Leah82

We had a bushfire go through our semi rural area growing up and despite having to evacuate, the house was completely undamaged due to the early prep work that was put in. Mind you fires don't tend to burn as hot in WA as they do here in VIC. Firstly make sure you have a wide perimeter between your house and any bush, ours was about 10 meters or more. It's probably too late to make any major changes now but you can clear the perimeter of any leaf litter. If you plan to leave, pack the car with all important documentation, pictures and essentially anything that can't be replaced (family heirlooms etc). Make sure pets are secured early so they don't run away to escape the fire - this may even include putting horses in a float if it can take awhile to get them on. Any pets you can take with you, do so. If you can't take them (like livestock) try and make sure they are secured and surrounded by as much water and clear land as you can manage. Try and take one car if you can and keep everyone together. Other cars will be better off put away in a garage. If you are staying to fight arm yourself with blankets, buckets and water. Keep in mind that if the fire gets close your electricity will most likely get cut off so if you have tank water run on an electrical pump you'll need to find another water source like a dam or swimming pool. Generally you'll find a lot of people will stay to fight if there are a few spot fires in their property but at any point you may need to drop tools and evacuate (especially if the police are at your door telling you to do so) so make sure everything is ready to go at a moments notice. I hope this helps. Feel free to add more suggestions. Whenever bush fires get close I think of having to evacuate our place when I was 19 and hanging out with the neighbors and their dogs, horses and boats down the road. All watching the plumes of smoke going into the air and knowing that whenever the smoke turned black something man-made was on fire. All I had was the clothes on my back because I had put all my belongings in my car as it was uninsured and when the police came to evacuate us they told us to take one car.

Hey Andrew, We took ours to Oodles of Spoodles in Ringwood after being let down by a couple of other groomers. They did a fantastic cocker cut on him. One of the owners has a cocker spaniel so he has lots of experience. I clip ours now instead to save a bit of money and I like to think my cocker cut is coming along nicely as well :p

If you're in a rural area make sure you have the Fire Ready phone app as well. You can set this up to alert you of any incidents in the area. Currently my phone is telling me within 20 kms of my current location there's a housefire in Glen Waverley, a Commercial fire in Boronia and a Medical issue in Mount Waverley. All are either under control or safe definitely not looking forward to the winds picking up at the end of the week

It's Collie's 6th Birthday today! and his first birthday after being diagnosed with PRA. It still amazes me how well he gets around considering the doggy eye doctor said he would be completely blind by Nov last year. Hopefully he gets through today ok with the wonderful 43 degree heat and we'll take them to the beach tonight.

3/52 - Sarah looking out the front window

Lol, Dodgy owner :p It's nice to have a few last minute attendees The sheltie should be ok, we had little the dolly the chihuahua last time who (while usually pretty nervous) did great around lots of new dogs and people, as far as I'm aware she'll be coming this weekend as well. If it gets a bit much, your friend can use another run for a bit or keep his dog close and away from the hubub. The closed off BBQ area is also good for a little quiet time

I've been doing a little googling to get some tips on getting some great doggy pictures, I found these articles pretty interesting and thought other people might too... http://digital-photography-school.com/9-pet-photography-tips http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-photograph-pets I especially like some of these inspirational shots :) http://digital-photography-school.com/25-inspirational-dog-portrait-photographs Edit: another one - this one is a bit more technical with is good, I think I've finally figured out what the aperture does... http://www.phototechnique.com/wildlife/photographing-pets-pet-photography-tip/

I've added to the map :) Once you get there use the entrance down the end marked in red. The car park is marked in orange and the run we use is the purple one. the run looks a bit different than on google maps as the pool and bbq area now take up about half of the run, but there's still plenty of room for lots of zoomies. there will be a sign on the gate of the run saying it's reserved for Dogs Online so you'll know when you're in the right place

Week 2 - Chilling in the backyard

Really?! No-one has come across this behaviour before? My dogs must be weirder than I thought :p

Collie has developed a habit of grooming Sarah - a lot, She comes away completely saturated in saliva after one of his grooming sessions. Sarah doesn't seem to mind most of the time although he does get told off on occasions. While very cute it's actually kind of annoying for me because he's making me more allergic to my dog. I'm allergic to both cats and dogs but don't have too much of a problem with dogs because they don't lick themselves as much as cats although Collie is changing all that :p Just wondering if anyone knows why he does this, it's usually when he's in a 'playful' mood as his penis is often sticking out a bit as he's grooming away. Also I wouldn't mind if he didn't do it so often but they are so friggen cute together and I don't want to spoil that.

we had a few issues when we first got Sarah of her digging her way into other peoples backyards. Managed to stop her from doing it by screwing welders mesh to the bottom of the fence in places where she could dig. No problems since then. If Missy is unhappy in the backyard alone the make sure to tackle that once she's secure otherwise you might find new undesirable behaviours manifesting

Don't forget they need to be registered before they can compete. definitely Sheena but I probably won't compete until we're in for a shot at a title :) Not sure if Sarah will ever be up for competing in agility (last training session she was hiding from me in the tunnel) and while I'm pretty sure Collie will pick up tracking pretty easily we haven't even started formal training as yet :)

http://www.dogsvictoria.org.au/MembersArea/Membersforms.aspx It's under registration forms at the time. I haven't registered mine but maybe one day if they ever have a chance of obtaining a title.

Great shot at burns beach Rally Valley, that's near where I grew up. I wish I could shoot water like that but my camera has limits as it's a step down from an SLR, if I reduce the shutter speed too much the pic just gets over exposed

Just realised that Feb and March will be a no go for us so I'll be bringing along our two on Sunday. I think this is the list so far... List of dogs Snout Girl- Bert, Sally, Bruce deadsheep- Bronson, Cassie, Dolly labsrock61a- Clancy Steph M - Gus and Rosie Leah82 - Collie and Sarah List of food Snout Girl- something vegetarian for bbq, hamburgers deadsheep- sausages, minute steak, bread, bread rolls butter labsrock61a- salad, cake Steph M - Green Salad, potato salad, napkins/plates/cutlery etc Leah82 - soft drink (I'll bring the car fridge again but will need help as I'll be minus Rick) - btw I didn't bring anything diet last time, does any want diet coke or lift etc?

I don't often get dopey behaviour from Sarah but on the weekend she proved she can be just as dumb as the rest when she body slammed Collie at the park. OH threw the ball for Collie but held him back until it landed. Sarah came the conclusion a long time ago that balls are for running around rather than picking up, so she was on her way back from the ball when Collie was running towards it. She then decided to run towards Collie and collide straight into him producing a rather loud thump that we heard about 30 metres away. Both dogs were unaffected and continued on as usual but you can't help but stop and think..... Why!

I tell people that Sarah is a rescue puppy farm dog, but more so to train the people that meet her rather excusing her behaviour :p It's a lot easier to get people and their children to ignore her until she initiates contact when they know her history, although she's getting pretty good at greeting people at the door these days. Plus I figure if more people know about Sarah's past then maybe someone will remember her when they think about getting a new dog and make sure to find a reputable breeder :)

Rick won't be coming, I'm umming and ahhing about it

We're looking at starting tracking training this year with our Cocker Spaniel at our dog club. He does have the added advantage of being almost blind with PRA. We tested him out with a couple of short fresh tracks while camping the other week and it seems he does have a knack for it. As soon as you say 'Where's mummy?' or 'Where's daddy?' he starts looking for the track :)

I'm pretty low maintenance with a shortish coat that doesn't shed much, although if I'm in the one position for too long my fur will stick up in interesting ways, so keep a brush handy if I'm going out in public. I prefer exploring new places rather than a daily walk on the same streets so make sure I get plenty of off leash time in bushlands, the beach etc etc At home I'm quiet content to curl up inside for most of the day but make sure I get plenty of toilet breaks, especially if I've been drinking a lot of water I'm happy to live with another dog but need my alone time as well. I'm all for cuddles on the couch but if I'm asleep please leave me alone, a girl needs her beauty sleep after all :p I like to meet new people however I prefer to do that one person at a time otherwise I can get overwhelmed and will likely retreat to my safe space I'm also allergic to a lot of things so as my owner it's your job to keep me away from any irritants, like cats, I'm really allergic to cats

awesome photos Steph! love Sarah in her life jacket, I'm such a mean mum putting her in the water :p

Ok here's my proper week 1 as the other were taken a little early :p tried out a few action shots at the park, not the best quality but pretty funny none the less

If you're looking for something longer term and are happy to travel a bit further I can recommend Knox Obedience Club. http://www.knoxodc.org.au/ We've had our two there from beginners up to level 3 in obedience and this year I'm going to branch out into Agility for one and Tracking for the other.

lol, I had a rabbit that used to sniff the electric fan heater, despite being black he ended up having white curly whiskers most winters :p My dog is a dope because he spends his entire life wanting to be a part of the most exciting thing happening and doesn't always know what that is. An example is a small kayaking trip recently where OH stayed on shore and me and Sarah went for a paddle. Collie didn't like seeing me and Sarah paddle off without him so he swam up to the kayak resulting in me dragging his soggy arse on-board A bit upstream he decides he needs to find OH, started whining and eventually jumped to shore to find him On my way back I see OH, Collie's there and already whining and then proceeds to swim back to the kayak :p it can get pretty exhausting to watch