~JoLu~

Thanks for the info sandgrubber - did I spy "Sandgrubber" in the photos We'll have moved to Chittering Drumbeat, so this will be actually almost local

Looks like they start in May??? I should have my sh*t together by then :D :D In the meantime I have the Johnson book for a little light reading / theory over the summer uni break. Checked out the photos on the TrackWest site - love all the different breeds

How cool!!!! My mum was talking about her exercise equipment the other day and I said if she wants to give away her treadmill I'd take it - should've seen the look on her face when I said I wanted it for the dogs ;) (only on absolutely crappy weather / stinky hot days of course ).

Thanks for clarifying that Tiggy - I won't be ready for while yet anyway ;)

Me too, but it ain't gonna happen! Gidgegannup :D I thought it is in Gnangara / Lexia out near Whiteman Park :D

Just to let those interested know, this book arrive today - so took nine days from UK to WA. Not bad Oh, and it was $36 AUD including the postage costs

The breeder of my Dobermann many moons ago was Hochstein - not sure if they still exist or not

I ordered one from ebay: Linky It's coming from the UK, but all up was around $36 Aussie.

Oh no - so sad Run free beautiful girl Give Boss a big hug from me, Jonty and Lulu

I have now and I didn't drop it

Thanks black magic - sounds like you got a good deal too I'm going out to our block for an hour so I can play in some natural light (with the camera of course) I'm soooooooo scared I'm going to drop it Oh, and I think I better invest in an external hard-drive

The encouragement here is great although OH probably doesn't think so Don't worry, he'll come 'round Kirislin - Hoorah for taking new things out of their boxes Bindi and JS - I checked out both your photos in the street photography thread - nice work. I have a long way to go, but lots to aspire too kja - I'm not one for reading manuals, though I did have a quick flick through whilst I waited for it to charge Well, I had a little play last night. Unfortuantely it was late and my subjects were more interested in sleeping but mainly I just played with the different auto settings (close up and portait) to see what they had to offer (and because I can't buy things and not play with them ). Bearing in mind I had just upgraded from a 7.2mp Sony Cybershot that cost $90, I was pretty impressed with having zoom and being able to get close up and the detail Hopefully I can get outside today and use natural light, although it's pretty overcast today - in fact here comes the rain. I'm haven't had a play with the software yet either - there is so much to learn - yay Here is my very first photo on my new camera Some more:

I have my 1000D . It's purty :D I'm waiting for it to charge up so I can start pressing buttons and see what they do - or I could just read the manual Nah, I'll just press buttons I got the twin IS lens kit, cleaning stuff, a bag, a 4gb card and the guy even threw in a tripod ;) I didn't really want a tripod, but he included it anway oh well :p I need to get a spare battery, but I might sorce that online. Oh and I forgot about the card reader, but can pick that up anywhere Tomorrow will hopefully be a nice day, so I plan on going up to our block and take some piccies :D OH is too scared to ask me what I spent - he just saw the bag and the lenses and I think he thinks I bought something really really expensive (as in 1000's of $$$) :p

Thanks mish13 & altheau, but unfortunately we have neither Teds or Clive Anthonys in WA. Nice of Teds to let you take them home to try though mish. I'm going to price camera & twin is lens kit at hardly normals tomorrow, then ring shop rite and see if they can get me a better price. Our day at the races is off, so if it's a nice day on Saturday I'm going to try and convince OH we should go to the zoo (my favourite place on earth) - a good place to play with my new toy

I guess that is without a lens kit. I see they have the Canon 1000D with Twin IS Lens Kit for $1193 - but I think that is an online price. JB Hi Fi are on my list of stores to ring. I might try ShopRite actually (part of my union membership) they are supposed to help hunt down good prices ;)

Thanks ;) Canon 1000D comes with Twin IS Lens kit which is: 18-55mm IS & 55-250mm IS (which is all gobbledegook to me ). Also comes in single and non IS Lens kits. To all who replied, thank you for the advice. I will make up a list of "must haves" and ring around and try and get a good deal ;) There seems to be some good deals online, but I worry about spending so much money and having such and expensive item/s sent through the post ;)

There has been many threads on which camera for beginner DSLR etc. which I have read and digested best I could. I've gone and "handled" some and am tossing up between the Canon 1000D and the Canon 450D. Probably the 1000D as it's my first good camera, but am trying to keep the costs down, but I don't want to get sold stuff I don't need, just because I am a newbie :D My question is, what "extras" do I need to get started? They seem to have lens kits to start you off with. Do I need the twin lens kit, or will just the single lens kit suffice. Apart from a good case to keep it all safe, is there anything else that is recommended to get me going - spare battery, ??? I will be mainly wanting to photograph people (portraits), wildlife (doggies of course) as well as "action" shots - well anything really I am going to the races on Saturday and would love to give it a good go there - even if it's just fumbling my way around the camera Thank you oh knowledgeable DOL photo type people

Thanks becks for both the info and the pictures - stunning Will put them on the list for the future. Will have alot of research to do first. I've never owned a breed that needed grooming before so will have to see if If there are groomers here who can handstrip or if it's something I could learn. Definitely a breed I'd like to own whilst we're living on our acerage :D

Hi becks Just curious re: the coat. Is this a breed that is a shedder??? I love the more "unusual" breeds and the black Giant Schnauzer at Crufts just took my breath away - even OH was impressed Anyway, OH has told me no more extreme shedding dogs after living in a storm of Lulu GSD hair, so all future dogs have to meet the hair shedding limit as set by OH (meaning my dirty little pug secret will have to stay that way for a while ).

As a confirmed "big dog" lover, my appreciation of the pug is like my dirty little secret I agree

Thanks FlissPrideaux I can do stubborn - I have a ridgeback :rolleyes: (though he will do anything for food) I'd love to see some piccies of the different coat colours. Obviously black is black (I want my baby back ). Actually, the black ones are my favourite

Yay a pug thread :rolleyes: We are moving rural, so if we were to get a Pug they would have to be inside all day whilst we are at work (plenty of time and space for fun and games before and after work of course). I'd be worried about snakes, and of course my the bigger dogs will be kept in an outdoor secure run - but they are too big to play with pug unsupervised. My question is, would pug be happy all day in the house with just cat for a friend? And are what is the pug show scene like??? Are they okay for the beginner showie re: grooming, presentation, stacking etc. Oh, and is there much difference in the tempremant of a boy and girl pug? (Okay, that was three questions ) ETA. Question no. 4 - where did the name "Pug" come from and what does it mean ???

Yay - Monster pics He's such a spunk. I can't wait to get a decent camera so I can get some good shots of the furry two.

What is gas aid??? Can I just buy it from a chemist - and what dose for a 40kg ridgie??? Suppose I should ask a vet hey I asked OH before how Jonty was today, and he said he had rubbed his tummy for a while and he was burping so combining that with the farting last night I guess it was a build up of gas. Would this mean he's of risk to bloat??? Another question for the vet

This is a timely thread - I was reading it at 3am this morning. Jonty woke up sooking and whining. I thought it was his usual winge and told him to hop up on the bed - he wasn't interested and instead stood next to my side whining. I got up and tried to get him to go back to bed, but all he tried to do was sit on my lap/lean on me. I thought he might want to go to the toilet so went to let him out, but again he just stood there whining. Then he started panting and yawning and looked quite stressed. I finally woke up (was walking around half asleep in pilot mode) and wondered what could be wrong - bloat popped into my head, but do you think I could remember the symptoms at 3am???? I got out every dog-care, breed reference book I own and none of them listed the symptoms, just what it was and that it was bad. So I turned to google and found some online resources and a 24hr vet. Most talked about attempting to vomit, hunching up and a bloated abdomen. Jonty had none of that, he was just restless and whiny. I rubbed his tummy for while and he did some terrible farts then finally we both fell asleep - this process was repeated at 4am This morning he did some runny poos, but was otherwise a wiggly-bum if a little sooky. I didn't feed either dog this morning, and OH was home all day and kept an eye on him for me. He can have a small meal tonight and we'll take it from there. Anyway, I wonder if we should have a pinned thread in here about bloat, the syptoms, what to do, what breeds it's prevalent in, what to do to prevent it. Perhaps with some linked sites like the first one Wolfsong linked