~*Shell*~

Frick. And that's all I have to say about that.

A friend has just gone through the same thing - 4 different rescue organisations and a big NO from all of them. She is a fantastic lady, works from home a lot of the time and has a great dog-friendly house. All of the organisations said no for different reasons. She is thinking of having a baby in the next couple of years - one place wouldn't give her a dog because she didn't have kids and another wouldn't because she had kids around too often (she has nieces and nephews). Both times she was trying to adopt a puppy of the same breed with similar temprements. Another wouldn't because she works full time (even though she works from home a lot of the time) and then another one was because she didn't have another dog to give the rescue one any company. As it is, both her and her partner are completely over it and they have now found a wonderful registered breeder with a litter of pups on the ground which should be ready to come home in 6 weeks. It would have been 100 times easier to get a pup straight from the pound than deal with what they went through and it's completely turned her off rescue which is very sad because she has a great home and is committed to bringing up a well adjusted pup.

Still waiting on mine too - they forgot me last year as well even though I got confirmation emails both years. Last year I ended up getting two on the same day though because I emailed them and told them mine hadn't arrived. They said 7-10 working days so I should have gotten mine by now.

Like this you mean Link :D Exactly! But it would have to be able to hang upside down and look like a sibe. Also, I only have a towel rack that it could hang on and it would have to share with the towels.... that's enough room right? I'd like one that doesn't need exercise.

They pick everything about it (breed, breeder, timing, etc), you pay for it - the best way to give a puppy as a present.

I love Zero but he just takes up too much space on the floor. How about a pup that can climb, a little like this: But that looks more like this: I would like it to be non-shedding, self training and of course, hypoallergenic. I don't know anyone with a allergy to dogs but you never know. Oh and of course, it needs to be from champion bloodlines.

If i have a soul, i believe Zero has one, and my cat and my birds and the annoying fly that is buzzing around my kitchen. If I don't, they don't.

Doesn't surprise me - all my siberian husky needs is a bed to sleep on I had friends at uni who had a very hyperactive dalmatian in a unit - he was absolutely fine. They walked him all the time, took him everywhere he could have gone with them and he was off to a different kind of training every few days, with daily sessions in between!

Zero used it to lose weight for a long time - I've found artemis got the final bit of weight off him that I wanted but it was great there for a while!

Thanks!! It's strange photographing non-spitz dogs. They don't seem to smile like the spitzies (or kelpies) do. I'm having to think on my feet!

I didn't get anything good of Rover in the last shoot so I hope this makes up for it - still not happy but Rover was a little drooley today so can't do a huge amount about that!!

The 450D is a great camera to learn on! Nice shots - love the cat and the butterfly!!!

Hmmmm - one of the briefs is there. Can't wait to see what the other 4 are!!!

I really wish you could have seen him the way he was before Corvus. I understand that you don't like Steve and you don't like his methods but if Zero even thought he saw another dog, he would stop and stare for less than a second before he was at the end of his leash trying to attack them. The first trainer we saw described it as "explosive unprovoked aggression". The second looked at him and told me she'd never seen a dog that she believed would happily kill another dog if given the chance before but that she thought Zero would do it in a heartbeat. At that level I could have screamed at him, waved a big juicy steak under his nose, used any toy in the world and he wouldn't have cared. He was conditioned to the click and to a marker word but he didn't want a treat, he wanted to go and attack another dog. There was no interrupting him with anything where his brain actually had to compute something other than DOG. His problem was that he was never under the threshold when there was another dog around. What do you do in that situation? He's not even registering a click, or if he is, he's sure as hell not looking for a reward. I get that you think you could have "fixed" him with positive methods and maybe you could have - if you'd been around at the time I would have happily handed over his leash and let you try. As it is, I used a different method that worked quickly, effectively and without (IMO) negative repercussions. You've seen what he's like for yourself! Does he look unhappy to you? Is he afraid of me? Unless you're seeing something different to what I am, I'm inclined to think no. Nowhere is anyone saying that this is a method that should be applied to all dogs or that this tool should be used on all dogs - the point of going to see a qualified behaviourist is for them to assess the dog and decide what they need and what that dog can handle. The vast majority of people I know would choose a positive method over a correction based one (in fact, I can't think of anyone I know who wouldn't) but I also believe that not everything can be solved using rewards - I tried positive, I tried it for 18 months until it got to the point where I couldn't watch Zero go through life like that anymore and then I looked at the alternative. The alternative worked for us - it worked quickly and effectively which meant I no longer had to watch Zero work himself up to the point where he would throw up on walks or leave him sitting in the backyard while I went to places he can now go without a problem. You have no idea how heart breaking it was to see - I hope you never get to see anything even close to it.

Canon lenses have an international warranty on them - my 70-200mm 2.8 was bought overseas and when I was having a problem, I took it into canon (they're across the road from work) and they looked at it without asking me where I got it. As it turns out, there was nothing really wrong with it, it hadn't been used in a while so the autofocus motor was a bit sticky so it's now fine. From what they told me, camera bodies are only covered in the country they were purchased from but the lenses are international.

Thanks all. I'm just a little over being a target (and hearing all the little sniping comments from the uninformed) when it comes to a training method I used and I hope that the OP learnt something. Zero is not afraid of me, he's not unhappy to be around me (in fact, if you watch us together, it's quite the opposite) and he's not afraid of the tool we used (again, quite the opposite). I have been in a lot of arguments where people think my relationship with him must have been affected badly by me using it on him but it is the opposite - we didn't have a relationship before this, he wanted next to nothing to do with me and was not motivated by anything I could give him (and yet now he's an absolute nutter for food!). I'm all for using positive methods if they work, but they didn't with Zero. 18 months of trying and 3 different PP trainers proved that. When we turned up at Steve's, Zero launched himself at the garage door for no apparent reason so I asked Steve if his dogs were in there - they were... in their crates and not making any noise but Zero was so worked up by them that I couldn't pull him away - he went from that to being able to have a ridgeback lunging at him without a reaction (other than just sitting with his tail wagging and staring up at me to see what I'd do) within 6 weeks. So as I said, if anyone feels the need to make comments, go ahead. I've copped everything from sniping behind my back to full on abuse about it - but when you see your dog try to kill his own shadow or other dogs through a garage door that you didn't even know where there (imagine if that were your dog and how you'd feel if you had to watch him live in that state of constant fear), something has to be done. I did something. It worked and I would do it again if I had to. By no means is it a tool for everyone but in the right hands it can be magic. Steve just happens to have those hands

Thanks all! That's where I got the idea Rysup - I was going to wash Z's bedding this morning but it wouldn't have dried today so I left it and when I was thinking about it, i realised I'd seen them before.

I have a 450D and I'm about to upgrade to a 7D. I'd stay with Canon because you will be able to use the same lenses as your OH. If you're happy with the 450D, then other options are a second hand 40D or a 50D (and now a 60D) if you don't want to go as high as a 7D or 5D.

Zero's doona tends to get a little smelly when I haven't washed for it for a while and because we haven't had a lot of days where it will dry, i have been reluctant to wash it. I'm after a thick piece of foam, covered in vinyl so that i can just make a material cover for it (so if worst comes to worst I can just dry it inside). Anyone know where I can get one? I would just sew one for myself but I don't think my sewing machine would go through the vinyl!

Zero wears a flat collar when he's out but he's naked at home. If i used a check chain, I would take it off him the same way.

I have used one - they're not illegal in Australia, but they are in Victoria (I'm not sure about other states - they're legal in NSW). I rescued my dog at 2.5 years old. He was fearful of everything (he has a very sad back story from before I got him ) - I couldn't go near him. We worked on his fears but when we started being able to go for walks, he would react with extreme aggresion whenever we saw a dog. It got to the point where he would slink around corners, just in case there was a dog around there. On day he even went around a corner and tried to attack his own shadow because he was so on edge about other dogs. I took him out to see 4 trainer, 3 of them purely positive trainers/behaviourists and every one of them said I shold put him to sleep because I'd never be able to cure him and he was a danger and a menace to other dogs. A few more trainers wouldn't even see us. Then I took him out to see K9 Pro, who assessed him and recommended we try a Prong collar (a pinch collar). Within 6 weeks (by now, zero was 4 years old and i'd been dealing with his problems for 18 months), Zero was able to be around other dogs. For the first time ever, instead of trying to deal with everything himself, if there was a problem, he would look to me. That's what we taught him with the prong collar. There were no harsh corrections, he was given the choice to either walk away with me or to pull on his collar. He chose to follow me. He has never felt the full force of the collar - he wags his tail and gets excited when he sees it because it means we're going out somewhere fun. I would rather have used it on him and had him get better sooner rather than go through all the purely positive stuff we did that did nothing. Do i think that all dogs should use one? No, they should only be used under the supervision of a properly qualified behaviourist. I don't use mine anymore and would happily give it back to Steve but Zero's collar was never supposed to be used forever - it is a training tool, not a cure all. He acts the same on his flat collar now (and it's a ruthless leather one so I want him to show it off!) so I haven't used his prong in over a year. This is him now (taken on australia day this year by terranik): I'm not going to get into the politics of the collar but quite frankly, it saved Zero's life. I would never have put him to sleep but what that collar did in 6 weeks, no other training tool did in 18 months. Zero lived in constant fear and now he's one of the most happy dogs you'll ever meet. I can't thank Steve at k9 Pro enough for that! Here's a video terranik made about Z and I - it makes me cry to watch it. http://www.youtube.com/user/TerraNik#p/u/18/Y6F7eQyXJkY Troll or not, I'm happy to tell people I've used one. I had a lot of s*** thrown at me in the past about it and I think the results speak for themselves. Attack away!

Lol - i know that feeling where your blood runs cold and you're so sure that something has happened to them. It happens to me when I get home and Zero's nose isn't under the gate. He's always waiting for me so when I open the gate and he's not there, i freak!

Zero isn't allowed to come into the bathroom when I'm in the bath - he would try and get in there with me! Instead I get him standing outside the door while i'm in there and he goes nuts when I come out. Same happens when I'm in the toilet. He has to know what I'm doing at all times!!!

Hey all, Just thought I would let you all know that registrations are open for the Canon Photo5 Competition. You don't have to have an SLR or even a canon camera - but you could win one! http://www1.canon.com.au/worldofeos/photo5/home/

It's not particularly cheap - some of it is about the same as what you would find in a normal pet store whereas there are also the high-end things as well, similar to what i use which are a lot more expensive, They tend to have a good selection of items though which helps when you're looking for something specific. I tend to do my research and buy online though. It's easier for me and generally works out cheaper. As I said, have a quiet chat to your breeder when you're talking to her next and see what she says about everything. She will have the information you need. She might even be able to point you in the direction of a specific brand of brush or comb that is good for her dogs.