aliwake

Sounds pretty similar to Nixon, though add to that trying to eat the brush :) I just ignore him and brush away when he's in reach!

The point is that the breeder's ad specifically directs potential owners to their website. If they didn't mention their website it wouldn't be an issue!

I don't know if they do stripping, but I've used nose 2 tail in Westlake for baths, and they have a very professional setup. http://nose2tail.com.au/ Would be worth giving them a call.

There's a lot of reviews on amazon, and some of them have reported bad reactions toit. Someone on there suggested taking it out of the packet for 24hrs before putting it on the dog - not sure if it makes a difference, but it's an easy thing to do, so I do it.

Easy to take on and off. They just have a buckle you thread the end through. We weren't really going out and about during that first 2 weeks, so not sure. I guess you'd just need to be extra careful with your checks. Not sure about using it with advantix either, but I suspect it would be ok.

We used it from 8 weeks. I suspect it made hima little itchy at that age, so would probably wait a bit longer next time. He's had no lasting issues though.

My understanding is that the dissemination is different with scalibor, more like a spot on. So once you've built up the initial protection (2 weeks), you can still bath and swim etc without it reducing the protection.

We have still been doing every 3 months too. Apparently it is still effective against other ticks for 6 months, but the effectiveness for paralysis ticks is only proven for 3months.

Ahhhh, I love seeing new Didi pics. She is so adorable!

Most of our swims are spontaneous, so it's usually still on. Take it off for baths though, and usually wait til he's dry to put it back on. For pool swimming I'd just leave it on :)

We've been using one for about a year and a half and haven't seen a single tick. Our boy doesn't get bathed super regularly though. He does swim weekly at times.

I'm the opposite of an expert, but I was under the impression that the chunkier type are 'English' labs, and the finer typed are 'American'. ( I remember it by thinking it's the opposite of what I'd expect in humans )

I have this one and it's VERY heavy duty (almost to the point of being too hard to use the clips. http://www.thevetshed.com.au/buy/adjustable-ute-tie/UTETIE this one looks more user friendly, but less sturdy: http://www.thefarmstore.com.au/dog-ute-tether-double-end

You could try a ute tether, that has a heavy duty clip on each end. Clip one end to a baby seat anchor point (probably on the backs of the rear seats), and the other end to your dog's harness.

I'm so sorry Pheebs. Don't want to imagine how you're feeling Sounds like you made the right decision though.

Tricky!! I think I'm leaning towards the blue one now. But I 'm not really impartial - I love anything blue :)

Some awesome shots teekay. I can't decide between the first two bridge pics, and I love the shot of the wheel!

I agree it was a poor comparison, sorry. I guess it's just something that is still very current in my head. It's great that there is a pool of money for compensation following road accidents courtesy of our insurance payments, it's just unfortunate there isn't a fairer system in place for victims of crime. Though back to the incident in question, it is shameful that these payouts take so long to process - I certainly hope she received some kind of interim payments so she could afford to live while recovering from her injuries.

Or, it was just a terrible accident. Was it law to restrain dogs in cars 10 years ago (when the accident happened)? I thought that was a relatively new thing... The only thing that makes me sick is that victims of crime have their lives destroyed just as surely, but don't get anywhere close to the payouts. Did anyone read the story yesterday about the poor girl who was gang-raped years ago, and was assessed as eligible for $50k compensation, but then they retroactively reduced her payout to $15k. So unfair.

He sounds like a very lucky puppy! And he doesn't sound distressed by anything you're doing - believe me you'd know about it if he was! Our boy likes to be with us all the time when we're home, and makes it very clear he's not ok with being shut outside, ever. (ie if the door is shut and we're inside there will be loud, shrill barking!) But, he's very happy to go outside when we go to work, and he's usually home all day without us. Neighbours have said he's pretty relaxed when we're not there. On the rare occasions I pop home in my lunch break to see him, he's usually fast asleep in his kennel, or on his outside bed, or under a tree... Are there particular behaviours that your trainer thinks are due to insufficient attention? It sounds ridiculous to me. Find a new trainer...

I'm so glad things have improved! I'd be interested to know what advice you received too - it could well help someone else one day!

Happy Birthday Ronin! such a gorgeous boy - love the pic with your daughter!

ah ok - is the off-lead area not fenced? I keep forgetting parks are a little different in nsw. We have a small, fenced, off-lead area inside a larger general park, so the off-lead dogs are kept separate from the rest of the park. it would probably be possible to do training in the rest of the park without being bothered by off-lead dogs at all. I remember looking online for parks near my in-laws on the central coast nsw, and they were just normal un-fenced parks that happen to be designated off lead areas - no fence! Is that the sort of thing you have?

yes to all of the above! Lucky they're so adorable - I'm completely besotted. The idiosyncrasies just make you love them more (when you're not tearing your hair out!)

It might not be ideal, but that's the sort of behaviour you get in off-lead areas. Most people go there to let their dogs run amok and play with other dogs. I guess training with distraction is good, but given he's still on a long lead anyway, could you just use a normal park area to do your training, rather than an off-lead area? Then have less time in the off-lead park purely for socialisation with other dogs, if you're interested in that? Sounds like you're doing an amazing job with your training. It's unfortunate, but I think you'll need to expect 90% of the dogs you run into will be less well trained than your dog, and lower your expectation accordingly...