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My masters dog (Bindi) did her best but handler error meant that she didn't get any Q's. But my young dog Cricket, first run back after a long break from trials & he got his first ever Q in Agility. We did it in 35 seconds including the table. We had 72 seconds to do it in, so he did it in less than half the time First place of course, by a mile. All the other events he went in we only made one mistake (mine every time). But he is such fun to run & I am very proud of them both. I had 12 runs all together on the Saturday, so I was really knakered & had a giant blister by bed time & on the Sunday we had to pull out of all our runs as both OH & I had to run the Gamblers ring & we were a bit short handed The four of us were going to run Pairs together...but ..oh well there is always a next time. Well done! Totally understand being knackered, I still don't know exactly how a trial works (I'll just learn how to handle first, then I'll start learning about competing!) but that sounds super busy. No good that you didn't get to run on Sunday. Hopefully next time I am able to come along and watch and help out.

We're both having a ball :D yea, our class got pulled forward but I didn't realise why until we got there. I didn't know the trial was on! I was working anyway, but would have loved to have come down after work yesterday. A few in my class had been there though, and were all tired! How did your guys go?

Finally got back to training tonight after missing 2 weeks, thought i'd be heaps behind but we weren't. The only new thing that we missed was a curved tunnel in an actual run, which Cleo struggled with at first (ran in, i'm waiting at the other end, she ran back out the entrance) but our instructor helped me show her how to do it, then we tried the whole run again and she did it all! A broad jump, curved tunnel, jump and tyre jump. So proud :D Also realized, coz I took her to work today, we spent 11 hours joined together today, apart from my toilet break.

Awesome area to live. Yes we have ticks and fleas all year but as long as you're on top of treatments it's all good. Parvo and distemper - as long as vaccinations are up to date, not an issue. Snakes are around too, but I've only seen pythons around our house (in the trees chasing frogs) I don't rent, as I live with my in laws but there are the occasional pet friendly rentals available. I would just suggest looking in surrounding suburbs rather than Coffs itself. I live at Mylestom which is extremely laid back, half an hour out of Coffs. Nala Glen and Coramba probably have good options as well (they are north and west). I'd recommend avoiding the "dog beach" of Park Beach though, I don't like sharing a beach with everyone else in Coffs so I stay down my way at Mylestom. Lucky to see more than one dog on a walk here. I really learnt to appreciate Coffs after I moved away for a year, i'm a regional girl at heart and like everything about this area.

I also lifted Nala out of her puppy pen, as well as opening it outwards but that didn't cause her to jump out. She knew how to get out, she found where my husband didn't jam the edge in one day and snuck through the gap. She's also jumped over exactly one time, but that was due to immense excitement, I don't think she knew what she had just done. She still sleeps in the puppy pen every night (I only have one wire crate and Cleo uses that) and doesn't even jump up any more. She just stands and headbutts it when it's bathroom time as there is no lifting of a 17kg puppy going on here! I do agree that some breeds or particular dogs may learn to climb out, but Nala's particular personality doesn't lend itself to escapism - her three escapes have been 2 x days she was left totally alone in her inside pen + outside run for 8+ hours and the other one was when we came home one day and she just got super excited. What I personally did Spar was introduced the puppy pen from day one, I set it up going out the door to a large dog run outside so she had inside/outside time. We played in the pen with her, gave her lots of fun things to play with and made it a fantastic place to be. She whined every now and then but nothing major. We had taken a few weeks off as it was around Xmas time but maintained her routine of being in the pen with supervised play sessions with the big dogs outside.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUMO. He's so gorgeous! I love how the giant breeds seem so unfazed by the world, like "meh, whatev's" while my guys are like "hey, hey whatcha doooiin?" If my dogs lie down and go to sleep near me (outside of their crates/puppy pen) I consider that an achievement. That photo of Moose and Sumo would be like a trophy for me. lol. It's a dally thing, they are such busy bodies.

Love seeing all the different shots in here. Getting in early again, was a wedding photographer on Saturday and this beautiful window caught my eye at the church. Bowraville Church Window

I'm in Coffs Harbour, so not really close enough to meet up unless at a show (I'm hoping to be at Grafton in May I think, there are a few shows coming up). I'm also only in my 3rd year of showing so I still think i'm new! But i'd help out wherever I could. I will say though, I had a great breeder friend and I mostly taught myself what to do off the internet/youtube and with her commenting on my photos that I sent through. The rest I learnt once at shows, as I have found people in my breed very friendly and helpful (aside from just one man). Does Grafton have any show training?

I get this question a lot as a pet shop worker, and I always tell my customers what I learnt on here - the best food for your dog is what your dog does best on. I heartily back staying on the same food as the breeder for a little while, I only used half a 3.5kg bag of Supercoat with my new puppy before totally switching her off but that got me through a week - mixing with new food. My older dog I switched straight away (3 years ago, I was new to DOL), and there were no side effects. I will say though, my older girl is currently on Science Diet because she has issues forming bladder stones (it's a Dalmatian thing) and she's doing well. Her coat is still shiny and she eats well enough - she's just as into the SD as she is with every other brand we've tried (we've tried them all) My puppy is currently on Advance and growing quite well. She's also had Black Hawk puppy and did excellently, but I switched after I became concerned regarding the purine content (again, the bladder stones, something no other breed really needs to worry about)

Yes! Where the eff does the dirt go?! One of the great mysteries of life.

Oh she still has her terror moments don't worry! I haven't mentioned the hole in the backyard that is so big that she can fit in it have I? lol. Can't fill it because the dirt just disappears! We're just having less terror moments now and more serious dog :) Ohhhh Knotties have met their match!

I was so lucky that our "first night" was driving back from Brisbane airport until 1am, she slept most of the drive and then after a toilet break and a quick introduction to her sister (our other dog) she just slept straight in her crate. We had set up the crate with a puppy pen attached - crate contained bed and the pen had newspaper and a puppy pee pad. She slept like a dream! In normal cases though I would toilet the very latest that you can (for us 10-11pm) and then 3am and then 6am. This is the sort of plan we followed in the early days. Occasionally she would have to use the pee pad but she whined minimally so we didn't hear her.

Thank you!

Gonna get in early (for me) with my 10/52 Nala's walk on the beach yesterday....the reflection was perfect... I just love how photogenic this girl is. I promise I do love Cleo just as much!

Hope everyone's puppies are doing well. Sorry to hear about Nix's issues, Cleo gets yucky eyes from hayfever and that was not nice to see, and that didn't even bother her! (other than the discharge and the redness, there was no itching). Nala is doing so well. We had a fun walk down to the beach yesterday, and we did a bit of training last night before bed and I realized that I actually have a puppy who is offering behaviours up to me and super willing to please. I guess as we move out of the real "puppy" phase, I am seeing more and more of her real personality and I love it! She's so focused on me. Even on our walk yesterday, she was my shadow! I practiced recalls, but she hardly got far enough away that I wasn't even having to worry. Cleo is like BEACH! DUNES! RUN! and I know Nala would probably be off with her if they went together....so I will limit the pair walks for now...I like my shadow baby. And it was Ivan's (Nala's dad's) birthday yesterday, her old man just turned two. And in a month her mum (and Aunty Cleo) turn 3!

haha I know EXACTLY where that photo is taken lol, I live on the opposite side of the river! (just up from the river pool) Best thing we ever did was take Cleo out in the boat and let her run around on the sand bars at low tide, she can't swim away and is safely contained :D she spent the whole time running like a loony and eating soldier crabs.

I got my mum on to this, after years of feeding supermarket branded food. She's commented that the dog's coats are shinier :) they weren't having any issues with food, but wanted to get them onto something better. Either way, with the fish or the oil, you're going to have shiny dogs I think!!! Lisa: some of the bags used to/ or still have a diagram on the back where some had all the languages of the world... I mainly noticed this from when I stocktake and there are always a couple of pesky bags that have their barcode on the back instead of the side. So it may be that they are bringing them all into line with each other. I would have to see the bag to confirm but this sounds like it!

Not good to hear about the poop changes Lisa, if you're unhappy and you have most of the bag left, just take it back. Haven't seen different packaging in my lot yet, but we were due to do an order this week so it may be there when I go back next Monday (although I need more puppy and bird food so may need to pop in to work). If you find this consistently, just PM me and I'll try to talk to my rep about it. Or you can talk to your local store and ask them to (you'll have a different rep as our "zone" ends at Sydney usually) And I agree that Coastal Catch is bloody oily, the outside of the bags are oily when they come in!!! The lamb (Meadow Feast) is the one I was feeding Cleo before our stones issue, and my two fave Aussie Shepherds in town are on it as well.

A bit off-topic....but D toD, did you join our club cause I havn't seen you down there (Monday nights) or are you doing Canine College on Saturdays Yea i'm there, i'm a bit shy still so you may not see me (I've seen you and your two beauties!) I was missing yesterday because I had my wisdom teeth out on Friday. I sit on the benches near the shed watching everyone in your class until everyone is there for my class, and I leave Cleo in the car with my husband until then (which may make it harder to spot me, without my dog). If you're looking for me, I usually wear bright pink shoes and black and pink pants.

Here's my 9/52 Nala showing off her new trick, stamping on cue.

A have a slightly similar story, less reactive though. My girl Cleo was attacked on lead by a little dog and is now on lead reactive. As such I don't let her close to dogs on lead now, we did basic obedience fine as my club has as rule of 2 second hello only. She is fine off lead, but I have trust issues - I don't want to be responsible for an attack around dogs I don't know. We started agility about 4 weeks ago, and she was quite narky on the first night and I made sure everyone knew that she was reactive on lead. The trainer also helped by asking around the group (we were all newbies) who had reactive dogs, i'm the only one, and she said to everyone to be aware of Cleo's space. We haven't had one single growl since that first week, and dogs have come much closer to her and the others in my group have commented on how good she is. She is great doing runs off lead, she focuses well on food (Dalmatian's, what can I say they have a food drive to rival a lab's) and doesn't give two hoots about the other dogs when I ask for her attention (except when it was raining last Monday.....then she didn't want to leave the tunnel, not even for ham! ) I think what helped in our case was the initial beginners obedience that we did, it taught her to focus on me and not the other dogs around us. A good club will go a long way in helping you, it has with me!

Can not resist!!!! I guess you mean an Aussie Shepherd for your husband or did you mean Australian male? Soz....just laughing. Another beautiful set of photos. Haha yes I mean Aussie Shepherd lol.

My two when Nala was a bit younger. Love everybody's photos but Bella takes the cake. I am a huge Saluki fan and would love to have one, one day. Maybe when I have enough room to run several Dalmatians, an Aussie for my husband and a Saluki as well.

I'm going to be late this week. I had my wisdom teeth out on Friday and haven't had a chance to get out and about with the camera (can't hold it to my face!).

Coco was my first adult dog, I took responsibility for her after she was found dumped with her siblings out of a car. No idea how old she was, maybe about 6 weeks when we got her. Her mix is a guess, i'm thinking husky or malamute x kelpie. Unfortunately she came into my life about 6 weeks before I was due to move to Brisbane for uni, and my parents weren't up for a high energy pup at this stage so we rehomed her with a family friend who lives on the south coast and had a beautiful big GSD and a huge property with a dam for her to swim in. Sadly, Coco passed away at 6 months of age, bitten by a brown snake (that she had killed). I don't have many photos of her, these three are my favourites. Cleo is my next dog, and also my first dog in a way seeing as I bought her and planned for her. Coco just appeared in my life for such a sweet brief 6 weeks.