Nik

I'm on my phone, so I haven't seen the photos, but we had a border x kelpie called Kelly who lived to a ripe old age of 16. She's the girl in my avatar pic. She probably wasn't as spoiled as the one in this article, but she was loved dearly and is still sorely missed.

I'm going to join in this. I usually don't set goals, but I'm trying to create a new me- one that actually gets things done! So, for Annie I'd like to get her CCD, and maybe even her CD. We've finally worked up the courage to enter a trial next weekend , and she's been working wonderfully in the Novice class at club lately. Start training agility (if we ever make it off the waiting list!) Start training in herding Me Get stronger and fitter so I can keep up with Annie! Strengthen my knees so they stop dislocating OT, but keep my house tidy! Once it's tidy, I can justify more time spent training!

I actally had a similar conversation with my very well educated friend. She's currently doing her PhD in anthropology. Although she didn't bring up prostitution, but thought that my dog should choose her own mate. Said she'd love a puppy from my dog, but only if it was a crossbreed. Her reasoning? Not hybrid vigour, but free love!!!!

Seriously thinking of entering this one . Be my first!!!!! It will give me an idea what to work on over the summer break

Took this one of Annie yesterday.... if looks could kill

Ok...so you've got me there....what is a Thunder Coat & how does it work Google "Thunder shirt" and you'll find it... I know of another user on here who swears by it for just generally calming their dog in situations which normally agitate her! :D

That dog's face looks like my husband's aunt!

The best thing Annie does is something she's started all by herself. She puts my kids to bed! When it's bed time, I'm tucking the kids in and she rounds up the stragglers very gently with nose pushing (I have 4 skin kids). She then settles herself to sleep on the end of one of the beds, and won't leave the room until they're asleep. Only then does she join my OH and myself in the loungeroom.

Definitely agree with the Aussie terrier. I got one when I was 12 as my own dog (my sister also got his litter brother). Both dogs were happy for us to take them for walks by ourselves, and they were never too strong for us. I trained my boy myself, and although my mum probably took care of most of the feeding, he knew he was my dog. He lived to a ripe old 17, loyal to the end. Gosh I miss him ;( They also never felt intimidated by bigger dogs, and never felt the need to "assure" them they were dogs too- they were just themselves, small dogs with the heart of big ones!

We constantly get remarks and questions about our blue merle Aussie Shepherd. She has a half tail, so we're always accused of cutting half of it off, and because she has blue eyes, she must be a Husky cross. And because she is blotched with black, the other breed must be Dalmatian!! Other people just walk past and stare.

That's good value, I thought as I logged on to have a look - then it's on special for $29.90 as a lunchtime special.... even better! One new dog crate coming our way!!!!

I love my vet too. I had to get my chook PTS recently, and she refused to take payment. Last time I had to have one PTS, I couldn't get in to her, and went to another clinic, and they charged me $50!! My cousin actually recommended her to me, as the clinic is not the closest one to us. Her dog was hit by a car at 10pm one Saturday night, and the vet attended the dog with no extra fee. She explained that the dog is her client, and her duty of care is to the animal. She also said that if she hadn't been prepared to do emergency call outs in the middle of the night she wouldn't have started her own clinic. Pity my current dog is a little scared of her... but I guess she's only really knows vaccs etc from her.

Baby blue eyes... Oscar-next-door looking through the fence hole eyes Beautiful Black Lab eyes

My old dog used to bark at the sound of nail guns... two short barks for every shot of the gun. We ended up taking her one day to a friends building site, and she had to put up with the nail gun all day... she soon got tired of the noise once she knew where it was coming from, and stopped barking at that noise after that.

Sounds great... Only it's school holidays and I've got 4 skinkids as well as my doggy. Perhaps another time? I don't know what part of Vic you're in but I'm always willing to travel for my girl ;)

+ 1 !!

My Aussie is broken. She daintily walks through shallow water, and never goes beyond belly deep without a lot of coaxing. If we're swimming she'll come in after us, but only then!

I was hoping that it was where the Vic Agility Club near me trains, so I could pop in for a look, and not need a packed lunch!! Too far to KCC park for me this weekend, as I've got all the kids (OH is going to the Rugby)

Where is it held? I'm interested in having a look too

I had the same feeling as you recently FranCQ. Only Annie's nipples really grew and almost looked bluish around them from the extra blood that went to them. I started panicking thinking that maybe I had missed the first week of her season, left her in the yard and a dog got to her!!! I knew it wasn't true but there was that niggly feeling . All was fine though, it just took a few weeks to go down and now she just has more prominent nipples than beforehand.

The Vet and Associates who were there prior to the change of hands.....were fantastic Vets. I was not only a 'client' of theirs for 30 years ..I also worked there, they were the BEST! Then when she retired and sold the practice.........the new ones.....well..I wouldn't touch them with a ten foot barge pole. I took one of my dogs there to the new Vet/s.........BIG MISTAKE !!!! I would not recommend them AT ALL! The Vet up in Toorak Road ...heading towards Hartwell from Burke Road..have been there for years and I believe are very good Vets. Do you mean Waterson's vet clinic? When I was growing up we lived in Camberwell and used him for a number of years, but found it rather expensive, and changed to Burke Rd vets for a number of reasons. Bit OT, but I've since moved out of home across the other side of town, and now found I have David and Phillipa from Burke Rd as my local vets here

I had a quick look on a website that named the stars in the different constellations. The only ones that jumped out at me were Cara and Mira. If you think i's this hard to name a dog, imagine how hard it was to name 4 boys! Our last son was nameless for weeks!

I've always loved the french name Anouk... especially after it was in that movie Chocolat with Johnny Depp!

I have problems with my knees too - they dislocate really easily (Annie bumped me slightly at the park a few weeks ago whilst I was throwing the ball and down I went... crutches for a few days etc ) I would also recommend investing in a really good knee brace! I have one that's made from wetsuit-like material, with velcro straps and a removeable metal joint for each side. Keeps my knee really stable when it's feeling a bit delicate. Unfortunately I think I need two of them, as I've now dislocated each knee three times this year . Each time the recovery is shorter though. Good luck with sorting out the pulling.

How does this breed cope in a suburban yard? We live on a rather small suburban block (less than 400m2) and Annie copes fine. She'd rather be inside with me, and can often be found just snoozing the day away on the couch. She is only just 1, and has been like this since she was about 6 months old. How do they cope with livestock - i.e. horses? Annie met horses for the first time a few weeks ago. The horses were used to dogs, and tolerated her having a sniff, then they left each other alone. Annie has been herding on our farm before, and was really gentle with all the young lambs, but firmer with the mummy ewes. But once we had finished moving them, she quickly settled into just being her normal playful self, with barely a glance at the sheep. Are they good off leash (yes with training) Yes, our girl has always been fabulous off leash. I think it helped that we initially took her off leash with another dog who was trained, so also helped to train her, but we've never had a problem with her running off. Are they good with small animals like smaller dogs, cats and chickens? In the case of my dog, she is fascinated but also scared of cats- hasn't had much to do with them. We have backyard chooks, and usually Annie leaves them alone, unless thye have been given some leftovers that seem particularly delicious. She did once or twice try to play with them like another dog (poor chook) but since being "told off" doesn't do that anymore. They are kept separately when unsupervised though. She is more gentle with smaller dogs, and often get down to their level to play, although she is not a submissive dog.Annie was also very gentle with a young joey, as you can see in my sig. What are they like with other dogs? Our girl likes most other dogs. I think I can count on one hand the number of times that something has not been right, and we've left the park immediately. However, it was not just our dog that was affected. Usually she's very eager to play and sniff etc. with other dogs - especially at obedience when we're supposed to be behaving!