The Ark

It's a yucky cold, rainy day here today so I decided to work from home (too hard to decide to put all the dogs when the weather is horrible ). Here are a few happy snaps taken while I sat at my desk. First - the greyhound, Colour (please excuse the ribs - she is not a cruelty case, just hard to fatten!) .... our little foster boy, Aden .... Chester, the min pin and Stella, the Aussie Shepherd pup and finally - Changwe, my other min pin I'll post pics later of the muddy, disgusting furries who are not allowed inside today as they chose to play in the mud this morning (but they do have warm, dry kennels to curl up in if they are smart enough).

That's my favourite photo - I love the look on Colour's face!! (Colour is the greyhound)

Here is our beautiful Maremma girl, Aurea. I found her in the back room like this shortly after she finished her breakfast (which was not, by the way, made by Kellogs....): :D :rofl:

Happy Birthday Faith! Could we have some photos of your schipps please ophnbark??

Very clever and sneaky, Ash....

And kissindra - I love the name "Atticus" too! A big, strong, boy name!

:rolleyes: Poor Dragon is feeling so unloved. No-one wants his big slurpy hugs anymore.... Miss Stella seems a bit like Miss Jazz - quite sure of herself, to say the least!

For those not in the Aussie thread, here is my new baby girl, Stella. She's 9 weeks old, so hopefully she'll be trotting around a ring in a few weeks.

Thanks for looking after my baby, Aziah! I had a lady come up to my young Maremma girl yesterday and ask me nicely if it was okay if her little girl patted Aurea - AFTER the little girl had already started running her hands all over the dog. I smiled and was nice, but it was a little late to be asking....

Congratulations Kissindra! Not so bad, is it?? I'm glad your first show was such a good experience.

Congratulations to Dotty and Peach!! And WHERE IS LEO??? I miss him (and you too, Jess!). Good luck for tomorrow morning's show, everyone. I'll be there for the Terrier & Toy and Working Dogs in the afternoon. Must remind myself to take some heavy-duty cold weather gear!!! I'm thinking of buying a Snuggie!

Congratulations Bec and Toby!!! So happy that we were there today to see the wonderful Toby title!!!

Thank you! See you there - pretty sure I entered sweepies too for the first time in ages (Chester, I think....). 9am start?

Thanks Bec & Ash! I knew no-one really wanted Aurea on their lap.... Please tell me it is going to be dry tomorrow! What colour tarp is it, if I happen to get there first tomorrow??

:D :D Always the way, LOTG. Well done to Lola anyway, and it is lovely that you and LIttlehoot got to meet! It makes it so much more enjoyable, having DOL friends there to share everything! :D

Thanks Ash. At least if it's cold on Sunday we can all cuddle up together!!!

Could also be defined as a stalker!!

Hmmm, not going to make it! Too much of a rush tonight - kids have soccer training until 5pm, and I don't have anything for dinner yet. I realised a while ago that it starts at 6pm, and by the time I can meet Greg to swap the kids over it will be too late. I'll take Aurea to soccer training instead and see if some people will pat her for me! I'll be more organised for next time. Have fun!!! And tell Jazz to save a cuddle for me for Sunday.

:laugh: I hope to be there! If I can juggle everything - work, kids' soccer training. I'll just be bringing the big white one as she needs the practice.

I had my 17yo boy, Hamish, put to sleep 2 years ago this month. My vet came out to our house on a lovely sunny day and we sat in the garden with him feeding him treats. She gave him a quick sedative jab in the bottom and then I cuddled him some more as he got sleepy. When we were "ready" she injected him, and he was gone. The hardest thing I have ever done, by far. I couldn't face taking him into the clinic - I wanted him to pass at home. Like someone else posted earlier, it is enormously difficult to decide the day and time that your pet is going to die. I thought I was okay when I dialled the vet's number to make the appointment, but completely lost it once she answered. It was all I could do to get enough words out to arrange everything. And the guilt between the day of the phone call and the day he was put to sleep was awful. Hamish is in a small cremation box in our home. We see photos of him every day. I also had to have a 5 month old Maremma pup, Inca, PTS due to horrible hip dysplasia, but wasn't able to be there as she had been under anaesthetic for the x-rays, and we agreed that if the news wasn't good the vet just wouldn't wake her up. All I could do was ask that someone cuddle her as she went.

It was a great weekend! Thanks for the congrats - Dragon behaved beautifully again today, just didn't catch the judge's eye. I am still very proud of him. Thanks for the company Kristy, Ash & Janelle! Great position to set up there. That Sparky story - still cracks me up! :D Might see you all at show training Tues night. Sorry to have missed you onsntillnflash - next time!!!

LOTG - sorry to hear of your experience. I can relate to that - have tried so hard to be in the right place but sometimes haven't made it. My baby Dragon got Puppy In Group yesterday!!! :love: I was so proud of him, tail and all - he is acting more and more like a "big boy" show dog now, and behaved beautifully! This weekend has been an awesome experience for him with lots of practice and just hanging out, and I've been lucky enough to be getting some great tips and help with him so I am really glad we made the trip.

I've just had a min pin recover from a bout of demodex. He developed it after having a general anaesthetic to have some puppy canines removed, and lost hair from his throat, shoulder and neck regions (just in patches). Our vet treated him with weekly ivermectin injections for 6 weeks - it had cleared up by about the 4th needle, but we kept going with the 6 as I didn't want to have his skin scraped again to check for mites (too long for the hair to grow back!). He is glossy and lovely again. We also gave him a Chinese herbal mixture, and supported him with Vet's All Natural Health Booster when the Chinese herbs ran out. He was also getting sardines, fish oil capsules etc to maximise his coat condition. The ivermectin treatment wasn't expensive - the first consult & needle (including scrape) was about $60, then $7 each week for the injection. Deb :nahnah:

Hey Ash, Yes please! Anywhere will do. I just can't make it over there tomorrow as I can't leave here until 3pm and will have 3 tired kids and 5 dogs in the car so I will be heading straight to Tamworth. It will be an early start on Friday, but I'll see you there!! Should be a great weekend! :D

Wow!! I had a look at the Maitland op shops yesterday - nothing.