anna

Finnish Lapphund Newfoundland Bernese Mountain Dog Alaskan Malamute Samoyed I love those big fluffers! My little fluffers are beautiful too though :D

I love my cats and have always had lots of them. My dad is a cat person - he had 6 cats before he ever had children, and that was definitely passed on to me. I only have one cat now (a Tonkinese) but I adore him. Honestly, I appreciate him probably slightly more than I do my dogs. I love my dogs, but I relate to my cat better. And my dogs are quite cat-like in their behaviour (or at least, foreign shorthair-like!) - they're lazy, they like to lie on the couch with me, they don't make a mess, they don't demand attention all the time, etc. On the other hand, my partner has always been a cat person (it's one of the reasons I like him so much!) but has well and truly been converted. He doesn't have any time for our cat these days. Joss and Oscar are total besties:

Surely the outcome of this interaction as a puppy is determined in no small way by the dog's general temperament? We have two dogs with very different personalities, both of which have been raised around lots of children and with lots of interaction with strangers. The elder one is super excitable, the younger one doesn't bat a single eyelid at anyone (if he can even be bothered opening his eyes in the first place). Their training and socialisation has been more or less the same. The risk you run when you control every single interaction that your dog has is that one day they'll have one that you don't control and you will not be able to predict their behaviour at all. I wouldn't be comfortable with that at all. I want to know that should my dogs escape or be put in an unfamiliar situation that they will have some idea of what behaviour is appropriate. Controlled uncontrolled experiences, I guess. The world is unpredictable. At any rate, if someone asked me not to pat their puppy, I'd be fine with it.

Aw thank you, they are wonderful dogs!

I don't have any of Joss's little baby photos on this computer, but this is her the day she came home (~16 weeks): Now (17 months): And Rupert as a tiny puppy: 12? weeks: Now (8 months):

We got our second dog when our first was about 12 months old. She was fine as a single dog and I'm sure would have continued to be fine, but we wanted a second dog! OH was training our first dog and I liked the idea of having a second dog that *I* could train and show. We love having two dogs, they are such excellent company :D

She is definitely very, very cute! We all adore her, that's the main reason for my question

My sister has a 5-month-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Unfortunately despite my hounding her (excuse the pun) to go to a registered breeder, this pup came from an ad in the Trading Post and has no papers. Apparently the sire has papers. As the pup gets older, she looks less and less like a Stafford to my (completely untrained) eye, so we were hoping to get some insight from anyone who knows the breed better than I do. Sister is often approached by Stafford owners at the park and obedience training who ask about her pup and are surprised when they're told she is pure bred. With the talk of crackdowns on dangerous (looking) dogs, we're worried that this dog may come under some scrutiny, especially in the council my sister lives in. She has the classic Stafford scream (sounds like a pig being slaughtered ) and I guess she and I are worried that this might draw attention from concerned neighbours who perceive her to be a dangerous dog. It would be great to have a plan of attack (ugh, pun again!) should this happen. Below are a couple of photos of her. She is very leggy and lean, and at least a couple of kilos lighter than the other Staffords of the same age that we do obedience training with. Thanks so much for your insight.

Oops!

Her cough is a little bit worse today, going to take her to the vet tonight to be on the safe side.

That's what I thought :\ Joss isn't a puppy and has had her own C5 vaccination - she's just about due for her yearly vaccs. It doesn't seem to be bothering her much, but should I take her to the vet just to be safe?

Hope this isn't a totally stupid question! We have two dogs - Joss is 13 months old and Rupert is 4 months old. 10-12 days ago Rupert had his final puppy vaccination (C5). Now Joss has a persistent cough, and has had for about a week. Rupert doesn't have it, nor does my XH's pup who also had his C5 vaccination a couple of weeks ago. Is it possible that this is kennel cough as a result of the other dogs' vaccinations?

My thought ...

Ours came home on the lap, both from the airport - ~45 minute drive.

Joss came from a list of names that my sister's boss wrote down when I visited her at work with my new puppy. I absolutely couldn't find a name that fit, and she suggested Joss amongst about 10 others. Rupert is just a really tops name :D And it's a little bit serious and a little bit silly, like he is.

With a baby due in 10 weeks, I would definitely, definitely wait. Is this your second baby or third (you mentioned you have two little babies)? I found the jump from one baby to two babies HARD work. Throwing a new dog into the mix as well would have done me in! $2000 is always handy to have with a new baby as well. I'd wait at least 12 months if I was in your position.

Embarrassment? Pride? I would feel woeful going back to Joss's breeder, like I had let her down That said, it's obviously the best thing, and this dude should get over feeling bad about it for the sake of the pup.

Hey Mushka Weekends are better for us too. Where do you take your Poodle in Mordy? I love it down there, often think it would be nice to be able to take the dogs to The Bridge for breakfast.

WA, I seem to just be sitting down and eating biscuits instead of actually doing anything I'm so distracted! XH's border collie pup arrives on Thursday as well, I am in excited puppy overload. Ambrosia I LOVE her! I cannot wait to watch her grow up.

That is a pretty significant understatement WA ;)

This just made my whole day, had to share: 5 sleeps to go!

Brandy, Sutton and Rumour are all adorable! I love his name lucious, I'm secretly glad you couldn't think of a different one :p 5 days till I can join this thread!

I don't know if this is the done thing in here, can I barge in and make a new thread? I (we) would really love to meet up with some SE Melbourne folk, if anyone is interested? We've only had our girl since late last year so we're still trying to find the best places to take her (we get a bit complacent since there's a dog park at the end of the street) and generally we just like to socialise :D "We" is me, my partner, my daughters (8 and 6, may or may not come, just giving some context), Joss (Finnish Lapphund, nearly 1 year old) and will also shortly include Rupert (Finnish Lapphund baby). I work from home most of the week so can get a bit cabin feverish! I would love to have a regular meetup somewhere for breakfast or something, once a month maybe? Or less often? More often? We're in Bentleigh East. This concludes the desperate grab for friends portion of our evening.

He is very handsome! Did you decide on a name?

What a delight :D