Nik

I keep reading this with a Canadian accent :). Great idea!

Yep, shook my hand and clapped me on the shoulder, then bends down to dog and pats on head (inappropriately on purpose). My dog turned her head to his hand to sniff and I was told that she shouldn't have done that but just stood still. She now never moves a muscle! To the point where sometimes she's like a stuffed animal when meeting kids and I need to re-animate her sometimes :)

Oh, and my interview was really informal, it felt more like a chat than an interview. :)

I'm currently doing this with my dog and I love it! We actually failed the temp test the first time but were invited back to try again. One part of the test (the first part actually) involves being greeted by a "principal" who shakes your hand and then abruptly pats your dog. My dog turned her head to watch what he was doing and we were told sorry. The next time she was six months older And completely fine with it. As I said before I love this job. It is paid, but not highly. I work roughly three times a week with one dog, and I'm hoping that my new boy will be suitable too. The only downfall can be travelling in peak hour traffic. Good luck!

When I met my now husband, he had a BC x kelpie, the most amazing dog. I had Aussie terriers who were awesome too, big dogs in small packages. When we moved in together I fell in love with his dog (mine stayed at my family home) and we had many wonderful years with this dog. She welcomed our first three children into the world with us and was everything I thought a dog should be. When she sadly passed just shy of 16, we started to research which breeds would be most like her in temperament and came up with the Aussie Shepherd. I had seem them at the Melbourne Show about 10 years before and had said at the time that would be my next dog. Turned out it's the perfect breed for me and we now have two of them :)

Me too, I'm new. We've only done one show so far, but we are in minor puppy, not baby. Looking forward to the show (but also slightly terrified!)

I forgot to enter this one Trial is held at Northern club grounds in Essendon, along the Maribyrnong River, near the Aberfeldie Aths track.

My current bag of Black Hawk has several odd kibble pieces in it... coloured red and green like cheap dog food. Has anyone else experience this? Should I continue to feed this bag or has it been contaminated? My girl has a rather sensitive tummy and I always have to change her over in foods gradually.

I used to think the Alsatians were the long haired GSDs. And I'm sick of people asking me what sort of cross my dog is (Australian Shepherd) and when I say what she is they mutter something about designer breeds. Or else they ask me if I'm sure as she looks nothing like aGerman Shepherd! Last weekend I has someone tell me she looked like a CKCS. I was puzzled by that one! Especially as one was crossing the road just in front of us.

Really? Yarraville allows three dogs no problem!

I'm in Newport, so very close to the city and I got a three dog permit with no problems. My neighbour has four dogs. Next council over, Maribyrnong, allows three dogs without a permit, so having four might be possible.

Thanks I'm going to speak with the breeder again. She specifically said this one while he is growing then switch to Royal Canin as she believes her dogs do best on this regime. I'm going to try introducing some beneficial gut bacteria via yoghurt/yakult/inner health plus and see if that helps. Mustn't be comfortable with all that gas inside!

Hi all. I've done a few searches but haven't found anything (might be because I'm using tapatalk though) Our new pup Reuben has really really bad gas. Clear the room type bad gas. Just wondering what might be causing it and is there anything I can give him that will lessen the smell. Our other girl Annie has always been farty, but hers rarely smell. Both of them are currently on Advance active, as this is the food Reuben's breeder wanted him on. Annie seems to be doing very well on it, firm stools, and less output than when she was on Black Hawk. Reuben does more than her, but he is being fed twice the amount that Annie is. I'm going to try adding some yogurt to his diet, so we'll see how that goes... Thanks

Hi all, I've just got my first ever show pup and am going to come to the next one of these. Sounds great for someone like me who is learning. I was going to try to enter some other shows in July but all the entries have already closed. My pup will only be in baby puppy for a few more weeks. So hope to meet some of you there.

My dog barks when someone knocks on the door, so all we had to do was knock on something and while she was barking say "speak". After a few days of this I introduced a hand signal and started to fade the knocking. A little OT but my kids have been playing with the iPad and there's an app on there with a talking cat. They tell the cat "speak", it repeats it back in a funny voice and Annie barks at it! Funny to watch the cat bark like a dog.

Do try again. Marilyn Wrigley is the contact person. Her number is 5330 1578. I am quite sure that if the catalogue is not complete, they may squeeze in a late entry. Let us know how you go. M Ok, I think I've rung this number about 20 times now and it's either engaged or no one answers! Guess this years ET is not meant to be for us ;(

I tried to contact the person responsible for the GSDCV test but they haven't returned my calls. I'll try again tomorrow otherwise we'll have to wait for next year.

I totally forgot to enter it too! I'll call tomorrow and see if they will accept my entry. Fingers crossed!

Werribee obedience club? I've just started there and I am enjoying it so far.

Thanks everyone for your help. Hopefully I'll catch up properly with her in a few days and go through this thread with her. Apparently they're looking ahead, thinking maybe in about 6 months to add the pup (or earlier if there's a suitable one) I'll ask her more about temperament then.

Sorry, I know what PBGV is but I'm stuck on the other two!

I put as my status on Facebook today this very topic and "tagged" her into it. She's been following the discussion with interest. She doesn't want the pup right now- she actually wanted to find out all about them and if another dog suited first, so cudos to her there! I'm thinking that the Lagotto could suit her. She works part time and is a really generous soul. No young children, but I guess the appeal of a low to non shedder was winning after having a fox terrier! She loves my girl (an Aussie) but thinks the coat is too much for her. Hopefully we have her convinced to go pedigree.

Well I can only try! They lost a few weeks ago their fox terrier of some 19 years. She has said that she is researching- she's a very sensible person, and when I mentioned health testing she had genuinely never heard of it before. I've told her that gippsland is puppy farm central, and she wants to feel comfortable that the pup is coming from a good place. She has already decided a few other places were dodgy which is good I guess.

I know, that's what I told her. Poor poodles have such a prejudice against them.

I know this topic gets done to death, but I'm on my phone and I can't figure out the search function My friend has contacted me today asking me of I know and labradoodle breeders. I've explained to her why they're a bad idea, and now she's asking for alternatives. I asked her why the cross, and her reasons were because they're non shedding, are intelligent, seem to be a friendly "breed" and are the size (med to large) that she wants. I have suggested a standard poodle but had received the usual response that her husband doesn't like them. What alternatives can I give her? I've also suggested Lagotto and Portugese Water dog. Help please. She's found a breeder in gippsland via google for a Lab x poodle pup already!