Tralee

How could anybody not feed their dogs? I tend to overfeed my dogs, but they only get 'too much' for their meals. There are no episodes of grazing. Many people, Vets included, keep telling me they like my breed to be lean. Personally, I don't. This of course creates a misrepresentation of the breed. They are not supposed to be narrow, and encouraging people to have narrow examples of the breed can do irreparable harm. It is one thing to have an overwieght Labrador or whatever, it is another thing entirely to imagine some breed in a morphologically incorrect conformation. There is a difference between a fat dog and a dog that is totally the wrong shape.

I'm with Edward. Glad you could make your getaway in a kayak

Not my breed But there is an obvious difference in the camera angle in the second pair of pics. That distorts the position of the head and the angle of topline. Taking that into consideration I like the White.

True. But I lived there for twenty years, and I still reached the point of asking myself: "Is that all there is?" http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfB8dHu93VY&feature=share

Ye olde stomping ground. I king hit a guy in self-defense at Commonwealth Park once. Big crowd was watching too, as well as my kid sister. Unfortunately, I won't be making it this year.

Hear! hear!

Actually sometimes it just .... does. :) Maybe I should have been more specific. Mating dogs, for the betterment of the breed, with two carefully chosen and well vetted dogs, often sourced over great distances and with extreme due diligence and courteousness, between two or more people who are often complete strangers, after long and lengthy health checks and progesterone monitoring, together with maintaining mating charts and sourcing AI specialists when required can be a highly skilled and expensive enterprise. Of course, randomly mating two dogs of dubious breed qualities sometimes just happens.

Doesn't matter Tralee, they have to go as freight from Canberra even if they are going with a passenger and they don't accept animals on the weekend. Very unfortunate, but personally, and I have mated a bitch first thing Monday morning with an interstate sire, I would have had a few contingency plans in place. Mating dogs is a highly skilled and expensive enterprise. It doesn't all just .... happen.

I don't agree with it being a negative perception at all. If you support puppies being sold in pet shops then you support the businesses that do it, and vice-a-versa. Businesses don't get immunity from corporate responsibility. On the contrary it is more acute because they are a business. Its like saying live animal exports have nothing to do with animal cruelty at the slaughter yards the animals go to. How's that again????

Fly down in person and take the 'girl' as excess baggage. The extra cost is nominal.

Northern Rivers Animal Services 2/268 River Street Ballina NSW 2478‎ (02) 6681 1860. Animal Rights and Rescue Group Inc. 135 Three Chain Road Lismore 02 6622 1881 Animal Rights and Rescue Group Inc.

I'd double it then I'd have more money. :D

yep. That seems to be the criteria. The amount of money is irrelevant over a certain criteria. And that criteria is most often the mortgage. Anything more than that is a bonus.

Having had my dogs on different properties I have to tell you its a lot of hard work. Even with a lot of land, money, time and opportunity nothing beats sitting with the dogs, or a dog, for half an hour and being company for them. You should remember that; it doesn't matter how big the yard or what they've got, they soon get bored with it.

I think sometimes dogs don't know that they're not puppies anymore. A full grown newfy knocked my puppy girl from one side of a concrete garage floor to the other side, with a playful sweep of its right paw.

Well, that is just spectacular!!!

Yellow, of course. :D

It looks a bit like the cover artwork from Obscured by Clouds by Pink Floyd

Terrrifying I used to travel all over Victoria with my great uncle and his greyhounds when I was just a pup. Very scary.

Nice work! I've got one here too, who is just over half-way through a 12 week recovery period. But, they really know how to say thank-you.

Seven weeks post-op now. Dog is standing confidently on four legs. I feel like a parent who has just seen their child stand for the first time.

Tough call They clearly want to be seen as good corporate citizens. But, I can't see how they can obviate the issues that arise by selling animals in pet stores. On the other hand, rescue animals need a outlet for rehoming them. It is a very ambitious undertaking and I do not envy them at all.

Yep Jed this seems to be the general consensus. Its a shame as the Airedale is a lovely dog and its all gone so well to start with - only going pear-shaped in the last 24 hours. But if the old Westie and Airedale don't get on then they don't get on. Thanks for replying - very helpful. :) You're very welcome. But don't be too down on yourself, they don't let all the animals in the zoo roam around on a whim.

Well, there could be an endless number of reasons and trying to analyse them all will just lead you around in circles. I consider this kind of problem a management issue. The dogs at my place have to be strategically handled. The green eye monster, among other things, is constantly lurking and will take any opportunity to raises its ugly head. As I said there are other reasons but I ask my dogs to use good manners at all times and I try to enforce it diplomatically. I have to protect the vulnerable and appease the powerful. Its tricky, its very tricky, and I gauge my success by the number of months that pass without incident. However, conflict always lies hovering under the surface. It means you need to read all and every situation before they happen. Good Luck

You need to be consistent in how you manage it. That means both of you knowing and using the same management techniques.