whiskedaway

We're home too. We bumped into Tokkie and Yellowgirl at the competitions (Akira got a judge's choice for Smoochiest Pooch because she chose exactly the right moment to cover my face with kisses ) and we also spoke to Lyndsay and Bully. I saw Miss Squish as well and was going to say hi but she was busy and we never got back over there again.

Yeah, Para Dog had a fair few teams entered - I can't remember how many, because I was told when Tobster and I went to watch one night but have forgotten now, but I know it was quite a few.

We'll be at the Bull Terrier tent. Hope to catch up with some DOLers I'll come by and say hi. We'll be there with Akira.

When I was five, my parents and I moved from the farm to the city. We had said goodbye to so many animals who had to be sold, and to top matters off, we lost our two beloved Siamese girls to cancer within the first few months of moving. So after we had settled in, my parents planned a trip to the AWL to get two kittens as they had decided the time was right to open our home to some new babies. The first one who was chosen was Taffy, who was a Siamese x Abyssinian, and the other one was Sox, who was a black and white Moggie. It was January, 1993 and both kittens were about three months old. Over the years, Taffy became known by a variety of nicknames: Tiff Taff, Tiffy, Niff, Nifter. The first few months, Sox settled in straight away, but Taffy found it much harder to adjust. She was scared of everyone and would hiss, run and hide to keep away from us. The only being in the house that she loved was Elley, our Hungarian Vizsla bitch, and she would cuddle up to Elley next to the heater every night. When Taffy was about a year old, she somehow made her way into the shed and managed to fall into sump oil that had been left out. My parents tried for hours to get the sump oil out of her coat, knowing that she would die if she licked it, and made many calls to the concerned vet. Finally, at around 11pm they tried dishwashing detergent and that got the sump oil out. After that incident, Taffy was a changed cat. She still was a bit standoff-ish, but she knew that they had saved her life. Over the years, Taffy proved that she really did have nine lives. She got into many cat fights and during one of them ended up with a slit in her ear that she always had. She got into the neighbour's shed and got a fishing hook stuck in her throat. She attacked our other neighbour's boxer and came out on top. And she became my dad's cat. She was devastated when he died when I was 14 and she was 9. She looked for him for ages. After this, she became my sister's cat and loved her above all others. She hated Sox and would fight with her constantly, but as they both neared old age, the hatred became dislike and they learned to get along. Two years ago in December, Sox had to be PTS at the age of 16 due to kidney failure associated with old age. My sister became even more attached to Taffy, and my step-father believed that Taffy wouldn't last a year without her sister, Sox. But she proved she was a hardy little cat and actually started to look better for a while. I moved out of home at the start of this year, and that was when I started to see the decline. Every time I visited, Taffy looked thinner and older. She became deaf and blind, and would spend her days sitting in the lounge room in the sunlight. We knew the time was close, though last Monday when I visited she looked better than she had in a while. But it was the calm before the storm, and this morning when my sister got up to feed her, Taffy was off her food and drinking a lot. She went to her spot in the sun and cried from how much pain she was in when she tried to lay down. My sister knew the time had come and took her to the vet, where she was PTS this morning due to the kidney failure that also got her sister. She would have been 18 next month. RIP Taffy. We will always love you (especially my sister, as Taffy was her heart cat) and we will miss you. Run free with Sox, Elley, Gus and Dad.

I don't fit in a standard bath either. My knees are up around my ears. If I ever walk out of the shower with wet legs Akira is straight there trying to lick them. Whenever she's allowed in the bathroom when OH is having a shower she licks the water underneath the door.

Akira is the same. She'll stand there, licking my jeans or my hand and won't stop until I tell her it's enough. Even then she'll still be trying to lick me when I'm not looking.

Haha, you're on! What's the bet Akira will get stage fright? I know for sure she won't kiss anyone other than people she knows though. :/ One of her first commands that she was taught the week after we got her was "kisses". :D

I heard about this on the news just before. Disgusting. :D

I still reckon Akira can win smoochiest pooch (said after I've just spent the last five minutes getting kisses after she and OH got back from her walk) We shall be there after obedience. :D

Has Ziggy been around talkative dogs? If he has, how does he go? (Akira tells the whole world what she's thinking )

Awesome, that would be great thanks Lyndsay.

Hey Dalmatian owners, hopefully some of you will still read this thread. In the next three or four years, I'd like to think about getting a show pup. I'm wanting to stay within the Spitz type dogs, however OH loves Dalmatians and so I said I'd look into them. How do you think a Dalmatian would get along with a Sibe? Do you think they'd be able to understand the Spitz personality? Also are they talkative, or fairly quiet dogs?

I keep going back and looking at those photos of Beyonce.

Beautiful photo, Helen!

Be very careful....if you see one in the flesh that itch is going to get one heck of a lot worse ;) I did that and that was the end of me and now I am owned by my adorable lappie puppy Ella and couldn't be happier. I fall more in love with her every day... she has the most wonderful temperament They have sooooo much personality - but that's probably a biased viewpoint LOL! No, I don't think it's biased. I'm not owned by a Lappie, but I agree that they have so much personality after meeting Ella and Jaana. That said, Akira has a lot of personality too, so maybe it's a Spitz thing in general.

Thanks for that Kelza. Very interesting.

Beyonce is one gorgeous girl. If I ever go to Queensland I might steal her. I'm sure she and Akira would be great friends.

Well I will see you there then.

When we got Akira, we were told a story about how Akira's mother jumped onto a 6 foot high cage in order to catch a possum. So far Akira hasn't jumped that high, but the day she jumped onto my car, I'm certain she would have used it as a spring pad to get over the 7 foot fence and follow the bird if I hadn't yelled at her.

After watching the way Akira goes after birds (she jumped on top of my car bonnet a few weeks back chasing a bird with stitches in her belly) and the fact that the only time she's met a chicken she was very close to killing it within ten seconds, I would say that some Sibes can be very strongly prey driven. If the crows are out in the morning when we go for a walk, it takes all my strength to hold her back because she won't listen to any commands once she's caught sight of them.

I thought you were going to watch Ella on Sunday? Or are you only going for Lappie Day?

Yes, she spent the rest of the day lying in the dirt. Luckily she wasn't wet underneath anymore so it didn't stick, and the spitz teflon coat means it all drops out nice and easily. I love that photo of Alera, Evolving, not sure if I told you that in the Spitz thread. And the photo of Bella and Chazer makes me want to have a nap. It's a great photo. I'm getting in early for week 35. It's resized (and edited) now so that I won't stretch everyone's browsers with the huge image! Akira relaxing on our bed this morning.

No probs. I wasn't going to be able to make it because of the show, and I'm sure a lot of people would have been the same.

I know, isn't it? OH reckons we're not getting another dog for years though.

Beautiful! I love the second and fourth ones.