Mrs Rusty Bucket

does look a lot like roo or wallaby poo. I forget what deer poo looks like but it may depend a bit on the deer. Ie somewhere between sheep/goat poo and horse poo? Definitely not wombat poo.

I think if she was my dog I'd have the worst time resisting that face. And she'd probably be shaped like a balloon as a result. So cute. Tho... last time I made boiled chicken, rice and pumpkin for a certain hound with a tummy upset, she had to share some of it with me :)

I'm currently using senteniel spectrum chews - a bit like the old drontal ones. Evil hound will happily eat them without peanut paste or sardines. A bit scary really. I used to have a horse who could filter worming powder from pollard powder. Ended up getting his wormers by injection - easier for everyone except the vet.

They're all gorgeous. I think I could get one of my dog at the computer in the style of the drinking coffee... she gets a bit desperate when she wants a walk/dinner.

my dog will eat compost I put on the garden unless I explain to her carefully not to touch it. But she also likes to dig up the neighbour's cat poo. She doesn't realise that chasing the cat out of the yard reduces the quantity of yummy cat poo available and I don't tell her. She will also try to eat/drink the water out of my "silage bins" eg fill a plastic garbage bin half full of water and drown weeds in there, after 3 months or so - the water is very good root tonic for plants. Unfortunately the dog thinks it's really good soup too. So it only goes on the plants out the front where she can't get at it. I've got plastic compost bins like these (they weren't called tumble weed when I got them). http://www.bunnings.com.au/tumbleweed-400l-compost-bin_p3160061 I dig the base in and put bricks on it to stop evil hound - which works. I've got one being loaded and the other "Brewing"... And I do what little gifts says - bit of vegie scraps, bit of lawn clippings, bit of dirt, bit of shredded paper (who is going to put your personal info back together after it's been through a worm). Layer it up. There are lots of shafers, cockroaches, vinegar flies, worms, and occasionally mice (they get trapped and removed). I figure it's all part of the process. It's not particularily smelly with the lid on, it's down the back. But I really can't smell it and I'm the one my family gets to check the wine is ok.

You could ask. It's possible that it hasn't occurred to them to invite you and that they might think if you wanted to visit you'd ask. Also I do know some proud breeders who are internet and mobile phone phobic. They might get their grand children to do up a web page (or the DOL ad) for them and maybe set up a gmail account which they never look at. If they have a FB page that they keep updated every week - then you might have reason to be suspicious of them not posting pix. But there are a lot of people - even my age (pushing 50) that don't like the internet, and still associate mobile phone calls (or even long distance calls in Australia) as horrifically expensive (a bit like global roaming is now). And they just won't call a mobile. Or answer one. I don't answer mine - but it's usually cos it switches to answer machine before I can find it.

I used to feed my dogs canex tablets - huge pink horrible things. And smelly. But they don't smell so much when you place them inside a teaspoon of peanut paste (xylitol free), and then put that inside a sardine with olive oil. And never mind the size of the package - I don't think my dog bothers chewing it. She just swallows it as fast as she can in case I might change my mind and ask for it back.

I would be looking to meet the breeder and some of their dogs before deciding. I would not depend solely on stuff they'd written on their website or their post here, or testimonials on their website or even what's on the breed club website (since the breeder info on those is usually written by that breeder). I wouldn't buy a house without looking at it, and getting someone who is qualified in structural inspections to look at it. EG I'd be asking other experts in the breed and owners who are not that breeder. A face to face meeting with the breeder is so important. And it should be where the dogs live - eventually tho you can do initial meetings at social events or shows. Some people do ok with recommendations from people they know face to face, who have met the breeder face to face. It would be nice if the DOL breeder listings were a bit more up to date ie some indication of whether the breeder was still active with the breed that is shown in the picture. And if they're the ones with the puppies - pictures of the bitches, not just the stud dog. And if they don't answer emails - don't have the email. I've sent a few people to the DOL listings only to find the breeder isn't breeding that breed any more or doesn't respond to the email address they've put on the ad. If they're not breeding that breed of dog - they shouldn't be on the breeder list for it. It's just frustrating. Maybe we could have an archive page for "retired breeders"...

I don't have any personal experience of alpha whatsit. I would be vaguely worried about an organisation that named itself after a debunked wolf pack study. Hopefully their training is not based on that study because it relates to wild wolves kept in very close quarters of captivity so it's like equating human behaviour in overcrowded prisons to the rest of social interaction. This article outlines what I look for in dog trainers http://www.k9protraining.com.au/how-to-choose-a-dog-trainer/ I personally can't see the point of sending a dog away to be trained - if I don't get the same training or my poor methods will undo anything that was done by the professionals. But I do notice from their website they do train the humans too. And there's positive / reward based training that's good and some that's not so good. So I'd be back to Steve's article - if what they were telling me didn't make sense, or was a bunch of stuff I would not be comfortable doing (too embarrassing is just as bad as too aggressive), I'd be looking elsewhere.

Nice work... I've got one suggestion "reward in position" ie don't make her come back to you for the treat if you want her to keep interacting with the box, place the reward as close to the position you want her as possible... Eg if you were training go round the box, you would place the reward a litte bit further around the box each time she got to where you wanted... so she moves even further into the behaviour you want. Or if you wanted her to pick things up and put them in the box, first you'd reward close to the things, then once she was reliably picking up the things (and no spitting the thing out when you hear the click either), then you start rewarding closer to the box then in the box... hope that helps. Great video, really enjoyed her enthusiasm for the game. :)

Mummy Mummy Mummy (Or is that Door Opening Slave-Bitch - hard to tell with her) LET ME OUT I'M BUSTING LET ME LET ME OUT OUT LET ME OUT.... Slave-Bitch opens back door for evil hound. She notices it's raining... Slave-Bitch tells her to get out there anyway and then dries her off when she comes back in. Hmm, raining a bit harder than we thought. At least the cone of shame kept her head reasonably dry.

Didn't know her but oh so sad. Sometimes no good deed goes unpunished

If it's my local council area - I call the council - they tell me a phone number that goes with the tag... and I call that number and try to arrange the owner to come get the dog. PITA. If there's no id on the dog I call the council and let them come get it. I suppose I could take it to the local vet too but for some reason I don't think of that first. Down the beach - it's a different story... usually there is someone who will take it to the local vet who looks up the microchip and phones the owner. Or they call the council if there is no microchip. If I lost my dog - the first thing I'd do is call the council and the RSPCA, and then I'd door knock the neighbours (she has a couple of favourites), then I'd check out our favourite park... Pretty sure I would not look on facebook first but I have posted lost dog info on facebook - the big lost dog page and the local burb page.

Not a lab person Stress Magnet But Ernie looks good but about how my dog looked before I took 2 or 3 kilos off her (recommended by trainers and the vet), I can now feel her ribs easily and she's lots easier to train for some reason. But you still can't see them easily unless she's facing the setting sun (which makes shadows). Her coat is very spotty so hard to show up any shading in a photo but she's got a lot more tuck under at the back... and she's overall skinner and less chunky.

inajam Could your Labrador be a bit on the large cuddly side? Because that can put pressure (pain) on the joints and spine - and then a vet might prescribe a steroid to alleviate the pain. But the diabetes might come from being overweight. Did your vet say anything about this or is your dog skinny? You might be able to manage the problem by changing your dog's diet, and helping it lose weight? My dog drinks a lot more when she has dry food for dinner - so maybe if you changed to something like raw meat and vegies, that would be less of a problem?

I've got a friend who is currently in the process of picking up a sight hound from Europe... I will ask her what airline she's using to get it back. She's currently in Munich looking for a big dog crate... I don't think it's right that only Korean Air will do it. There are a lot of quarantine rules - depending where you get the dog - it may have to spend time in quarantine or "the right country" before being allowed to come back here. Eg I think if you want to bring a dog back from China it has to spend time in some other country (or Hong Kong?) before it is allowed here. Could be wrong about the details or they may have changed since I last looked them up.

I made 11 serves of dog dinner - and evil hound only got one. She spent the next two hours telling me loudly that there was dog dinner in the kitchen and she should have all of it right now. Eventually I put a lead on her so she couldn't go in the kitchen or bark at the door. I'm so mean. Socks... ugg boots - all ugg boots must die and the sheepskin mat I bought for her to lie on instead of bath mats - must be plucked back to leather and then I think we eat the leather. A lot of the bath mats have mysterious holes in them too.

If the pea brain does anything threatening - you report him as well. In SA - don't know which council you're with but the dogs are unlikely to be seized the first time the ranger goes around there unless the bloke is really rude to the ranger and then - rangers may choose to throw the book at the bloke. Usually when someone thinks the rules don't apply to them, there's lots of rules broken like driving around unregistered cars, and parking them on the street (ezyreg - is a handy app for checking any rego plate in SA and there's a version of that for every state), not to mention the dog thing and probably a whole lot of other things the council can fine them for. But council won't take the dog unless it's out on the street and they can't return it. Their first choice is always to return the dog, registered or not.

I would report it. The dog behaved a bit aggressively - tho not overly... and was wandering the streets which is bad for everyone (traffic hazard). Let the council know and they can decide what to do about it. In SA - all dogs are required to wear a collar with a current registration disc especially if they go off their property. And most councils have a 2 dog limit unless the resident has a permit for more. So that's two broken laws that council can easily verify when they visit. Besides the letting a dog wander the streets growling at people (did he growl at your hubby all the way home?).

Beanies are just socks for you head. All socks must die. Oh what? I'm not allowed to kill the sock / beanie - you're just being mean, kill joy. (only buy cheap beanies cos they don't last long around here).

maybe it's the winter coats sigh. But you can't really tell just from a photo.

Poor Neko My dad once made me stand on a beaver dam for a photo. Only one problem - beaver dam in summer - perfect environment for a thick black cloud of gigantic hungry black mozzies so I think I couldn't be still and that photo didn't turn out - I never saw it later that's for sure. Forgot to add I tortured my dog by cooking roast dinner and making gravy and not letting her lick the pans. for some reason I only let her pre-rinse ceramic - not metal. Maybe I think her spit will dissolve the metal. We did get to play can you tell the difference between a ball and a Frisbee for bacon scraps. No we can't, but we will fetch you everything...

So more than 75% of the general dog population is fat?

fat dogs in show... yes. I think I could get in trouble for saying more.

Love the tub. Obviously wants to fit all the corned beef in...