ZAUBISTAR

Here are some photos my daughter took today of Roxy chilling out.

I must say I'm the same. It takes a lot of work on your behalf to get the one on one time required to encourage good consistent behaviour in a pup, to have two at once would be a big ask. You need to consider what your future plans are and how much previous experience you have. If you haven't trained a dog before or it's been a long time since your last dog I wouldn't do it. If you're thinking you might like to try obedience, agility or any other discipline, I wouldn't do it. If you just want two well adjusted family pets and you are experienced then maybe, but be prepared for the dogs to be bonded to each other and less to you, especially if they're from the same litter. You might end up with separation issues if you don't train them to have time out from each other for varying lengths of time right from the start.

Such lovely stories. There are some truly amazing ppl in the world.

OH did the graphics for me, I had to keep it in

Thank you That's my boy *Zilversee Acteon CCD CD 'AZ' and yes, that is more or less how he looks most of the time big goof ball!

Yes, I've been very, very lucky! She's sleeping on my feet right now

And another

Here she is..... Aust CH Karraine Divine Glory AZ (Roxy) S:Stobar Peete AZ D:Spellbinda Just Devine AZ Sorry bout the very bad stack, didn't want to pull her around too much first day home. I'll put others up in a few days

LOL! Yep, my bad

Got Roxy home today Got home around noon and so far she is settling in well. very calmly met the family then was quite content to follow me around the house while I did my thing (she has worked out early that I'm the one with the treats ). I'll take photos a little later on, I'd love for you to all see her

Ah right, back to basics then....good point I'll give it a go. A few solid repetitions should prevent it from occurring again, let alone in the ring Thanks

Hi all, Has anyone else had the problem of 'out of site stays' = 'mum's hidden something I need to find'? I've been working our way up to open and all is going reasonably well except this: He'll do the stay fine, any distance, any time, in sight, out of sight, but the other day when we tried it at the park I gave him the release command and he's started to 'track' out where I was standing and starts looking for an article. Now that I'm aware of the potential problem I've been very careful on my release command but I want to show him how good he is for doing the stay (just don't bugga off on me!). Any thoughts on what NOT to do? Things I think are the triggers: We've always played 'hide and seek' in the house (for food and toys) lights on and off; I've recently started tracking work (I have held this off for the last few weeks after he did this); He LOVES the dumbbell, I'm been working him with the dumbbell in site (as it would be on a table in a trial situation) We usually do dumbbell last, after reading previous posts I'm wondering if dumbbell = too much of a reward and not work Any other ideas? Please

Well it feels like it's taken forever but I can very excitedly announce my new girl will be coming home on the 15th of Jan!!!!! The plan is to bring her home, get her settled in and hopefully in the not too distant future start some obedience work. She already has her Aus Ch. title so I don't know if I'll bother with all breeds, I can sense a few more crazy laps in the specialty ring coming up though I have been very fortunate to be given the opportunity of taking in such a lovely bitch and I am eternally thankful to her breeders. OMG! So excited!!!!

I'll be working towards CDX with Acteon. I'd like to get to GSDCA Nationals but we'll see how the training goes (not long till entries due). Would love ET and to start tracking as well. Hopefully I'll have my new girl in time to work toward CCD, ET and TD . Good luck everyone!

Great news everybody, congratulations!!!! Tassie, Well done for such a successful year! Little Kirra has done a fantastic job, be sure to give her a great big hug from Aunty Bec BikerGirl, Good to see the girls still keeping up the pace. I might have to look into this RallyO thingy, sounds like fun. I had my brag earlier on but overall Acteon and I have had a great year. Things have pretty much wrapped up for us now till Feb. Cheers for a great 2009 everybody, may 2010 be bigger and better! :D

She's adorable!!!!! That's the first puppy face I've looked at in a long while and got the fuzzy feeling :D GSD's are pretty cool. I assume you're able to get the pups to a formal training ground? The information and socialisation at clubs is priceless. Being the mum of a much loved entire male I can tell you they are very rewarding but can require a lot of work so be prepared. Seeing as your mum has allergies I understand that dogs inside may not be a full time option. I will add however my most valuable training occurs in the house. By this I mean both establishing new skills for trialling as well as the general respect required for all family members. That's probably besides the point. Make sure you keep us updated.

Yeah not really sure if I can help much either. I've had older dogs and introduced new pups reasonably easily. All the dogs have had a similar living arrangements though and that is what we've worked up to slowly with the pup crated to start with. All our dogs are inside dogs and share a bed. As dogs can easily adopt a routine I would assume dog #1 will be relatively relaxed with it's own conditions and should adapt well to a new puppy. I would keep all interaction between them well supervised at first just to make sure they gel. I would also caution against having two bitches together. Not sure if you were wanting a bitch for yourself but it might just be easier to get a male. Sometimes the girls just can't stand each other, not to say this is always the case. Good luck! .......and photos please

Can I have a orange one of these with hops please, never been a really big wine drinker

Wicked, well done!!!!

OK, a lot excited, lol! Open....now that's a whole new ball game. Got a few months to refine things though.

Woo hoo brag time! ;) Just got back from Hobart Canine Obedience Trial with 2 first place passes of 193/200 and 191/200, 2 highest heel off lead and a C.D title! A very fine effort from my boy I'm a little bit excited ;)

I'm about to buy my third GSD. Been training and competing with dogs (obedience and later showing) for just over 12 years. I agree with what Raaf, Miss Maddy and Ish have commented about the breed. MOST IMPORTANTLY: 1.Buy from a breeder who has used breed surveyed parents only 2. Dogs imported to Australia or second generation must be tested and pass H.neg 3. Become familiar with your local breed club and become familiar with breeders in your area. The GSD does carry a few heart breaking genetic faults so make yourself known at clubs and shows. Those animals from multiple generations of breed surveyed stock are your best bet for a well balanced, long lived, loving family member.

Mashed pumpkin is great. A small serve a few times a day helps get things together. I'd probably leave off food for 24hrs then try the pumpkin and a little later a little bit of chicken/rice as above. Hope he feels better soon.

This has most likely been discussed before but I couldn’t easily find mention of it. My boy developed snow nose this year for the first time (he's 5) and I find it terribly annoying against his beautiful dark mask. To make it worse my best mate commented on it the other day when I was talking about our most recent 'Excellent' grading in the show ring. I didn't think it was quite that bad Anyway, point being do any of you have any quick and easy remedies, meal supplements that may help this? From what I’ve read it’s linked to vitamins B, C and sunlight. Just wondering what I should use and in what quantity (35kg male GSD). Thanks :D

Hugs to you. What a grand old age, I'm sure she loved you very much.