Ker

SO good to see you posting Jed...although it was so sad. I hope the scars, both mental and physical, heal soon. Damn leaky eyes...

Hi Jed, great to hear that you're up and reading at least. Hope the injuries heal well. Just dropping in people. Grabbed some fruit and left

Um try a lappie quintet! That's my next breed too. Hopefully later this year or next year!

Hmm, better tell boy Shar Pei that he's broken then. He wouldn't know how to attack anyone.

Name: Indi Nickname: Indi Lou Breed: Maltese Gender: Desexed female Age: About 3 Picture: Where did you get them from? Wagga Pound. She was supposed to be a foster dog, my son saw her, took her to bed and well...her career as a foster was over. How often do you exercise your dog? She's lazy, so we go for a short walk every couple of days and a longer one on the weekend, or we go to a dog meet. Do they know any commands? Just basic obedience Compete in any dog sports? LOL no way - she's far too lazy Favourite treat: People food...ANYTHING people food. Favourite toy: My Ragdoll cat (real one) LOL Funny habits or quirks: She humps my desexed male Raggie What's their personality like? She's bombproof. Loves the kids, loves the cats, loves me, obeys extremely well. She barks a bit, but apart from that, I can't fault her. Do they get along well with other dogs? Yeah, pretty good. She generally ignores them. She prefers smalls over large dogs. Are they scared of anything? Nup. She's an easy dog. What training methods do you use? Positive reinforcement? Corrections? Positive reinforcement only.

ANOTHER lappie???Omg, I'm going to be in heaven!

One of the ones that always shits me is when people say their dog bit another dog/cat. SOMEONE always comes out with "OMG, put the dog to sleep, it will attack your kids!!" EFS

I'm not a breeder, but I am a rescuer who is very particular about where my foster dogs go. I start by generally talking about their life, their other pets and what they do - all in a very non-threatening way. I don't ask about their income, but you can usually get an idea of their financial status and their pets importance with questions relating to grooming/food etc. If they fail the first lot of informal chats, they don't pass any further. If they pass that, they are invited to meet the dog, and to bring their other dog (if any) to meet them. If they pass that, THEN they get a home visit. Only after that does the dog go with them. I have had a couple of dogs that still needed more training, so I kept them while I continued (usually 2 to 4 weeks). If they weren't prepared to wait, then they were the wrong people. I always do home visits and always check out the other family pets. You can tell a lot about the person by looking at their other pets. My most recent foster passed with flying colours because of the fact that their dog was well fed, well groomed and perfectly trained and they adored him. Also, the woman got down on the ground with the foster dog and didn't give a damn that she got mud all over her clothes. She barely noticed. I get better results from not drilling the prospective adopters.

Oh Jesus. DON'T get a beagle! I love them, but I have had three in rescue and one was a TOTAL nightmare! It barked, it dug, it chewed and was so stubborn that it was a total challenge to train. And one of the good ones ran like there was no tomorrow. My stupid neighbour opened the gate and the dog got out. I had to chase him, and the only reason I caught him was because he found a nice scent that he liked. Airedales are big dogs?? Not sure where you got the idea they're small. Weims, I don't know a lot about. Whippets and greys - I never liked them until I met a beautiful one of each. Actually, I met 2 greys I'm in love with. One was owned by a family who adopted one of my rescues. He was so lazy and placid and laid back. The other one and the Whippy are Dolers dogs, that I see at meets. OMG they are both GORGEOUS! I love love LOVE them! Mum has an Amstaff. GREAT with the kids ( family kids range from 3 to 10). Excellent guard dog, doesn't dig or chew. Is too fat to like a LOT of exercise but he does like to be inside and inn the middle of family things. He hates being excluded. He's also not good with small furry animals. I've had 4 cockers through rescue. One was only 9 months old when I got him and he was hard work. He did the normal puppy thing and chewed things up, dug holes. Wasn't a nuisance barker though and he was VERY good inside and TT'd in a matter of a few days. The other 3 (American cockers) were GORGEOUS! LOVED them to death!!! They are robust little dogs, LOVE having a run (not sure how they'd handle an hours jogging though), were great with the kids, well behaved inside. They never put a paw wrong, except for the fact Maggie liked to play when it was bed time and I'd have to chase her to get her inside to bed I used to clip them so they were easier to manage, however they never shed much. I miss my cocker foster ;)

My last foster (cocker spaniel) Chester came to me because the owners bought an American bulldog puppy and were going to "start breeding". They already had an older male and they bought a female. Chester had been bought and thrown outside and never played with, so as a consequence, I had a dog that was so starved for affection that he was totally in your face. It took 4 months for me to settle him and train him. He got a home I wish for all dogs. I had someone else surrender littermate beagles and omg, she broke my heart. Her hubby had lost his job, she found out she was pregnant and they just couldn't afford to keep the dogs. She bawled her eyes out when leaving and I have to admit, I had tears as well. The dogs were beautifully looked after and so well trained - they were a pleasure to have around. I ended up rehoming them together to a great family. I wouldn't split them up so I had them for 6 months. I gave serious though to keeping them, but I already had my own dog (which is also a rescue) and there was no way I was getting rid of mine.

Just dropped in to light my candle and say hi. Group *DOL* has 212 candles from 6 countries I have both kids home and they are not nearly as well behaved as the dogs so I can't stay. My Siamese is still asleep on the couch though.

What do you actually need to know? I have NO luck with crafts such as knitting/sewing etc, but know poetry, writing and scrapping.

Hmm let's see. My ex-SIL surrendered her pug X to me because it barked a lot. She bought it at 6 weeks old from a horrible pet shop and basically threw it out the back. No training, no walks. She lived in a unit with a postage stamp sized yard. I asked why she doesnt let it inside with them. "Because he wees on the floor". Have you toilet trained him? No. She expected him to come TT'd I think. Oh and he sheds hair. The pet shop told her pugs don't shed My stepbrother was getting rid of their dog - dumping it at the pound. Why? Because he jumped on the kids when they went outside. The dog was an 8 month old gold lab! They hadn't trained it either. I truly hate the general public. I've never gotten rid of an animal. And I have a crazy Birman who does stealth attacks in the middle of the night too lol. When he was a few months old, he bit my partner on the nose at 2am I thought it was funny!

Our dog (maltese X) was a foster dog that picked us. She decided my son (3yrs at the time) was HERS and well..I couldn't rehome her after that. MY son would have hated me forever. During my fostering, I have fostered a lot of breeds that I normally wouldn't give much of a look at, and have found some amazing dogs. My first love as a foster was Mia, a kelpie. I adored her. So smart, so funny, so easy to train and desperate to please me and totally devoted to me. She was a hard rehome and she gave me a new appreciation for kelpies. Then there was a stumpy tailed cattle dog, Ashlee. So NOT my type of dog, but god I adored her, for all the same reasons as I adored Mia. Ashlee was extremely protective of me and my kids and knew the kids were above her. She NEVER challenged me and always did exactly as she was told. Those two are dogs I would never have picked as a dog to own, so it was amazing that I got to experience them. My heart dog is a Finnish Lappie though. I first met them when one came barelling at me (12 week old pup) and threw herself on my lap. I'd never seen her before, never heard of them and I just fell in love with her looks. So I started researching. And researching, and researching. I had a pretty strict list of what I needed in a dog. They have to be good with kids, good with cats, good with other dogs, able to be predominantly an inside dog, easy to train and cuddly. I also prefer long haired breeds. I wanted a dog that didn't want a stupid amount of exercise (like 2 hours a day), but wasn't a total couch potato either. After speaking to breeders of Lappies, they have ticked all my boxes. They are soooo pretty! I'm mad about Spitz breeds - I'd love a Mally, but know I am not a strong enough owner (mentally) to handle one. I went to the Autumn International show a month or so ago and saw a SA breeder with Lappies and Mals. We ha da LONG chat and he invited me up to meet them. Fantastic guy! I'm hoping he'll be at the Spitz breed show in Adelaide in a couple of weeks. I'm going to be there to have a nosy and a cuddle of his dogs. I need to have a Lappie though. I'm hoping by another year at the latest, I will be in a position to own one, and that a breeder will trust me with one of their amazing puppies.

What the heck kind of cross is a RustyDoodle??? Jack Russell X Poodle? I remember some time ago I was with my sister at a well known pet store chain. They had "spoodles" in thw window There was a woman looking at them and I was staring at one of them. I said to my sister (very loudly) "that is not a cocker X poodle, that pup has kelpie in it!" It was extremely obvious. Everything was kelpie besides the ears. The woman turned and said "really? Do you think so?" What are kelpies like?" She had a small apartment and wanted a couch potato. I suggested it wasn't a good idea. I also told her that the pricetag ($950) was ludicrous and she could get a better suited dog from the pound or pet rescue for a few hundred, including their vet work. I've done the same at another branch of the same chain, which had a "boxador" in the window. After speaking with a man for some time and giving him the pet rescue website, I was asked for it by a few other people standing around, eavesdropping. Maybe I should say my rescue is a "Malteinz". We don't know what she is crossed with.

130 candles now. Just dropping in to check for more updates (as I do daily) and have lunch. Anyone want a SWF lap warmer? She's pretty well behaved. Leaves some fresh baked chocolate chip cookies.

SUCH an amazing update! Will be great to see Jed up and about on DOL again.

Hey sparky, are you by any chance going to the Spitz Breed Club show in January?

*sigh* people never learn. But neither do I. I have a bad habit of objecting to idiocy.

Yes, the owners should have finished the pen....BUT SO WHAT???!!! The council killed their dog, by MISTAKE. That's a pretty bloody big error and if it were me, I'd be after someone's head. I'd sue.

PLEASE come! I will definitely come if you will be there. I'm so in love with Lappies. I really, REALLY want one! Jaana is bootiful!

When I started researching my future breed of dog, I had a rough price in my head of what I'd be looking at. They're not an over-represented breed, so I knew they would be more expensive than some breeds. As it turns out, I overestimated the price by about $1500. My first enquiries contained nothing about price. I had more important queries - like what they are like with kids and cats, what health problems were prevalent in the breed and what grooming and exercise requirements they had. That was my major concerns. I had no nasty emails at all - including one that came from a breeder here

Wrong. The idiots that are buying DD's do not research. Case in point - my EX SIL. She surrenders her Pug X (which looked like a pure, very badly bred pug) something to me. Complains "The pet shop said they didn't shed. He sheds a LOT". After I finished laughing, I said "OMG, pugs shed MASSES! Didn't you google the breed before you bought it?" She says "oh, no, I just bought it. People have said that designer dogs are the best. He cost me $900". I just said "well you got royally screwed then, didn't you?"

Back on topic... I wouldn't buy from a breeder with those restrictions. I like and trust my vet (been going to them for about 28 years) and no way would I stuff about taking the dog back to the breeder if it cut it's foot or something! Besides, there are NO breeders in SA for the breed I want! I don't agree with heartworm injection anyhow, but I will vaccinate my dog, although only every 2 years. I want to be able to take my dog out and about, pretty much anywhere I go, so I need them to have some protection. I will always desex, every dog and every cat I own. I have three purebred cats that are all desexed. Maybe I might want to show one day (especially if I get a pup in the breed I've been researching!) so the news there will be a neuter class is GREAT! Not desexing until the pup has reached adulthood, that's fine and I would ask the breeder what age they recommend me to do it. I've NO wish to ever breed! I feed Advance to my dog, and bones, and I am really happy with it and my dogs condition. NO WAY would I agree to perhaps giving the dog up if later down the track, the breeder might want it back! I totally understand breeders putting restrictions on the sale of their pups. But only reasonable restrictions. Ethical registered breeders put their heart and soul, and a LOT of time and money into breeding beautiful dogs. Of course they want them all (even the pet ones) to go to great homes and their lines not to be out there indisciminately. If I was your friend (and didn't know why not to buy from pet stores and BYB's) and was treated like that, I would probably be very discouraged and perhaps look elsewhere.

Thank you for the update although I wish it was all good news. Thank goodness for small miracles - the cat must be a relief.