RallyValley

So a few weeks ago my house was broken into and my camera and a lens stolen. I'm starting again really since all I own is a Canon 50mm 1.8. I have a budget of around $1800 . For those of you into photography what would you get? I am leaning towards a 7D but have NO idea what kind of lens to get. I like to shoot really varied things, the only consideration for me is that next year I may be breeding Zora so something wide angle might be nice to get puppy pictures. Any suggestions?

In 2013 I am not going to be too ambitious because Zora and I will be having part of the year off for a litter ( :D ). Here are my goals: -Finish RN Title -Aim for RA (maybe even RE) -Enter CCD -Get ready for trialling in agility early 2014 Lastly this is a BIG maybe... -Enter a UG Field Trial

TSD I admire you training up two young dogs! Very brave :laugh: . No your doing a great job I just realised I haven't posted in this thread for ages!!! So I will post an update about how out field season went :) Unfortunately field training is pretty limited, being that you have to drive a minimum 2hrs each way to get to a field to practice - add in seasons and shiftwork that means working most weekends and I didn't get out as much as I would have liked. I had an absolute ripper day out earlier in the year where there seemed to be almost too many quail, this really increased Zora's desire... but also showed some weakness in her recall Since then we have only had a handful of opportunities to get out and work and sadly on most of them there were hardly any birds around. She has a great nose and so much desire to find though! Towards the end of the season Zora has done a couple of sessions on planted quail. These sessions seemed to really help her click it all into place, I almost cried with pride when she held this point (see pic below) for a few mins- just rock steady. Then they moved the bird on and she was so good at roading it up by scent. A couple of times this year we did some retrieving work too, the same day as the above point an on a couple of other occasions we used fresh quail and a launcher, even though they were simple singles I was so proud of Zora. She sat by my side, was shot over, went out and got the bird and returned it to hand a couple of times :) My hilight of the year though has to be on our last training session, we were using planted quail and Zora started pointing really staunchly just by scent!! Nothing in the world makes Zora as happy as working does! She is developing into a great little dog, she needs lots more work but she's got a promising future!! She is having a litter next year though so that might interrupt her field season a bit Just one last pic of Z on point:

Well I have to say although Calico the Brittany may not have been up to the job Zora woke me up by going absolutely nuts at 2am Friday when our house was being broken into. But she was locked in my room and her bark is a bit pathetic, so they still managed to get away with some of our stuff.

Just thought I would start up a thread full of pictures showing how most show dogs REALLY live I'm sure with all the controversy at the moment Dogzonline will get some extra traffic so I thought it might be nice to have an upbeat thread to showcase our beautiful dogs :) Here is my girl and her friend having a dip in a sheep trough after spending the morning having the greatest time pointing quails, that night (after a bath) she went to a dog show. Another of my girl playing with her friend Elli, Elli is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier that was responsibly rehomed by her breeder after her original owner's marriage break down. She now lives with my brother and is a very loved and spoiled dog. And lastly here is my girl showing what a mud magnet she is, she just loves going out for long walks in the bush - so many puddles splash through in and smelly things to roll in! As you can see from these pictures my white dog loves to get dirty!!! But as long as she's happy I don't care - a bath can fix mud and dirt. :laugh:

I just love them CC! Your pictures are always stunning.

Very sad to say that after going downhill very quickly we said goodbye to Toby this morning. Last Saturday Toby has his bloods as he was acting a bit strange, the next morning we got the results which showed liver failure and he was admitted to the local vet and then the big specialist vet when he took a turn for the worse. After a series of tests we got him home Thursday and he has had the weekend at home with us however last night he wouldn't settle and this morning he went downhill fast, he was taken to his local vet and surrounded by his family at the end. Toby was a really special dog, he came to us after a loss and wormed his way into everyones hearts. He was really loved by everyone he met as he had such a sweet disposition with people. He also managed to convince 'non dog' people to cuddle and would seem to target them to sit next to and smooch up to - but none complained. He was such a biddable dog and I think as a result of having broken his leg as a pup was happy to put up with any poking and prodding his whole life. He also was a funny dog to live with, the list of things he was scared of was so long we would joke it was quicker to list things he wasn't scared of. He had a few jobs in life, he had to play with his iSqueak or Cuz ball every afternoon or he would whine and moan the house down. He competed briefly in agility with a couple of near misses for Q's (including one at the Agility Nationals) before his ongoing injury from his the leg he had broken stopped us. He also trained for obedience and once Rally O was introduced managed to get his RN title with scores in the mid-high 80's despite his anxiety issues. He was a fantastic dog who, provided he was not scared, would try his heart out. This dog had such an important place in our family and we are all heartbroken right now. Toby helped me through some really hard times and I always thought I would get to see him grow old. I just can't express how awful it is that Toby was taken from us too soon. Rest in Peace Toby

At least in WA you can't become a full member of Dogswest unless you own a pedigree dog. So in WA no you couldn't be a registered breeder without ever having owned a pedigree dog.

Very sad to say that after going downhill very quickly we said goodbye to Toby this morning. RIP Toby 08/06/2008 to 26/11/2012. Taken much too soon.

Well done CC! You shouldn't be so surprised, your work is great :D P.S If you check my Flickr Photostream I uploaded an picture I took with your awesome lens that I'm fairly sure is of an infant Bungarra that lives near our kitchen.

Well now that I have paid just under $8,000 to vets in the last week for Toby and I'm sure the expenses will keep going as long as he keeps on going and probably climb to excess of $10,000. I think $35 a month for the last 3 years is a great investment. I really look at insurance as a gamble, but I would rather pay each month as it just makes it that bit easier when your dog is really sick as you don't have to stress to much about finances!

My girl is now in Intermediate She had a good run as a rising star though, she had 2xMinor in Group 1xPuppy in Group and a Junior in Specialty Show. Plus I travelled to Victoria with her and got bitch challenge at Sunbury and the Vic Gundog Show. She titled quite early on and has well over 250 points as well as a Rally Obedience pass. We are winding down showing a little now and looking at getting more letters after her name. Oh and she is also number 1 Rising Star Brittany. :) Here she is in the Junior in Show lineup of the Vic Gundog Club Show

The cause isn't known, hopefully his biopsy results will show something. Yeah his allergies, behavioural issues and liver are probably all related. He's a good boy, looking forward to having him home, it's strange not having him cuddled into me on the couch.

Toby has had his biopsy today.They were able to visualise his liver and it is in very bad shape and not likely to recover/regenerate. They will also be able to do some more tests from the biopsy and see if they can devise a good treatment plan. Once he recovers from the biopsy he will be coming home and will have anything from weeks to months until his liver can't cope anymore.

Really glad Zora is with Pet Plan now but I can't believe they pay this stuff out! I'm sure once people start to realise premiums for entire bitches will go up...

Toby is stable, he has had more testing done today and will likely be able to have his biopsy tomorrow. The cause is still unknown.

JulesP this is coped from the WA thread but it still makes sense (I hope): Thanks for the support everyone. Toby is now at Murdoch, ultrasounds show his liver is abornmally small, it's likely congenital and caused by shunt/s. We are getting him back stable then tomorrow seeing an internal medicine specialist to determine what can be done. The specialist told the vet that with lifestyle changes a dog like Toby can live for years, so we are cautiously optimistic that with the help of the specialists at Murdoch and a change in lifestyle Toby will pull through this.

Thanks for the support everyone. Toby is now at Murdoch, ultrasounds show his liver is abornmally small, it's likely congenital and caused by shunt/s. We are getting him back stable then tomorrow seeing an internal medicine specialist to determine what can be done. The specialist told the vet that with lifestyle changes a dog like Toby can live for years, so we are cautiously optimistic that with the help of the specialists at Murdoch and a change in lifestyle Toby will pull through this.

Yeah he's in the vet on fluids now getting some tests done. He has been a bit out of character the last few days (rocking and staring into space, restless and aggressive/agitated) so I took him to my most trusted vet yesterday, the vet took bloods and as soon as the results came in and showed potential liver issues he was taken to the vet and admitted. Waiting to hear back from the vets with some test results...

Very interesting reading! I am going through a very similar situation with my 4 year old Kelpie.

Toby has been dropped off at the vet for tests to be done and to get fluid in him because even though he has been drinking heaps he was dehydrated. Lets hope the cause is something curable. Poor boy.

The blood work is showing something is wrong with his liver... Let's hope it's fixable..

I got some Adidas nice golf shoes, they are reallly really supportive. I have often spent 12+ hrs in them on my feet and felt fine. Well worth the price.

Really worried about Toby.... he's having bloods done trying to get to the bottom of some strange behaviour that has really intensified in the last week or so. Can all the WA thread people please keep their fingers crossed for him? It's so painful seeing your dog in pain.