Dxenion

Family self portrait.

There were 462 nominations this year. If a person we nominated doesn't appear on the list, are we able to find out why?

Sometimes looking up a word in another language could give you the inspiration you need. Perplexor (latin for mystify) Mysterium (latin for mystery) Athleta (latin for athlete) Natator (latin for swimmer) Venator (latin for hunter) Amica (latin for friendly) Just a few ideas from the character description of a lab. I used Google Translate: http://translate.google.com/#en|la| Please let us know what you decide on.

I've seen very trainable German Shepherds that are so good you wonder if they've been computer programmed, and then I've met ones where you wonder if the lights are on! Even though Poodles, Border Collies and German Shepherds usually feature high on the 'smartest dog' lists, you'd need to asses the individual dog to determine trainability. Environmental factors can also effect obedience and trainability. Smartness, intelligence, trainability and obedience should be considered as 4 different categories. A JRT is extremely smart when working as a ratter, heelers have to have their wits about them when dealing with grumpy cattle, the list of things a Guide Dog (usually a lab or goldie) must master to work alone in the community with a human's life in its paws is incredible. Yet how would the Guide Dog go rounding up cattle? Horses for courses.

Our dog has severe protein based food allergies and breaks out in a similar rash in the armpits, groin and along the belly within 72 hours of consumption. He has a limited list of safe foods and we are constantly on the hunt for new ingredients we can add to his diet. When we find something he hasn't had before, we try him on it and wait 72 hours to see if he reacts. If he does, we put him on macrolone for 2-3 days to control the itching and wash the skin with betadine to prevent secondary infections. Although the reaction time/ severity of the symptoms for a food allergy response may vary between dogs, it may be something else to consider. If the rash persists, the vet can arrange for a allergy test to determine exactly what's causing it.

Be careful - some of the Fish4dogs varieties have Chicken in them. You have to read the ingredients on the packaging carefully if you have a dog with food allergies. You are better off buying the home brand tins of fish (without the fancy packaging and price) otherwise go to the fishmonger at the end of day or just before they get their next stock in. We've found they will happily offload fish which is about to pass the 'sold by' date for far less than retail price.

Is this the sort of thing you're after - I posted this in another thread: http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?s=&a...t&p=5087987

I am protective of my GSDs because they've been attacked when on leash too many times by big, medium and small dogs not under effective control of their owners. We used to give the offending dog a second chance and try to reeducate the owner but not any more. We had a serial offender living two doors down. Her small poodle would dig under the gate and take off on a walk of its own, mock lunging at passing kids that got too close to the 'cute little dog' and launching into passing on leash dogs. It was well known in the street and people used to walk the other way if they saw it. One day it ran up to us as we were sitting out the front with our dogs tethered on tie out stakes (so no one could ever accuse our dog of rushing at them which can be considered as a dog attack). It launched into our elderly boy without provocation (he was asleep at the time). OH grabbed the poodle by the scruff of the neck and put it in a crate. I asked him if he was going to take it back - he said no as he'd had enough of this dog's bad behaviour which the owner continued to enable. He bypassed the owner's house, took the dog to the pound and filed a complaint. Do you think the fine for the dog attack and fee to get the dog out of the pound made the owner take immediate action? Within 24 hours, that dog was back on our lawn snapping at us. This time OH called the police and ranger. The police took our statement and the ranger took the dog. Never had a problem after that and the owner moved away within a few weeks. I am constantly frustrated that if my dog did what this dog did, it would have been seized, and at best be declared as a DD or worse PTS. Why is it that when a small dog behaves this way, the general public perception is to dismiss it but if a large breed acted in the same way, it would make headlines? The OH said he was surprised at the attitude of the pound when he made his first report. They gave him the indication that the owner would probably get a slap on the wrist, nothing more. Bad behaviour should be treated in the same manner, no matter what size the dog. Maybe making people sit a test for a dog owner's licence would make them aware of the law and their responsibilities for dog health, hygiene and appropriate behaviour in a public place. Edited to add that we did approach the owner the first time we observed this dog lunging at kids and other dogs. We told her that it can be constituted as a dog attack and that her dog could be seized. We also told her that if the dog took on a large dog with a short fuse, her dog could be seriously injured. The response - "oh she'll be ok, she can look after herself", hence why the OH took the dog to the pound.

For our dogs we pick ancient deity names that relate somehow (no matter how obscure): Java - another name for Vulcan, the patron deity of alchemy. His appearance was described as sooty (the dog is black) Odin - Father of the Germanic Gods (the dog's dad was a German import) Tlaloc - Aztec god of rain (the dog adores water in any form) Rakim - Oceanic God of rainbows. When you combine all the colours of the rainbow, you get white (the dog is white) Our two moray eels are called Rod (short for Goldenrod, a Star Wars reference - the eel is gold coloured) and the other eel is called Wade after an audience member at a stand-up comedian's show who was singled out in a segment on names for hunters. I don't think it matters if the name is human or not, it's what it answers to that matters. You can bet your bottom dollar that if your dog has a dog name, at some point a celebrity will use it for their child.

Have you looked at Canidae or Eagle Pack? Eagle Pack - http://www.eaglepack.com/product-orignal-dog.aspx?product=86 Canidae - http://www.canidae.com/dogs/grain-free-sal...-morePURE2.html Both list the ingredients and fat/ protein % and both are available in Australia. Please let us know what you end up feeding Casper.

My youngest has learnt that by using his nose, he can push close various things ie door, dishwasher, drawers, fridge. Very useful when your hands are full - not so useful when you are trying to go through the door, load the dishwasher, get something out of the drawer or fridge.........

This happened to me too. The first time it happened, I stood in front of my dog, told the owner to put hers on a lead (in an on leash area) and received a mouthful of abuse for it. The second time it happened (same woman, same dog), I told her to put the dog on lead and when she didn't I took a photo of the pair (to prove it was off leash, where it was and its distance from me), rang the police who attended and kept her there until the Ranger arrived and booked her. She was saying my dog started it, her's was friendly and not off leash etc. Had I let her go on and paint my dog in a bad light, it could've ended bad for us. This woman is a serial off leash offender and her dog is renown for being allowed to invade other dog's personal spaces. My dog has DA fear issues because another clown who thought it was fine to have his large dog off leash on a building site (banned area), tried to say it was my fault when his unrestrained dog ran out onto the street and attacked my (on leash) dog as we were walking past in the middle of the road. It took three men to herd his dog away from us and my dog's response - well let's just say that having anal gland evacuation on your jeans is not the most pleasant aroma. Years later I'm still dealing with it and now have a very short fuse when people allow their dogs too close after being asked to keep away. Taking a stance and upping the ante if they wont listen may not be a popular option but you are protecting your dog's physical and psychological welfare. Just because her dog is allegedly friendly does not give her the right to break the law and/ or invade other people's and dog's personal space. Everytime you stand up for your dog, whether it be at an obedience club or in a public space, know that there are others out there that appreciate you educating people by whatever means necessary to get the message across. The yellow ribbon at a dog club sounds like a great tool for the wellbeing of all.

Does any one know where you can get a PAT for an owner trained assistance dog in WA (Perth area)? There is one organisation I know of in WA but after 7 months trying to get a PAT through them, I have just be told this morning that you: 1 - Must be a permanent WA resident. As soon as you leave the state, they require their jackets back and certification ceases because they cannot provide follow up support, and 2 - You must complete 100 hours of training with them before you can do the PAT. As we move about alot for work, we need someone who can conduct the PAT and provide certification which would be recognised throughout Australia.

Great photo. How did you do it?

Re detecting tea and sitting as a response: Is the dog sitting on detection and then playing with the lunch box, or not sitting and playing straight away? Are you using a clicker or word to mark the correct response (sitting)? Is he responding immediately to your mark? If not, this may mean he hasn't put two and two together that click = reward, or the reward isn't powerful enough. For example, if I asked you to walk across hot coals and gave you $20 at the end, the next time I asked you to walk across hot coals when your favourite singer is in the next room, I doubt you'd do it. However, if the first time I asked you to walk across hot coals and then gave you $1000, I bet the next time I asked you to do it and there was a desirable distraction nearby, you'd walk the coals. $1000 is too great a reward to ignore. What reward is too great for your dog to ignore? If he is sitting and then playing, what do you do immediately after he sits (ie are you inadvertantly rewarding the play because there isn't enough time to get the mark in for the sit before he starts playing)? If he doesn't sit and starts playing straight away, what do you do? Do you walk away, completely ignoring him or take the lunchbox back off him? The trick here is not to confuse the dog if there is a short window between indication and play. If you time it wrong, you may end up ignoring the indication and the dog may not know which behaviour gets no attention. Taking the lunchbox away is still attention. Have you tried placing the tea bags in an object he can't pick up or play with (so that the dog is self-discouraged from play and is therefore not set up to fail)? You can then try again with progressively smaller objects until you end up back with the lunch box. The idea being that you have stopped the desire to play by making the object too big to play with, giving you a chance to mark and huge reward the sit. For the dog it is a much better reward than playing and being ignored by you. Also, changing the object that the tea bags are in will break the association between a teabag scented lunchbox and playtime and return the focus to the game of 'what object is the tea bag in today'. Also, assuming he sits at the scent, after marking do you take him away from the lunchbox to reward him so that he doesn't get to play with or next to the target item? Also, have you concentrated on long sit training to reinforce that 'sit until I say to move' gets a reward? We did the same thing when training our dog to find truffles, we started out with a no-fail basic setup and once he got the idea that find truffle + down = squeaky Wubba (favourite toy), we buried the truffle in different pots and different locations so that the dog could not anticipate where the truffle was, intensifying the desire to look for it in anticipation of the huge reward he got when he found it. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Am in the process of moving to NSW and have been looking up the various laws so I know what I'm in for. For those in NSW, you can have your dog with you in outdoor dining: COMPANION ANIMALS ACT 1998 - SECT 14A 14A Dogs not prohibited in outdoor dining areas in certain circumstances (1) The relevant legal restrictions do not prohibit a dog (other than a dangerous or restricted dog) from being in an outdoor dining area if: (a) the dog is under the effective control of some competent person and is restrained by means of an adequate chain, cord or leash that is attached to the dog, and (b) the person does not feed the dog or permit the dog to be fed, and © the dog is kept on the ground. (2) However, if the outdoor dining area is within a public place declared by a local authority to be an off-leash area: (a) it is not necessary for the dog to be restrained by means of a chain, cord or leash, and (b) the dog can be fed while the dog is on the ground, but not using any apparatus provided for the consumption of food by humans, and © the dog can sit on a person’s lap, but must not be allowed to sit on any table or chairs or make contact with other apparatus provided for the consumption of food by humans. (3) This section does not confer any entitlement on a person accompanied by a dog to use any table and chairs or other apparatus provided in an outdoor dining area by a food business (within the meaning of the Food Act 2003 ) without the permission of the operator of the food business. (4) The "relevant legal restrictions" are: (a) section 14 (1) (b), and (b) the Food Act 2003 and the Food Standards Code (within the meaning of that Act). (5) An "outdoor dining area" is an area that: (a) is used for the consumption of food by humans, and (b) is not enclosed, and © can be entered by the public without passing through an enclosed area in which dogs are prohibited by this Act or the other relevant legal restrictions, but does not include any part of an area that is used for the preparation of food. (6) An area is enclosed if, except for doorways and passageways, the area is substantially or completely enclosed, whether permanently or temporarily, by: (a) a ceiling or roof, and (b) walls or windows (or both). A point to note is that it also says that you cannot be deemed to be in effective control if one person is walking more than 4 dogs. For other states, there is legislation that relates to a dog being allowed in an outdoor dining area if that area is on a public pathway (ie table and chairs out the front of a cafe), unless there is a local law to override it. I'll post the link here when I find it. Found this for South Australia. This was for the Walkerville Council but it makes reference to a state government exemption which now allows dogs in outdoor dining areas. Still looking for the reference to the exemption: The State Government has exempted approved outdoor dining areas from Food Safety Standard Clause 3.2.2, sub-clause 24(1)(b) (which prohibits dogs in dining areas) providing the area is not enclosed. (See SA Government Gazette 13/11/03 p 4037 for definition of enclosure.) Nevertheless, animals must be under the control of their owners and must not cause a nuisance to other diners or pedestrians in accordance with the Dog and Cat Management Act 1995.  An Outdoor Café Permit holder may deny the entry of animals to a defined outdoor dining area under his/her control, in sections containing furniture, but may not prevent animals from passing by on public footpath space.  Animals must not be provided with food or permitted to seek and take food anywhere in or near to outdoor dining areas. One water dish may be provided for animals, providing it is on the perimeter of the designated dining area and is at least 1 metre away from patrons seated at tables.

Hi, Still no luck. I thought we may have secured a rental property nearby but that fell through too. We're now looking at the professional walker contacts provided by AQIS. We have received a few very positive reviews about one company in particular. It's a last resort when compared to our original plan but at least this way our baby gets as much socialisation as allowed until we find accommodation.

If I understand this issue correctly, the command must be a single word and must not be repeated. Assuming that the hearing impaired person can lip read the judge's instruction (or has some other means of receiving the instruction), how does the judge assess if the signed command is a single word and not repeated? I believe Echo has raised a very valid point that if a person (competitor or judge) is disadvantaged by a current rule (which could possibly be considered as disability or language discrimination), then it needs to be changed. Giving the judge a list of the words/ signs you use may not overcome this issue because as another poster pointed out, how would a judge not familar with the language be able to independently confirm that it is one word? Maybe this is an opportunity for a volunteer translator. Provided the competitor advises the competition body of their requirement within a reasonable time frame, an approved translator can be provided by the organiser of the event. That way, the judge knows exactly what the competitor is saying, the competitor can use their language of choice and no one is disadvantaged.

If the competition rules state that the commands can only be given in English, could that be considered as discrimination on the grounds of race (language and it's relation to the person's ethnicity)? Extract from the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/rda1975202/s9.html): RACIAL DISCRIMINATION ACT 1975 - SECT 9 Racial discrimination to be unlawful (1) It is unlawful for a person to do any act involving a distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of any human right or fundamental freedom in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life. (1A) Where: (a) a person requires another person to comply with a term, condition or requirement which is not reasonable having regard to the circumstances of the case; and (b) the other person does not or cannot comply with the term, condition or requirement; and © the requirement to comply has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, by persons of the same race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin as the other person, of any human right or fundamental freedom in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life; A quick chat with the WA Equal Opportunities Commission highlighted that if a person could not reasonably comply with the requirement to issue commands in English as it is not their native language, they could possibly have a case. A point to consider is if commands in another language are allowed and it is not a language the judge is familiar with, would the judge have a case based on the fact that the use of non-english commands prevents them from being able to fairly judge the use of the commands as they apply to the rules of the competition. Something to consider in our multi cultural country. Edited to include that the Disability Discrimination Act may come into effect here too as you cannot discriminate on the basis of the person's disability. One example I can think of is for competitors who are hearing impaired (the person, not the dog) and use sign langage to communicate with their dog. I don't think it would be reasonable to expect a hearing impaired person to have to try and speak english commands (if they are unable to) just for the sake of the competition. Other than how the command is given, if a person can train their dog for competition and meet all of the other requirements, that rule would prevent them from being able to enter. Then again, the same situation arises for any judge not familar with sign language - how can they reasonably expected to judge the use of commands in sign language as they apply to the rules of the competition?

I'm watching my pup's flight across from Sweden to Sydney via London and Singapore on http://flightaware.com/live/flight/BAW15/h...1205Z/WSSS/YSSY He's just landed in Singapore and will shortly leave on the last leg of his epic journey. This is our baby in Stockholm just before boarding. The breeder did a fantastic job over the last few weeks getting him used to his crate to minimise the stress of the flights.

We rent as well. Along with our reo wire fence panels in the garden, we have two 1.8 metre triple dog runs: http://shop.vebopet.com.au/store/4-metre-t...-1-8m-tall.html Simple for one person to put together, freestanding, takes only minutes to set up. Dogs are very secure. Can divide one run into multiple separate runs. Forms any shape you want. We also take the panels away with us when visiting relatives up north. It safely separates our furkids from the resident furkid and gives them their own off leash area to relax. At home it also makes a great temporary run in the garage (safely separated from anything that could harm them) for if we have to go out without them. Available in a variety of heights and quantity of panels. We also have a wonderful friend on hand who will fursit overnight if required. A combination of the panels, run and fursitter gives us peace of mind that our kids will be there when we come home - dognapping and baiting are the stuff of my worst nightmares. Check out the local dog obedience club or show club. They may have a list of dog enthusiastic sitters or you may meet someone with a similar breed who'd jump at the chance to spend time with yours.

I wonder if the government has looked at these: http://www.puppyparadise.com/store/evac-muzzle-p-34.html Obviously it doesn't solve problems associated with other species but if your dog is wearing a muzzle such as this it would prevent it from be able to bite, it's very visual (and therefore more reassuring for other people) and should overcome some OH&S concerns which would then allow helicopter and other rescue crews to take the dog as well. The US seems to be more forward thinking on pet evacuations than we do here. Edited - spelling

Grab a pile of second hand bricks and make a square stacked column of them up to the height of the top of the fence (so there's no way your pup can see over them). It visually blocks off the space and looks neat too. Then spray the bricks with a scent the dog hates to further deter investigation. To give a bit more stability to the brick columns, try to stack two one way and then for the next level, stack two at 90 degrees horizontal to the first layer. If you're worried about them toppling if the dog jumps up at them, hammer in a star picket behind the column for additional support. This way, neither the shed or fence gets damaged and the dog cannot get into the gap.

Have never quite figured out a caption for this facial expression. Feel free to offer suggestions. I started out by putting one party hat on him for his 1st birthday photo.........

Gear safe for use in salt water - leads, collars, harnesses, long leads, floating leads, grab leads etc with a salt water guarantee. Also looking for a salt water safe remote activated canine emergency locator. Useful for boat based dogs. Haven't found anything in Australia yet but there are a few stores in USA carrying products we are currently looking at. We made our own marine grade long leads (to use when swimming a dog up and back along a jetty) but commercial ready made products have been impossible to find here (for me anyway). Would be great if an Australian company could look at manufacturing marine grade dog products so we can support our local industry.