Aetherglow

:rofl: :rofl: I can't help but keep watching the best hunting dog ever. He's such a boxer! Apart from the natural tail he looks very similar to my parents' boy who sadly passed away last week.

Nah, I'll wait for the St Bernard 1.2 - I want garlic aoli in the barrel!

bugger i just brought one of them hopefully it lasts a bit longer than that! The ball is still one of her favourite toys - I just stuff kibble into the innermost part of the ball and she has a great time trying to get it out. That is a bit more challenging than removing the proper treats, apparently! Edited to lol at Grumpette's dogs

Last year I drove with Tarja from Melbourne to Sydney for Christmas and I bought her an everlasting treat ball to keep her occupied in her crate. It took her 2 minutes to remove the treat from the ball, and another minute or so to eat the supposedly unchewable treat.

The average bitch will be in heat for about 3 weeks. She will become fertile at around day 10 for about a week, but bitches can have huge variations in the length of the season and the fertile period, so she should be kept in for the full time. There isn't really a way to tell just by looking if she is pregnant at this stage.

No, some girls will go to great lengths to get out and go looking for a boyfriend.

Wow, I didn't know GI Joe dolls were based on a live model! I had a male friend once whose ex-girlfriend had kept their dog when they broke up. He missed that dog more than he missed his ex, and last I heard, was looking to get another. The breed? A Bichon Frise

I've been waiting to hear the news - congratulations CJ! I'm so glad everything has gone well.

Hmmm... the breeds that strike me as suitable are possibly whippets or greyhounds - quite sizeable, don't need stacks of exercise, very laid back house pets, extremely healthy breeds. If trained from puppyhood they can get on well with cats, and it is possible to get an occasional ex-racing greyhound from GAP or your state equivalent which has tested okay with cats, although they are very popular so be prepared to wait. I'm not sure you'd get one to give a warning bark, though! A dog of any breed with a good temperament and proper socialisation will cope with visits from your Dad perfectly well. Maybe a smooth collie? They'd need more than 30 minutes of exercise a day, though, as would most of the larger breeds. Don't be too put off by Pedigree Dogs Exposed, just do some research on breeds you are interested in and talk to any breeder you contact about the diseases which may be present in that breed and their testing regime. Any ethical breeder will be happy to show you up-to-date eye tests, dna tests, hip and elbow scores or whatever is relevant for the breed for the parents of any litter they breed. Remember that cross-bred dogs will have NO medical screening for inherited diseases or joint problems, and you will likely have no idea what the dog's upbringing and its parents' temperaments were like. There's plenty of nice cross bred dogs around in shelters and rescues, but if you really want to know what you're getting, you're better off with a carefully raised purebred pup whose breeder spent time and care selecting parents with suitable health, physical characteristics and temperament.

EA Salce in Thornbury also have it - I have just bought a 3kg bag to try. I will be trying the cat food as well.

Yes, I've had a look at Dr Dodds' website, and she appears to be very thorough. I'd much rather see more information than less, and if it isn't standard to have all of those done in Australia I'd definitely send bloods overseas for a thorough look at all the factors. I'm more used to human thyroids, and even with those it can sometimes be hard to find a specialist who will consistently test for both T3 and T4 and for thyroid antibodies. I had assumed that the tests were at least available for dogs in Australia, though

I'd be worried about breeding a bitch with thyroid problems for multiple reasons - heritability of thyroid problems, the effects of abnormal thyroid hormones on the reproductive cycle of the bitch (irregular cycles, infertility, possible loss of pregnancy due to the interactions between thyroid and reproductive hormones), and the association between thyroid and other autoimmune diseases. It isn't as clear-cut as being able to say that a certain percentage of puppies will be affected, though.

What Persephone said! The difference between hypo- and hyper- is extremely important! Hypothyroidism in dogs (and humans!) generally causes problems with the skin, hair, mental speed and energy levels, not just weight gain. Have your dogs been noticeably lethargic or seem a bit slower in thinking, developed skin problems or dry, brittle hair and bald patches? Do they want to stay in the warm more than usual? I have a lot of experience with human thyroid problems, and I know it's common enough in dogs that it's a little surprising your vet needs to send blood results to the US. Do you know what the tests are? Do you know exactly what the first test was for? Normally thyroid tests will test for thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) which is made by the pituitary gland, and levels of the thyroid hormone T4. I'm not sure if a T3 hormone test is available for dogs, but it's not always ordered for humans either. Sometimes a cholesterol test will be done as well if the vet suspects an underactive thyroid, as lots of hypothyroid dogs also have high cholesterol. Most cases of canine hypothyroidism are due to the immune system destroying the thyroid or the thyroid shrinking, and so stimulating it with natural iodine supplements won't do much because the cells that can make use of supplements are no longer there. Replacement hormones are pretty much the only treatment, and getting the dose right can be a bit tricky. It's really important that you know for sure whether your dogs are hyper- or hypo, though, because stimulating an overactive (hyper) thyroid or suppressing an underactive (hypo) one can be very dangerous. Don't try it until you know for sure, especially if your dogs's only symptom is that they've put a bit of winter weight on. That could just be that they've been enjoying the quiet life.

I've just done a little bit of research and edited my post, sorry! I'm at the point where someone who knows more about colour genetics than I do might have to add their expertise

a bit like their " brindle" pugs and their "blue" Weimaraners and their 'silver' labs Goodness what next,Tiger striped Dalmations.Anyway i did have a link to another forum ,but i took it off due to the rules.A person on there was saying that she mated her pure breed Goldens,brother and sister,and all the pups were black.So i guess her dogs had a recessive gene from a flat coat.It was also suggested it was due to the parents being siblings.Would this have anything to do with it,like pupps having a double dose of the recessive gene.Just got me wondering. I saw the story, but I'd prefer to see something a bit more credible before I believed that these were pure goldens. It's possible, though, if it is recessive black. If it was very rare in the breed, it would presumably be more common in sibling matings because there is more chance of siblings both inheriting the gene from a carrier parent. You do need to double up on the recessive black gene to get a black coat. Lappies can be dominant black or recessive black, with the same colour sequence that lilli described. There are no 'fawn' Lappies (we generally call them red sable) in Australia that I know of, though, and no wolf sables that I know of either even though wolf sable is quite common overseas. ETA: from what information I can find, though, Golden Retrievers get their colour from the E locus, and that should override recessive black in the A locus. So maybe recessive black isn't possible in Goldens.

There's no accounting for some people - I was a bit horrified when my aunt bought a kitten from me and called the poor thing Uncle Ted! His nickname as a baby had been Loki. All my animals tend to have Miss or Mister added to their names and they all acquire nicknames galore. Tarja unfortunately often gets shortened to Tatar which sounds childish but is easier to say when encouraging her. I shall choose a little better for the next one

My family's boxer when I was a teenager was pts at 14 1/2, and that was from fairly rapid onset heart failure. That's an excellent age for a boxer - my parent's current boxer is about 11 but has cancer and we don't expect that he has much longer. 14 1/2 is also not bad for a dog that had a severe infection and underwent 2 lots of orthopaedic surgery to try and save her leg by the age of 10 days. She was a total darling. She did have a bit of trouble with her bad leg, had a couple of lumps which are always a bit scary in a boxer but turned out to be benign cysts, and developed epilepsy and cataracts at around the age of 12. The cataracts never bothered her, but she used to get frightened when she had a fit. Fortunately it didn't happen very often, and she was otherwise extremely happy curled up on her blanket on the couch, playing tag with the cat or shmoozing for a pat and a treat.

Hell, my family's old (VCA and council registered) boxer bitch would have met that description, including the low set tail (due to an injury as a pup). The wording of that article would scare me if I had a dog that looked even vaguely bully, as it seems to be indicating that even if a bully type is registered as something other than a pitbull or cross the animal control workers will have the power to determine otherwise. There would be tens of thousands of perfectly innocent byb staffy, mastiff and boxer crosses which may fall into this category with no paperwork to prove otherwise. Sure, it would be fine to say all those owners should have bought from a registered breeder, but they haven't, and for the most part these dogs are perfectly fine. For that matter, my parents' current boxer looks to be a purebred but came from the RSPCA, so no papers, no history. The way I read it, they could still be visited by the council unneccesarily if someone decided to dob their dog in to the anonymous phone line, and an animal control worker new to the job who didn't know much about dogs could maybe, just maybe, broadly interpret whatever visual identification guideline they come up with and say - tan and white smooth coat, muscled, right weight, short broad head - must be a pit bull cross, those perfidious, lying semi-retirees registered it as a boxer! I realise that's extremely unlikely, but how likely is it for all those non-papered staffies and crosses? Much more so, I would think.

I've occasionally been in the one in the Epping/Reservoir area when I desperately needed to get some cat litter or dry food and my usual supplier was closed. They do puppy pre-schools as well as grooming, but I haven't tried any of their services. I did enquire about cost for a bath, blow-dry and coat strip for a medium-sized dog blowing coat, but decided it wasn't worth it - I think they were charging about $70, from memory, and I figured it was better to invest in my own dryer and do it myself. They also had small animals and fish, which gave me a bit of a bad vibe. I personally prefer Petstock or, even better, the independent supplier I go to if I can get there before closing time, who tend to be cheaper, friendlier, more helpful and have a shop cat which likes to say hello

It should be your choice provided that you understand the pros and cons. Some vets can be a bit over the top with how they advise clients - mine can be a bit like that, but he's learned over the years that I know what I'm doing, do my research and know my animals well enough to know when something is wrong and when not to worry. For what it's worth, my girl had C5 vaccs and got a very severe case of kennel cough at about 10 months, almost certainly picked up from obedience class. She recovered fully, but was a very sick little girl for a while. I still think it's worth using the vaccination, but I'm aware it only covers a few types and I wouldn't have an argument with someone who chooses not to use it provided they have done their research.

If I had to choose between a fenced yard and allowing a dog inside, I would go for dog inside every time. I could manage with toilet walks on-leash.

It must be frustrating from the accomodation provider's point of view to have to deal with those who don't respect others' property, that's for sure. That's a whole different discussion about why people are so inconsiderate though! I'm just going from my recent experience, and I did have other requirements for the accomodation as well - it had to be suitable for two couples, not one couple and kids, for a start. In the end I booked a place down your way, and I'm choosing to leave my dog with my parents, partially because of the general inability to find a place that would let her inside at night even in her crate, and partially for other reasons. Leaving her outside at night in the cold and wet wouldn't be fun for the neighbors, me or her, and I am rather disappointed. In a broader way, I also find the general lack of rental properties which allow pets rather offensive. It's not a problem for me, but it's tragic how often you hear of pets having to be surrendered because the owners have had to move and couldn't find a rental property which allowed them to bring the dog or cat. I knew someone who was refused permission to get a pet turtle in a tank, and had a surprise inspection from the real estate agent the week after the request was refused to check that they didn't actually have the turtle!

Probably the most stupid-looking injury was a bleeding claw scratch from just under my eye to my jaw, caused by one of my family's boxers going completely off the wall when I picked up his injured mum. I had a job interview later that day. Didn't get the job for some reason! One of my friends has several missing teeth from tripping over her brother-in-law's cocker spaniel and colliding face-first with a chair.

Hmmm... even the term "pet friendly" is apparently different to what I think of as friendly, though. I have just gone through the process of trying to book a place for a few days, and one real estate agent was most offended when I commented that I did not think that a property which didn't allow dogs inside at all, even crated, and had only wire stock fencing should be advertised as dog friendly. When I asked for a listing of other dog-friendly properties on their books only one of about 15 allowed dogs inside, and a lot of them where in built-up areas. Just what I'd want as a neighbor - a visiting dog barking overnight because it doesn't understand why it's outside!

It's funny how once you have a dog you notice the dogs in your neighborhood. I've my girl for just over a year, and so far in my local park I've met 3 Samoyeds, a Brittany, a lovely pair of Airedale pups, an elderly Visla with a young pup, and a German Wire Haired Pointer, none of which I ever saw before I had my own dog. There's also a Bedlington Terrier somewhere in the area. Not so much my neighborhood, but I quite often see a gorgeous adult Chow and pup being walked in Royal Park in the mornings. Those are probably the Chows I see! Snap! Royal Park used to be my dog park, but I've now moved on to finer (read: less muddy!) pastures at Edinburgh gardens. There's a beautiful Brittany there, too, which may be the one you've seen too? Probably not, I live a little further out than that. I know where Edinburgh Gardens are, but mostly as somewhere I drive past in the course of my work. Maybe I'll have to check it out if it's non-muddy though. My local park is a busy football ground so the area around the oval gets very churned up and sloppy, and Tarja has a talent for finding deep puddles