PuddleDuck

We have 2, a toller (Kodiak Bear) and a kelpie x shepherd (Doofus). Doof is 12 and when he goes I will probably go down to 1 for a while. To be honest I think at this stage in my life (live in an apartment and have a young child) I'd prefer to have 1 dog but I have a total and utter blind terror at the thought of being dogless, ever. One of the reasons we decided the time was right for bear was because I wouldn't cope with not having a dog here when doof is gone, and my preferred breed has a reasonable wait time to get a pup. An I crazy or does anyone else feel the same?

Oh he was amazing, but that was to be expected, when he had such an amazing family. Thinking of you

Hope she heals well, poor little girl. My old dog Riff jumped out a window once as the car away from the lights. Lil bugger was fine, he ran across the road and dove into the fish and chip shop before anyone could catch him :laugh:

I just woke my daughter up from laughing

We were convinced when my daughter was born she'd have dog hair on her

That's me too The only time I haven't had a dog was a 6 month period after I finished school and moved in with my ex in an inner city unit. Around 3 days later I bought a rabbit. I don't particularly like rabbits, but I needed something with fur to live with me! :laugh:

All that, plus I'd save a fortune in food for my daughter who saves everything down the side of the high chair to feed to the toller later But god, how empty life would be!

If he has been declared dangerous the owner carrying the muzzle won't help-he needs to put it on the dog for it to work!!!!!

My old dog, riff, used to spend each night going around to our neighbours houses and taking 1 shoe from each pair off their doorsteps then bringing them home with him. Every morning we would have each of our neighbours drop in to collect their shoes from the box dad put at our front door. They never cared though, everyone thought it was hilarious!

Peters meats in chatswood chase have turkey pieces (wings/thighs/drumsticks) for sale at $1/kg at the moment. Might be worth the trip to stock your freezer? If you know what you want you could ask devitts at narrabeen too. They're wholesalers as well as selling to the public, I buy our meat (for us) there and can't fault them, they are so reasonably priced!

I have a toller and a kelpie x shepherd in a unit, and it works fine. We have a yard which we split into 2 sections (half for kid, half for dogs) and the dog bit is mulch. When I was working (am a stay at home mum now) I would sprinkle cat food through the yard and go over it with a rake so they had to find it in the mulch (cat food works best cos it is tiny), they got kongs, giant frozen ice blocks with treats inside and food hidden through the unit (we have a dog door). Once I got home it was a few training sessions and walkies. They have always been quite content with it. My kelpie x I had before we moved here, he was used to coming to work with me all day then up to the horse paddock and home to a huge house and yard. After we moved he had to stay home days and within a month he was fine with it, provided he had stuff to do. You may find things settle down with time too. Also can you pop the plant up high?

Oh more on bear :) She backchats constantly. And when she was a puppy and we were house training her she worked out that if she toileted she got a treat, so she used to cry to go out, then squat but NOT pee, just squat for a few seconds, then come tearing over for a treat. It took us a few weeks to realise the mulch in the dog yard was staying dry after she 'went' :laugh:

Bear is food obsessed, and when dinner is 'late' (which it has been every night since the girlchild came 17 months ago!) she will go out on to our deck and sit by the dog door growling intermittently. Last night she had a bad dream and freaked out, cowered in my lap whimpering for half an hour. She likes to be the first one in there when the girlchild wakes up, but that means every time the girlchild grunts in her sleep someone has to tackle bear as she sprints down the hallway. Doof is neurotic. Needs constant reassurance and can't handle any extremes of behaviour (he get worked up if people laugh too much, for example). He is totally ball obsessed (well anything you can throw!). He spent half an hour today desperately trying to lick my friend's legs. On walks he MUST pee at least every 12.7 seconds. He's hopeless in storms but instead of rocking back and forth in the corner like a good little nutbag, he sneaks in when you are sleeping, climbs on the bed, then digs his claws into your back and scraaaaaaaapes them down. You tend to wake up 5 feet above the bed howling in pain.

We have the same thing in our building, when we bought we had 27kgs of doofus that was un-carriable so requested it of the executive committee and everyone was fine, the only stipulation was that he was leashed. We had no issues adding our toller girl as well. I did go over and above with references, etc, and back then doof came to work with me, so he was only home if I was. That helped a lot. We were told the carrying by-law is one of several default by-laws in regard to pets, so it was just added when the by-laws were written. None of the owners cared about pets, but we aren't a strict building. I take mine in the lift a fair bit, to get down to the car. It's hilarious, it confuses the hell out of them!

I can't remember what it's called but it is the one in chatswood chase shops (Sydney) on the ground floor near Coles. It think I bought it all though :laugh:

I'm glad this isn't true - our butcher had turkey thighs, wings and legs for $1/kg last week so I bought about 30kg! My dogs have always struggled with bones but interestingly the turkey wings stayed down when I tried them last week, so I'm thrilled Desperately wishing we had a bigger freezer though!

Oh I like that Jackie! But I don't think hubby would let me, it's technically his car. I'm starting to think I should buy a small crate, throw the pram in the crate and the dogs can have the rest of the boot

Thanks guys. The xtrail already has a false floor with storage under it but the pram is too bulky to fit. I might talk to hubby about building one for my car though! We have a wire crate but a friend has it so I'll grab it back and give it a go. I may get a cover for it though, I want to *try* to contain the hair :laugh:

Now that we've joined the xtrail club :D I really want to got a soft crate for in the back but I'm having trouble finding what I want. I want one that fits in lengthways (so not across the boot) and will leave enough room for me to shove the pram and other toddler crap down the side of the crate. I would really like to put both dogs in 1 crate if I could. We have a toller and a shepherd x that is about the size of a lab. They would only be in there for short trips-just the park and stuff. Longer trips they would have the boot to themselves. I know a few DOLers have xtrails so hoping someone has the answer! Thanks

So beautifully put perse Run free little one, be free and go find home with your dad Massive hugs Nic

Just got the storm here (northern beaches) approximately 4 1/2 minutes after hubby watered the garden We've had the aircon on since 8 and hibernated! The dogs didn't seem to bothered when they went outside as they wanted to through the day (we have a dog door) so they are clearly insane

Oh mine are shedding like mad too! I brush them every day and am contemplating hiring a scientist to explain to me how if I brush a shopping bag full of hair off them daily, why are they not bald? The worst is when it wraps around the base of the girlchild's dummy. Eeeew hair goobers!

Got one of the large ones and love it! Honestly one of the best things we have ever bought!!!

It's always better to go one time too many than one time too few :) you sound like a great puppy owner, I'd get to know your vet nurse well and trust your instincts. :) Oh, and post photos :laugh:

Xb