Shaar

And paint a big target on its arse because you've just made it a sitting duck. I don't take my reactive dog to the park. Neither do most owners in the peak user times. I'd never take a muzzled dog to one. I just love when a dog stalks up fully hackled up with its tail over its back and the owner says "he's just being friendly". The sad fact is that the ignorance and lack of consideration displayed by some dog owners means that dog parks are a no go zone for many others. No one I know that I consider knowledgeable about dogs will go near a public dog park in the busy times. :cool: There are several greyhounds that go to our local park muzzled and no-one really thinks anything of it, I personally just think, well, being the breed they are they probably like to take a snap at small fluffies, good on them for being responsible. One of them loves playing with the smaller dogs, it's just a precaution. I do get your point though, not everyone sees muzzles as a precaution. I do not go to that park any more, it's not in the best area of town and there are too many idiots. Much prefer to go to one of the more secluded ones. If a dog owner has no control or recall then they need to keep their dog on a lead. That's the law - dogs are required to be under effective control at all times. Tell that to the people in the park I mentioned above. Rarely is there a dog there that comes when called... no-one does anything about it because no-one cares. I admit that mine do not have very good recall, if I scream bloody murder at them and they know I am serious they will stop in their tracks and come back to me but most people just go "come on little foo-foo, nice foo-foo come to mummy" while their dog is bolting in the other direction.

If you go to a park and you know you have a dog who is a bit touchy with other animals, PUT A MUZZLE ON IT. Yes aggressive dogs are allowed to be exercised too but what if a SWF runs up to your dog and the owner has no control over it? Yelling "keep your dog away" to the owner isn't going to do jack sh*t with a dog who has bad recall. When you go to a dog park you shouldn't have to worry about your dog having it's head ripped off. Although a lot of dogs at the park are badly trained I would fully expect them to either be not aggressive, or muzzled if they are.

Fantastic news! Glad he is finally home and getting some much needed love by the sounds of it.

Aww he's gorgeous Bindii, well done! They are wearing the wrong colors in the last photo though

She's so gorgeous Love the piccies, especially that second one

Maybe a rule like a dog can be shown desexed if it has already produced 2 champions? That way it's still promoting the breed but that dog has just been 'retired' from breeding after already producing quility pups.

Not that I know of, I went into the actual shelter and they just told me to fill out the forms online. How would I go about finding out, should I just call them?

I have sent off 4 applications over the past year or so and never heard back from them... that kinda peeved me off, you would think they would want as many volunteers as they can get. And if they don't check their online applications don't bother having the forms on there. I'd love to do just dog walking, at least it gest the dogs some extra attention but would also be happy to do grooming for them. Oh well... their loss I guess.

If you are worried about feeding the treats then give them a miss, better to be safe than sorry. I probably wouldn't worry too much if they are in the packaging and there are no holes or anything (I'd check ALL over the packaging) Save one of the squeeky toys to take to the park so the anonymous gift giver can see that you appreciated them.

I don't think it would be anything nasty... if you really do pick up after your dog every time then she probably just appreciates a responsible owner! Such a lovely thought

If you brush them daily or every other day it should only be a few minutes as they never get any more than a tiny knot, if that About 5 mins each for my toys, if that, only like brushing your own hair really. Not if you have an incorrect coat like Prada, well... her body is fairly harsh but her ears are like cotton candy, they matt like nothing else... so I took to them with a 10 blade

A friend of my OH recently phoned us and asked us if he could come around and ask a few dog questions... great I thought, he wants to do things responsibly and ask us where to buy one from. Well, half an hour later he turned up with an 8 week old Husky puppy. Right... He was saying how he wanted to show her and eventually breed her. I just looked at the tiny little puppy stumbling it's way across the floor... there was no way it was 8 weeks old. I asked whether or not he got limited or main registered papers with her. He had no idea what papers I was talking about so I asked what breeder he got her from. "Ummm, I'm not sure, she's from the pet store in town" "Get her desexed" And then the lecture started.

Here's a SUPER low maintenance clip... WHY didn't I take the ears off a couple of years earlier? I'm loving the no brushing and the dogs are loving not being brushed!

Clipping poodles, especially around the eyes, is daunting at first, but after you get over the initial "oh god i'm going to hurt them" it's a piece of cake. I use a 10 blade all over on my poodles in summer. We go to the park a lot and they get muddy and dirty so a short cut suits them well. I go against the grain on the face and with the grain on the body so it actually ends up 2 different lengths with the one blade. For a show poodle it's a 40 blade on the feet face and tail and all the rest is scissor work. Scissoring is actually the most fun part, it's the drying that sucks. How good they look in the end and how plush they end up is about 80% drying technique. I learnt from my mum, who breeds mini poodles, who learnt from a good friend of hers who has standards. EDIT - Oh, and because I keep mine cut so short they never get brushed between clips. It's just a dunk in the bath, a blow dry and whizz the clippers over them. If you decide to keep full ears, tail and fluffy legs it's going to be about half an hour brushing every few days.

I used I believe it was eucalyptus oil? And it made it about 100 times worse, the glue just turned to a horrible sticky mess. The tape came off but the glue remained. Then I was given a bottle of Citsol... magic stuff. Smells like oranges.

I'm sort of a newbie, been going to shows for about 20 years now and handling for or watching mum and dad, but have just got a dog of my own to show. Tell you what, it's pretty nerve racking when it's your own dog on the end of the lead and not someone elses

I have been meaning to purchase a dry bed for a while now but haven't had the spare cash :rolleyes: In her crate she has a single bed quilt folded over twice so it's 4 layers thick, all the moisture just goes straight to the bottom so she never comes out of her crate in the morning even damp. I feel so sorry for her, she doesn't know when it's happening but when she wakes up and notices she is wet she starts cleaning herself straight away. She's such a good girl in the bath now though, when she wets herself and I stand up she just toddles along to the bathroom with me. I haven't had x-rays or ultra-sound done, vet didn't even mention anything like that actually, I'll have to ask him about it, thanks.

Wow, that is beautiful!

Looks like he's just been caught doing something he shouldn't and was told off for it :rolleyes:

Yep, I bought a onsie from Kmart, just a polarfleece one, and it works really well. Small amount of sewing required if you want it to fit 'prefect' but if you don't mind it being a bit loose underneath they just go straight on. I put them on backwards so the clips do up along their back.

Thanks rappie and frufru, it's a hereditary problem, it's been happening since she was a pup and wasn't spayed until after 12 months. The bicarb mix would work for the small areas, but when she 'lets go' on the floorboards it's literally her whole side and legs that get soaked.

Thanks t-time. So you think I should look into the urine concentration changing? I just assumed it was because it's been cold and she hasn't been drinking as much, I will look into it though thanks, wouldn't want to ignore it and it turn out to be something nasty. I'll check out that website too, I've seen the ad pop up before. At night it's not too bad because she is in her crate and has very absorbent bedding (washed daily) but of an evening when we watch television she usually lays on the floorboards in front of the heater or on the leather couch where there's nothing to soak it up but her coat.

Wow, I know I get angry with my dogs sometimes, but would never dream of hurting them... they are dogs, and that poor pup was only 6 weeks old, it wouldn't have understood why 'mum' was hurting it! Some people just have no idea. Scum is the kindest word I can think of right now.

Kongs are good, fill 'em up with their favourite treat and it can keep them occupied for hours. I leave mine confined to my kitchen/dining area with a baby gate and if I know we are going to be gone for quite some time I set up a bit of a scavenger hunt. Scatter toys all about and hide pieces of dry food under them, hide little bits in corners and under obstacles... keeps them amused for a while. Leaving a radio on is great for blocking out outside noise. If I sit here without the tv on they hear every noise outside and bark, but with the tv on it drowns out a lot and they bark less. I'm lucky that I don't have to think of too many things because there are 3 of them together so they can entertain each other most of the time.