OSoSwift

Yep breed matters. If I had wanted another dogs that would guard I most certainly wouldn't have got a Whippet!

In WA there is a provocation law - as in if the dog is deemed to be protecting it's property in a securely fenced area that a person has gone into, then they will not be declared dangerous. If a person is trying to attack you and your dog bites them, same rule comes into effect. The line can get fuzzy if say the dog is on your property say out the front and it isn't fenced and it then bites or rushes someone who has wakled in, then I think your dog would be in trouble. I know you can organise to have a meter reader come when you are there if your dog is in the yard.

We had always had female dogs when I was growing up, my OH always had males. Our first dog was a bitch and she was fantastic, next was a male - he had shocking temperment(breeding issue there!) then I got another male (had a bitch at the time) He and I did not get on at all and eventually after struggling for nearly two years he went back to his breeder. After that it was bitches only for me. My OH got a Male Stafford and he is a great dog. I got Rommi - I wanted a female. Shortly after I got offered a male whippet -Lewis- and all of my researching indicated that male and female whippets are both easy going, training is similar etc So he came home with us. He is actually cleaner in the house than Rommi ( she will hold on to a point but will pee on the floor if she is inside all night) and easier to train. I have decided that breed has a fair bit to do with it for me. I will NEVER have a male Dobermann - ever! But I would have a Male or female Stafford and I probably prefer Males to females in Whippets. My next dog will be the best dog out of the litter. Conformation and temperment will be the first considerations, clolour and sex will come last in the equation. I do dog sports, showing, and the pup will potentially be bred from if all the boxes are ticked. The dogs must be a good pet first and the rest come down the line for me. Most of the enquiries I have had are for females.

Send her here Well if I can shave her... long haired cats don't do so well on rural properties. My old cat has got a cold Hoping it is nothing worse. She is 17 now! Hope your cat is okay, my 12 and a half year old British is at the vets and very unwell at the moment :D

Some sort of bull breed X. I normally wouldn't advocate a head halter but in this mans case it may help. A harness will allow the dog to pull harder and the chain, when tight, is useless so maybe next time you see him you can suggest it and help him out so he doesn't get dragged around so much? or a no pull harness?? What a great person to take an obviously energetic dog on when he friend passed.

I can't say all of what I am thinking or I would be banned for life from here but what a bunch of fu#king lowlifes this group is. ;) Agreed - totally irresponsible and disgusting - shame on them

Yes two of my dogs are. So far no hassles and I have got close to my premium back each year.

Footy oval sounds good Don't worry I appreciate how lucky I am to have a great area to exercise dogs and not worry about others people off-lead dogs annoying me. Do see the odd roo, fox and snake though ;)

Most definately valid reasons - just the titles give me a headache!

I am training on our farm track which is sand/gravel (compelete with the odd corrigation and pot hot to be missed!) but will ride around the house area so I get fitter with grass. Only thing is my house is at the top of the hill so when I am going home I always have to go up a reasonably sharp hill!! - All good for the fitness I guess!

Just watching a video of an ET trial over east somewhere, do they really only have a gap of around a metre between each bike??? If one of the dogs stops for a pee there would be a huge pile up!!! When we did ours we had a good 4 or more metres between each dog/handler, admittedly there were only 5 dogs but having them that close is ridiculous. And they did recalls on lead and ran backwards, we just did them to the end of our leads?? I would prefer to do an obedience off lead recall if that is the case. Hmmm wish the club closer too me was still running them at least I would know what to expect!

That is not sensible planning at all!

I don't think having chooks is too much of an issue, but Roosters are generally not allowed. Best bet would be to ring them.

A Whippet puppy?

For dogs that do back they also quite often(on the farm working - not sure about trials) run up the backs of the sheep then drop down the front and run under their legs on the way back and it packs the sheep firmly into the race for drenching etc. They are rarely hurt. I love watching sheep dogs working, thanks for the great pictures

Was at the beach today and had someone telling me that they were going to mate their 4month old Stafford puppy at 10 months of age to "calm her down". After I got over my initial shock I hopefully managed to put them off and tell them the benefits of having her desexed. The reason for a 10 month or so mating age - they didn't want to have to contain her for 3 or so seasons and wanted to get it out of the way and have her grow up more quickly. Hopefully talks about mating babies and the huge risks and resulting dollars and potential loss of their bitch may have turned them off. They were also told age and training would quieten their bitch down, having puppies would have nothing to do with it. Honestly ahd to pick myself up off the floor after they floored me with that one!

Unfortunately we don't have an Aldi - but hopefully the old bike will be back on track soon!

SO sorry to hear about Kuges. A very special big man and a DOL favourite for me RIP big man.

I am aiming to but have some mechanical issue with said bike at the moment!! Hope to get those fixed and back into it

Luke you would have to be the polar opposite to a bad owner!!!! Goodluck with your new endeavours

Mine don't have an issue with the kibble size, but the food I got recently is larger than the first sample of food I got so maybe you had the smaller older size food??? The one now is the same as Optimum and Advance size.

Depends on breed, but personally I think entire bitches are more likely to have mood swings. My Dobe bitch could be a complete and utter bitch at certain time of her cycle. She also had phantoms every season, tried to treat her teddies like babies and feed them and would head hunt any dog that came within cooee of her pretend litter. Once desexed she was the same easy going girl all the time. I know what I would prefer!

How I wish I lived closer - those are fantastic photos!

Definately not required at all. If every bitch had a litter before desexing we would have puppies up to our ears. Age and training will settle your Lab down not a litter.

Not my intention to do myself any favours. My intention to get some breeders to understand where the majority of buyers are coming from, but it seems that just wont happen. Once again, I will not be calling this breeder, because I do not wish to give away a non-refundable deposit on a pup I have not seen, and has not even been born, so can people stop telling me to call them. Ringing them does not automatically drop $100 into their account. You can call and talk to them if they refuse to talk to you unless you give them money, then yep they can go jump. Maybe they use that line to try and get rid of tyre kickers?? But as you haven't called you will not know. What's a phone call going to cost?? 25c or there abouts.