indigirl

RIP Elliot

I have IG's and i have one tiny dog citronella collar and one static shock one (which has yet to be used). Whichever way you decide to go i suggest you buy the collar through ebay USA. They cost way less then what they cost here, even taking postage intom account. I pay about $130 AUD inc postage for a innotek waterproof barkcollar from the USA, the same collar retials here for $192. I buy the batteries in bulk also thru ebay from Hong Kong - i get 30 for around $66 delivered instead of paying $8 a battery here. Likewise the citronella refills are $40 from ebay aus, for a large can which equals i think 4 regular cans. I own about 7 or 8 barking collars all up and I have saved a fortune by buying them from the USA. Cant remember who made the tiny dog citronella one, but its got a green collar on it and its tiny weeny. Pretty sure its also waterproof. Just checked and its the Iki collar that i have. The static one for tiny dogs that I have is the petsafe nano deluxe little dog bark collar. ETA: With my large dogs I found all but one responded well to the citronella collars. The dog that didnt repsond well I ended up usign a static collar on her for a while, then switched back to the citronella collar and found that it was then effective. I only consider using the static collars if the citronella ones dont work. I havent used my nano collar yet as the IG responds to the citronella one. I also only have to use them sometimes, on days when they are in a barky mood. They arent used everyday. I find garbage day is always a bad day for example. I tried those sonic collars - they were all useless. I would guess that the vast majority of dogs would respond to the citronella collar, thats been my experience anyways.

LOL ive found Karma well BELOW ground level.. thats her entire body when shes standing below ground level, the hole has been so deep, on more than one occasion. I was always afraid it would cave in on her and suffoate her. Its hard to describe the size of some of thdese 'holes, they were more like mini-excavations! She dug continunally, no matter how much stimulation/exercise she had. Some dogs dig dig dig no matter what you do. ETA I tried laying wire and having compacted roadbase put on top - she got thru that in no time. She simply has to be kept on a concreted/paved surface.

Ahhh I feel your pain. I have a golden retreiver who digs like she is possessed, I had to have 4 grand of concrete laid in the end as she was digging up and breaking my water pipes. She also dug down to, and broke, my sewerage pipe - but lets not go there as words cannot convey the filth .. *shudder*. I wish you luck! My advice would be buy an enclosed run, lay large concrete pavers. Sure the grass under the pavers will die off but it will grow back when pavers are removed. Better a dead patch of lawn than a destroyed yard.

Karindi - golden retreiver & italian greyhound

I think I would be tempted to courier some lovely large photos to them instead, if its just a 'visual assessment'

RIP Tyson, another beautiful boy waiting at the bridge

Yep, definitely look around the house and shed first! It's amazing what you can put together A lot of pet products can be ridiculously priced. Since Sarge arrived, we don't use the toilet tray as he has a bit of trouble aiming his boy bits in the correct area and he too refuses to get his feet wet . Sooo, I scouted around in the good old shed and made a little enclosure at the front which is undercover from the carport.... and voila! a last resort toilet area... for the world's most spoiled dogs, who just cannot bear to get their delicate little tootsies wet, for whom nothing is too much trouble, and around whom the entire universe obviously revolves Good luck with whatever you put together. Let us know how you go. Oh, and I saw a pic of your little dog in another thread. She is adooooorable!! LOL my IG is also far too precious to use the lawn when it rains. Been thinking of trying to rig up something using one of those 'pee posts' to erm.. direct his piddling to an appropriate area, just havent worked out exactly how yet lol.

My show/breeding dogs are covered by petplan, their standard plan which is the middle level of cover. Its about $77 for the 2 dogs per month. Petplan also offers breeders 6 weeks free puppy insurance which I plan to use. The other dogs and my 3 cats are covered by petsecure which covers accidental injury. In my experience its injuries that have the biggest financial cost,with surgury etc. Petsecure with a $200 excess is the cheapest insurance for accidental injury. With 2 dogs and 3 cats covered by them i also get an additinal 10% discount on the premiums. I know I can afford $200 if one of them gets hurt, just the extra $1000 or so per surgery which is the killer! ETA: Under petsecure the dogs are around $12 a month and the cats are $8.50 a month, for $6500 cover per year each. Would be lovely to be able to afford petplan for all my pets, but the reality is that the cost is beyond my means with 4 dogs and cats. As it is i pay around $130 a month, which is three times what I pay for my own priv health cover LOL.

I personally would buy a new crate for the puppy to use for the first month or so. After that, a crate cleaned within a inch of its life with F10 or similar would be ok i would think. That way you need only purchase a small crate and wont have to fork out as much $$. What kinda puppy you getting Daisy?

So sorry to read this.. I guess Rex jsut couldnt do without her. RIP Sam you will not be forgotten

RIP Rex. So sorry to hear of his passing. Another beautiful golden waiting at the bridge.

RIP Mahli

I crate train all my fosters no matter what age they are. I find crating a neccesity at feedtimes and also with housebreaking. As long as the crate is big enough for them to be comfortable, they adjust to it very quickly.

RIP Lucy

The newer ones dont do this, although the older ones did. the newer and better ones have a vibration sensor that triggers the spray instead of a microphone. Huge improvement.

Fair enough cosmolo im jsut speaking from my experience with my own dogs. They have all learnt not to bark when wearing the collar, but i accept that may not be the case with other dogs. All ive done is start off having the dog wear the collar for short supervised periods, and gradually extend the time they are wearing them until they can wear them during the day while im at work. They never wear them when I am home. Most days they only wear them half a day as I come home at lunchtime and leave them in the house for the afternoon. None of them appear to be adversely affected by the collars, none has displayed any fear or aggression. None of thier personalities have changed. They arent thrilled when i put the colalrs on them as they know it means they need to be quiet LOL. For me they have been a godsend as i have intolerant nasty neighbours.

Thanks Cosmolo. As you know - funds can be a little tight for us and we've had an offer to trial a citronella collar from a couple of different DOLers - what that be a bad thing given that Grover is such a whoos? I honestly don't think it would take long for him to figure out that barking gets the yucky thing happening but don't want to completely repress his delightful silliness either..... You know my yard set-up and it isn't possible for him to be permanently in the front yard as that is the kid's yard.... Though I suppose I could always make the back yard the kid's yard????? They dont teach your dog to stop barking, they only teach them to stop barking whilst wearing the collar. Take the collar off and he will bark as per usual it wont repress him.

Trish I have both citronella collars plus one 'shock' collar. I also live in NSW. Ebay USA is your best friend LOL. Even with postage they cost half of what they cost here and they are exactly the same product. I can loan you a citronella one this weekend if you like? Can also loan you the shock one to try too- but you would need to send it back in a week or so as i use it on one of my fosters lol. From memory the shock one was about $90 australian including postage and the citronella ones were around $120. But that was when the dollar was worth more so would cost a bit more now. But considering they sell here for $220 ish its a HUGE saving. I have 3 regular citronella ones, 2 waterproof citronella ones and one waterproof shock one. Also buy the batteries for them from Hong Kong. They charge up to $8 per battery here!!! I got 32 batteries for $60 aussie delivered.

Christmas collars, toys, and 2 kittens LOL

RIP Millie... its not your fault you did all you could to ensure she had a great home. You weren't to know they were liars.

RIP Charlie Wait with Ripley at the bridge

Almost 6yrs since i lost my heart dog Truck, I think of her all the time still and wish she was here. In a way though the actual goodbye was so easy as she was old and riddled with cancer and she was ready to go. In many ways I had already come to terms with her death before she actually died as I knew she was on borrowed time for 6 month before her death. Losing Ripley so young and so suddenly has been devastating. I dont know that I will ever really come to terms with his loss fully. I will always miss my Truck dog but at least she had 13 yrs with me.. poor little Rippa never even made it to 4 months

I went out to the airport tonight to collect a foster dog. First time ive been there since i picked up Ripley when he arrived. I was completely unprepared for how I would feel. Its like it only happened yesterday, I stood there crying like a fool waiting for the plane to land... its still so raw.. I miss him so much

Im in the same boat as you I think i will jsut buy some UV filters for now to protect the lens. With buying a good zoom lens it really depends how much $$ you want to spend. I have the same camera as you and i got a 55 - 250mm IS lens as a kit lens. For a kit lens it seems pretty good to me! Also bought the 'plastic fantastic' 50mm prime lens for $125, cant really go wrong at that price!