lifetime, on the whole those have been nurture issues related to their environment.

And let me make this plainer than plain: it is NOT to do with the house and the others in it. The two homo sapien friends of C & S have provided a loving, caring, diverse, well-looked-after-without-over-pampering household.

BUT, on all three sides, over all three boundary fences are extremely nervous dogs with some severe behavioural challenges. And haven’t really fully clapped eyes on them all yet, but sight is not a sense needed to come to that conclusion.

That is not a problem; it’s an opportunity. I have been in-house friends with these two Germans now for three weeks and 3.6 days roughly.

Even in that time, I have NOT taught them commands or tricks or behaviours inconsistent with how I found them. BUT they have both calmed down considerably. Bear in mind that this is THE first time they have both been separated from their significant others who have significantly less fur.

Let’s begin.

Earlier on Woensday nacht before I ducked out shortly to the shops
Earlier on Woensday nacht before I ducked out shortly to the shops
Schultz: if he were any more laid back... no, I don't see how that would be possible!
Schultz: if he were any more laid back… no, I don’t see how that would be possible!

05:36 AEDST, Thor’s Day 29 Oktober (Festen?!) 2015 Continue reading

Bill The Housesitter Video #2 – Bill, What Do You Do?

This is the blog section of the Bill The Housesitter site. See above tabs for ‘About’, ‘Availability’, ‘Contact’ and ‘References’.

People often ask me, Bill, what do you do?

You’ve got this Overheard Productions thing you say is a home-based operation mostly, and then there’s the house-siting. Can you provide salient examples and unpack the minutiae of your routinus caninus and entertainus (here we are now, entertain us).

Here within and thereto under, I pledge thee a trough. For the dogs’ water.

Here’s some moving pictures. (♪♪♪ What about me, it isn’t fair ♪♪♪ — True story. I house-sat next door to Gary the guitarist from Moving Pictures last year. Gave him some copies of my articles in Trad and Now magazine. He was rather impressed at my advice to artists article.)

Please press <PLAY>…

Here’s the result of the investment of about 20 minutes of my time in the wee small hours before this was shot:

 

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Click on picture

Bill Quinn
Bill The Housesitter
23:36, Tuesday 20 October 2015

Holsworthy, New South Wales, Australia