Simply Grand

I'm so sorry to hear this Sheridan it was always obvious in your posts how much you love Grumpy and how much you put into giving him the best life possible. Run free Grumpy.

I can't get the links to work, are the pages still up?

Mine all get them but Saxon by far the worst. I assume it's because he has a curly coat that gets tangled and the others have straight hair of a different texture (plus they're designed for running in grass to herd sheep). Saxon doesn't whinge about them but the other day he collected a clump of about 4 in between 2 toes and just slowly limped around looking sad :laugh: Luckily i found them quickly because he was acting so weird and pulled them out for him. He makes it worse when he tries to pull them out coz he chews on them and matts more fur in *eye roll*. He grumbles while I pull them out then always wants to eat them, hehehe.

Oh I didn't know that about the photos, that's annoying. And the other thing is that of course both parties have to know about it for it to work. But still, it's quite a good system.

It's a great idea! ACT Domestic Animal Services has a Lost and Found list on their website where the public can list dogs they've lost or found. I checked it when I found two dogs wandering one evening without id, they'd been listed and their owners had them back less than an hour from when I found them :) Saved a whole lot of stress for the owners and the dogs, and the only pound resource used was the web page.

love the ice cube burying! "OH MY GOD it's been stolen!!!"

Oh the cruelty! Those poor dogs :laugh: Mine suffer the hardship each evening of HAVING to get up to follow me to the toilet when they are trying to snooze on the couch because I can't possible go by myself...

that sounds like a very big assumption ... edit... but no so big if you are talking about the ones puppysniffer posted on Yep I was :)

it's pretty simple. Your dog has to pass the tests. But it's not designed for people who just want to take their dogs everywhere with them, but those with genuine need for an assistance dog. And the majority of those people don't have the capabilities to train their own dog to that level. My only knowledge is based on what this acquaintance has told me (btw she's a fellow dog park regular who i've known for 3.5 years) and it isn't simple or black and white, just like you say Moi. I believe there are certain roles assistance dogs can be accredited for in various states/councils based on various training and accreditation and in the end it comes down to legislation. OH&S, Food handling etc legislation is much more comprehensive than assistance dog legislation. Happy to stand corrected. Hopefully you can find someone to accurately advise you on the type of assistance dog you are referring to :)

I have an acquaintance who had contact with someone who claimed he was working on setting up an organization in Australia allowing people to go through a training course with him then receive a vest for their dog stating it was an assistance dog (in this organization's case for mental health support). Turned out he had no legal grounding for any of it and there would not have been any legal grounds for enforcing access for these dogs. Luckily the person I know got out before she lost too much money but she dos lose some. Be careful

I'm not sure but I suspect you would have to get the dog through or in conjunction with an accredited assistance dog organization rather than get your own dog and then train it, at least if you want all the legal access rights given to accredited assistance dogs.

Omg puppy_sniffer, those people sound like full on psychopaths! How horrible I too am glad the cat was found and is at the vet and also agree that you've been very caring Cougar. I hope she doesn't make things difficult by asking you to pay anything as you are absolutely not accountable, but I will give her the benefit of the doubt for now :)

love it Panto! Quinn does the same thing but she's never fallen asleep doing it! She does do the looking around and moving her eyebrows without moving her head thing :laugh:

Pauchel, I hope you dont feel upset about the discussion on this thread, it's just a good old fashioned DOL debate :)

I asked them not to seal Chops's urn for the same reason, I just haven't found what feels right to do with her ashes yet. Being a cat, her favorite thing was lying around in the sun in the garden but we weren't in this house long enough for it to feel right to scatter them here. I like the thought of a pot plant.

Oh no, tough situation I'd probably be inclined to leave a note saying that cat was unfortunately injured, you're not sure how badly as he ran off and you haven't been able to find him, you'd like to help look for him she wants you to... If she sees a note as soon as she gets home (stuck to the door or something?) then she will know straight away and can deal with it and the kids/whatever else she has has to do as she sees fit. You going over there if she's stressed and juggling kids through the door might make things worse but you don't want to wait and leave her not knowing. I don't know, definitely tough

My sister and I have both had pets cremated through Pets at Peace and the ashes were returned in a little ceramic urn in a greeny colour, quite pretty and subtle. My sister has hers on display with a photo of Winston (her rabbit) when he was alive. I have my cat's ashes away in the cupboard as my dogs have a tendency to destroy things even when I think they can't get to them and I didn't want to risk that. ETA - I'm sorry for your loss of Fern, run free little one.

The height they generally jump is not really how long is a piece of string because there are set heights for the jumps and dogs compete grouped with other dogs based on those heights. I'm trying to be open minded and form my own opinion on SBTs and agility so I'd like to know how they would compare to my own dogs and others I've seen course-wise. ETA - I've just reread what you said about the height - I'm not asking how tall the dog is, I'm asking what height they jump, as explained above. It's important to both your chances competition wise and even more so, the health of the dog, that they are being run at the appropriate height.

It is very sad, poor Koko BTW there is also a thread on this in News.

I think you are right huski, although like you I wouldn't recommend my breeds for many situations (although as I said possibly a carefully selected Aussie Shepherd in this case... maybe).

jerry lee, what height do SBTs normally run at in agility in your experience?

Oh no RIP Koko

Saxon would happily train for hours as well, so long as he was getting rewarded frequently enough to make it worth his while. He learns quite quickly what I want him to do and offers behaviours so it's easier to have success with him and keep going while it's still fun. Riley take longer to get things, and then to get them consistent so in order to end on a positive and keep him (and me) motivated and not frustated shorter sessions are better. Quinn just gets bored easily if her brain isn't occupied so short session then a break then on to something else works quite well with her. Most of my training is incidental except when club classes are running, then we obviously have the hour long class for each dog for each discipline they are doing and I try to do a structured 5-10 mins practice per day.

He's such a gorgeous little thing :D I'm not much help as I haven't noticed any of mine having that reaction, but hopefully it's just a normal mild reaction and he'll be better tomorrow. Hope someone who knows more posts something more helpful!

I think Shelties are great dogs for child handlers but I'd be very worried about one getting hurt with the dobes. Mine plays "rough" with my Aussie but I can see that the Aussie is holding herself back and watching where she lands and where her feet got when she's playing with him compared to when she plays with bigger proper rough-playing dogs.