Leah82

If I remember correctly Tapua was breeding field bred dogs though, this would likely mean they would be too driven for this kind of work I would imagine? Looking at the website they appear to breed a lot of dogs that go on to be assistance and therapy dogs

I may or may not have just purchased these... http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=121213557224&var=420198161596

Came across this last night. It's the most awesome thing ever!

I'm another one that expects a few seconds of eye contact once the bowl is on the ground. We used to get Collie to do a couple of tricks before hand but he'd get so excited and start offering tricks that you didn't ask for so I didn't really see the benefit in it. I now just go with a few seconds of stay and watch so meal time is a bit calmer.

I'd suggest a Bernese mountain dog as well. I've met a few and they're very gentle and placid dogs and like to sit on your feet :) Wikipedia also says they have a natural gift for pulling small carts and wagons and are affectionate and patient towards children The only down side would be the life expectancy

this one just popped into my inbox at work. Seems some large breeds are more adapted to fitting into small places that others :p

Not anywhere near the size of a greyhound by my two always insist on snuggling up together regardless of the bed size.

He's looking very handsome now. Although I think it's time for a new collar to go with his new look - something other than pink :p

Ours gets a few trips to the park a week. My OH finds it boring taking them on walks so that doesn't happen as much as I'd like. We have a sports oval down the end of our street that is mostly fenced in by a school and the cadbury factory, so while it's not specifically a dog park it's nice and safe. Luckily we haven't had any issues with other dogs there either...yet :) If there is too much sport happening on the oval we head to another park where there is a bit of artificial forest, lots of sniffing and exploring happens there

stolen from google, just to keep everyone happy :)

thanks Sheena. Helpful as always. I don't think the food is the problem, she's loves her cabana. She's possibly just getting a bit confused so I'll try and keep the sessions shorter :) Oh and I'll probably end the sessions with a cuddle over a party, she's not too much of a party animal but loves a cuddle (from me anyway)

You want your dog to want to come back to you, so when it does make sure you reward it. If you punish your dog then it will be expecting that in future and it will be even harder to get him/her to come back. Simples :) This was raised at dog training the other week, Sarah and I have finally advanced to class 3 where the off lead work starts. A few dogs decided that off lead stays were a good excuse to run around like crazy and playing try and catch me with their handlers. The instructor made sure the handlers rewarded their dogs once they eventually returned :p You can saying something like their dog might be more motivated to come back quicker next time if they reward it when it finally does

I've started clicker training with Sarah, I find she gives up a bit easily though. I have her sniffing the box as suggested in your training Sheena but I can't get her to move from that to pawing the box, although I suspect her anxieties about new things may be a contributing factor. It is pretty funny though, she sniffs the box then plants her bum on the ground and looks at me for a treat. If I don't click and treat after a few goes she seems to forget about the box altogether. Whenever she sees me getting a treat she plants her bum and stares at me waiting which isn't great when I want her to stand so I make sure I have one in my hand ready :)

I'm interesting in this statement - probably a bit off topic. I know the idea of being a registered breeders is to continue and better the breed. If you have a recessive colour that is not considered a fault in the dog and you don't have breeders with an interest in keeping that specific colour in the gene pool then don't you risk making that colour practically extinct and therefore wouldn't that be detrimental to the breed? Just a quick example, you can see my Liver Roan cocker spaniel below. Liver Roan while acceptable in the breed standard is rarely found in the show circuit these days. The Cocker Spaniel Club of Victoria website doesn't even include liver in their list of cocker spaniel colours. If there aren't any breeders with an interest to continue the colour then it will likely end up being a rare throw back colour that is considered a fault.

I haven't had a puppy since I was 6 and I really really want one but it's going to be quite a few more years till that happens. I like to look in here to see what all the puppies are up to and I have to admit to loving the easiness of having 2 adult dogs from time to time :)

Ours sleep on a dog bed in a small living area outside our bedroom. While my OH would like them in bed they aren't for 2 reasons... I'm allergic to dogs I'm a pretty light sleep and Sarah snores On Sunday morning the OH went to dog training with Collie, I stayed in bed because the party next door kept me awake the night before. About 15 minutes after they left I can hear Sarah outside my room pacing and whining because Collie was gone. To get her to calm down she ended up like this...

The following information is the 1st thing to appear on the website for the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy Advisory Council. This says to me that they clearly didn't do much in the following 2 years... I could care less about the names of councils and ministers. Actions speak louder than names :p New advisory committee appointed In October 2011, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry appointed a new Australian Animal Welfare Advisory Committee. This Committee replaces the previous National Consultative Committee on Animal Welfare and the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy Advisory Committee in line with recommendations from the Review of the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy 2009 by Bruce Gemmell PDF Icon PDF [405 KB]. Members of the AusAWAC were selected because of their skills, knowledge and experience across a wide range of stakeholder groups, and their ability to steer complex animal welfare issues and policy development to a successful conclusion. Membership of the AusAWAC Chair: Dr Gardner Murray, Special Advisor to OIE, former Australian Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Hugh Wirth AO, expert member Dr Kevin Doyle, expert member Mr Keith Adams, expert member Prof Mary Barton, expert member Dr Norm Blackman, expert member Mrs Helen Cathles, expert member Mr Brett McCallum, expert member Dr Lyndy Scott, expert member Dr Dedee Woodside, expert member Ms Glenys Oogjes, representative member, animal advocacy sector Mr Bill Bray, representative member, National Farmers' Federation Dr Rick Symons, representative member, States/Territories Mr Phillip Glyde, representative member, Commonwealth

I second asking questions. What you want to do is talk to her and have her come across her own reasons for not breeding without it seeming like that was your agenda. Say you heard that she was looking at breeding - seem interested Ask her if she's done it before - conversation might need to be adjusted at this point Ask her if she knows if any of her dogs health issues are genetic - hopefully the conversation will flow at this point. Then you can mention you've heard some horror stories in past from breeders and would be too scared to risk anything happening to your dog. Wish her luck with whatever she decides to do. If you start spouting a lot of facts you'll likely put her on the defense and she won't be actually taking in anything you are saying Hopefully by approaching the situation more gently she might come to you questions if she starts doubting her plan to breed. I came across a similar situation last week but was very cautious about offending anyone as they were my parent's friends. I started talking about my own dogs a bit later and mentioned how it's good they have genetic testing these days to try and wipe out a lot of these issues like PRA which is what one of my dog's have.

that's so adorable :D sounds like you've made a lot of progress to get her to where she is now. gotta wonder what made the kid want to pat your girl so much, if indeed he was scared of dogs. Although kids and dogs sometimes seem to have their own language that we'll probably never understand

Cocker Spaniel They take a long time to grow up. Up until about the age of 4 all they want to do is play. Cocker spaniel's are social dogs, some can be a little over boisterous but from what I've seen are able to adjust their play style depending on the other dog and they generally respond well to a telling off by another dog if their excitement level is a bit too high. They can play well with both larger and smaller well socialised dogs and are happy to say hello to people they've not met before. They like to play fetch, although aren't always very good at bringing the ball back :p Cocker spaniels are also great family pets and get along well with children. Their size means they are unlikely to knock over anyone over the age of 5.

your pictures remind me of this... :laugh: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/9630536/Underwater-Dogs-photographs-of-dogs-underwater-by-Seth-Casteel.html?frame=2377718

Glad you found somewhere for your doggies I was pestering my OH as he has an RDO on Monday and we have a pretty large yard in Ringwood I'll let him know he's all good to go gold panning in warrandyte which was likely his original plan.

yeah that was the one

I thought it would go quick. Hopefully whoever got the dog has better intentions that this person. The story went that the person got the dog as a giveaway (their words) and then asked the landlord who said he was selling the house so they would have to move out. queue giving up the dog

Hi, I just came across this add in gumtree http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/bray-park/dogs-puppies/giveaway-doggy/1031412523 this person is giving away a dog that they received as a give away the day prior! Is there anyone that is part of a rescue org that can contact this person to see of they will surrender the dog and help to make sure he doesn't continue to get turfed from home to home