Leah82

The Bullarab is one. :) The spoodle or cockapoo (worse name ever) is in development in the US

Our cocker barks when someone knocks on the front door and he gets a bit excited when we get home from work but that's about it unless the possums are being pretty noisy. But like other people said this one comes a lot down to training and making sure the dog gets used to spending time alone from day 1.

some people's experience here with cockers is interesting, they're definitely not supposed to be timid or snappy according to the breed standard and it's not been my experience. Finding the right breeder and obviously training, socialisation and lots of love should prevent this from being an issue.

Our english cocker is definitely a robust little guy. He loves everyone and has loads of confidence, this is in part how he was raised but also you need to make sure you pick a breeder that focuses on temperament. Collie has been camping a lot and always very reliable in the bush, he'll wander around but make sure he's still in eye shot of one of his people. This won't continue for much longer as he has PRA and therefore is loosing his sight but as long as the breeders test for it you won't need to worry about it. Downsides would definitely be from a grooming perspective, ours was clipped by an incompetent groomer when he was little so now he gets very woolly and needs clipping regularly. We're ok with it but he would not be able to be shown clipped, even though he was registered in the main register. You would need to become familiar with hand stripping to show them. Other than that this is a really good description of the breed - they definitely have a flair for the dramatic :) https://www.facebook.com/notes/english-cocker-spaniels-australia/is-a-cocker-the-breed-for-you/454154031293368

glad you're finding some solutions :) pants seem to be an australian term, I have an english friend that found it funny that we called trousers, pants. Pants are apparently undies in the UK, I think it's the same in the US either way britches definitely sounds like they're taking advantage of a bit of rhyming for marketing purposes :)

Yay Cocker, seriously though they are proven to be a great family pet, I think they are just a bit out of fashion at the moment so not many people recommend them. They are relatively low shedding and need regular grooming, not as low as a poodle although I'm pretty sure my poodle x sheds more than our cocker Great with kids providing they have lots of socialisation in the early years and love to be inside with their family.

Woah that is huge! I always thought Fiat's were tiny! Leah82 is this the Fiat Freemont? yep, that's the freemont :)

So adorable in his little snood. I think I need to get one of those for Collie, the spaniel bowl only helps so much, I swear he dips his ears into his dinner on purpose

I said no, Sarah has given Collie a telling off for being too exuberant here and there but nothing I would call aggression (more assertiveness) Other than that they luuurrve each other and fret a bit if the other is taken away from home

Looks like it will be in Australia as well... http://www.carsguide.com.au/news-and-reviews/car-news/honda_vezel_due_for_2016_arrival_81522_20140121 But I agree boot space looks pretty limited, you would probably need to fold the back seats down to get anything more than a single crate in there.

Woah that is huge! I always thought Fiat's were tiny! I'm calling it an American Fiat as that's pretty much what it is :p that or Fiat 5000

I just bought a SUV Fiat, it's pretty new in Australia so not many people are familiar with it, it's called a Fiat Freemont. If you are familiar with the Dodge Journey is pretty much a rebadged one of those with a smaller engine and cheaper price tag We were looking at a Jeep patriot or compass but when we saw all the space the Fiat had we were blown away, and it has lots of other nifty features in the base model like keyless entry and ignition, bluetooth for music and phone calls, dual climate control, touch screen display and did I mention the space :p You can get it in a 7 seater but if you go for the 5 seater all that space that would be usually taken up with the extra seats turns into sneaky storage under the boot floor. The down sides are the engine is pretty revy and fuel consumption doesn't look great and it doesn't come in a 4wd but for the price something had to give

gorgeous huga, I did have a sneak peak at the rest of the shots on your website earlier ;) and gapvic - awesome photo, I love the way her eye sparkle :)

I was reading this post before but wasn't able to reply. I really feel for you Kirislin, It's so hard to know when is it the right time, if only they could tell us when they have had enough. My parents inlaw were recently in a position where they unfortunately left it too late. They had a cocker spaniel Nella who had been an old dog for a long time but the tail was still wagging and she still enjoyed their company so they made her life as comfortable as they could with regular trips to the vet which ended up being for regular cortisone injections to keep her going. The decision was made for them when they came home to Nella howling having lost the use of her back legs and evidence to suggest she had spent most of the day in the corner of the lounge room. They now wish they could have given her her wings earlier so it wasn't rushed and that Nella didn't have to experience what she did. But then this is one story out of many and you never know it's too late until it is.

Week 16 - Lake Daylesford

I wouldn't worry about ticks, as far as I'm aware there is no paralysis tick in the alpine region and in May it's probably getting a bit cold as well. I think most of the rules are the same, no dogs are allowed in national parks and usually need to stay on a lead in state parks. The council website isn't exactly forth coming with info on on leash and off leash areas but I've found generally non fenced ovals are off leash

That's an awesome shot teekay, I love blurry water shots. Can't wait till I get my new camera... No week 15 for me lots going on. We might do a day trip this weekend so I'll hopefully have something for week 16

What's one more?! Haha. ;) (That's the attitude that makes OH give me the evil eye these days) I feel your pain Steph. I sent Rick a link for a really cute golden cocker on pet rescue and his response was the following image...

It's near Eldorado on the Reedy creek, gold country I was taking photos while OH was panning for the shiney stuff

I got confused with my photos. This was actually my attempt at blurring water. :p Not bad but could be better

turns out I now have a Sony DSC-HX200 for sales :) It's a bigger camera but not a SLR so the lens is fully attached and has a pretty awesome zoom

Well I haven't regretted an impulse buy yet :) Spent most of the morning reading reviews and looking at photos so I'm pretty confident. Plus being a Sony means there will be less of a learning curve

The bird flying is still quite grainy. I think I prefer these https://flic.kr/p/fS5Nd2 https://flic.kr/p/hmwdjh So as there were only 200 cameras I was a little scared of going to lunch without buying it. Love a good impulse buy, now I just need to sell my motorbike gear and old camera to justify it :p

Ok, So I currently have a Sony DSC-HX200 which is essentially a step down from a DSLR camera. It does a pretty good job but I'm finding it quite limited in a couple of areas. Shutter speed you can only edit so much, I'd love to be able to blur moving water but I'm struggling to do to much without making the photo completely over exposed Here is one that I tried The other thing is when the camera is on sports mode the photos come out very grainy and/or blurry so I've pretty much given up on shooting the dogs when they are moving. So my question is. Am I doing something wrong or have I reached the limits of my camera. And if so will this deal on ebay solve my problems :p http://groupbuy.ebay.com.au/deal?itemId=121314172361

haha I didn't know that. Collie likes to lean up against the wall or the couch when he's roaching. Sometimes you don't even notice he's there until you almost step on him when getting up from the couch