LisaCC

I woke up this morning to discover Nova has tapeworm segments on his butt!! We are off to the vets as soon as they open. He does not have fleas, and he is wormed on schedule with Drontal. He does like to eat dirt so perhaps he picked it up from infected dirt. I'm hoping its just normal tapeworm and not Hydatids. We do have sheep close by us.

Brilliant! Standouts for me are the peacock, 'thinking' gorilla, and the lionesses.

Snakes are not something I take lightly, my partners dog was bitten by a Death Adder at the start of this year and they aren't even supposed to be near this area at all! It paralysed her for a few weeks. After a lot of vet care thankfully she is now fine. My back yard is virtually snake proof as all the fences are buried about 1 foot underground. Perhaps you can look into snake proofing if you have a nest near by?

Yes, he's an adorable little monster. I think that look quite clearly says 'I get to go in your nice clean car like this'.

Nova has cracked 9.5kgs yesterday! at not quite 14weeks! I think he's going to be a big boy! We found another little river reserve out of town yesterday and went exploring again! I've posted some pics in this photo thread While we were down there I worked on Novas recall. So impressed by him, under lots of distraction with Brock wanting to play with him and getting my two friends to jump around like idiots, new environment. I should of filmed it, straight back to me every time! This photo is post bath after we came back. Look of contempt, yet too tired to do anything about it

Oh my gosh he is so gorgeous! I just want to pick him up and steal all that lovely puppy breath!! It goes way too quick

Mmm yes, I much prefer to try and visit Zoos on a weekday well away from school holiday times. much quieter and you get the good look out spots I think that is a brilliant idea! The keepers at Taronga are great, and yes they do so much. When I did some placement there I remember keepers hand raising tiny baby animals and taking them home everyday, feeding them all night for no extra pay. I was also lucky enough to be there when some babies were expected, and they had keepers on night shifts to watch the Camera's in dens for more than a week to make sure everything was going ok! They care so much about their animals I'm sure they would love it!

They are great photos! You are so lucky to be so close to the zoo that you can go so often.

I managed to snap one good scene out at a small reserve today, Then a few extras for fun. I don't even own a camera so just on my iPhone Featuring my Nova and Brock, a friends rescue Greyhound. They had a ball!

I've gotten to the point where I'm not going to take that shit from people. My last dog had severe stomach allergies and you would be shocked at the amount of people that think it is perfectly ok to feed strange dogs! Thank you :) Nova is a Blue Merle Australian Shepherd, the merle is the pale patterning, with 'blue' meaning black base. You can also get red merles . They are very pretty dogs, probably why he keeps being mistaken for a girl. But people look at him and go on about how much they want one, when they don't even know what he is until I tell them, so I try to put into peoples mind that they are a working dog and need a lot of training and exercise. i don't want people going out and buying them just because they are pretty If you look into the Aussie pics thread you will be able to see some more, they come in different colours and the merles all have unique patterns, all with varying degrees of tan and white (or none). Nova has lots of Tan and not as much white as some. The pattern is also seen in other breeds like Collies, Border collies, Shelties, Dachshund (called dapple), great danes, Cardigan corgis...and I'm sure theres more! Dory thats sad people are still so judgemental towards rotties. My partner still gets it with his ACD, apparently they are all vicious dogs.

Maybe work experience at a country vet *before* starting the degree should be compulsory. For the most part they see a bit of everything (well, maybe not so many hamsters). Preg testing a cow would be a great reality check ;) That is compulsory at my uni. The vet students have to do so much placement at a heap of specified places. Eg, 1 lot of placement at dairy, 1 lot at small animal vet (not 1 lot, they do heaps of these ones but yea..), 1 lot at large animal vet, 1 lot at a piggery, 1 lot at a specialists etc etc. Also preg testing cows isn't that 'gross' I think it's pretty amazing :)

More photo flooding, but I took another photo of Nova today and realised I have 3 in the same Spot, 1st is at 8wks old, 2nd at 11wks, 3rd today at 13wks. He has grown so quick!

Lollipup Envy is getting more and more beautiful! She sure is looking like a muscular machine! Also noticed she has grown out of the Ezydog harness! I think Nova has probably 1 more week in his!

Hank you are doing exactly what I am/have been with Nova, No puppy preschool for us, We have been meeting calm known dogs and only allowing play once he has been paying attention to me instead and acting calm. We should be starting Beginners obedience with our trainer (and future agility mentor) this month as soon as their winter holiday is over. The only problem we have had is when he met his sister for the first time since he left the litter last weekend (he is 13weeks currently), she was very much the alpha pup and still is, Nova got put in his place with a snap when he jumped on her and then he suddenly got the crazy eyes on and tried doing zoomies on lead. I managed to calm him down by going for a walk away from her but after he decided barking at his sister who didn't want to play was a great idea... Combining two questions, Nova is great with crowds as I took him out in my arms from 8 weeks. We went to places like kids sporting ovals during morning sport, down the main street, around uni, the local footy. Those girls seem much more polite than most the adults that try and rush me and Nova I'm more than apt at telling people No! I did have to put myself in front of 4 screaming 18year olds this afternoon. "Please don't squeal at my dog".

Great photos Hankodie! I've never had more than one dog at a time, but I do think that giving your pup alone time is a great way to go about it. Especially if the older dog has bad habits. Nova and I went to Happy Hour at the Uni bar this arvo! It's only a 5minute walk from my house and we got some professional photos taken so I should get some to show off soon

Oh poor Nixon I hope he is feeling better soon.

Sorry I'm not sure, I've always had food hogs Just took this photo of Nova... he is asleep. What a little freak lol. Excuse my ugly couch, getting a new one soon!

Has he got any interest in toys? If you haven't tried it, Nova LOOOOVES cheese :)

Oh bummer Exciting to hear about the LUA's though!

Morning puppy vomits are normal, I woke up to one retching this morning, I did feed him dinner a bit early yesterday though. Perhaps bring breakfast forward to 6.

I have one of the fold up plastic ones, very light, while still sturdy. I got it from Sams Warehouse. My old boy refused to use it. But now it is coming in handy stopping my pup from jumping down stairs.

Can I just have one that I could ride. Like not just 'You should put a saddle on that thing' big dog. A giant wolfish looking dog that I could theoretically ride into battle! Yet cuddle on an equally giant couch

Nova hasn't tried it on other dogs but I found it very obvious why he was only doing it to the person who is least authoritative. But as above he has started doing it to Ms Cow It sounds like he is settling in very well

It's normal. It can be a sign of dominance though even in young pups, so I never allow humping of humans or other dogs. I don't mind them humping toys, bedding etc, but others don't allow that either. Nova is a dominance humper, he will only ever do it to my housemate (which he gets reprimanded for) because she isn't very consistent with rules, he will also bark at her for attention. I'm trying to train her at the same time as Nova!

Naww he is so adorable! For not jumping, basically don't give him any attention unless he has all four paws on the ground. When he knows sit, then you can make him sit first too. Think of it as the dog way of saying 'please'. He has to do something that is good to get your attention. Make sure all visitors know this rule