Gayle.

Most people, at some stage in their lives, swim in public pools, use public showers (schools, gyms, caravan and camping parks, hospitals etc) or stay in motels and use their bathrooms and spas. And human debris is more disgusting than dog debris. More contagious too.

I used to use the local one all the time. Ours had a disinfect cycle so I'd run that first and last. Since making my bath-mate contraption though, I do them all at home now and they get cleaner, because I can take as long as I like.....I'm not constrained by the $1 per minute the public one costs. I did my 4 today, it took me about 1.5 hours with a short break inbetween (to unbend my back), and I used a variety of shampoos, a lovely smelling conditioner which they all got brushed through their coats, and they look fantastic. And I didn't have to bring them home dripping wet in my car! (cos I refused to pay $1 per minute to dry them).

There is a Bedlington Terrier with the name Power of One. I was just admiring it on the breed pages. How weird that you couldn't have that name.

Do what show dog says and adjust your workspace/height until you can do it for hours and it doesn't hurt. If something starts to ache after a few minutes, take time to think about why and what adjustments you need to make to ease the pain. Sometimes just raising or lowering a surface by a few centimetres can make a HUGE difference to the strain on your body.

We lost two dogs this year.....Kassy, my 17yo Lhasa Apso who I'd had longer than my husband and my youngest daughter. Kassy's passing was expected, at Christmas we knew she wouldn't see out the summer and she didn't even see another month. But it was no less devastating, she was a little dog who left a huge hole in our lives. Then Benson left unexpectedly in July and I don't feel like I will ever recover from that. I can't even think about him without crying and looking at photos leaves me a blubbering mess. Last week I found a video clip I'd made of him a couple of years ago.....pics of him from baby to about 2, set to the song "You're My Best Friend" by Queen. I used to watch it all the way through and it would leave a big smile on my face for hours. Now, I can't get 10 seconds into it. I can't even listen to the song. He was, without a doubt, the dog that changed my life. I miss him in more ways than I ever thought I could miss a friend.

I chose Bensons, Dustys and Isaaks registered names. And our pedigree cats were all registered with the pet names we gave them.......Prefix Bruno etc. In the case of the dogs, I was asked by the breeders what I wanted them to be named.

That's been the discussion here today. He and Dusty have been inside now for the past week, while we're at work and they both love it. And they're both very good.......aside from my husband forgetting to empty the rubbish today and leaving it in their reach. They sorted and cleaned it, but they apparently left it in a neat pile. I do have to teach my husband to sweep the floors better though, they leave a LOT of hair on the floor.

Well, an update on our escape artist. He treated us to a spectacle last night.....the little bugger scaled a 170 cm high gate with NO problem whatsoever. It's the same gate we saw him climbing once before......it's made of pickets and has tubular cross-bracing on the inside. He was jumping up and using the cross-bracing for footholds and climbing over like a cat, so my husband nailed planks to the inside to cover the bracing and so he had no footholds. But it appears that's no deterrent as last night we were cleaning up the kitchen and I saw a flash of white out of the corner of my eye, heard a bit of a rattle.....and then realised he was gone. He just jumped it. Our neighbour came running over saying "Did you see that? Did you? Did you???? I've never seen a dog do THAT!!!!" He was over the road in an area of bushland and came back happily when we called him. He has now cemented his position as the number one indoor dog on Main Street. A 170 cm gate posed no problem, we have 3/4 acre of fencing that's not much higher than that. I don't suppose that will be any obstacle to his wandering either.

I have always had the papers transferred to me. My most recent dog had 2 owners before me but his pedigree was still in his breeders name. I had him transferred right away. It just makes everything easier, and when I applied for a council permit they wanted to see all the dogs pedigrees, so I was glad they were all in my name and with my residential address on the papers.

The shock is like an anti-static shock from rubbing your feet on carpet then touching metal. It's more of a surprise for the dog than anything.

The problem is with training a dog to stop barking, first of all even the best trainers don't always succeed, but secondly it requires being with or near the dog all the time. Our nuisance barker only barked when we were at work....if he barked while we were home we brought him inside to shut him up. He didn't bark through anxiety or boredom, he barked cos he liked the sound of his own voice. A shock collar gave us and our poor suffering neighbours instant quiet.

For a dog that's a nuisance barker, shock collars can be a low stress alternative to continual correction of the dog. Far kinder than always yelling at it for barking. And a lot nicer than angry neighbours. And they work quickly. Usually two barks is all it takes for the dog to get the idea. There's no training involved, just put it on the dog.

i find this rule rather finicky. For instance if I wanted to name my papillon {prefix} El beshiva, but i can't because thats too similar to the prefix of a border collie breeder in NSW's. Like what impact does that have on the breeder? Agreed. And it appears to be up to the prefix owner to police this, not the admin people processing the registrations. There'd have to be hundreds of dogs with some version of "heaven sent" in their names, it's obviously not affecting any breeder, so why have the rule in place if it's going to be ignored by the admin staff? My prefix is Mainstreet, it's not been used yet and might never be, but I would expect there are dogs with some version of my prefix in their names.

Where on their regulations does it say it's not allowed though? I checked, it's not on the ANKC regs and I can't see it in the CCCQ ones either. And what's the reason?

No, it's Twist of Fate. I just went and checked as he has new papers (trf from co-ownership to me) and it's definitely three separate words. He was registered in SA originally, then transferred to co-ownership in Vic then transferred again to me.

Perhaps it was in the past, but it is definitely not allowed now (in QLD at least, but I'm pretty sure all states are the same). Check again. Dogs Queensland are probably wondering why all these puppies are being registered with the word "ov" when the word should clearly be "of" because there is nothing in their rules that says you can't use "of" in a dogs name. Maybe it's one of those silly things that someone thought you couldn't do and word got around and now everyone thinks you can't because no one actually checked that you can. Or maybe they amended the ruling and no one noticed. I applied for a name with 'of' in it and it came back changed to 'ov' along with a notice saying that 'of' couldn't be used. The pups are 9.5 weeks old Maybe you should ask why, as there's nothing in their regulations about the word "of". I'd be furious if I applied for names with "of" and they came back as "ov" because that is a different word altogether and not an attractive one. Maybe they don't know their own regulations.

More than likely it was separated from it's mum by about 4 weeks so she'd come back into season quicker so they could breed another litter with her.

Isaaks' litter had a theme, their names all had the word "twist" in them to honour the sire Twister, who died shortly after they were born. But I got to choose the name, I just had to use the word "twist". I also chose Bensons' and Dustys' names before they were registered.

Perhaps it was in the past, but it is definitely not allowed now (in QLD at least, but I'm pretty sure all states are the same). Check again. Dogs Queensland are probably wondering why all these puppies are being registered with the word "ov" when the word should clearly be "of" because there is nothing in their rules that says you can't use "of" in a dogs name. Maybe it's one of those silly things that someone thought you couldn't do and word got around and now everyone thinks you can't because no one actually checked that you can. Or maybe they amended the ruling and no one noticed. But here is the relevant section from CCCQ's rules: NAMING OF DOGS 64. No word that is in the nature of an affix, and no prefix except the breeder’s registered prefix, may be used as part of a dog’s name, provided that in the case of dogs registered in other States, Territories or Countries it shall be at the discretion of the CCC(Q) as to whether or not the existing registered names may be required to be altered. 65. The use of numbers written as words is permissible in names provided it is clear that it does not represent a numerical sequence. The use of numbers as numerals is not permissible. 66. The use of names of towns, places, countries, notable persons, common names or names that are misleading as to sex, origin or relationship, ”Imp”, hyphens, apostrophes and roman numerals shall not be permitted in the name of the dog. 67. The name of a dog must include the registered Prefix of the breeder, such a prefix shall be deemed to be part of the name. No name including the prefix shall exceed 30 spaces to be used as letters or spaces. Prefixes do not apply to the Associate or Sporting Register. 68. The CCC(Q) may at its discretion refuse to accept any name for registration 69. A name once registered shall not again be re–registered in the same prefix. 70. Once a name has been registered and accepted, it shall not be altered or added to except by permission of, or as required by the CCC(Q) . 71. No dog shall be entered for competition or exhibition or be advertised except by its full registered name, together with its recognised title and the word “Imp,” plus country of origin if the dog is imported. 72. Reserved

Here is the relevant section in the ANKC regulations regarding naming of dogs. I think this covers all states. There is nothing there about not using the word "of". SECTION 6 Rules for Registration 6.1 Use of words in the name of a dog: 6.1.1 The following are not to be used in the name of a dog: ???? “imp” ???? hyphens ???? apostrophes ???? Roman Numerals However, numbers written as a word are permissible provided it is clear that it does not represent a numerical sequence. (Admin. 07/98) (Amended 05/02)

Perhaps it was in the past, but it is definitely not allowed now (in QLD at least, but I'm pretty sure all states are the same). He was only born last year.

My dogs have come from SA, WA and NSW to Vic and in all cases, the back of the pedigree was signed and I simply signed it and sent it off with a cheque to change the ownership.

You can have "of" in a name. Isaak is Twist of Fate, his sister is Twist of Summer. And it's definitely not "ov" because I chose his name and I didn't want "ov" and said if he couldn't be Twist Of Fate, he could be "Double Twist".

Are you sure? Benson's prefix was Hevnsent, and there are heaps of dogs with "heaven sent" or some variation as their registered name.

Now you just shattered all my illusions about Clumbers. I see them at shows and they are so beautiful and I always think "There's a calm and mature breed, how nice it would be to have a dog like that with its sensible head on". Are looks misleading?