Leah82

it's not exactly news so I'm going to use that excuse to put this here instead of the news section http://proof.nationalgeographic.com/2014/07/10/hero-dogs-more-than-a-best-friend/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_fb20140726pr-dogbestfriend&utm_campaign=Content&sf3772017=1 Who's got their own little hero at home? I know mine have saved me from the monotony of a desk job for the rest of my life and I'm now just beginning a new career which means I'll get to spend more time with them and other dogs

I suppose the reason I thought it was weird was because when Sarah was surrendered to rescue from a breeding facility another poodle x cocker was surrendered at the same time. The rescue had a lot of inquiries from people wanting to adopt both of them but they expressed that it would only inhibit their rehabilitation and they needed to be adopted separately by people with existing dogs. Looking at the RSPCA adoption ads as a whole I do see some general discrepancies between them and other rescues. They seems to have a preference to adopt dogs out to homes where they have no existing pets where as a lot of rescues generally prefer it if you already have a dog. I understand that there are dogs that prefer to be an only pet but from my experience these are the exception rather than the rule

OK so I'm flicking through petrescue and of course I have a soft spot for the cockers so I came across this little guy http://www.petrescue.com.au/listings/304700 8 months old from a breeding facility and he must be adopted with his friend Rosie, so I check out Rosie's listing... http://www.petrescue.com.au/listings/304698 Here she is with pretty much the exact same description, rescued from a breeding facility and needing lots of rehab. Why would they insist these 2 dogs be sent to the same home where they are only going to feed off each other's anxieties! Surely they would be better off being rehomed with a well balanced existing dog, and they are only 8 months old after all, they have plenty of time to develop healthy bonds rather than what appears to be co-dependency. Anyway I just wanted to rant but if anyone can shed some light on the situation by all means.

OMG that's freaking adorable :D

Our male humps when he gets super excited, I wouldn't call it mating instincts and it's definitely not something that I would call a problem. I have 1 male and 1 female and while I'm aware I probably projecting my own feeling on the matter as far as I'm concerned they love each other and they are so adorable together :p I think someone here mentioned boys can be bigger sooks as well, so if you want a cuddle dog definitely go with a boy :)

We used weldmesh around the base of our fence after the dogs dug out a couple of times. It worked a treat so I imagine it would work well on the lawn :)

So cute CC. It's so nice to have dogs that play together the same way. Collie was having a great time playing with a cavalier last weekend because Sarah doesn't know how to play like a cocker Btw what beach did you take them to?

another Don fan here, he is gorgeous :D

A few months after I got my scaredy cat rescue dog I joined Knox Obedience Dog Club. She wasn't too keen on it at first but gradually she became more confident around other dogs and a bit more boisterous in class. She also became more confident at the dog park. She was learning everything from scratch at the age of 7 though so it was helpful in other areas as well. Interestingly in the beginner class her sit stays and drop stays were perfect because she would shut down a bit and didn't want to engage, once we got to level 2 she would get a bit cheeky and break the stay early to jump up on me. I couldn't have been prouder that she was confident enough to break the stay :p I think its good to have exposure to other dogs in a controlled environment like a dog club as they are all on leads so you're less likely to have a negative experience. And you can use a yellow bandanna to let other people know that your dog isn't keen on saying hi to everyone that walks past. She is still a scaredy cat when it comes to new things but she is heaps better than when we got her over a year ago and continuing to improve. I'm doing Susan Garrett's Recallers online course at the moment and am finding choice based learning is really good for her as well

I'm not sure what you can do to stop this from happening but can definitely attest to not being happy when it happened to us. Not long after I got Sarah we were at an off lead dog park and a couple of standard poodles came bounding up wanting to play. By the time I got to Sarah one of them had it's mouth around her neck. Obviously if it wanted to do damage it would have but it was still very worrying and the situation wasn't helped by the dogs having almost no recall. The owner stayed about 20 meters away calling her dogs and ended up walking off so they would follow.

it's pretty amazing, they can be wet and cold but still loving it I'm thinking I might get some jackets for Collie and Sarah for the next time we go up, because it was snowing last time it didn't take long before they were both soaked though so it can cut the trip a bit short once they get too cold.

guess you don't have to go to Mt Margaret after all to introduce Neko to the white stuff. How did she take it?

Ok so the Catchup week is in a couple of weeks. Who's up for a catchup and training session on the 9th Aug? (I'm free on the 10th as well but hoping to go to KCC for some lure coursing) Also does anyone have suggestions for a location, maybe with an indoor/undercover option if the weather is crappy? The only place I can think of is a primary school in Wantirna south, it has an outside undercover basketball court and is 99% fenced off from the street

Frost? :laugh: LOL. NO idea - there are the odd single white hairs appearing on other bits of body as well.................................. Hmmmm.... It's because he is mature beyond his years and his hair follicles are confused :p

Its definitely an experience. One of the other advantages of costco is they pretty much have a life time warranty on everything and you don't need your receipts because it's all recorded under you member details. There was a story awhile back about costco refunding people the price of their analog TV's once the signal went digital in the US. Also the best discounts are on the vouchers that they give you. I'm not sure if we've got our membership money back yet in savings, OH is definitely loving the cheap food at the cafe and the pizzas are pretty great. We probably won't renew when it expires in Nov coz we'll be moving in May next year and I can't see me going out of my way to go.

There was probably another 6 - 8 of those beds in stock at Ringwood, they also had heaps of large round ones for $30 and a few smaller couch like dog beds for the same price from memory I think the label said they were 36 x 44 inch, I can double check when I get home. Btw if anyone else gets one don't forget to put a picture up here :D

Check about if the store you are going to let you register onsite. The QLD stores had some hassles and expected newcomers to register online before making any purchases. Would hate to have shopping disrupted. :D Ringwood lets you register onsite and yes we came across a few people that chose to leave their trolley in the middle of the isle last night. We just politely push it out of the way :p

it has zips so I'm pretty sure you can take the covers off. I might put a blanket on it anyway, it's not as warm and squishy as their old bed but together they only weight about 24kgs

that's where I got mine from :) they are just around the corner from us and they have heaps of stuff from stationary, tools, electrical, clothes, linen and groceries and booze. But because of that they don't have a huge variety in terms of brands You need to show your membership card at the entrance but if you ask they will let you have a look to see if you want to join. You still won't be able to buy anything until you have a membership though.

hehe :D and yes Sarah does have blueish ears and tail. She was a guinea pig at grooming school last weekend did I mention the bed is dense memory foam...

My husband just played IYC with me and m&ms. I'll admit I had a couple of goes at grabbing the m&ms before I figured out what I needed to do to get them :laugh:

Just under $60 at costco!

I give ours coconut oil. Collie had pretty dry flaky skin over summer. I've been able to clear that up by just adding about a teaspoon of coconut oil to his diet daily

and there lies the problem with cross breeds, it just doesn't happen that way I'm doing a grooming course at the moment and one of the other students has a cav x poodle. She made a comment that she loves oodles even after meeting Sarah and getting the whole puppy farm story

I find the best way to deal with people like this is to ask them LOTS of questions and hope they realise how unprepared and stupid they are being. For this person I'd start with Are you planning on health testing the parents? How would you know what their temperament would be like when they are older to match them to good homes? How would you make sure the puppies didn't end up with owners that wouldn't leave them in the backyard all day and ignore them? Would you take a puppy back if someone had heath or temperament troubles with their dog, or if they decided they couldn't copy with it? etc etc Obviously she thinks because she was a vet nurse she's more than qualified to breed a litter of puppies, although it's doubtful she's thought any further than 8 weeks and $$