silentchild

Mostly lots and lots of SWF in my area... they are definitely the majority. Other than that there are a lot of border collies, I've seen a few Great Danes, 2 Bernese Mountain Dogs, 2 Labradors, a few JRT, a lovely old Golden lives opposite my house, Westies, quite a number of oodle crosses, Beagle, 2 gorgeous Standard Poodles, an Afghan, a Corgi, couple of Staffies and their crosses, a pug or two, GSP, GSD, a Dobe, a Rottie, and quite a few random cross breeds that I can't identify. I have the only Aussie in the area and we are very often gawked at or stopped by passersby to ask what breed she is. I do have to admit my stunning girl certainly stands out.

Thanks all, she has been slowly expelling it all out of her system throughout the day with several sloppy chippy poos.... great fun trying to pick them up...NOT! So she will be on bland boiled rice and chicken for a few meals to help her guts recover. :)

She just had chippy diarrhea the size of mount everest holy sh*t it was like the dinosaur poop in Jurassic Park and literally the exact colour of chips. I was so awestruck. Should've taken a photo. Anyway since taking her huge dump she did some zoomies and is now back to her normal self. I bet she hasn't learnt her lesson!

Thanks for the advice... the amount she ate was probably like three times her stomach size lol. It was quite a large box of chips. She is only an itty bitty Aussie. I will fast her for 24 hours to be safe. Mrs Rusty Bucket... for a second there I thought you were suggesting I should reheat the vomited chips and have them as a snack. :laugh:

Much to my horror my dog somehow managed to gorge her way through an entire box of chips from the fish n chips shop. It was my fault really, we had chucked the chips in the bin last night and forgot to lock the bin away when we went out today... She did a small vomit just now and has just been quiet and subdued. I suspect she is a bit nauseous too. I've let her have plenty of water. How concerned should I be? Can pancreatitis be triggered by something like this? Or will it just be a case of her feeling a bit miserable for the next few days and then right as rain? I'm kicking myself.

During our walk today I saw a few things that made me think of this thread. First, walking my Aussie Shepherd along a busy road (I live inner city so I'm talking trams and cars busy) a man with his little fluffy off leash dog gamboling along. His dog saw mine and started getting excited, I was worried it would dash across the busy road to us but luckily it didn't just bounced around as its owner called it away. I then watched in horror as it almost got run over by a car pulling out of a driveway. Owner looked concerned but obviously not enough to pop it back on a leash. Kept walking, saw a lady in the distance who was looking at us. As we got closer she slowed down, as we got even closer she stopped completely, so I put my dog on the other side of me and kept her leash short. As we got up to her her face was terrified and she said to me in a very shaky voice, "I'm scared of dogs." I couldn't help but think what would have happened if she had come across that off leash dog earlier... she would've been scared to pieces, I felt terrible for her that she had to walk the streets in such fear. Kept walking, got to our usual on-leash oval with the huge Dogs must be on leash signs at every entrance... of course there is someone in there with his two dogs off leash running around, Slightly annoyed as I wanted to use the oval, but never mind, we'll just do our walk along the outside perimeter, not a big deal. As I was leaving the area, I then saw a jogger jog up to the entrance of the oval, clearly wanting to use it. When he saw the two dogs running around he stopped. Our eyes met and he shook his head and said 'Those dogs should be on a leash'. and turned around and jogged off. People should be able to use public places without having to contend with law-breaking dog owners... If they just let their dogs off leash in the designated areas there would have been no problem. There's not a shortage of off leash areas too, the one in my area is large and just next door to the oval. But also maybe the reason they break the law and use the on leash areas is because the off leash area is so full of out of control dogs? Who knows. It's a sad situation.

Pumpkin is also a good filler to give with his food, it helps fill them up without adding fat.

Thanks emgem, I'll add them to my list. Does anyone else have experiences / recommendations? Or are there any DOLers that provide this service? PMs are welcome.

http://www.robyn-and...se-sitting.com/ Their website sounds great but I am just after any personal experiences if anyone has used them, or knows someone that has used them before to look after your dogs when away? My overseas trip is still more than a year away but I have started looking around now for a house sitter / pet-minder I can trust for when I will be away for 3 weeks. If anyone has anybody they can suggest or recommend I'd really appreciate it. I'm very very particular about how I want my pets to be looked after and treated so I think organizing someone trustworthy to look after my dog and cat will be difficult!

Canine Massage in Plain English by Natalie Winters...... I hope it's good!! I wanted to get some of the Control Unleashed or agility stuff, but must exercise self control..

I was very good and only ordered three items... two tugs and a book... CleanRun has already taken too much of my money..

ATLANTA (Reuters) - A north Georgia animal shelter's "Lucky Dog" adoption program deceived pet owners by promising not to euthanise their dogs for a $100 fee, then kill... By David Beasley ATLANTA (Reuters) - A north Georgia animal shelter's "Lucky Dog" adoption program deceived pet owners by promising not to euthanise their dogs for a $100 fee, then killed them instead, authorities said. Dozens of animals were euthanised in this way, a 60-count indictment alleges. Charges against the shelter's former director, Lowanda "Peanut" Kilby, include theft by taking, theft by deception, computer theft and racketeering, Rabun County District Attorney Brian Rickman told Reuters on Thursday. Pet owners surrendered their animals to the Boggs Mountain Humane Shelter for a variety of reasons, including the owners' failing health or an animal's incompatibility with children or grandchildren, Rickman said. "They had researched and were specifically looking for a shelter that did not euthanise," the prosecutor said. After paying $100 for a guarantee that the pets would not be killed, the owners would receive emails and hand-written notes from the shelter saying that the pets had been adopted, said Rickman. "In fact the pets were already dead," the district attorney said. The criminal investigation was prompted by stories about the shelter on Atlanta television station WAGA, the prosecutor said. Kilby was later removed as director and the shelter was transferred to a new nonprofit group. The indictment, returned Wednesday, alleges that Kilby received money from owners of 28 animals who were falsely promised that their pets would not be euthanised. She is also charged with stealing more than $10,500 in shelter funds. Kilby turned herself into authorities Wednesday and was released on bond, said Rickman. She could not be immediately reached for comment. In an interview with WAGA last year, Kilby denied the allegations. "No kill means no kill," she told the television station. When presented with the case of one "Lucky Dog" who was euthanised, Kilby said it was because the animal had a failing heart. http://au.news.yahoo.com/odd/a/18802541/georgia-shelter-promised-to-rescue-dogs-killed-them-instead-authorities/

:laugh: :laugh:

I've tried using raw beef cubes for training once..................... what can I say I feel like I ended up with raw meat all over my bag, my phone, my car, my hair.. :laugh: Never again! I think I will stick to processed dry raw like Ziwipeak for training.

Several times I've had to step in front of charging dogs and growl at them to put them off a bit, or call out to the owners to get their dog, but their owners always give me the dirtiest looks or yell profanities at me like I've just murdered their child. How can you feel safe with people who have attitudes like that? To me those who purposely flounce the law with no disregard to others and don't give a rat about their dogs harassing others are nuf nufs.

Olly'sBox, what sort of products do you offer in the box if you don't stock items you can get at Woolies/Coles? Can you give us some examples? Can someone please create a CleanRun box. :laugh: How about including products marketed towards crazy dog ladies who do crazy things like dog sports. :laugh: I'd want to subscribe to a box for both my dog and cat, but if the items inside are poor quality especially with my cat who is super fussy, I can see it being a huge waste of money.

I too feel your pain.. the way you described your feelings was exactly how I used to feel back when I owned a reactive dog. Nowadays when walking my non-reactive dog I have to be very very self conscious about not tensing up - it has sort of become muscle memory for me lol. As soon as I feel myself tensing up I quickly allow my leash to relax.. no tension on the lead. And breath. Hum a song. Anything to help relax. I also look for an escape route just to put myself at ease, be it crossing the road or just looking for a driveway to go up just in case and keeping that in my mind so I don't feel like there's no way out. I still scan for other dogs paranoid as we have also been rushed several times minding our own business, we have not been attacked just charged by over boisterous 'friendly' dogs normally but it is still alarming, I worry that it will make my non-reactive dog reactive. If I walk in the day I try to stick to on leash areas and places where I can see people or dogs approaching from a distance. Lately I've been finding more often that I go to the off leash park late at night when there is guaranteed no other dogs around, more for my own peace of mind than anything. Still I scan my surroundings like a psycho for ninja dogs in the dark LOL whilst my dog runs rings around her nutso mum. Walking dogs have become a stressful exercise in today's generation of dog owners who don't follow the laws unfortunately.

oooohh I might sign up too. Thanks for the code! There's a few companies that do this. A few others are Olly's box, Ruvbox and PawBag They all look good. I might subscribe to one for the cat too..

Wow, that's impressive. Does that mean the reward you give her for coming back to you is more high value to her than chasing her prey? And I'm guessing that chasing her prey is very rewarding indeed! How do you reward her for leaving such an incredibly high value item?

Thanks huski. What about if the dog supposedly does normally have effective control and responds to the first command, every time, but just this once the temptation to go sniff/chase was just too strong so it ignored the command - would you see that as acceptable? I've often heard the argument that you can't expect every dog to be perfect all the time and that there is no such thing as a 100% reliable recall. (and then attacks happen..."my dog has never done this before!!")

After witnessing too many events of dogs running at 100kms an hour towards strangers or other dogs whilst their owners scream and scream their name and the dog doesn't so much as twitch an ear - I wonder, what do the average Joe Blow pet owners (non-competing, simple pet owners, little or no formal training) classify as a reliable recall or 'under effective voice control'? It is very alarming to have a dog come bolting up from across a huge park towards me or my dog whilst the owner shrieks and shouts its name repeatedly and is completely ignored. If the dog in question is bolting towards something with a very high level of temptation - such as another dog, a ball/toy, a cat, or even food, or a scent he really wants to smell - what would you classify as an effective recall in that situation? Would you classify the dog pausing for a moment to turn and look at you as to be "under effective voice control"? Would you classify it as effective control only if the dog comes running immediately back to you and ignoring the temptation? How about the dog that ignores your call and goes towards the item it desires, has a sniff, and then comes right back to you? Is it ok for a dog to ignore its recall because the item it is running towards is so desirable that its normal for them to "not pay attention"? How about in council terms, as the law states dogs off leash must be under effective voice control, what is effective voice control to a council officer? If the dog stops its chase and turns to look at the owner, could the council classify that as effective control? I am sick and tired of people letting their dogs harass others off leash without a reliable recall. For me a reliable recall is if your dog returns to you the moment you tell it to come. After witnessing so many owners who just yell their dogs name again and again and again to no avail, and then finally smile smugly when their dog loses interest in whatever they were chasing and returns to their vicinity I wonder what do others classify as being under effective voice control?

I used to have a Rottie who would deposit tumbleweeds of fur everywhere... fur absolutely EVERYWHERE.. and I used to think that was bad but a good vacuum every week used to take care of it. Now I have an Aussie Shepherd...... OMG.... I eat my words, I have never been covered in so much fur in my life!!!!!!!! I can't wear nice clothes anymore. Luckily I don't mind and I adore my dogs to bits despite having their fur caught in my teeth, down my bra, in my shoes... I love a good shiny coat over a non-shedding one which requires super high maintenance.

I believe I have been knocked over twice now by your dream dog. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: And I love it.

My previous Rottie girl Emma was everything I ever wanted in a dog except for the reactivity..... so I guess my dream dog would be a non-reactive lazy snugglebum who will be happy being active when I want and also a complete couch potato with me otherwise, which is most of the time! With the softest sweetest eyes and the most gentle, biddable temperament. Who puts her paw on my knee and rests her head in my lap just whenever I need it. Willing to learn new things, goofy and playful, with a real personality and a zest for life. A dog that I could trust implicitly with almost anything. I would love to have a dog like her again, to me she was perfect even tho her DA was so tiring, so my fantasy dog would be just like her but without the DA and with a less shedding coat. And a much longer lifespan. And less smelly farts. :laugh: ohhhh no good, now I am crying just thinking about her. /exits thread

I don't think I've ever had a heart dog, all the dogs I've had I've loved them very very much and am terribly heartbroken when they leave. But not a special heart dog like you all have been saying where you just know. I do however have a heart cat... just thinking about her dying makes me tear up. Then again she acts very much like a dog so maybe she is my heart cat-dog. :laugh: