koalathebear

Your photos are always sooo beautiful. Thanks for sharing. I love the expression in his eyes and that last photo is just so cute!

Oh!!!! So cute Look at those eyes. Can't wait to read and see more about little Tesla. What's the origin story for his name?

Wow, Fargo in that second photo is soooo funny I can almost hear him~!!

Poor Elbie. It's been a tough week. First of all, his mean owners kept him outside in the cold, harsh Canberra winter ... He has a warm kennel for his "outside moments" - he just chooses to lie on the door mat sometimes for some reason Then this morning when he woke up, his ears were still wonky and indecisive Then at Dog School, he got too distracted during loose-leash walking training and was summarily and arbitrarily banished from the group without trial, remedy, recourse, appeal or opportunity to settle down! Then he entered the Biggest Fluffiest Dog in Canberra contest but lost to Kuma the Akita. Elbie had his revenge by photobombing Kuma's victory photograph But then when it came to receiving treats in the off-lead area, poor Elbie ended up being labelled Loser again What's a poor dog to do?

For a defamation action to succeed, the person complaining of the defamation (the plaintiff) must prove three things: 1. that the communication has been published to a third person (which is the case where it is an internet discussion forum) 2. that the communication identifies (or is about) the plaintiff; and (not really a question here given clear identification of the person in question) 3. that the communication is "defamatory". Something is defamatory if it could (1) injure the reputation of the individual by exposing them to hatred, contempt or ridicule; (2) cause people to shun or avoid the individual; or (3) lower the individual’s estimation by right thinking members of society. I will leave it to others to draw their own conclusions about whether this has taken place. DOL appears to be located in Queensland so the Defamation Act (Qld) (Qld Act)would apply although this is a bit moot given that it's a dissemination over the internet i.e. not restricted geographically and also that Australia's defamation laws were made uniform in 2006. While the defence of truth does exist, the onus is on the defendant (i.e. those making the allegations) to prove that the defamatory imputations pleaded are substantially true. The plaintiff (person alleging that defamation has taken place) would not be obliged to prove the falseness of the information which means that you have to go through legal proceedings in order to prove that you did nothing wrong - a real pain given that you have to pay money for a lawyer, legal advice and front up to court to defend yourself ... Section 25 of the Qld provides that it is a defence to the publication of defamatory matter if the defendant proves that the defamatory imputations carried by the matter of which the plaintiff complains are substantially true. Similarly, section 26 (contextual truth) of the Qld Act provides that it is a defence to the publication of defamatory matter if the defendant proves that-- (a) the matter carried, in addition to the defamatory imputations of which the plaintiff complains, 1 or more other imputations (contextual imputations) that are substantially true; and (b) the defamatory imputations do not further harm the reputation of the plaintiff because of the substantial truth of the contextual imputations. Therefore if any of the allegations in this post were defamatory and the posters were unable to prove that they were substantially true, then the defendants in any legal proceedings are likely to be: (1) anyone who made a defamatory comment in this post; and (2) Troy or DOL as the moderator/owner of the forum. It is no defence to argue that you are only repeating comments made by somebody else - you can be liable for a republication of the defamatory remarks. While section 32 provides a defence of "innocent dissemination" to people like ISPs and newsagents who would argue that they were merely innocent conduits of defamatory remarks made by others etc - that would not apply in this case and someone like Troy is likely to be liable because that defence has 3 limbs. The person: (a) was not the first or primary distributor of the matter; and (b) was not the author or originator of the matter; and (c ) did not have any capacity to exercise editorial control over the content of the matter (or over the publication of the matter) before it was first published. Because of (c ) i.e. this board is moderated, should the comments in this post be found to be defamatory, then Troy/DOL would also be held to be guilty of defamation. I've checked the other defence as well but, correct me if I'm wrong, these seem unlikely to apply here. These include, inter alia, qualified privilege or honest opinion/fair comment. On the face of it they sound promising but there are quite a few elements to satisfy before they can be utilised as defences. See here for section 31 (Defences of honest opinion) of the Qld Act. ETA: Since the above may not be clear. In a nutshell - it would be a really bad idea to be affirming/repeating/agreeing with many of the sentiments expressed in this thread

When we were leaving our last house, we hunted for ages for Elbie's puppy kong. Found it JUST before we left. Elbie's kongs still disappear in our current yard which should have far less hiding spots!!! I find it weirder when they just reappear out of the blue!

Congratulations to Nandi so glad she's all right.

Breeds 101 is certainly a very helpful sub-forum but it's basically providing responses to a template by breeders/owners of a pedigree dog and isn't supposed to be a place for detailed discussion as such. Also, in response to the "Are there any common hereditary problems a puppy buyer should be aware of?", while the problems are mentioned, it's difficult to get a sense of exactly how common they are. For instance, the 101 Fact sheets state that HD can take place in lots of different breeds of dogs but really how likely is it in a certain breed is it almost a dead certainty or you'd have to REALLY unlucky for it to happen to your dog of that breed. The breed sub-forums are wonderful and filled with gorgeous photographs - but very long. I'm still wading through the 50 page kelpie sub-forum (up to page 44 of 50 and that's small by comparison to others. There are always the "what sort of dog should I get" threads which are also helpful but the quality of the info being provided can vary. Also, I have always been extremely polite on this forum and have nothing but respect for reputable breeders so any underhanded implication is being made by you vis-à-vis my motives rather than me vis-à-vis the motives of others I'll just assume that your conclusion about my comments was simply because you don't know me. Really, I am just trying to say that: (1) it shouldn't be a problem just because someone takes a pot shot at pedigrees; (2) it shouldn't be a problem to have frank and open debates about health problems that plague dogs (regardless of breed); and (3) it's a shame that potentially useful/informative debates always seem to get get shut down or hijacked here. Then again, that's probably just the nature of the beast so I shall let the matter rest in case my plaintive wish for open and rational discussion gets wrongfully mistaken as partisanship for the enemy - I have no desire to sow further discord. Fin.

jacqui835: I really hope you don't get annihilated because although I am aware that this forum should be focussing on discussions of purebreds and should not be promoting crossbreeds/DDs and that sort of thing, I would have though that a discussion forum dedicated to purebred discussions should also be very upfront and frank about talking about health issues in detail so that people buying a purebred go in with their eyes wide open. If purebreed breeders and those who love purebreeds truly believe in their principles, then they shouldn't be afraid of robust debate, scrutiny and criticism. I don't think that criticising certain aspects of the way breeding of purebreeds is done necessarily equates bashing purebreeds or promoting crossbreeds. Given how expensive some purebreds are, I think it's absolutely critical for a puppy buyer to know everything they can about their potential dog - the pluses and especially the minuses of their breed. For instance, I usually need to look to places other than DOL for a frank "warts and all" discussion of certain purebreds and what to worry about. Some to be comparatively healthy in the scheme of things - kelpies, border collies, aussies blah blah. Then I read about some dogs that seem quite troubled. For instance, the doberman - beautiful dog but even the young dogs are frequently plagued by a wealth of genetic illnesses. The French Bulldog - absolutely adorable and apparently one of the healthier of the bull breeds but most litters need to be delivered by caesarean section and apparently many French bulldog stud dogs are incapable of naturally breeding - doesn't this say that there are things that need to be studied further? I won't enter into the pug debate. We have a gorgeous Bernese Mountain Dog puppy at our dog school which made me look up the breed because it was soooooooo cute and I'd never heard of it before. I found out that it's a relatively short-lived breed compared to breeds of similar size and purebred dogs in general - apparently they have a median longevity of 7 years in USA/Canada whereas breeds of similar size have median longevities of 10 to 11 years. That would definitely be a consideration for me when picking out a dog - not just that the dog might die after 7 years, but it might die in horrible pain. I think it's easy to get defensive and this frequently shuts down and/or stymies debates that should take place. It's really easy to throw out the baby with the bathwater and dismiss a whole argument/critique just because it comes from an unattractive and possibly revolting source but that doesn't mean that there isn't a single kernel of validity or something worth thinking about in there. The fact that I want to know if my cute little dog is likely to suffer HD, go blind or have a short lifespan does not mean I want to go out and get a puppy farm dog or that I am against purebreeds in general. No breed is perfect. They all have good and bad. I just want to know exactly what the pluses and minuses are so that I will know if these are minuses that I can live with and will suit MY lifestyle and circumstances. Also, I realise that this is not the right thread to be having the discussion on but I really would love (one day) to read one consolidated thread in which the pluses and minuses of the various breeds are discussed - from a purely health perspective so that it doesn't disintegrate into Breed Wars. The only thread I've ever seen seemed to devolve into a critique of pugs which wasn't very productive and had little general usefulness.

Poor you We have no clothes line - we didn't notice this when we bought the house Elbie's a kelpie/border collie x, 6 months and about 12 kg right now. He's not VERY strong but he's quite persistent so I do want to tie the tug toy to something very secure. At our last house, the tug was tied to the fencing around the deck which was super sturdy ... we don't have anything like that here The kitchen table isn't heavy enough alas.

Elbie's kennel is right outside the back door (kitchen door): Inside his kennel is straw and a nice, comfy trampoline bed. Canberra has been incredibly cold and freezing lately but we've been getting him used to being outside for extended periods of time during the day. Does he use the kennel? Sometimes ... sometimes he just curls up on the back step in FRONT of the kennel. Even though it's cold and windy, this week, while he gets into his kennel now and then, sometimes he just drags the doormat to the middle of the courtyard and lies on THAT. Is this a shameful grab at sympathy????

We have a similar issue ... we HAVE been able to tie Elbie's Aussie Home Alone dangling ball to a tree but: (1) he doesn't seem to like it much i.e. he doesn't like jumping up to tug; and (2) the tree trunk is on the other side of the fence so we can't use it to tie a tug on the ground. He WILL tug things that are 'dog level' but our deck railings don't seem strong enough. I'd be afraid he'd break the wood or something when he gets stronger ...

You may just have to accept that he's a little surprise :D We've been told Elbie's kelpie/border collie but I think poodlefan said she thought he might have other bits in him, too ;)

We'd like to tie a rope/tug toy in the backyard for Elbie to pull on when we're not home. Unfortunately the trees in the yard are on the other side of the fence and we don't have any strong poles to which to tie a tug toy. Does anyone have any suggestions? I know that you can buy a tethering post that screws into the dirt but I'm not sure how strong these are? Does anyone have any experience with these? Did you come home to find your dog running around with the tethering post in his/her mouth?

It's only been like that for the last couple of months! When we first got him, we were setting our alarm clock to get up every 2 hours, every 3 hours and every 3.5 hours to take him out for his toileting. He also had a habit of getting up at 5am and not going back to sleep. In the last couple of months, he sleeps through the night AND is willing to go back to sleep so that we can sleep in. We have no idea what made him change!?

The images are new, they definitely weren't there the first time I clicked on it. I'm also extremely distressed by the article about the woman who beat her dog with a stick. The poor dog looks terrified :'(

Funny topic We have a kelpie/border collie cross and outside the house he is what people predicted to us that a kelpie cross woud be - super, super energetic. He’ll walk and walk, run and run. Back at home though, my husband and I are desk potatoes. We spend a lot of time leading a sedentary lifestyle – computer time, surfing the net, reading, puzzles, video games etc. Nothing particularly taxing. While we spend time running through tricks with Elbie, playing hide and seek with him and taking him for a walk a few times a week (definitely not every day), Elbie seems to have adjusted himself to meet our lazy lifestyle... If we want to sleep in, he’ll pop back into his crate and sleep till 10am. During the day, if we’re on our computers or watching a show/movie, he’ll curl up on his dog bed and have a snooze. When we are up and about, he’ll get up to and play but when we’re back at our desks then he’ll keep snoozing or just lying there watching us. He follows us around the house but if we’re not in a play mood he’ll be very happy to play on his own with his toys (particularly squeakers). We haven’t seen any signs that this is translating into destructive behaviours – he isn’t a big barker, he digs occasional holes but not many, he doesn’t destroy his toys – just gnaws on them ... He is surrounded by “stuff” in the house like cables, bags, books, wires and whatever but a “leave it” makes him back away and he seems to have little interest on gnawing on them. He is usually as placid as a cow at home so it’s a bit weird when he goes into hyperactive mood over strangers coming over/going for walks/going to dog school.

My puppy (six month old kelpie x) gets a lamb shank now and then and he seems fine with it We keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't inhale it whole

So happy for little Charlie. He is sooo cute.

Hiya - I can't offer any input on teeth but to get the age clarified - wasn't Saskia only 9 weeks on 3 July though?

Oh, poor Nandi. I am so sorry she had such a terrible time. We're not giving Elbie marrow bones anymore because we heard that they're too fatty and can cause runny poo - it makes sense that they can cause nausea as well. *hug*

I just moved back to Australia after having lived in China for 4 years and knowing Chinese bureaucratic processes .... I sympathise with you. I must have been so hellish All the best for you and your doggies

Thanks dear ... I wish I could comfort my husband more but he's the strong silent type - with red eyes right now.

hi aussielover: I have no experience about guide dog training so will defer to others on that one i.e. whether you should be bringing Mindy to general obedience classes blah blah. In terms of obedience classes, Elbie was 4+ months when he started obedience. Puppy classes weren't very good for him - neither he nor we enjoyed the class-room sessions because he was squirming impatiently. Beginner obedience seems much better for him. He gets very excited when we get there and he does bark there a lot more than he normally does, but he usually settles down for class - we get there 15 minutes earlier to settle him down. There are a couple of excitable dogs in our class and what the owners do with them is to leave the group and walk them around until they calm down again before bringing them back. Elbie doesn't tend to like playing with other dogs so a big part of us bringing him to the classes is socialisation. We take him to the offlead area and he'll run around chasing his frisbee or begging for treats from other owners. He seems unfussed by the other dogs and will just do his own thing - we just don't want him to be afraid/unsettled around other dogs so it's probably more about densensitation than socialisation. There are a couple of dogs that seem a little aggressive at the school - we just do our best to avoid those two dogs. There were a few people in our beginner obedience class that elected to take a break after beginners to allow their pups to calm down/mature a bit because they were excitable and easily distracted, but we decided that we just wanted to push on with Elbie because even if he has to do bronze twice - it's all good experience for him Good luck with whatever you decide, though. You have all my sympathy. Most people remember how stressful it is to be responsible for the welfare of a puppy is but I genuinely sympathise and empathise with your predicament. My puppy brings constant challenges *big hug*

My puppy seems to be part labrador given his eating habits. He is NEVER full but we have been able to make him wait for his meals. We also bought him a Tucker Ball which slows him down a little - otherwise he'd just vacuum the food away