Aetherglow

+1 Yep, this is really the crux of the issue. It's all well and good to have more dog-friendly places become available in Australia, but the majority of dog owners need some serious lessons in public canine etiquette first. I think why it is so successful in Europe is because their view of dog ownership is so different, and is largely very responsible. I'm lucky, where I live is very dog friendly, I wouldn't think twice about sitting at an outdoor table at a cafe or pub with my dog. Generally staff bring a bowl of water & make a fuss over Honey when I do. But even I find it annoying when someone brings their bad mannered dog along. Unless you can have your dog quietly relaxed at your feet & not bothering anyone else, you shouldn't take them. As for holidays & beaches, every year we take our dog on a beach holiday with us. Each time to a different place, & it's always great, long stretching beaches for the dog to chase seagulls. I've never had a problem finding dog friendly beaches or holiday homes. The people who own where we are going to this year have even emailed me an extensive list of dog friendly places to go!! Look on Stayz under pet friendly, it's easy! I didn't find it quite that easy when looking for a place a few months ago. Most of the places tagged pet friendly in the area we wanted to go to didn't allow dogs inside even in a crate, and the place we eventually chose had no fence at the front and only an old wire farm fence straight onto a field with cattle at the back, no dogs inside. The estate agent had said it was fenced when I rang to enquire. In the end I didn't take my dog as she was overdue to come into season and I didn't want to risk her, but if she had come with me she would have had to spend all her time while we were at the house rather than out in a crate on the verandah in the middle of winter. Not all that friendly!

I can't understand not loving both! I currently have 2 very people-oriented cats, one a rescue DSH and one a Ragdoll. Both of them are as mad as hatters in their own ways - my Raggie boy is a bit, erm, special, and his odd quirks have amused me ever since I picked him up from the breeder as a kitten and he tried to eat his way out of the box on the way home. He's also won over my dogs-only best friend, who says that all cats apart from him are handsome moving furniture rather than pets. I've decided that breeding cats is not for me, though - I found entire cats too intent on what their hormones are telling them to be easy to live with, but dogs are much more manageable. I didn't like the cat show scene much, either.

I didn't nominate breeds as there are too many, but in general I seem to like wolfy or foxy looking dogs, elegant leggy dogs, and the lighter molosser breeds. I prefer a bit of size, wouldn't go for a dog that looks breakable, a silky or very long coat, long floppy ears, or extreme features like very short legs, very short face, very loose skin, no hair or very heavy. I also don't like round poppy eyes, and I am not a big fan of the stereotypical terrier temperament in a small dog, even though I've met many many individual terriers that I like. I like bull breeds but only when brachy is not so extreme that breathing is noticeably affected, so I rather like pugs, bulldogs and frenchies but would only ever own a boxer or maybe a bullmastiff. I guess if I did a list it would include: Group 1: if for some reason I couldn't have a cat, maybe a Pom. Group 2: staffie or Amstaff, Kerry Blue, Airedale, Wheaten, Irish Group 3: the smooth coated breeds - pointers, GSHP's, Vizlas, Weims Group 4: most of the sighthounds (apart from Afghans), Ridgebacks, Elkhounds Group 5: Lappies (of course!), Aussies, WSSD's, Belgians (particularly Malinois but I like all of them), working line GSD's, Collie Smooth, Maremmas, maybe Vallhunds and Shelties if I were downsizing. I include working line GSD's because I have loved the breed for years, but prefer the squarer shape. A working line temperament would be too much for me, I think! Group 6: Akitas, Rotties, Boxers, Sammies, Dobes, Shibas, Schnauzers of all sizes, particularly the larger two. I adore Sibes and Malamutes, but they wouldn't suit me to live with. Group 7: I'd love a Eurasier! Chows, Keeshonden, Standard Poodles. I love Great Danes but they're too big for me.

The trouble is that he has been a high profile public figure commenting on dogs for so long that people look to him as an authority. I'm rather sad that after all these years of bad-mouthing larger and bully breeds and advocating breed bans even his slight change of heart will probably go mostly unnoticed because he is no longer so high profile and not commenting as often in public as he did. If he were trumpeting this change of heart from the rooftops like he used to do with his other opinions I think people would take notice. Hugh put me off years ago when he stated publicly he didn't like boxers :D That's been compounded with some of the things he says on his segment on Melbourne radio, but I have learned enough to take some of what he says with a very large grain of salt. I think a lot of people don't. After all, he's a vet, surely he knows, right?!

Too hard! The only groups from which I can't nominate at least 3 breeds I'd happily own are 1 and 2. In Utility I would find it difficult to nominate 3 breeds I _don't_ like.

Is that a Deshonko no-groom Schnauzer?

I had one wander through my yard last year, and when you see the head stick out from grass without seeing the body it does give you a start. I suppose a lot of people who are afraid of snakes would not bother to look further.

I believe it means that the muscles are not thick and prominent, but more long and lean. In humans, think of the difference between a lean long distance runner and a powerfully muscled sprinter.

Think I am with you there whitka - next 2 for me - but not for a while yet I just to have to convince the bf. He says where going to be a one dog household, think im going to have to change that ;) I'm laying the groundwork for a second dog now with my previously "don't really like pets" bf :D Fortunately he realised when we first got together that pets were inevitable!

There seems to be a few admirers of the Aussies among the Lappie people I know. If I had known about Aussies before I got a Lappie it might have been a very difficult decision! They'd go well with a Lappie ;)

x 2 ......... and after owning German Shepherds I have also found Goldies LOVE their food!!!!! We have worked with our Goldie and taught him manners when it comes to food/eating but the first time I gave him a chicken neck as a pup he literally sucked it up and it was gone . Exercise is very important or weight can easily become an issue. I'll revise that to _many_ Goldies shed all the time! They do need a lot of exercise to stay fit though, and rather like labs, it's such a shame to see so many that are overweight. A fit goldie is a pleasure to see, and they are usually excellent active family dogs if cared for properly. Smooth collies are wonderful. Still a bit concerned about the exercise factor for any of these breeds, though.

Yes I am open to suggestions I will run greyhound past the big chief :D we only walk every second day at the moment because we have a huge back yard which backs on to an open field with abit of bush so most days I just open the gate and have a walk around there. Then the other days we walk to the beach. LappieHappy what is the dog in the picture? And would goldens shed more than Collies? Bossyboo, that's Tarja, my Finnish Lapphund, at about 6 months of age. I should update her photo! Goldens tend to shed all the time, Collies, like other double coated breeds, tend to have one huge coat "blow" all at once, once or twice a year and lose very little for the rest of the time. I guess overall it evens out! Oh yeah, scratch greyhounds, they usually can't really be trusted to let run off leash without very secure fences. A walk around the paddock is still a bit of a walk, I was thinking more that the dogs would be in the yard on non-walk days. Perhaps a more mellow example of the breeds mentioned, provided that there was plenty of training? In that situation a long coated breed would need to be checked fairly carefully for ticks and grass seeds, but I think that was covered when discussing Shelties.

All three of those breeds would need more exercise than a walk every second day. Goldens, whilst they are lovely dogs, shed like nothing else on earth If you really want a bigger breed, would you consider a greyhound which has tested well with small dogs?

I would have said a small wallaby or a tree kangaroo. Nekhbet, I knew someone once who had permission to dissect road kill native animals for some university project, and apparently the oil from their diet makes koalas' flesh smell very strongly of eucalyptus. I can't imagine that would be edible except to a starving lost explorer. Edited for spelling.

Lappies would love your setup! Like Whiskedaway's girl, mine has a coat that looks far harder than it really is. She generally only needs a bath before a show, and I don't show her very often. Dirt really does just fall off her, and I've never had a grass seed problem although I've heard of a couple of lappies who have had one get into a foot or bottom. Outside of a coat blow or show groom, she really only needs grooming maybe once a fortnight for general tidiness and to look at potential trouble spots like behind the ears and elbows. Dust bunnies in my house are not the fault of the dog, I get far more cat hair deposited on everything. Loves to run around and be silly or lay beside the couch for hours having a belly rub, has never met a dog or human she doesn't like but had to be taught manners for greeting both as she just wants to rush in and jump around, is amazingly gentle with smaller children even though she doesn't interact with them all that often. Being very intelligent, she needs something to do, and flyball or agility plus obedience would fill that need - mine gets bored with old-fashioned obedience classes if it's bashing around a paddock for an hour, so something a bit more challenging and fun would be in order. That said, it sounds like a boxer would suit you perfectly. My family dog growing up was a boxer, and my parents have just got their fourth. I love them, incredibly playful, definitely up for some roughhousing and such happy dogs. The size may go with your current dog a bit better than a Lappie. My memory of the weight range was a little lower than the figures quoted earlier - our first girl was a small boxer and she weighed only 18kg in her young, fit days but I would expect mid-20's is more typical. My parents' new boy is huge for a boxer and I don't think he'd top 30kg at the moment, but he still has some maturing to do. They do tend to leave a light layer of short hairs on everything they touch if not groomed with a mitt but they're very low fuss grooming-wise.

You could contact the Royal Botanic Gardens identification service here: My link If the toxicity of the species is unknown they can't tell you for sure, but if it's something common they should be able to. Unfortunately there are some poisonous native fungi that look very similar to edible species from overseas, so it's best to assume they're not good for you or your dog.

Why on earth would you be a vet if you were afraid of dogs???!!! And muzzle because of breed???!!! Bizarre!

It doesn't sound like you're being anal, I would be shopping around too under the circumstances you describe. I'm very happy with the practice owner of the current vet clinic I go to and also one of the associates for general veterinary work. The nurses are also terrific. They are, however, very much a 'pet' clinic, and their experience with breeders is very lacking. If I ever become a breeder I'll be going to a specialist repro vet for any problem with mum or young puppies. I have yet to tackle the issue of titre testing rather than yearly vaccination, that's my next conversation. If necessary I'll go to a vet that will do it, but generally my vet respects me and would consider something even if it's not something their clinic offers because he knows that I do right by my pets health-wise. He doesn't try to sell me Science Diet, either

I have had or known people who have had all kinds of behaviour from vets surrounding euthanasia. Having to put to sleep a newborn kitten with a cleft palate was devastating, followed by two more littermates in the next week, and my vets were absolutely fantastic through the whole sad situation. However, I knew one vet who so hated doing it that he left a friend's dog with what turned out to be a broken back live a week in pain, something I cannot ever forget. I also had the horrible experience of having a rescue cat with a previous severe injury to a back leg escape from a high window, over a 6 foot gate and out onto a busy road, where she was hit by a car. It being a Sunday evening, I took her to an emergency vet and left her there for observation overnight with strict instructions to put her to sleep if she deteriorated. They rang later that evening and said she had gone downhill, I repeated that she was to be to pts, the next morning the vet on duty rang me to ask me why I was torturing Sudu by keeping her alive - the night vet had put her on oxygen rather than put her to sleep, and she was in a very bad way, and obviously dying by the time I got there. That was not at all professional in my opinion, on the part of either vet. And yes, I had to pay the bill directly after the euthanasia, to the vet who accused me of torture, as well as having to pay for a completely unnecessary and unwanted charge for an intervention that I did not want and would not have authorised had I known. Having said all that, my parents had to have their elderly boxer put to sleep a couple of weeks ago, and the vet this week sent them a lovely note to say that it was very clear that Kostya had obviously had a happy life and been well loved and cared for. That was pretty special.

Tarja got the most astonishingly horrible noisy, smelly runs on Black Hawk, and quickly went from being enthusiastic about it to refusing to eat it. She does well on Advance and raw, and I haven't tried anything else.

You would never get two or three labs comfortably in the back of a Territory. I drive a Falcon wagon for work, but my boss has a Territory which I've driven occasionally. There is far less space, and the slope of the rear seats and window make it very narrow. At work we knew that the Falcon wagon was being discontinued and had a look at the current Commodore, but the back was much smaller, it has the same problem with sloping back window and the wheel arches and interior mouldings were intrusive. We couldn't get equipment which we need to transport in without laying the seats down. It is more spacious than the Territory, but I think you'd be seriously running out of doggie head space if you put a false floor in. I'm going to miss the Falcon, it's great for large loads. I wish I was allowed to use the work one for show days, a Nissan Pulsar doesn't quite cut it!

Ooh, Rotties. I'm very fond of rotties, and they would quite possibly suit. Boxer? Similar size to a sibe, athletic, will go for hours as long as it's not too hot, at home they think they're lap dogs and all the ones I've known have been pullers Of course, you'd have to like short faces.

I've seen photos of Lappies sledding, although you'd need a team :D . They aren't going to win too many races, either, if Tarja is a typical example.

C'mon, EtH, he's gotta like lappies! Tarja is a single dog, at least for the moment. I'm hoping that will change next year sometime, now that she seems to have gotten past teenagehood and settled. It took long enough!

Tarja doesn't seem to have any particularly strange quirks. If only you had asked about cats, I could keep going all day! I seem to end up with weird cats, and I have a gold grand champion weirdo at the moment When I was growing up my family fostered a cocker spaniel with the most peculiar bark ever. He didn't bark, he said YO! He also ate pegs (the soft plastic type with no spring) if he could get access to them, and on one notable occasion ate the greater part of a bag of birdseed. Fortunately it didn't seem to do him any harm, but the birdseed 'logs' he left around the yard made him very popular with the local bird population I have in the past had a bathroom checker, who couldn't be stopped as the latch on the toilet didn't quite catch properly and the door was too far away to hold closed, so she could nose her way in just to make sure you hadn't fallen in. If only she could have learned to close the door behind her after checking...