LabsRock61a

I'm in ! I'm new(ish) to Melbourne so still looking for doggie activities. Will bring my black lab Clancy, a salad of some type, and cake.

Ha ha ! glad to see this finally came through but very happy I didn't choose to wait for the 10-day quarantine before moving to Australia with my boy. We arrived at the end of Feb this year, and Clancy's a proper Melbournian now. I'm a bit grumpy about how much lower the fees will be now though. Oh well, my loss is future importers' gain !

Wayrod organised the transport of my Lab from the USA to Melbourne recently (in fact, my boy is due for release from quarantine next week !). Drop him a line, he made it pretty easy.

If anyone thinks there are any particular kennels to avoid, could you PM me with that info ? I'm new to Melbourne and will likely have to travel a couple times a year on business, so I'm starting to plan for places for my dog to stay. Thanks !

Success ! In fact, double success ! I wrote a letter explaining my story, and how I care for Clancy. I also included a number of photographs, pulled from my facebook page, that I thought showed what a good boy he is (from inside various stores like Apple, Prada, coffee shop and a fancy hotel we stayed at in LA). I also put in some photos of him at my home, which showed that it was clean and tidy and well looked after. This seemed to do the trick for the property in Kensington that I saw on Saturday, and I got the call this morning that I had been accepted ! I also saw another house in Ascot Vale last night, which although less cute than the Kensington house, was much better in terms of layout and noise. Plus, it's around the corner from huge playing fields that allow offleash dogs So I applied right away and included the letter with photos. And was accepted this afternoon I've chosen the second one - it's only a few minutes longer to work, and I can move in right away. Clancy will be released from quarantine on Good Friday; I am busting to see him and bring him home ! Thanks everyone !

Thanks everyone. Well, I inspected 9 properties today, ranging from Kensington to Preston, and then headed out to do some drive-bys in Williamstown and Newport. I had a bit of luck - I turned up early at one property, chatted with the young lady from the agency (she has dogs), and met the owner, who was leaving with his small dog ;-) He seemed very receptive to considering my dog. Fingers crossed ! Anyways, I plan to put in several applications and continue with the search, this time extending the search in the Williamstown/Newport area. Thanks again !

Sadly, most of the agents just don't call back when I call them during the week. The ones that do, umm and aaahhhh about specifically asking the owners. Clearly they don't want to be bothered when they know that there will be loads of other applicants. In fact, today I *did* manage to talk with a decisionmaking agent about a property that *is* advertised as pet-friendly. It's a long way out of my way tomorrow (I'll try to get to 8 inspections), so I called to double-check that it's pet-friendly. He was really reluctant to commit, and said that the owners really only want a small dog if any at all. Grrrrr. Can I disguise a 23kg Lab as a SWF ? I tried befriending the agents actually showing the properties, but then discovered that they aren't the decisionmakers at all (in fact, many of them have never seen the properties before, and don't know the owners - they are the most junior kids in the office that get sent out to open the door and write down names and phone numbers). I've tried approaching the decisionmaking agents by phone, but have the callback problem mentioned above. Thanks ness ;-) Yup I've offered to double the security deposit. Haven't offered increased rent yet because I thought that might be considered a bribe, but am at a point where I'll try that. Also actually thought about flat-out bribing the agents ;-) Sigh.

minimax - there are almost no properties that specifically say "pet friendly". In fact, when I see an ad that says "NO PETS !" I really am thankful to that owner for saying that ! The strategy seems to be for owners to be silent on the pet situation, and few agents are willing to ask them. There are loads of people going to inspections (and I assume plenty of applications being submitted), so I guess it's just easier to go with non-dog folks. I get it, I really do ... it's just frustrating. If I knew that a particular property REALLY wouldn't consider pets, I wouldn't waste my time going to that inspection, since there are often 2 or 3 other inspections at the same time. Nik - thanks for the tip. What's the commute to Parkville like from there ?

Hi everyone, I've just moved to Melbourne, and have been trying to find a place to rent for the last few weeks. It's been really frustrating ! Do you have any tips for me ? I have written a nice little blurb explaining how I train and care for my dog, and I have "references" for him (FYI, he's in quarantine right now as we just moved from the USA, he has his CGC, his UD/RAE/APDT Level 3 and has passed his therapy dog certification). I try to chat up the agents who are at the inspections, but they seem to be very inexperienced youngsters who have no clue about either the property or what the property owner would/wouldn't accept. If I hear the words "oh I don't know if the owner would consider your dog, but come to the inspection anyway and submit an application and we'll see what we get !", I will scream. I've been focusing on suburbs in the inner North (Brunswick, Kensington, Flemington, Moonee Ponds, Northcote), but although I've submitted applications, I keep getting knocked back because of my poor dog. I've widened my search area, but I'm getting really cranky. Got any tips for a newbie to the Melbourne rental scene ?

Hello there ! I'm newish to DOL, and to Australia (long story). I just moved to Melbourne with my Lab, and would like to find out about any field training days (or even trials) in Victoria. My Labbie is currently in quarantine, and is the US-style field type. We mostly did obedience work in the US, but did a tiny bit of fieldwork. He completely adored it, and it was great for me to watch. I thought it would be fun to do a bit more here. Can you point me towards resources for Victoria ? Thanks !

I'm in the US and I think our go-outs are a bit different, but I use "ZOOM !", mostly because I love saying it

Hello all - long time reader, first time poster (I think !). I'm an expat Aussie living in the USA. I'm thinking about moving back to Australia, but the timing is hard to nail down (I want to find a job first). I'm roughly planning to move back in the middle of 2013. I have a terrific 7 year old Labrador who is my best mate, my "heart" dog. Of course, he'd come with me to Australia. I've carefully read the steps for importing a dog (http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/cat-dogs/cat4?name=the%20USA%20%28not%20including%20Hawaii%29), and have a couple questions. 1. If I get his RNATT blood test done now, he would be "covered" for a year for both his RNATT result and his rabies vaccination and he could be exported up to one year from the date of his blood draw. If I get close to the end of that year and I don't have firm plans though, I'd need to repeat the RNATT and rabies vaccination, right ? 2. What are the chances that his bloodwork won't show adequate rabies antibodies ? does this ever happen ? 3. Similarly, what are the chances that he won't pass the requirements for ehrlichiosis, leptospirosis, brucellosis, leishmaniosis ? does this ever happen ? 4. Due to a screwup at the shelter where I adopted him as a baby puppy, he has two microchips. The importation instructions are ADAMANT that any discrepancies around microchip numbers will result in the dog being refused and re-exported. I'm paranoid that having two microchips will introduce opportunities for errors. How should I deal with this ? would the "authorities" be open to a letter of explanation from my vet (or the shelter who put both chips in) to accompany his paperwork ? or should I have one chip removed ? ouch, poor guy. I'm sure if you import dogs regularly, the process is easy to understand, but it's a bit intimidating for me ! As I'm sure you all understand, it's hard enough for me to think about a simple 30-day quarantine, much less thinking about all the things that could go wrong along the way ! Input would be greatly appreciated, as would stories and advice about importing and quarantining from overseas. Cheers !

Hi, Longtime lurker, first time poster Here are some ideas for testing your Sit and Down cues, from Ian Dunbar, in kind of a "challenge" format. I especially like the "sit on my hand" exercise, which my Lab managed with a really weird look on his face ! http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2001/sittest.htm I also have asked him to sit in water, and even while he is swimming (to get him to stop). It worked, but he is a particularly literal kind of chap.