ILuvAmstaffs

Oh no. Sending healing vibes his way & keeping fingers & paws crossed it turns out to be something easily treated.

The government listen to them.

OH has owned both & he tells me our amstaff is more sensible & the one thing he often remarks on is the fact that the amstaff is nowhere near as protective as his sbt. By that he means that if there was a noise outside, his sbt would charge outside to investigate whereas our amstaff is by far more layed back. Both were & are extremely friendly to people invited into the house though.

QUESTIONS What is my relationship with the breed? (ie breeder, first time owner etc) First time owner How common is it in Australia? Quite common I think What is the average lifespan? Seems to be quite varied. Maybe around 12 years? What is the general temperament/personality? Loves people more than anything & is a real class clown. Personality + How much daily exercise is needed for the average adult? My boy has ED, so might not be a greta example, but he doesn't need much exercise at all. Is it a breed that a first time dog owner could easily cope with? I think it would be better if they had atleast owner other medium-large breed, but probably could if they were commited to learning about the breed & prepared to heavily socialise their pup & attend training. Can solo dogs of this breed easily occupy themselves for long periods? Yes, ours will sleep all day when we are at work. How much grooming is required? Occassional brushing if you want to. Is it too boisterous for very small children or for infirm people (unless the dog is well trained)? Probably when young, but if well trained wuld see no problem. Are there any common hereditary problems a puppy buyer should be aware of? ED is one I have experience of. The rest as previously posted.

I don't have many pics of me & Diesel together. I think these are the only recent ones

I am so sorry that you are going through this. It's something I really dread for the future. Thinking of you & Elliot tonight.

That is truly shocking. RIP Portia

I am sure she is looking down thinking how lucky she was to have you as a mum.

Teranik, I love the one where you can see the treat in the air. Kirislin, she looks like a kangaroo in that second pic.

He he, thanks. He really is a big sooky boy... and here's another one, this time doing his cheeky look.

Loving seeing everyones pics. Here are a few of mine

What a lovely tribute to your wonderful girl. She lives on in your memories.

I just found an awesome tutorial that takes you on a tour of the D200. It's making a heap more sense already!!! http://www.nikondigitutor.com/eng/d200/index.shtml

Which lens did you go for? Just the Nikon 18-55 VR lens that I was initially looking at. I will get something better over the next few months once I figure out what my needs are, at the moment just getting acquainted with all the functions is keeping me busy.

The above actually refers to all Nikons, not just the D200. It was just in relation to the D200 that I found it as that is what I have bought myself & I had noticed that she said her D200 was in being repaired. I do agree it's a bit rude to say what she said. I am only trying to give a reason as to why she might think that way.

Oh geez, what a shock that must have been for you. Hugs to you & your family. RIP Craig.

If you going for a D80, check out Harvey Norman for prices as they were selling them for $799 when I was in there.

Well, I have been having fun "playing" with the new camera, but am still trying to work out all the settings. So far I have only used it indoors of a night in reasonably dim lighting, so am hanging for the weekend to get out & about with it. Diesel is starting get the "oh no, the camera AGAIN" look on his face every time I pull it out.

I have read that on the D200 there "can" be issues with using a third party lens due to the fact that Nikon doesn't share information about the interface they use. Maybe she was referring more to that than actually knocking the quality of the lens? This is what the Ken Rockwell site says: Link

Thanks for that. I actually looked at the D80 because they were doing them for $799 but thought I may as well go a little better & get the D200 as they were selling them so cheap. In regards to lenses, would something like this Tamron 18-200mm be ok to play with until I figure out what I am mostly shooting?

I might just take you up on that when I start playing!

I think between DPReview, Ken Rockwell & a few other forums I confused myself sufficiently to end up just making the decision to get the best camera I could afford with any lens & then work out what I need in the future. I have to say, Ken Rockwells user guide on the D200 is a lot easier to read than the actual Nikon manual.

Reading the Ken Rockwell lens recommendations & he seems to recommend the 18-200mm lens as well, but says if thats too much to spend just to go with the 18-55mm to start with.

Thanks for the links Ruff Diamond. I ended up buying the 18-55mm VR on ebay but will be keeping those links for future, the main thing I wanted was to get a lens on there so I can start trying to learn all the functions.

That's a good point, if anyone has the kit lenses or even a 18-105mm & is looking to sell them, let me know.