teekay

One is staying here and blue boy is around for another month so therewill still be photos. Yay, good stuff

OMG How will we cope I need my lappie photo pick me ups :)

Ah, thanks for that Evolving. I will keep an eye on that site

Me too. I am determined to meet one soon. My OH keeps complaining I never shut up about the lappie puppy photos. It certainly shouldn't be too hard with your location to meet up with some :) That's what I thought but I don't want to appear like a stalker :) Stalk away - why not join the NSW Lappie FB page? http://www.facebook....75845299125571/ We are having a picnic some time in Feb I think- but feel free to ask when we are at shows etc. Demi looooooooooooooooooooooooves pats so would greatly welcome additional fans Oh and I flat out refuse to comment on the pictures- I have been avoiding looking at them as I would probably be on my way to sydney airport to try and steal one if I allowed myself to have a favourite!!!!!! I am not lappie puppy clucky at all I don't have facebook but my OH does so I will ask him to keep an eye on the page for me, thanks :) I would love to go to the picnic. Hoping to join the hills training club too when they resume in Feb so I'm sure I'll meet one soon. All the pics are soooo gorgeous, they are all so incredibly cute. Hmmmmmmm jealous much

Do you know where your Boss got him from Kirty? He is a lovely looking pup. :)

Loving this. Will definitely be checking in every 2 weeks. What a great idea, very interesting to see peoples take on the 'theme' Really love the nebula in the coffee cup, awesome.

Awwwwwww what a face. Just too cute. Gottta love an Aussie puppy :D

Yep, I get that look if i take any of mine into the pool. You'd think they would like the cool off, especially lately but nup, not mine :laugh: Loving that last one of Snooky and Harper . Snooky certainly looks like she gives as good as she gets :) Gorgeous gorgeous photos once again T

OMG I am just so shocked and gutted for you. What a beautiful boy he was. Run free beautiful boy, taken before your time

Oh thanks for posting those T, really brought a smile to my face. :D

Oh my, I could look at pictures of Lappies all day. Wish I could meet one in real life

After a recommendation, I have downloaded The Cautious Canine by Patricia McConnell. I will give that a read before I do anything and I am going to email Jane Harper and see how much a consultaion would be. I had wondered about fear periods but it is difficult to know if it is this or not. He is obviously not happy when strangers come but his reaction is not extreme and as long as the people leave him alone he is fine. So far everyone has been good about leaving him, they just fuss the other two. While out on walks, for now, I will just walk in the opposite direction if he starts his huffing and puffing and try not to make an issue of it. I think this is what I did wrong last time. I spent too long trying to get his attention on me when I should have just walked away. Thanks all for your replies :)

He is 10 months old. Have looked at the jane Harper website and like what I see. Would love to go and see her. he went through a period when he was smaller of being very nervous of cars so I took him to a park next to a busy road and we settled at a safe distance and treated him for being calm and gradually moved nearer the road. Worked a treat. i am wondering whether to do a similar thing here, but with people. We live on a pretty quiet development so when we see someone out on our walk, it is out of the ordinary. Maybe if we went somewhere busy, at safe distances etc he would get more used to people. Does this sound like a good plan do you think?

Luka, my Aussie Shepherd, is getting more and more nervous of strangers, I am beginning to get worried. I know the breed characteristics say 'reserved with strangers' but this is much more than that now. For a while now he has not liked people coming into the house he doesn't know. He will huff and puff at them (sounds like he's coughing at them :laugh: )and back away. Not a huge problem I thought so I didn't bother too much about it. He is never aggressive and as long as the person doesn't try to approach him he quickly settles down and although is obviously reserved with them, he will approach them, on his own terms. A few times he has done the same thing in the street if someone has approached him but I have just moved on and ignored the behaviour. Today while out on a walk (without my other 2, as I am working on loose lead walking) this little girl approached us and asked if she could stroke Luka. I said no as I was training him but he started his coughing thing which escalated into very loud barking and terrified the poor girl. I tried to get his attention but it was hopeless so I just dragged him away. I felt awful, my other 2 dogs are so friendly I don't really know what to do in that situation. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to tackle this problem. It's worth mentioning we live next to a path and he barks like crazy at anyone who walks past too.

I have my two older dogs on raw in the morning and Uncle Albers in the evening. No problems at all. My 10 month old Aussie Shepherd has been on Nutro (while he was growing so much) but I am changing him over to Uncle Albers at the moment. He is producing humungous poos though. Reading this thread I may have a look at the Cobber.

Beautiful photos Huga. We're at the other end of the Sunshine Coast but visit Noosa/Sunshine Beach regularly to see my sis. Lovely area, might bump into you sometime :D

Awww she's gorgeous T. Love the pics of her and her brother, loving the ears in the last shot :laugh: So tell me, is that care bear stil in one piece or did it look like it's snowed in the yard? I know it wouldn't last 5 minutes here with my lot. :laugh:

Yes, I noticed that. Love the one of her licking her face. gorgeous. Someone is going to be one very lucky person whoever gets to keep her. :D

Oh my, Lappie puppies, does it get any cuter? Another stalker here :laugh:. A belated congratulations on the safe arrivals, Evolving. I've probably said it before but Alera is the most stunningly pretty dog I think I have ever seen

Doesn't look like anyone else has either Tassie :laugh: Therefore I will document our progress in here. Day 1 Marked (marker word : yes) and Treated for the slightest movement left or right as I held the leash ever so slightly taut, by the end of first session has started looking the way I am pulling (OK, I'm not really pulling but for this description I will use the word pull) Day 2 He has started taking a couple of steps in the direction I am pulling. With regard to his daily walks, I am thinking he could still go for a walk if i use one of my other dogs sensible harness as this should not undo any of the flat collar training but haven't took him out yet. Any thoughts?

Is it usual to get a fever with tick poisoning?

Can he bark? I read in the other tick thread that being unable to bark is an early sign of tick poisoning.

I found the Shirley Chong LLW program by accident as I was researching how to get a good retrieve. Has anyone done this step by step program and, if so, was it a success? Here is a link for anyone who wants to have a look at it http://www.shirleychong.com/keepers/LLW/index.html I am presuming that, while I am beginning the program I do not take Luka for his normal walks as, I suppose, that would undo any good I am trying to do? For anyone who has done the program, how long did it take? I'm not in a rush, I want to do things right, but was just wondering what a 'normal' amount of time would be. Luka is a very focussed dog who loves to please so I am hoping he responds well to this. We started with step 1 today and all was good, not sure how long to stay on each step but I figure slow is better. Soooooooo pleased I have a greedy guts food motivated dog Oh and sorry if there is a thread somewhere about this. The Shirley Chong search I did didn't seem to turn up anything specific to LLW.

RIP Toby, run free at the bridge. I know all too well the unfairness of losing a dog too soon. It's always so hard to say goodbye to our doggie friends but when they are taken from us early it just seems so bloody unfair. :cry: Look after yourself RV

And all the claims made add up to the premiums charged. With some added for administration , profits, and paying telemarketers like the guy who called me yesterday from that company! It's all in the figures. Whether or not it is worth it to an individual depends on circumstances and choice. Personally, I don't see any value in pet insurance. I'm intrigued by this statement. Do you insure your car? Insurance is there for an emergency, it's value is in the peace of mind it gives you that no matter how expensive a treatment option may be, you can make a decision purely on the interests of the dog, not your finances. That's why I have it anyway. Yes if you never make a claim you could consider it wasted money but that is the nature of insurance, no one has a crystal ball. Personally, for us, there is no value in pet insurance. The money we have "saved" by not paying pet insurance over the last 30+ years is actually quite substantial. We do have resources available which would cover any emergency. We only have one dog, not multiples of them either. That is our situation. I'm not inferring that it is, or should be, the same for everyone. The car is far more "valuable" than the $ we could conceivably spend on our dog. Not to mention the damage we are covered for in case of accident - to us, our car, other people, their car and any other property damage. Once a car gets past a certain age/value, we revert to Third Party Property, Fire and Theft and drop the comprehensive. House and contents are covered too. That does not mean ALL insurance is a good thing. The H&C goes up by a substantial amount every year and every year we re-assess and decrease cover or increase excesses etc. Insurance companies are out to make profits. They pay actuaries huge fees (out of our premiums :laugh: ) to make sure they win. We have to do our own risk assessments. Individually. Sorry, I misunderstood your statement. Sounded like you were saying pet insurance is a waste of time. I guess a lot of insurance is a personal decision. I just wondered because Australia is one of the most underinsured countries in the developed world. ( So many people were not insured when the floods hit here in Queensland, not just no flood insurance but no insurance at all. The nation has a history of the Government helping out those affected so many people just don't bother ) Yes we can look back and see how much we could have saved if we didn't have it (same could be said for any insurance) but, as I said, no crystal ball. I am not in a position to front up for a $15000 bill, like the OP had, but I can afford to pay the yearly premiums so I chose to do that. It's a bit of a double edged sword because on the one hand, you don't want to have to use it but on the other, if you don't use it you could consider it a waste of money :) I look at it like this, what I am really buying, is peace of mind Oh and of course Insurance companies are out to make profits. Aren't all companies?