Luke W

Inside or outside? Action shots or static shots?

It's hard when they're puppies isn't it!! You never know how big their neck is going to get!!! Just looking at the Leashes by Design website - it would probably take me a MONTH to decide on ONE lead design let alone a whole bunch!!! They are so nice! It's soooooooo tempting... Yeah - it's taking me ages just to decide on how many strands...4, 6 or 8!!! I'm also struggling to decide on length. Colors I think I've decided. Decorations...just a couple of leather buttons at either end...Maybe a sterling silver tube at the handle end...arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

this lady does awesum Work, ill be ordering the leather show leads, and collars and also a leather bracelet for me lol Yes, it's fantastic. Stunning leads and collars. I've been working on deciding on my leads for a few days now! So much choice! I'm going to start with buying just leads...then buy collars when Barkly is full grown.

Tell me about it.... Mine's looking at me right now...and I just know he's thinking... "Hey Luke, I wouldn't mind a new flash kangaroo lead or two and a nice fleecy tug lead too! Oh...and did I mention...I need some new Tuffie Toys. Can you get me the turtle and the sheep?...Thanks". I may as well teach him how to use the internet and give him my credit card

You can get kangaroo leather martingales in lots of different colours and designs here: http://www.leashesbydesign.com/Martingale%20Collar.html Limited only by your imagination. Not cheap though.

I think I'm going to get mine from here: http://www.leashesbydesign.com/Kangaroo%20Leashes.html I prefer rounded handles.

ahhh. Got it. Mine too.

What does this mean dogdude? Is there something about lead lengths in the 'rulebook' for Australian Obedience?

Ditto.

So hard to decide! I don't usually walk him very far on-leash...just 200m to the park. Then he either goes off-leash or onto a 10m long line. I'm leading towards.. - A 4 foot show lead (loop with sliding stopper) - for quick trips outside to the toilet. - A 6 foot snap-hook lead for walks and obedience (unfortunately, once we get beyond the on-lead obedience, I'd probably prefer a 4 foot lead. I prefer to hold the leash in one hand). - A 6 foot fleecy slip lead for outside the agility ring (good for tug). The leather leads I'm looking at are over $100 each so I kinda want to get it right. PS - Jogging isn't quite my style

What length leads to people prefer? For walking their dogs? For obedience training? For obedience trailling? For outside the agility rings? Who uses fleecy tug leads? What lengths? ... I'm about to order some custom leads and I'm tossing up between lengths... Personally, a 4 foot lead (or even shorter) seems preferable for generally walking for me...the dog is next to me anyway, the lead is in the hand closest to the dog and any extra lead is simply bundled up in my hand. For obedience training at a club...again, whats the advantage of a longer lead? What about fleecy leads for the end of agility runs? Why are 6 foot leads oft recommended...is it to get some distance for stays??...in which case it's not much distance is it? and I could always just drop a 4foot lead if I needed some disstance.... I'd like to hear opinions before I open the wallet for some custom leads.

Yes - Great book. (ps - I got mixed up with another book when I mentioned cute cartoons...That's from Dog Friendly Dog Training - Andrea Arden, another one worth having).

The perfect Puppy - Gwen Bailey - very similar content to the Dunbar Books...nicer cover, cute cartoon pictures, nicer presentation

I think I'm going to go - spectator and photographer

You can increase DOF by: Moving the lens further away from the subject (makes the subject smaller) Decreasing the focal length (eg...by using a 35mm lens rather than a 50mm lens) - again makes the subject smaller. Descreasing the aperture (a higher FSTOP) - this will reduce the shutter speed...you MAY end up with camera shake problems without a tripod - depending on how slow the shutter speed is... Understanding the impact of aperture (fstop), shutter speed, and ISO on correct exposure is crucial. Then factor in focal length and subject distance to get a feel for DOF.

In one of the books I read, it mentioned using nice scents as a reward. Sealed plastic bags containing "estrus deer urine" and other nice stuff!!!! The theory was..."Why should I sniff the ground when mum has such great smells in her pocket" At the time I thought if nothing else it was novel! Have you tried really get the lab into tug? I've read about transfering the value of rewards from one thing to another. Perhaps you could transfer the value of 'sniffing' to tugging or food. An interesting challenge!

I also use fleece. I just buy it in lengths off the roll from Spotlight. It's cheap, and it's easy to wash and quick to dry.

D'OH

Something like this: http://www.snooza.com.au/products/d1000.shtml They use "denier".

Ditto to Gayle. That's not 'blinding'.

It probably depends on the camera. On my Canon - the numbering is controlled via a menu setting.

http://www.siriuspup.com/beforebook.html

While I don't know what color the pug is in real life, it doesn't look too white to me. How does the boxer look?

The 100mm is a true macro. Portraits are nice - but you can do better. I don't find the 70-200 heavy (I can hand hold it all day) - but I'm a big beefy bloke - it's on my camera 75% of the time. Get the 85mm f/1.8 - ...decision made!

Do you have a budget in mind? The other thing to consider is working distance. The longer the focal length the further away you will need to be. This can be problematic when working inside. Not so much a problem working outside. Then you got to consider the flexibility of a zoom, versus the generally higher image quality and better price of a fixed lens. Oh - and has anyone mentioned that the 100mm macro can double as a decent portrait lens? :D If budget wasn't a consideration, I'd be getting the 85mm f/1.2 on a 1.6X crop body. The cheaper option would be the f/1.8. I might be swayed to the 135mm f/2 on a full frame body (I tend to like the flattening effects of longer focal lengths). If I didn't already have a 70-200 f/2.8 IS - I'd be buying it first - it makes a great action lens for dog photography and doubles as a very, very decent portrait lens.