Gayle.

It's actually a Santa hat. Dusty only does celebration-appropriate head gear.

Every home full of working dogs needs a princess. They make even the laziest dog look like a worker bee! I love the sound of Safire, I reckon her and Dusty could probably share a palace together as long as they could have a separate wing, each with their own turret. Totally- she tried flyball, agility, herding and obedience. And she managed to worm her way out of every restraint (fences, harness collar etc) and either end up watching from the car or squirming into someones crate- hers, or the poor cavalier (who was still resident in the crate tiny tiny crate) if its open then it is clearly an invitation for the Princess. She loooooooves hopping in the car and going places..... Not so much the doing. She is a great cuddle pot too!! I am glad someone understands- most people just say I should stop being lazy and train her, or that she is not a very good kelpie- I happen to think she is just very very very smart and knows what she wants! She also likes to paw dogs on the head- looks so regal (and condescending ) When it comes down to it, they really are the easiest of dogs to live with. Dusty is demanding only of my pats and cuddles, she has no desire to be doing anything particularly active, and if she doesn't get walked for a few days/weeks/months then she doesn't care. She's never destroyed anything in her life, and not being exercised doesn't turn her into a she-devil. She is extraordinarily well-behaved and would rather die than do something naughty. She has a very expressive face and you can usually read her feelings on her face. I tried to teach her some tricks.....we got "touch" down pat, she can now touch her nose to my hand; she can walk backwards, although what use that's going to be I have no idea. Then I tried to teach her to roll over. She couldn't see the point and her whole facial expression read "This is bloody stupid, I can do this whenever I feel like it without you telling me to!" So we abandoned that trick.

Every home full of working dogs needs a princess. They make even the laziest dog look like a worker bee! I love the sound of Safire, I reckon her and Dusty could probably share a palace together as long as they could have a separate wing, each with their own turret.

What I found with Dusty, after trying various things, is that she doesn't like to be the centre of attention.......in the show ring, she'd slink around with her head down, not wanting anyone to look at her. In the obedience ring, she'd try and hide behind my legs so the judge didn't notice her. At herding, she wanted to be right by my side rather than the other side of the sheep where the dog is supposed to be, then she'd cringe when the sheep came near her and pick her paws up daintily as she picked her way around the mud. Now, she's in her element. She stays indoors all day, snoozes on the couch and has nanna naps with me on the weekends, and just loves being the centre of MY world. And tha't just about perfect for both of us.

That pic is Miss September in the Australian Shepherd Club of Victoria's 2012 calendar, and I heard on the grapevine that at the meeting where they voted on the pics to go in the calendar, that photo was a unanimous choice.

She was my first show dog, but didn't like being shown so she's now retired. We tried obedience and she didn't like that either, so we gave herding a whirl and she wasn't keen on the sheep, the mud, the smell......etc. etc. So now she's a full-time princess and supermodel, and part time navigator and guard of the car. She loves coming on drives and she especially loves coming on photoshoots with me. She is Dusty (Tuscamada Tahoe Rose), she's 4 years old and I think she's awesome.

I don't usually because the one I buy, Black Hawk Holistic is very good value and top quality. But if I run out and buy something else (usually a bag of Optimum) to tide me over til I get more BH, I'll sometimes mix the tail end of the Optimum with one or two meals of BH until the Optimum is used up. I used to mix cat food kibble, but it would be varieties of Royal Canin or Hills Science Diet, mostly because I wanted them to eat some Oral Care but not for the whole meal.

She is adorable and I love her name. I have been following your posts about her in the breeders forum, and it's no surprise to me she's staying, You're clearly besotted with her and I can't say I blame you.

There is also confusion over "papers". My work colleague told me she bought a puppy with papers, turns out it was a payment receipt, a vaccination and worming record and a typed sheet of care details. Not the "papers" I would expect but paperwork nonetheless.

They must not go in alphabetical order then, we're near you and got ours Wednesday. Love the Weisnjac JRT starring in the calendar!

I only got mine yesterday. Love the calendar!

There is no seperate neuter registry, to be shown as a neuter the dog must be on main register but the pedigree is marked as neutered. It's not a separate registry though.

Aussie Shepherds are very easy to groom and prepare for a show, and there are some excellent Aussie people in Qld. Basically, they need their paws and hocks trimmed neatly and the fluff behind their ears trimmed. If they're a natural bob they might need their tail bob trimmed but that's all. For a show, mine get a thorough bath and blow dry the day before, then on the day of the show, a spot clean and a spritz with water to fluff the coat up. You can use chalk on their whites, but I don't bother with too much of that as it doesn't make much of a difference to my boy. Coat maintenance to keep it clean and in good condition is essential, and also to keep up with the trimming so it doesn't need doing the morning of a show. But really, it's quick and easy and if we're not showing for a few weeks he gets a break from regular baths.

I can fully understand a much higher charge for a dog on main register because it gives you access to the breeders lines to use in your own breeding program, or to begin your own breeding program. If the breeder has paid to import dogs or semen, that can be extremely valuable. It also recognises the value of he work that's gone on before your pup was born, by all the breeders.

Wasn't there a post on here about a blue Neo pup that had been stolen? The owner asked that people watch out for it. I saw it only a few days ago.

Lol! Love the glow sticks, what an awesome idea!

Sometimes you will find mentors in your breed, even if your breeder can't help due to distance or whatever. My first show dog came from interstate and I was clueless when I started to show her, but plenty of people helped and we soon figured it out. She didn't win anything but she was a great dog to learn with as she was extremely well behaved and just wanted to please me. I showed her until recently as I loved being at a dog show with her, despite the fact that I knew she'd never win a class let alone a challenge. I am now showing a boy and he's lovely but very naughty, much more of a handful than my gorgeous girl, but he's winning classes, he's won a class in group, puppy in show at a members comp, and now that he's maturing he's winning challenges and gathering points towards his title. I doubt I'd have coped so well with him of he'd been my first show dog though! I have never had a mentor but have made some wonderful friends in the breed who've helped me enormously at shows.

There aren't a lot of tick warning issued and they don't seem to be as big o f a problem as further north. It seems to be more around Orbost, Cann River, Marlo etc rather than the lakes region.

Start talking to breeders of your chosen breed and let them know you're interested in showing a dog. Hopefully you'll find one who will not only sell you a pup but also mentor you.

That whole area is renowned for it's insect life, it's like that every summer and it does spoil an otherwise lovely part of the state. It's particularly bad around Golden Beach and Loch Sport. The regular residents take some kind of vitamin B tablet to make themselves unattractive to mossies. I prefer that area in winter, the beaches are deserted and on a still day, it's gorgeous for the dogs.

Did you find somewhere to camp? I have just learned that Paradise Valley is very dog friendly. It's also great for kayaking if you're that way inclined and has some lovely shallow rapids for splashing about in. Might be an idea to keep in mind for a weekend getaway at some stage.

Your original post did not qualify the age of the dog. I responded to your original post simply to point out that not everything is on show in a ring. There are diseases that a judge will never see. All a judge sees is the dog in front of them. A judge does not see hip and elbow scores or blood and urine test results and even if they did see the latter two, some tests only show the result of the day of the test. A judge cannot tell if a dog is a genetic timebomb of heritable disease and I used kidney disease as a deliberate example. How does a judge tell if a dog has kidney disease if no symptoms show? A double grand champion can have kidney disease and never show it until most of the kidney function is lost. How many times do I have to say we are not mind readers and we don't have a magic wand. It takes time to eradicate problems that appear. If I was interested in a breed that had problems I would seek out a breeder that was well on the way to eradicating the problem or wait till the problem was solved. I would certainly not purchase a breed with a known problem unless some guarantees were in place. Or better still I would Import from a kennel that had already solved the problem. Well, that's an answer to someone's post but it's not a response to mine. My original post upthread was about how a judge can tell the health of a dog in the show ring because of your positing that a dog wouldn't be be winning BIS unless it had good health. My god how many times does a person have to tell you that we are not mind readers or dog health readers. On the day the dog would have to be healthy to win. What happens after that is in the lap of the gods. And I did answer the question. I did mention how would a vet know unless the dog was sick???. How would a vet know the breed standards to evaluate the dogs. How would a vet know a dog was sick unless you took the animal in to see them. We have vets that are capable of judging Best In Show and do you believe that they are going bring out their thermometer and stethoscope to check the dog first. I'll bet their are plenty of Best in show winners that got old and sick just like us but when awarded they may have been in the prime of life. A judge wouldn't know, but a breeder or owner might. They might campaign the dog to best in show even though it has hip scores too high to consider breeding from, or test affected for a heritable disease but not showing symptoms. Best in show, or any dog show award doesn't guarantee the recipient is healthy before, at the time of, or after the award.

What a stupid story.

Well said. I'm sure sometimes folks wth smooth Salukis feel the same, as they may feel overlooked for pretty fringes. But I think the difference being that dogs of a different variety, like Smooth and Lnghaired Dachshunds, are not interbred (except for the specific rules around Chihuahuas and Belgian Shepherds) whereas the Cresteds, Salukis etc can have both coat types in the same family, even the same litter. I think Xolos are another breed where the coated ones are not judged separately. I might have misunderstood you, but Collies Rough and Smooth are interbred but shown as separate classes. I guess that depends on the country, in UK they are bred as separate breeds. I thought they were talking about Australia.

It would be interesting to hear from one of the boxer exhibitors as to the reason they withdrew, otherwise it's just hearsay and supposition. What I was relating was hearsay, and no claim to be factual. Knowing the rules and abiding by them arent the same thing.