Mooper

laneka, the deal with Happy Housesitters tends to be that the house-sitter looks after your house, garden, pool, pets, mail etc but pays no rent during that time. They pay for utilities as well, although perhaps not for just one week. We're looking at them as an option for next year when we're going overseas for six months, and need the house to be looked after as well as our dog, Jack.

Mum and Dad's ragdoll initiates play with their small fluffy mutt. They get along perfectly. But when Jack met Heidi the ragdoll through the security door, he drooled from both sides of this mouth ... so no cats for us! That experience didn't stop Heidi from taunting him, of course. While we visited, she loved to sleep on top of or *in* his crate, which Jack could see from just outside the back door. Such a tease!

I've seen a few properties at happyhousesitters.com.au that will allow a house-sitter to stay with their own pet while looking after the owners' pets, but only after the owner of the house is thoroughly satisfied that all animals get along etc. Personally, I doubt I'd allow it. Too many variables.

Here is what eight stitches and a drain looked like on Jack, our cattle dog X who was attacked by an offlead Great Dane X last December. His collar took the majority of the bites, judging from the punctures in his collar. The bill from the emergency vet was $850, with a follow-up appointment at our vet on top of that. The owners of the offending dog couldn't afford to pay any of the bill. We reported the event to Council straight away, but did not name names. Council were fine with that, and told us we had six months to report the owners if we chose to do so. We told the owner that they could either have the dog put down, or we would report their dog as dangerous, at-large etc etc and their fines would make our $850 vet bill seem like small change. They chose to have the dog put down. The $850 was an inconvenience to us, but it wasn't about the money. We didn't care that they couldn't pay up, but we could not let that dog live. There was too much at stake, with a park in regular use across the street and a primary school around the corner.

Rest in peace, Rex. I'm so sorry for your loss, MonElite

What a lovely tribute.

Neither my OH nor I like dogs being on any furniture, so no. At my parents' house, however, their dog and cat believe all beds are for them.

Well, hello there! Tara did you proud So sorry to hear of Mika's passing If I remember correctly, Pixie taught Mika to shake hands with a clicker or give a high 5 or something many many moons ago? Best of luck finding the right dog for your aunt.

*sigh* Gorgeous little sluglets.

I think there's a Dyson-led conspiracy going on ... I went to David Jones today, where I bought my Nilfisk many years ago and have bought my vacuum cleaner bags ever since. And they had none! Nor did they sell Nilfisks any more. They told me to go to Myer, who had four boxes of old stock, and told me they would not be restocking the bags as everyone is buying Dysons now. Of course they are ... because the stores don't seem to be selling anything else. There is a huge Dyson display, and down behind that, on the floor, are a few little Mieles and Hoovers. In both DJs and Myer. End of rant

I think this thread was all about the broom.

I'm another who uses it for travelling.

More a Playboy bunny, I think :D

I was next to Megz last year, and was going to say that I don't remember any drinking! And, no, I wasn't doing any texting I had to drive home that night. I think poocow was texting from the event, too, but I don't remember her being intoxicated either. Maybe you were the one having drinky-poos, feef!

I've always bought my Joint Guard from here. It's the cheapest supplier I've found, and Trent (???) is speedy with his service. He'll call within half an hour of me placing an order, to take my credit card details over the phone, and the tub will be in the post that afternoon.

luvsdogs -- as Perry's Mum said, I'm not sure that they're run in Bungendore any more. I think the Bungendore & District Sheepdog Association may be defunct? But I can tell you it was run at Paul Darmody's place, and he was a Past President. So if you get in touch with him, he might be able to help. Lots of folks used to come down from Camden for the Binalong clinics (and stay overnight in the township on Saturday), so I presume it's not that tough a hike from Sydney. Not much different to Bungendore, I would have thought.

Is it a particularly bad year for funnel webs? An old school-mate on the Central Coast has found three in her house this summer

Perry's Mum will correct me if I'm wrong, but generally up at Binalong I thought Brad preferred for you and your dog to do the full two days if it's all new. So the first time I went along to a sheepdog school (which was in Bungendore) I went along to 'audit' just to see what the deal was. It's an early start but the mornings are beautiful and it's a grand day out! Everyone is always very friendly and encouraging (even when you have a loud, fairly thick dog like someone I could mention )

I'm another who was suckered in by the title Lovely boofers

I can't help with Sasha's Blend, but my now 10yo boofer has been on Joint Guard for a couple of years now. When I ran out once, he was visibly uncomfortable when standing up and lying down within 4 or 5 days. I haven't let a tub get empty since then without having a new tub on-hand! So it sure seems to make a difference. And it doesn't smell like SB does.

I'm sorry to hear this, feisty I don't know where you are in SA, but if there are other vets around I would seek another (third?) opinion. From what you've said it seems like many assumptions have been made and few definitive tests. My first thought was whether amputation is an option if the lymph nodes and bloods are all good, but I'm not a vet. My Jack had a grade three MCT removed from his right-hand side just in front of his leg. They took a massive chunk of flesh with it, tested the margins and they got the whole tumour On the outside, it was the size of a pea, but the flesh they took was the size of half a cricket ball. Jack's tumour was removed in October '07 and, touch wood, we haven't seen any more of the nasties. He's 10yo now. I hope you can get another opinion and a prognosis. Until then, you're doing all the right things

I watched that video yesterday and felt for the poor poodle.

I was just going to ask about the inflatable donut type ones -- do we have them here? I've heard of people using them in the US, but haven't spotted them locally.

I have one of those. He rarely makes a sound at home, unless a stranger comes to the door and I'm home alone. But put him in the car or take him to the park, and he will bark. We've worked on it for six years now, having got him at 4 years of age, and I'm not sure it's made a jot of difference. He barks out of frustration when other (smarter ;) ) dogs swim and he can't follow them, or when another dog gets too close, or when he wants to play. If we go to the dog park, we only go in if no other dogs are there (winter is the best time for us to go to the park ) and we leave if others arrive.

Congratulations! May you have many, many happy years together