helen

now that I have another point and shoot I am trying the 365 project, will see how long I last LOL. This is the first from today

wow, how much better was spirit, she was happy to let the guy pat her with the coat on

Fascinating stuff. I must admit that I was very skeptical about the coat but to see the difference was amazing. It seems to be useful in a number of different situations too. Corvus - what does Erik do when he gets over-aroused?

The training club I mentioned started out as training for the Rottweiler Club. They had opened up their training to all dogs not too long before I got Bella who is 11 in a few weeks and someone recommended it to me so along I went. The head instructor then and who still is now had been breeding and training Rotties for many years. She continued to educate herself all this time decided the benefits of postive training were much better and eventually she did the Delta instructors course. She trains all the instructors, quite a few of them have gone on and done the Delta course themselves. So pretty much this club has happened due to the vision of some good people volunteering their time. She also helped a lady from the Rottweiler Club in Adelaide who came and stayed with her for a week some time ago and who are now doing a similar thing. They were charging $20 a school term and this goes up to $25 next year, the yearly membership fee is $10 for one person or $15 for a family. There is a joining fee which I don't know but might be around $60. They limit the class sizes to a maximum of 8, smaller groups for puppies, from memory that is 6. The interesting thing about the club too is that there is a 5 year limit for the committee, they have always been able to fill committee positions without any drama There is no paddock bashing, all exercises are explained by the instructor, you find your own bit of space and practice and the instructor wonders around helping

Just curious as to who has used a thundershirt for their dogs, for what reason and did you find it successful. http://www.thundershirt.com/ Just curious as a friend took on a Brittany who was very timid and fearful of situations and people (not a typical Brittany ) Until a few weeks ago apart from his owners he would only let myself and one other person go near him and pat him. She took him to training and he was scared and was barking at everything. The head instructor suggested trying one and the difference is amazing. She said she is amazed by the difference in him with the shirt on. She had him at training last night and he happily met a few dogs and even let an unknown guy pat him, and males are his biggest fear.

hehehe, that would be a site to see. I bet Nessa teaches them all how to behave

I attend a great training club on Thursday nights. Their training is all positive but the most important thing is that the club is not aimed at formal obedience, but toward having well behaved pets. The class sizes are small and there is no marching up and down, everything is practiced in your own little area. They even have stools to sit on while the instructor is talking and as a result the one thing dogs have to learn from the start is to sit or lay down nicely and quietly Some examples of things you will do there which is not present in a lot of clubs are go to your mat, to be examined all over including feet mouth and ears, how to approach when there is another unkown dog walking toward you (eg not dog to dog), loose lead walking and recall, and then they still do the normal exercises like sit, drop stay. They always have a fun night with games and a barbeque at the end of each term, instructors apply the positive reinforcement principles to their human students too and the whole tone of the club is fun. They also have Delta instructors so do classes aimed toward canine good citizen Even though I can teach my dogs all this without help, it is great for socialising, actually giving you that push to do all these exercises and the learning to lie down still in that environment is priceless, easily transferred to cafes etc where my dog just lies down until someone comes to pat him :D These classes are the most important part of the club but then you can go on and do fun activities like agility, flyball and tricks, which is what I am doing now. They will then have an occasional night where everyone goes for a social walk together instead of training, they only run school terms so there is school holidays for instructors and students. It really is a fun club and if more like this existed I think training would be more popular Anyway point is that if there were more clubs like this maybe more people would be willing to attend.

Great idea Souff. Owners of a boy Jaffa from my last litter have had cars stop in the middle of the street to check him out LOL. And the shop is only a real short walk I often walk in a central place with one of mine and a friend with a Finnish Lapphund and Papillon and another with an Irish Water Spaniel and they always get a few people stop and pat along the way. Chazer is such an outgoing dog that people just love it, but everyone is sucked in by how grand looking the Irish Water Spaniel is

How awful for you, and so heart breaking, at least there is light at the tunnel, even though it will take a bit of time. It was great that your very much loved dog ended up in such a great home and the breeder has been kind enough to offer you another dog down the track .

Mine is an FT10

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I was going to suggest Labrador until I got to the bit that said you aren't keen on them Maybe go and visit some Rhodesian Ridgeback breeders if you are leaning toward that breed ETA - or what spikespuppy said, they have one very adorable smooth collie

I have had some big vet bills on one of my dogs, firstly when she had cancer and then other illnesses that have cropped up since. Although the bills have been large it was not in one big hit so like Staffyluv said I stopped counting. It was worth it though because she is in great health, but is still expensive, her medication at the moment, and for the last 5 months is $85 per fortnight. It is much easier this way I think when you are not hit with a huge bill straight up

my dogs ignore anything that doesn't sqeek or dispense food ETA - except for the occasional good tug toy/scrap of cloth

Welcome to the forum, stunning dogs. Loving the Aussie especially as someone I used to do agility with had a Tillsun Aussie, although he was red in color, the sweetest dog

That is a lot of Lappies, you got a great turnout for your first walk, looks like a lovely spot.

When I started out and joined the camera club I won competitions with a pont and shoot camera, it was literally a point and shoot, so that shoots the good camera thing out the window. I just got another one from BigW, a waterproof, drop proof Lumix to carry around in my handbag, I took these at the Brittany specialty, it was pouring rain and the DSLR would not have come out in this weather, got some funny water on the lens effects

Great that he is improving with the car so much. My girl Tilly used to hate the car and drool the whole time she was in there but has overcome it. Always great to have a special, enjoyable place to walk too

I love Nik software

I don't think Canon is any better than Nikon, and I have canon gear. If it was me I would stick to Nikon and put the money into lenses, and you haven't lost out on the investment you have already made with speedlites and lenses

If you build it the the direction of Geelong I will come use the pool I would only pay a casual rate for that though. If I was intending to go for training I would only do so if there were Delta certified trainers. This is because the place I already go to has head instructor and quite a few others who have done the Delta course and I wouldn't change it for anything, unless there was an equivalent

thanks. She was supposed to be wearing a white fluffy halo too, but the dogs thought it was a great toy, similar fabric to the squeaking mouse toy so it didnt last long :D

Missed out on a photo of Bella last week as she got desexed, so was recovering from her operation. She is well and truely back to her old self again now though. I had decided to do a Christmas photo this week as I have never done one before. I had an outdoor shot planned but it is raining and is forecast rain all weekend so this was plan B. This actually worked well because you can't see any of her shaved bits (leg and belly) with this pose. If the weather improves I will do plan A next week and she will have more hair on the spots by then :D

When Ken Duncan can't even take a photo of a sunrise without getting in trouble I think things have gone way too far

Just to throw a spanner in the works, it has been suggested to me that some countries whose people are more willing to be photographed do so because they have less vanity and what is important to them is on the inside