Cheyd

Oh what a cutie pie :D :D :D ;) Congratulations on your new best bud! Dont puppies have a wonderful way of healing your heart, my Merlin did the same for me. First time we had ever flown an animal, he came from NSW, handled the flight better than I would have!! And he has been a complete dream ever since, I still miss my Holly every minute of every day but I look at Merlin and I just melt Hope you bring him to a Perth meet!

gggrrrr let me at that bitch, poor defenceless little puppy going through that hell See how she likes being thrown down and hit with a shovel I hope he makes a good recovery and finds a forever home who will love him and show him not all humans are pigs

Mavericks Mission - he is a cutie Have you thought of a name for him yet? Well done on giving a rescue a loving home

Hi Everyone Love the pictures of all your new puppies they are all so beautiful and I WANT ONE lol I have my name down with a couple of breeders, looking for a second sheltie pup to be a companion to Merlin. Hopefully within a couple of months we will have a buddy for Merlin Keep all the stories coming, they are great to read

So very sorry for your loss Kbrown and RIP Keysh Its so hard when we invest so much love in our animals to lose them especially unexpected. I played the "what if" game when I have lost all my babies and all I can say is you did your best, Keysh knows that and loved you for it. We make decisions based on the information we have at the time, hindsight is always perfect. Take comfort in the 4 1/2 years you had together and YOU DID MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO KEYSH thats all that matters really Thank you for rescuing Keysh and for the love you gave her

Made me cry Very touching and something everyone owning an animal should read Thank you for posting that even if it made me cry

I hope Lucky lives up to her name and comes through, Parvo is horrible

Holly - cause it rhymes with Holly Jolly Collie - silly but she responded to that name, only name she responded too and I tried for about 4 days before that one came up Missie - I wanted something different LOL little did I know every kitten or puppy I came across for the next six months was called Missie Merlin - my OH suggested it, our new puppy would bring some magic into our lives, and a bit of a play on blue merle

‘Josephine’ was sent to us at Peak Crossing all the way from a reputable Townsvelle breeder. She was wonderful dog for the children, gentle, timid and friendly. Very pretty and clean. We even had her desexed before she was sent to us. Surely if they knew they were getting a puppy they would have brought a collar and tag before hand, I know thats what we did. I loved choosing toys and a collar before Merlin arrived, we even had a tag engraved with our name and phone number, added his name later when we had chosen it but it was all ready for him when he got her. Still a very sad situation for everyone RIP little Josephine

Hi Holly's Mummy, Hopefully this works, still trying to figure out how to do this all. I am a little biased but I think she is beautiful OH MY GOSH my heart just melted, she is just beautiful, I love her eyes Thank you for the stunning photos

Congratulations on your new puppy Sorry I have no experience with Siberians but I would LOVE to see some photos of your Mya

Thanks Hesapandbear, I have met and spoken to Tiakina and I have my name down with her also. I am not sure that she will be breeding again early this year as she had 2 litters late last year, and she helped me get Merlin also Merlin is from a pair of dogs bred by Tiakina and he is just gorgeous

I have had a big talk with my other half today and we have decided to wait until we can get the puppy we want. I am grateful for all the answers and advice it's given me a lot to think about. I think I was missing Holly and watching Merlin with Justin (other half) made me miss her more. So a couple of melancholly days later I think we will wait for Merlin to get a little older I would like to let any breeders know that I would be most estactic to hear if anyone is planning litters this year? I am looking/hoping to get a female blue Sheltie, definitely not for breeding just a beloved pet. Thank you again for all the advise

Thanks Ness, definitely something to think about. oh boy the thought now of losing two in close timing, is very daunting...

I did read that and wondered if I was being hasty, a few other threads mention not introducing the second puppy till a bit later. Merlin is in the process of completing his course of obedience, much more training/reinforcing to be done by me . We also share our home with 2 cats, Bella is around 4 and Jessi who is almost 20. My partner is fully supportive, but he is working shift work at the moment - soon to change hopefully I would be really interested in hearing any wisdom that Tali can share as I dont want to make a mistake here If we did introduce another puppy, what sex should the second puppy be? or it wouldnt matter? Also a lot of threads mention making sure the puppies get along, would it be better to get a puppy locally or from another state? Merlin came from NSW and was my first experience with having a domestic animal flown anywhere, he handled it really well so I am happy to consider a puppy from interstate but not if its not a good idea? Thanks again for any advice

Second Puppy I was wondering if anyone could tell me when would be a good time to introduce a second puppy to our home? I currently share my life with Merlin (oh and my partner!) who is 41/2 months old, he is a blue merle sheltie, desexed. Any advice is welcome as I think I might be a bit eager to get another puppy Thanks

Thanks for the idea, but will go looking for a chip'n'dip plate or something similar

Brilliant idea - thanks and so simple I was thinking I would have to make something up myself but I will go looking for one of these :D

I do apologise sincerely if I have misinterpreted any answers

I agree with Nicole, put the kibble bowl in a shallow container that is quite a bit bigger than the bowl. I leave kibble down during the day when I'm at work and often have ant plagues (not really but lines of ants all over the bathroom, kitchen and laundry), and they would get all through the kibble. Saxon's bowl is only small (as is he) so I put it on a plastic picnic plate and filled that with water. It worked well, and the ants seemed to just stop trying to get into the bowl - well, I didn't come home to lots of drowned ants. Thanks Di and Saxonpup That was the idea I came up with but thought I would ask incase there was a mat or something that ants just dont like to cross, bit like talc powder as previously mentioned However it seems rather than helping me, almost everyone here just wants to judge me with how I look after my animals. Not that I have to justify anything to anyone but my family, my pets and my vet are all very happy with how healthy they all are. None of my animals are overweight either. I look forward to reading more helpful responses!

Thank you Fit for a King,

Thank you but I dont actually leave the fresh food out for very long, and his kibble I like to leave just a little out for him to snack on, my animals have always self-regulated their kibble and I dont see any reason to stop that now. Sometimes he will not eat straight away, especially if it has just come straight from the fridge, I try to bring it to room temperature but dont always manage that. The ants are so quick, and they loiter around his bowl all the time just waiting for something to be dropped.

Gee wish I had thought of that

Help please! We feed Merlin in the laundry and unfortunately we have an ant problem. Any food left in the bowl or on the ground is quickly set upon by lots of ants. I am reluctant to use too much spray on the ground as I dont want it to get into his food Even if I leave a handfull of kibble out for him to eat, they will attack that also, its not just his fresh food I have purchased a ant-proof bowl but to be honest its useless, the water channel is too small and the water evaporates too quickly Can anyone recommend some way of preventing the ants from reaching Merlins food please? I was thinking there might be some sort of surface that ants arent able to cross or maybe a better designed food bowl, this is so frustrating ggggrrrrr

Hi Amypie thanks for the info unfortunately I have a prior committment tomorrow night, do you know if they would accept anyone joining the following week? Merlin has had his shots and has just been sterilized. He is a blue merle sheltie