silentchild

Thanks TSD, that makes sense. :) Is there a reason why you don't practise your drops on recalls, or is it because you only like to practise them with the game?

Can anyone please explain to me what is the 2 food game and what is its purpose? From what I understand it's just throwing food in two directions close to you but I'm not sure what it's supposed to teach the dog other than getting the dog to eat and run fast lol. I've also heard it can be used to teach a running drop but not sure how? Is the dog supposed to drop to eat the treat? Any insight appreciated, thanks! :)

What breed of dog is she?

Poultry shop in Carnegie. But leave some for me. :laugh: edit: They are much more expensive there compared to some of the other places/prices quoted in this thread tho.

This reminds me of those people who have their deceased pet stuffed, then install a mechanism inside to make it look like its breathing, and have it in the house.

One British owner will be offered a genetic replica of their dog for free as part of the UK launch of the service, which usually costs £63,000. But scientists warned that owners hoping to create a "carbon copy" of their favourite pet may be disappointed because, like identical twins, the clone will not be a perfect replica of the first. Although they will share the same genetic code, differing conditions in the womb and the environment they are exposed to after birth will significantly change some characteristics, including aspects of the dog's appearance and behaviour. Experts also warned that cloning animals is extremely unreliable, only successfully resulting in a healthy specimen in one or two of every hundred attempts, and that making the cloning process reliable would be a "major achievement". But South Korean firm Sooam Biotech said it had never failed to produce a clone and would guarantee its work. The technique involves taking a single skin cell from the original animal and replicating its DNA to create a man-made embryo, which is born after two months' gestation. Dog owners who do not want their clone to be created immediately can bank the cells in a laboratory and activate them at a later date. The company says it has cloned at least 400 dogs around the world, including rescue and police dogs for the South Korean government and dozens of pets for wealthy American owners. The competition, and subsequent creation of Britain's first cloned dog, will be filmed and broadcast in a documentary on Channel Four next year. Applications will close on November 25, and owners can apply by emailing [email protected] or visiting www.facebook.com/dogcloninguk, and describing what their dog means to them. Sooam Biotech scientist Insung Hwang said: "We can clone any breed, size or shape of canine and are coming to the UK to offer this process to the owner of one very special dog. We welcome entries from any UK-based dog owner who wants to benefit from this exciting new advance in biotechnology." Prof Robin Lovell-Badge, Head of Developmental Genetics at the MRC National Institute for Medical Research, said cloning in dogs can work but cautioned that it is "not an efficient process" and would not create a replica of the original pet. "Many attempts will die as embryos, at any stage, but some as pups, and of course the female dogs used to carry the cloned embryos will have to bear the consequences of being pregnant and losing embryos and newborns," he said. "While it can give an animal that is genetically identical to the original dog from which cells are taken, it will not be completely identical in its "phenotype": its appearance, anatomy, physiology, and behaviour. "To make matters worse, because the clone is unlikely to match expectations, the owner is bound to treat it differently. The clone will have little chance of behaving the same as fifi, rufus, or fido." Prof Tom Kirkwood, Dean for Ageing at Newcastle University, added: "This development really troubles me, from both a scientific and human standpoint. Scientifically, we know that although cloning can work it just isn't possible to create an identical organism. "Not only is an animal shaped by factors other than its genetics, but also there are small random elements that will affect how individuals develop, which cloning technologies simply cannot overcome. "As a dog owner myself, I can well understand the strength of the emotional bond we have with our pet animals. But dogs have shorter lifespans than humans and an important aspect of our relationship with them is coming to terms with the pain of letting go." Source : http://www.telegraph...in-Britain.html

After I lost my beloved Emma I so desperately wanted to feel or see her but there was absolutely nothing. Until about a week or so after she passed I was lying in bed looking at her empty bed that was beside mine and cried myself to sleep. When I woke the next morning I looked at her bed again and there were three Rottie-sized indented pawprints on the bed that I am 10000% sure was not there before. It could just be my mind playing tricks on me or maybe the cat was playing a practical joke on me, but I choose to believe that she had visited me in the night and it made me feel much more at peace about everything. I haven't felt or seen anything since.

Oh Jelly, tears here for you and Roo. You can feel her presence so take comfort that she is still with you in spirit, sending you all her love. Those are beautiful photos, thank you for sharing. Take care of yourself.

Thinking of you here tonight too Jelly.

I know this topic has been done to death. This weekend is supposed to be nice and sunny and I have been playing with the idea of going on a nice bush walk with my Aussie. From perusing old topics on here as well as the internet, I've sort of narrowed it down to two places : Wright Forest in Emerald and Wilson Botanic Gardens in Berwick. Has anyone been to either of these places and can tell me what they're like? How busy are these places normally on a Saturday? I'll be alone with my dog and have no sense of direction, so is it easy to get lost in Wright Forest? Is Wright Forest also a hard walk? Also, both these places are on leash only but I couldn't find anywhere bush-like to take her that is off leash and also quiet so I won't have to worry about other strange off leash dogs ambushing us. If you happen to know of any secluded off leash great walking areas south east of Melbourne please do share! If anyone also happens to know of any other great dog walking places either off or on-leash, around inner SE Melbourne please also let me know. Those two I mentioned are a bit far still but I couldn't find any other suitable places that were closer, within 45 minutes of the inner city. Thanks for any suggestions. :)

OMG soo glad I'm not alone in feeling this way. :laugh: I have a feeling my usually perfectly behaved dog will be the worst behaved one there and I will trip over a leash or something. And so glad that there will be other DOLers there too!

I managed to get workshop tickets. Whoo hoo! Breeze and I will see you there. Now I'm nervous lol... I hope it won't be too much for her.

Oh my god, the pain must be unbearable, I too cried reading this, I am so so sorry for your loss. Run free beautiful girls.

Yay for Melbourne workshops! What time do the tickets go on sale huski? Oh dear now I don't know if I should try to get tickets for the workshop or just get a private consult.....

I've also had a mixture of breeds growing up, I had a crossbreed and a pom when I was younger and I loved her more than anything so I think I will have Poms and probably stick to them when I am an old, old woman with bad hips LOL... before this I thought I would always have Rotties because my Rottie girl was so great, but now I have my doubts as I don't think I can physically handle a Rottie anymore, and there are so many breeds I want to try and my current Aussie girl is just phenomenal, so I may stick to the small/medium sized working breeds for now - my next dog I'm thinking might be a Finnish Lapphund, but we will see. Dalmatians have also always been my favourite breed and I've always wanted one since I was a little girl, so maybe one day when I am capable of handling such a high energy dog I will have Dallies.

My previous Rotty girl Emma had glaucoma in one eye and was causing her a lot of discomfort. She was basically completely blind in that eye from it. The pressure was through the roof. None of the eye drops worked for her, and we had to have the eye removed. It all happened very quickly. We didn't have a prosthetic eye put in either on the advice of our eye specialist. She was much more comfortable once the eye was removed and recovered well and quickly. She adjusted to having only one eye remarkably well - you wouldn't even know she was missing one unless you looked at her. Sometimes she might accidentally bump her head on something she didn't see but nothing major. We were the ones that had to get used to her new 'look' - but she was happy and still beautiful to us, so it all worked out for the best. Her remaining eye remained fine and healthy until her death. All the best to you.

I would love to see pics if you get it underway. :D I always joke to my dogs whenever I buy their food and stuff, I wish we had a cart so they could pull their stuff home / to the car... better earn your keep! :laugh:

I'm getting a toy breed soon and things like this scare me. It's bad enough with whippets, but I'll worry even more with an Italian Greyhound. I always wanted to get another Pom but stories like these always worry me too. I worry enough about off lead strange dogs as it is, I think if I had a toy breed I would be a nutcase with paranoia. My previous pom was attacked by a stray once and it broke her leg, she was so lucky to have survived, it was completely horrifying. I never want to go through that experience again.

Big hugs to you and Roo. So sorry to hear. She was very lucky to have you.

I can highly recommend the Novaguard. It is Australian made and just a great design, doesn't muffle up their ears and is much narrower so they can still run around like normal. My girl recently had her desexing surgery and the Elizabeth collar stressed her out sooo much, she is very sensitive so she hated it whenever it bumped into things and she couldn't hear properly, she was just miserable. She tolerated the Novaguard much better and didn't bump into stuff anymore. The only drawback was that I had to do it up really quite tight because her fur is so slippery if I didn't it would just slide back and smoosh her ears lol. Other than that it was a great product. Edit : Just realized you wanted to prevent ear scratching... well it won't help with that then as it leaves the ears free.. LOL.. sorry, my bad.

Such a sad outcome, run free Titan, RIP

Lol, I've had so many people ask me why my dog's tail was docked, or when I walk past I hear them talking to their friends, look at that dog, its tail has been cut off... No she was born like that!!! Also apparently she is a cattle dog x because she has a blue eye and its true because there's no such thing as an Australian Shepherd.

I received mine yesterday! I know someone was interested about the Canine Massage book so I'll just post my opinion. I think it's good, it has a lot of pictures so it's easy to see what you need to do and what you need to be working on. I tried a couple of strokes on my dog, she relaxed right into it and even fell asleep so hopefully that means it's working, lol. I'm glad I bought it and will try out even more next time.

I use k9+ soft dog crates, top quality and excellent customer service. My crate has lasted my Rottie and now an Aussie Shepherd and still going strong... just brilliant. Link: k9+ soft dog crates

Two dogs were put down on Monday by a NSW RSPCA office because of an apparent break down in communications. The Jack Russell terriers, Nikki and Rocket, were euthanased because their owner had not been able to pay the almost $1000 fee for their release. Owner Kylie McCrea had negotiated with Maitland City Council for her pets' release from the Rutherford RSPCA, raising $960 and reaching an agreement on Friday for the dogs to be held. The decision to put the terriers down was made by a weekend supervisor who was apparently unaware of the agreement between Ms McCrea and the RSPCA. "I had spoken with staff, and the manager, all last week telling them I didn't have the money and I was told to sort it out with council," Ms McCrea said. "The manager told me she would hold onto the dogs until I got back to her." A spokesperson for the RSPCA told the Newcastle Herald that the staff members in question "did not fully investigate" Nikki and Rocket's situation, and hoped an "improvement in process and communication will ensure that this type of incident does not occur in the future". Ms McCrea was informed by RSPCA management that her dogs had been deemed a "nuisance" because they had escaped three times in the past two years. The dogs did not, however, fail the controversial "temperament test" which judges the animals' behaviours and social interactions. The Swayers Gully mother of two is blaming herself for her dogs' tragic circumstance. "They had escaped from my work, it wasn't their fault," she said. "Now I'm totally blaming myself." Rutherford RSPCA was criticised last October for putting down another dog that failed the temperament test before the dog's owner had been contacted. Source: The Newcastle Herald ninemsn