16Paws

Our dogs prefer the ground over soft beds so I made some fleece blankets for ours dogs to sleep on. Very easy to wash, dry fast and you can either sew or fold to your desired thickness. When lincraft had a sale on fleece recently I made 4 x double thickness blankets for about $40, which is about how much I would have spend on 1 shop bought doggy rug. We only have a small washing machine so they're all a size I wouldn't have any trouble washing I'm planning on buying a couple of cheap exercise mats (the thin foam ones you roll up and use for yoga, etc, about $8 at kmart) as dog mats for their new crates. We have limited storage room so I wanted something I could roll up and put away. The mats can just be hosed down when needed - no worries about fitting in washing machine or loosing it's shape, etc.

Is anyone interested in meeting up once a week on Bris north side for some doggy playtime. My foster boy needs a bit of socialisation and I'm not keen on the randoms at our local dog park. He gets on well with our Lab and Golden so probably someone with a (not too rough) medium/large dog would be better

Since someone else mentioned it - please don't convert your content text to a graphic. This is extremely inaccessible and annoying for some visitors (i.e. those with a visual impairment, images turned off or people that use the browser zoom or text size options to make text more readable).

Most websites are a copy or compilation of other web sites, there are very few originals out there. Technically there is nothing you can do to stop someone from copying your web site content - even if you uploaded locked word documents, PDFs or saved the text as an image there would be nothing stopping someone from re-typing you content to use on their own site. If you have copyright notices on your web site and proof that your content was live first you may have a case legally but unless the copiers are in some way impacting on your business or reputation this most likely wouldn't be worth the effort. Either contact the breeder and request they change their content - or change your own.

Play hide and seek with food around yourself (under your legs, arms, in your clothes) - if he's relatively gentle that is :D Tie something in a knot and let him try to pick it apart. Can you lay on the floor? Train him to jump over your leg. Got a spare cardboard box or some envelopes, fill with food and let him tear apart

I received the email first and thought it must have been a mistake so I quickly logged on to DOL and hit 'view new posts' to see if it had been announced. I read the OT thread first and literally almost fell off my chair - OH was wondering what I was carrying on about

I remember years ago they used to specify fence heights in Logan Council. From memory you had to have 1.2m for anything up to medium size dog and 1.5 or 1.8 for large dogs. Don't know if this is still the case.

bullclips?

Thanks for the extra info SchnauzerBoy. For me the guide was more useful for the general lense information and terminology. I would never buy a product based purely on one online guide.

I have been trying to get my head around the basics of lenses and I came accross a very helpful guide which as a noob I could easily follow. I think it would probably be helpful for those more experienced as well http://www.digital-slr-guide.com/best-digital-slr-lens.html I printed the worksheet before reading the article and I'm about to perform a search using the wish-list I created (makes sense if you read the guide )

Thanks, sounds like it will be interesting

It's no different to the people who will PTS rather than pay $500 for a vet bill because $500 is too much to spend on 'the dog'. To me that seems horrible as I have been in the position where I needed urgent funds for a pet and I begged, borrowed and well.. I didn't steal it But to other people, it's the logical and natural decision. Unlike some other serious illnesses, epilepsy has a visual (and audio) element which most people (including myself) find very distressing. When my cat was having seizures it was horrible but I knew I needed to be there for him and keep an eye on the times, etc so that's what you do. I can easily imagine that other people might not be able to deal with it (e.g. My OH is much more affected by the seizures then I am). I agree with what a previous poster said about it being a very misunderstood illness. With the way the body contorts and the sounds that can be emitted, it is very hard to believe the patient isn't aware or being hurt.

Just wondering... is it likely to get hectic before the deadline? and will the highest bidder page be updated in 'real time'?

They don't have to be sharp to be happy Only you and your vet will know when it's time and I really hope it's never as well

I don't have personal experience of a dog with Epilepsy but one of my cats has the condition. I don't feel my cat has any less quality of life to our other 2 cats. He is on medication twice daily but we make the medcine a treat for him. He does have to have regular blood tests which is very stressful (he doesn't travel well) for him but he would be in this stressful state for any vet visit regardless of his condition. When he was diagnosed our vet explained that he would have little idea during the seizure of what was happening and probably no memory afterwards - so while they are horrible for us to watch, we would be much more affected by it then him. Luckily his seizures have been controlled (knock on wood) by medication so he has not had one for some time. If it got to the stage where he was affected by seizures more than he was lucid (for lack of a better word) then it would be time to consider his quality of life. If he ever had cluster seizures again and it resulted in brain damage or it got the the stage where further seizures had a very high risk of causing him injury/pain - then we would be considering his quality of life. If his medication started to cause liver damage, then it would be time to consider the options. I think quality of life is a very individual decision - 2 dogs with the same disease may not have the same quality of life depending on the affects, etc. I'm wondering if the people you are referring to feel the same way about a child with Epilepsy - or is it just that dogs are seen as disposable...

tlc - your fist photo almost made me feel like I was in the front of the car looking back

It's funny how things turn out. OH and I decided we were getting a pup as soon as we had our own place (we wanted 2 dogs but would only get one puppy first). The running joke used to be that we were more excited about getting a dog then we were about buying a house (it was true actually :D ). Choosing a breed took us about 6 months. I had grown up with Rottweilers and Border Collies but didn't feel either of those breeds would be suitable for us. We spoke to lots of people about their own dogs and their friends dogs and "Oh I saw an x dog at the park on the weeked - you should look into those" became a pretty common greeting at work for me We eventaully agreed on a Labrador. The decision of whether to buy from a breeder or rescue was a very difficult one for me. I really wanted to rescue but I had bad experiences with a rescue dog in the past which only ended in heart ache. So, started the search for a breeder, unfortunately I hadn't discovered DOL back then so I had to rely on my gut feeling and google. Buying from a breeder was a whole new world for me and OH. We were a little ... perplexed by many of the processes (what do you mean we pay $1000 and don't even get to choose which one we take home?!) We finally chose a breeder and after much discussion with her, our names were added to the waiting list for a litter due xmas 09. A couple of months later, we were contacted by the breeder, the litter had been cancelled, there was a family issue and breeding was on hold until further notice. By this stage I knew we had little chance of finding a breeder with litters due around the time we were hoping who still had 'vacancies' available :D Time to start the search all over again. I can't remember now how we came accross it, but we stumbled accross the web site of a breeder we hadn't found the first time around. On the front page was a notice saying "We have one yellow labrador puppy available. 8 week old female". It was about 4 months earlier than we'd planned but we decided to contact the breeder and have a chat. That chat turned into a 2 hour drive to visit them. She was the last left of the litter. We had a good long talk with the breeder, she spent half of the conversation alseep on my lap and the other half asleep on OH's lap. There was 3 of us in the car on the way home. Late last year/early this year we started considering adding a second dog. We knew we wanted to wait untl little miss was 12-18months old. During this time, I often felt guilty that we had purchased instead of adopting. My OH was aware of the experiences I'd had with a rescue dog so he was not overly keen on rescuing for that reason. So we talked to the breeder again about upcoming litters and she was more than happy to have us added to the list for a future litter. One day at the start of this year, I was browsing through a few pet rescue sites (a weird habbit I have even when I'm not looking for animals to bring home) when a face jumped out of the page and stole my heart from right under my nose! I realised it was just a photo but there was just something about this dog that was screaming at me (in a nice way ). I was on lunch break at work at the time so I sent the link to OH and gave him a call. Conversation went something like "Oh my gosh, did you look at that link I sent you? Look at the link! Scroll down to 'Pop'. Seriously, isn't he beautiful." Keep in mind we had no plans to get another dog at this stage. So what's the logical thing to do, close down the site and go back to work. Sure. Stupid brain! What did I do, found the contact us page, called the shelther and enquired about the beautiful boy I'd just seen. Another email to OH "Babe, I called the shelter, he's still available". oops naughty me. Against better judgment, we both left work there and then. Went home, grabbed little miss then drove the 1.5hours to the shelter before closing time. We knew a dog like that would be gone by the weekend and I knew I just had to have him. When we arrived at the Shelter, I immediately asked about him. My heart sank when the staff said "Oh another couple were just looking at him, I'll have to see if he's still available". Surely we hadn't skipped out on work and driven all this way for nothing? We hadn't. He was still available and we went straight out to meet him. First by ourselves and then in the 'meet and greet' pen with our pup. I almost cried when I saw them together. Youl would have thought they were long lost family. That sold us. We went home with 4 in car. We still have moments where we think "hmm we really should have waited until she was older, had more training, etc" but they are so happy together that we don't regret our decision. Our little lab is 1 year old next month, we've given our adopted Golden the same birthday, he'll be ... well let's guess 4.

I like to think they are not big chewers but I guess the amount of beds we've been through would say otherwise. I'm not sure what it is about the beds that make them so attractive to chew. We had a rruf mat prior to the kuranda bed which they pulled the cover off, chewed the actual mat and ripped the stuffing out of. We still use the covers for them to sleep on as well as polar fleece blankets which they don't chew. We tried VetBed which they love to chew. Standard trampoline beds they would chew at the corners so the covers would end up hanging off the bed. We had a big soft mattress type bed (don't know the brand) which they chewed the zip off and pulled out the stuffing. We had a snooza futon which they didn't chew but was very difficult to keep clean and wash (due to the size) and eventually became a bit yuck. Wow after listing the beds it does make our dogs sound like chewing monsters but they really aren't - it was more that the beds could not withstand even a few minutes of boredom We have the xlarge bed but luckily both of our dogs will snuggle on their together (and our foster pup squeezes in as well ) Oh, dogs are a lab and golden. Foster is cattle x.

Are you referring to Kuranda trampoline beds? We recently bought one for our dogs. The initial outlay is pretty hefty and I was anxious that it would be another large amount of $$ down the drain but for us it's been the best bed we've come across. The only downside is the bed 'mat' is solid so dirt (and water), etc, accumulates on top. The only damage our dogs have done is to chew the little plastic caps from the bottom of the bed legs (guess you'd only need these indoors anyway).

16/52 - Where did you find that collar?

They both look great I prefer the white myself but I think it depends where you are going to put the print and if you want to frame it (i.e. what will match your decor)

Sounds great, really makes me wish my dogs had any kind of manners when they are anywhere near other dogs

I'm looking at weatherbeeta landa lite for walks in the rain - there were no local stockists for me until yesterday so once I've ordered them I'll let you know what I think. http://www.weatherbeeta.com.au/new-weather...e-dog-coat.html Then you may as well just look at getting a Weatherbeeter coat (cheap ) I agree it would be easier, but I want it think so he could wear it in summer too and plus he has heat issues as it is. That is cool Stormie - they really look great - but I am thinking that will be too warm. But perhaps this one might be the best option http://www.chillydogs.ca/productRainSlickerAllBreed.html

We did use the Ezydog neoprene collars which were great for our waterbaby but after awhile the velcro kept coming undone (not sure if that was her doing) and once that started happening we had no confidence in their strength for walks, etc. We tried breakaway collars which are good in theory but they were off more then on, so while there was no question about how safe they were (in the backyard) it was kind of pointless

I'm just wondering what people's opinions and experiences are with leather collars vs other kinds of collars in terms of strength and safety. Do leather collars withstand rough play better than other types of collars? Do they last longer generally? Are they easier to clean? Do they crack? etc :D