tez

Sounds good Jess! Jane and Zee seem well matched....although I wish Jane had a PASSION for toys as it would help with her attention! Jane LOVES to play with other dogs....she is abit rough and ready but no malice whatsoever...She's just not so good with little dogs as she is abit over-whelming for them! BTW Big congradulations to J.J and Mrs J.J on the arrival of little Gemma!

Actually I need some practise with this as well, Darcy is doing Novice at the trial in March and it's something we haven't done enough of lately with people she doesn't know. Friends don't count! Anyone who could call a heel sequence for me would be awesome, I can give whoever a sequence if you need it but it's pretty simple. tez is it you I've seen up the showgrounds a few times? I've got the two black dogs. Hey Jess...Is that you who brings the two black dogs in your car and parks it near the 'little oval'??? If so, then, Yep...thats me with the black dog that looks ever so longingly at yours. Jane just wants to play but I was looking in awe as you played with one while the other was ever so obedient in the drop position waiting its turn! (one day...maybe...Jane might do that...oh who am I kidding!!!). We go in the fenced oval for some practice recall and other training but as soon as someone else comes, its all over as she just totally focuses on them! We have a good time though...its such a good place for doggies. I will wave next time I see you...won't come over though as Jane may distract. If you want your dogs to have a play with her though, just give us a yell and they can have a play in the fenced area.

Jane the Labby x nutcase is an 'in your face', 'rough as guts' type girl so seems to enjoy playing with dogs bigger than she is. Her best friends include GR, mastiffs and rotti x. They all seem to cope well with her rough play and she can really let loose without them freaking out! Luckily she dosen't have a mean bone in her body but she really missed out on the gene that recognises the "will you go away" message. So big easy-going ratbags are her fav!

It was 44C here yesterday...but by 7.30pm it was cooler out than in so decided to risk it and take Jane for a stroll. Didn't even get 500 metres down the road and she flopped on her side and would'nt budge til I turned around and headed for home!!! Fair enough...still too hot for her. Even though it was a short walk she still met a nice old man at his front gate and, alittle closer to home, another fella who let her play with the water from his hose. Today was much better...rainy all day and COOL!!! So we had a walk up the mountain (Really a large hill but its officially called Mt Leura!) and then a play off lead in the show grounds oval after which she went absolutely MENTAL for a few hours...really hyper! You would think after a strenuous walk/hike and some offlead walk she would be pooped...I know I was! Can't wait til she grows up abit more and dare I say...acts more sensible!!!

44 in Camperdown today...the dogs fine...cool house, clam shell under big shady tree and lots of sleeping in cool tiles. The chooks however were starting to feel it so I bought 3 bags of ice and laid two on the ground under the shade and the other one went straight into their hanging water container....picture four happy chooks nestled up to that water container and they are safe for another day...poor loves!

My girl Jane (The Black Menace) asks for things by draping herself around my shoulders and looking at me...very cute but she is 27kgs. If she wants me to play with whatever she has in her mouth, she will bump me in the back of the legs as I walk though the house...walk, bump. walk ,bump bump, walk...ect!

It would be great if Camperdown did have an obedience club...we have a great fenced showgrounds oval that would be ideal...but sadly we don't! When Jane was a pup, we took her to the puppy school run by Murray street vets in colac and also the puppy classes run by the local vets in Camperdown as we really wanted her to have as much socialisation as possible. We now go to 'Paws for Excellence' in Brierly at Warrnambool but they are not starting back until school term starts. Its a positive reinforcement training school and puppy class starts at 9am on Sunday mornings. Other dogs start at 10am. Please pm if you want more info ect.

4.45am Thats not morning...its still the middle of the night!!!! You are a very dedicated and brave soul!

My old girl Meg was on monthly or three week injections dependant on her symptoms. It work really well and gave her a much better quality of life. We also added sashas blend to her food as well as some oil (can't remember the name of it). She was about to start on fortnightly injections but sadly didn't need to. BTW...on her last vet visit, which I walked her to, the vet gave her a really through exam of her back as she had become abit more 'stumbly'. After that she pretty well collapsed completely and by the next day she was having trouble with all four legs instead of the back two. While I understand the reason for it, I often wonder whether the spinal manipulation exam was abit too much or maybe just a co-incidence?

Very Very hot in Camperdown, Vic today and more to come by the looks of it! Jane is a 10 month old Lab x nutcase so hopefully by 8 tonight it will have cooled down enough to take her out. I have discovered one advantage to walking her later in the evening though...she is much less naughty (Jane has a tendancy to be really full on mental at night)! When I have walked her earlier, she comes in, has a rest and then gets her second wind.

Great shots TLC...The colours are amazing!!! Very jealous of your time at the beach with RJ and Sniffy. Wish we could join you but I have lost ALOT of confidence with Jane's recall ( what recall do I hear you ask???) and I need to got back to basics with her me thinks! She is so great without any distractions but the world is full of distractions and these the things that make her FORGET!!!! Think I may invest in the book and DVD 'Really Reliable Recall" that was discussed in another thread here. R.J...Huge congradulations on your new land...now that its almost here, do we get to see some pics???? Tim and Tanya...hope work was'nt too rough...First week back to work for me too and it was HARD...no more BEER O'CLOCK and no more nanna naps! J.J...congrats in advance on little #4. You sure are a bugger for the babies!

Great Thread! How I miss winter when I could zoom home and take Jane out for a walk straight away...no time to think about it (Although I do remember whinging ALOT about wet soggy feet lol)! Now I come home and look at the bright blue sky, then look at my beautiful black dog and we have to wait and wait and wait til its alot cooler...Summer sun and black coats make Jane one very stubborn girl. ITS SOOO HARD TO WALK LATER WHEN I'M TIRED AND HUNGRY!!! Sooo...I'm in...went out tonight at 7.15 and really enjoyed it. Went to the local fenced in showgrounds and did a few circuits off lead with some obedience training thrown in,then continued on around town. When we got home, I was surprised to see we had been gone for an hour!!( lots of sniffing included so it was no marathon) If I was really dedicated, I would weigh myself now and then again in a month BUT forget it...everyone just looks at my beautiful dog anyway so too bad so sad!!!

Hi Tlc...Thanks for your kind thoughts about Eddie. I'm keeping my fingers crossed he finds a home more suitable for him! The Tassie trip was great...except for the first day. Had my car window smashed in and my bag stolen while we were exploring a limestone cave. So long story short (after my last long post) I was out a grand total of $1200 BEFORE we even got to our first nights accommadation. The next morning, while I was driving back to Devonport to sort things out re banks and repairs to the car, my travelling companion had her hiking boot stolen by some cheeky animal(or bird) at cradle Mountain. She had left her boots outside the cabin. Apparently this often happens. Luckily, after a good hour of searching, we found her boot about 200 metres away in the bush! BTW Tlc...I love your new siggy!!!

A belated Merry Christmas and Happy new year to everyone!!! Unfortunately I have some sad news to share about Eddie. While I was away in Tassie, my sister had to make the very tough and emotional decision to return Eddie to the shelter. She tried to shut off all avenues of escape for Eddie as he continued to try and find a way out of the backyard but after 3 days of laying down chicken wire and placing heavy bricks on top of that around the whole fence line, she also discovered some other issues that were not so easy to fix. It seems that Eddie, while initially playful with Jane, became more and more territorial and would force Jane into the bushes in the yard and not let her come out. At the same time she noticed that he had a pronounced limp in his foreleg and was infact on three legs each evening. Needless to say, she took him to our vet to get his stitches out from his desexing and at the same time asked that they check his leg...she was assuming that he had injured it in one of his escape attempts. It took the vet only a few minutes to see that Eddie had a long term injury to his front shoulder. It had happened long enough ago that he had quite obvious(to a vet) muscle waistage and would require long term rest to see IF it had a chance to get better with a high possibility that it may not. So...maybe Eddie was escaping due to the need to get away from Jane. Maybe Eddies chance of a good life was not in a home with another dog of Jane's high energy levels. I feel very guilty that we made a committment to this little guy that we could'nt live up to but I also feel upset that Eddies injury was'nt picked up by not only the shelter but also by the vets who desexed him before he came home to us. There is noway known we would have got him had we known of this injury before hand as we are well and truely aware of Jane's energy levels. So sadly Eddie is back at the shelter BUT with more information about his needs in the hope that he will get a home where he will be an only dog so that his injury has a chance to heal and hopefully with someone who is at home MOST of the time so he can have the quiet company he so abviousily needs. I feel so very very sad for Eddie but I know my sister was an emotional wreck and heartbroken and had to make this decision alone as I was out of contact range while all this was going on. Had I been here, MAYBE things would be abit different as I would have probably tried to rehome him privately, but I fully support her as I believe she made the best decision she could at the time.

Well Fast Eddie managed it AGAIN but was sprung in the act by my sister! Digging under the fence...so while I'm away, Leigh will be laying down wire mesh along the fence line and fortifying it with rocks. I'm hoping that now he is castrated, the need to roam will lessen but I'm new to male dogs so will have to research further. He stayed at home most of the day...it was just late afternoon. Other than that, he is a really nice boy...gentle and sweet and loves being with us. Don't think he has had any training as he has no idea but we will get to that in good time. He is easy to walk...no pulling. In fact, bar his one vice, he is a really easy dog to have. Poor Jane keeps shoving toys in his face and can't quite work out why he's not interested! He's very good natured with her...Bless him!

Yep...abit nervous about tomorrow....I hope he stays put! It must be so hard for him with all the changes he's been through in such a short time. Owner to lady to shelter to vets to us! All in probably less than a week. I don't like the thought of keeping him in the laundry when we are away but he obviously has some anxiety when left alone as he dosn't try to escape when we are here. I think he just needs to learn he's home....cuddled up beside me on the bed as I type. Sweet sweet little man with a coat so ruff you could scrap paint off with it!!!!!

Yep..Tim and Tanya...he is an ugger but we LOVE him! Bit of an eventfull day...I got home at lunch time to find the shire rangers card in my door and little Eddie in a part of the backyard he had no business in (The fenced in carport area). I rang the local ranger and he was lovely...told me that Fast Eddie was seen down Manifold st (main road) and picked up by one of the shire girls who baby sat him while the ranger worked out who he belonged to. Apparently he sat in the office resting his head on this lady's knee!!. The ranger actually came back to my house to have a chat. He said that he scanned his micro-chip and found out his details in Mortlake, rang her and found out she had given him to a lady who gave him to the R.S.P.C.A. He then rang them. They said 'What the!!! We only gave him a new home yesterday. The ranger then drove Eddie back to our place and put him in the backyard with 'The other black Dog(Jane). He then walked back to his car out the front to find Eddie sitting there looking up at him He felt sure that Eddie had squeezed through a slatted fence at the side of the house! No fine...thank god...its $170...but needless to say we wired up those slats with chicken wire including a over hang at the top and wire tent pegged to the ground. We went out the front and called and called him and while he looked keen to join us, he couldn't get out..PHEW! Tomorrow I will let the dogs in the house with the radio on, and leave work an hour early and sit outside and see what happens. PLEASE keep your fingers crossed for us!

Hi All! We bought Eddie home yesterday and he is such a sweetie!!! Only 14 kg but tons of personality. Jane is rapt! Sorry for the quality of pics...he never stopped moving!

Looks like the Chrissy party was great fun!!! Santa looks like at hoot! We are getting super excited about Eddie coming home...hope the poor boy copes ok as he will be abit sore from having his Jingle Bells cut off. I would love to catch up after I'm back from Tassie...sounds like a good plan. Eddie should be starting to really settle in by then although I was reading that it can take 2 months to really see the true dog and for the dog to believe it is truely home. I'll ring the vet clinic tomorrow to see how the lad is coping. Its abit like a blind date though as we really don't know him yet so I an excited but nervous at the same time!!!

Ooohhhh TLC....such beautiful photos of Tully and your MIL...made me abit emotional! MIL looks like she needed some Tully cuddles. The doggie xmas party sounds like a hoot. I'm sure the awesome Foursome will LOVE it. Can't wait to see those piccies!!!!! BTW saw an ad in the standard this saturday for rehoming a young beagle...couldn't help thinking it might be Benny R.S.P.C.A didn't give us much info about Eddie...apparently he was owned by nuff nuffs who constantly left him alone and with no adequate fencing so he was often picked up for roaming. So he was a social, lonely entire dog. Rather than fix the fences, desex him and give him some attention, they decided to leave him at the pound and get another dog The girl at the R.S.P.C.A said that they often get dogs, either surrendered or seized, from the same nuff nuffs over and over again! I now know why I could never work in an animal shelter...I would need a death squad to eradicate repeat offenders and I'm pretty sure thats just not allowed! Anyway, Eddie is approximately 2 years old. I don't leave for Tassie til Saturday so I will have a few days to bond with him and the rest of his life to love him when I get back. BTW Maws, I said a quick hello to Mawson and Mingy while we were there. Hopefully you are on the way to or in Anarticia (sp) by now! J.J, sad but happy news about your pups...at least you KNOW they are going to good homes though it must tug at the heart strings....Hmmm....waiting for piccies right about now.....waiting...waiting! R.J, Have you any news about OUR 7 acres yet...you need to let us all know so we can work out where we are all going to live!

Just an update as we went and saw Jane's brother today at the R.S.P.C.A. He seemed a nice lively young dog and very pretty with shaggy red fur with blond tips and light eyes however he turned out to be very dog aggressive when we got him to meet Jane. He even continued with the aggression after we removed Jane from the yard...snarling, teethbearing and growling. Poor dog had apparently been seized from a place where he was one of many dogs. So sadly he remains at the R.S.P.C.A and will no doubt need to be placed in a home where he is an only dog. AND THEN WE MET SCOOP...now ours and renamed Eddie! He's a cute black shaggy 2 year old terrier crossed with maybe lab crossed with god knows what! Abit smaller than Jane but not much and a friendly active little fellow who seemed very relaxed and playful with Jane. It was like they had known each other for ages...they played and chased each other, then sniffed around and then both had a bit of a lie down under a shady tree. Very friendly to us as well. We pick him up from the vets in Warrnambool on Tuesday. He goes to be desexed on Monday but we thought we would wait an extra day to bring him home after his op so he is more able to cope with the 'Jane ' factor and a new family. CAN'T WAIT TIL TUESDAY! No pics yet as I forgot to take any !

Our Labby x basically threw herself through our large doggie door on day 1 and hasn't looked back since. I don't have the guts to block it as I'm sure she would give herself a brain injury. It is and always has been head first through the doggie door at 100kmh! She was 6 weeks old so I'm sure your new pup will be fine..he will just tumble, fall , flop and jump through it just like mine did!

Wow...so many exciting things ALMOST happening at once but in reality...umm...Oh well! Nice to hear you are safe and well in tropical Hobart, Maws! You poor thing...must be really frustrating! TLC...I'm going to Tassie with a close friend whose 2 little kids have to spend xmas in W.A with their father for the first time. She didn't want to spend xmas at home without them and as I haven't had a holiday in about 4 years....well bye bye xmas and hello Tassie...big boat and all. I'm hanging out for adventure, big sleep ins and lots of driving. We are pretty sure it is Jane's littermate at the R.S.P.C.A. When I saw Jenny at training, the first thing she wanted to know was how old Jane was. She had already made the connection between Jane and the dog at her work. The fact that he is choc also adds up as Jane had 2 choc littermates. So I'm 90% sure. Jane has another littermate in our town...black and male so I should be able to tell for sure if we get a chance to meet him on Saturday. No guarentees though as he may be gone before then. Jenny said that she was tempted herself as he is a nice fella with lots of potiential though he would need alot of training and exercise. Why have one ratbag when you can have two?

Oooohhh 7 acres...surely there is room for me and Jane! We will even bring our own chooks who are laying 4 yummy eggs a day. Straight from their fuffy bums to your plate :D My ring finger looks a treat but is comfortably splinted by being taped to the finger each side. No xray...I'm too tight to spend the money when Tassie beckons in less than 2 weeks. I rang up about Janes brother today. The girl was abit vague about details but I did find out that he is an unclaimed stray who has been there for a few weeks. We will go and see him with Jane on Saturday arvo. Timing is shocking though. If we do take him, he will have to be desexed so he wouldn't be able to come home until THE DAY I LEAVE FOR TASSIE!!!! The plus side is that he would have the whole Summer hols to settle in as my sister is a school teacher BUT we will take it one step at a time and see how we go on Saturday.

I did hear Benny's owner say the same thing. She also said he was digging out of his back yard alot too. It would be an awfull thing to have to consider rehoming. I should have told her about trying the DAP to maybe settle him abit but I forgot due to THE FINGER I think. The finger IS sore but not too bad as its quite swollen. I went to a friends after training and he cut my ring off for me so I don't have to worry about my finger falling off. My own stupid fault...should have sat and waited Jane properly and it wouldn't have happened! As for Jane's brother...well after filling Leigh in, she and I are both keen so I will ring tomorrow to see if he is still there. Breaks my heart to think Jane's littermate needs a new home and hey...at least we know what we're in for! IF he is there, I'll ask afew questions and then see how he likes Jane next weekend. As you know, Jane LOVES everydog, so it will be up to him to see if he can put up with her! Having seen Jane live with Maddie the GR for 10 days, I know she is a happier little petal when she is with another dog!