Leah82

Here's our Cocker before and after his latest clip. Big Teddy Bear to Dashing Cocker Spaniel :D

I get the same thing, I first figured it out when my parents Kelpie would sneak a lick on my chin when he was on the back of the ATV and I would come up in lumps soon after. Again like most people have suggested look at a preventative antihistamine (Rinocort or Beconase) Also I've noticed that my hands are not affected so if a licking dog it coming your way put your hand out and they'll be able to lick that all they like, but if they get the forearm then make sure that area is washed asap. As you can see it's not the end of the world, many people with dogs suffer the same thing and manage it just fine with a few changes :) I survive with our 2 by using rinocort and seretide (asthma preventative) every morning but I still need to wash my hands and arms after cuddle time and come up with the occasional bumps that go away fairly quickly.

I think I'm a bit late with the bandwagon but can blind dogs do nosework? We have a cocker that is currently loosing his sight due to PRA and he's only 5 and a half. He already spends a lot of time having to sniff out his balls when we're at the park as he doesn't always see where they land and you can tell how much he loves it when his tail is doing figure eights :p

I'm with you little gifts, I think it's a great idea. Each dog is given a unique 'breed' name and desexed so it's highly doubtful that this campaign is going to contribute to the growing number of designer breed names. Humans identify with our own often unique ancestry so it's understandable that many people want a similar understanding of the dogs they own. This organisation is giving these dogs breed names that the owners can be proud of rather than referring to their loving dog as a mutt or a mongrel which are words that are often used to insult both dogs and people these days.

I definitely agree that desexed dogs bring their own set of challenges. I've never seen a cocker spaniel with a coat as thick and wooly as our cocker. His coat gets left to grow in winter but is definitely clipped in summer to keep him cooler. Not to mention we like going camping and to the beach with the dogs in summer and a shorter coat means it drys quicker and he doesn't get as dirty, although apparently that's just me being lazy :p

The diagram fails to take into account the dogs colouring. In basic physics you learn that darker colours absorb light and therefore heat and lighter colours reflect light and heat. If you have a mostly black dog it will absorb heat when out in the sun and if the coat is long the dog will not be able to cool itself very easily.

I love watching dogs do agility, it looks like they're having so much fun :D Some of the courses look complicated though, how long does it take you to learn them?

A small brag from me. My rescue Sarah passed her beginners class in obedience yesterday. And while the instructors specifically said it was the humans being tested (giving correct commands and signals) and it didn't matter what the dogs did, Sarah still did everything that was asked of her :D she's come a long way from the little girl I adopted back in May who didn't even know how to sit on command. As a reward at the end of testing the instructors bought out a couple of small agility obstacles (small table top ramp and a jump) which was great because I had been thinking I'd like to get Sarah into agility. We went over the ramp a handful of times and she noticeably improved every time. Now we just need to get through Class 1 and 2 and we can officially start agility training.

If cross breeding creates aggressive dogs then explain Cocker rage? At the end of the day you cannot stop irresponsible people from having babies so how do you propose stopping irresponsible people from breeding their dogs. After all there would be very large percentage of dogs all around Australia (purebred or not) that aren't even registered with the local council. As far as cross breeding goes, the purebred dogs of today were bred for a purpose, most of these dogs are now simply companion animals and have nothing to do with what their ancestors were created to do. Cross breeding has a purpose in creating dogs that are suitable to our current lifestyle. Yes, a lot of cross breeds are breed for convenience or by accident by that doesn't mean you should rule it out all together. It's been said before but what we need is more education. Where are the government media campaigns that promote responsible pet ownership and how to create a well balanced dog?

Just came across this article and did a quick search to see if there was an update. Looks like she's making a remarkable recovery :) http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2013/08/21/371170_news.html

Unfortunately the effective voice control of a dog is only ever called into question when something goes wrong. If councils put this on their rules for off leash parks then you would think it would be monitored to a certain degree but it's not. I was in an interesting situation when I was at the park the other week. A poodle x stole Collie's ball right in front of me and it's owner. When it first happened the owner attempted to call the dog back to him, but with no response what-so-ever from the dog he gave up. After a good few minutes of the dogs running around in circles I made a comment about Collie not being too happy about the situation and I ended up having to offer the dog's owner some of my dog treats to get the ball off his dog

Btw I'm so impressed with Sarah, her recall was excellent yesterday and most of the time she was either out in front of me playing with Collie where I could see her or if I couldn't see her I would generally turn around and she'd be trotting along right behind me :D

Had a great day up at the snow today :D Everyone had a great time and lots of zoomies were had by all. Collie went a little crazy at the sound of the snow falling off the trees as he thought that meant small animals in the undergrowth :p

Wednesday is the day! providing my boss approves my leave :p Freezing levels will be around 1000 - 1200 meters today and tomorrow with around 16 centimetres of snow predicted around Lake Mountain and Mt Margaret with more to fall on Wednesday Afternoon. Fingers crossed we get enough snow to play around in :) Will post pics later in the week Would love to have done a longer trip to Dinner Plain but money has been a bit tight, maybe next year.

video, not very clear but you can hear the barking :p http://www.novafm.com.au/national/station/viral-fix/video/fake-dog-actually-lion-china-zoo

I agree :) pretty funny. I get that Tibetan Mastiff's have a Lion look about them but they don't look that much alike :p

Have you heard the saying if you can't say something nice don't say anything at all. It should probably be adjusted in the forum world to 'If you can't say something nice and or constructive then don't say anything at all' If you don't see the point of the thread why are you wasting your time posting in it?! I for one love seeing pics of puppies, bloody or not :D

I saw that, it breaks my heart to think my gorgeous girl Sarah lived in similar circumstances

I actually loled - good thing I'm alone in the office :) Still though, what did they expect for $2.70 :p Article A CHINESE zoo's supposed "African lion" has been exposed as a fraud when the dog used as a substitute started barking. The zoo in the People's Park of Luohe, in the central province of Henan, replaced exotic exhibits with common species, according to the state-run Beijing Youth Daily. It quoted a customer surnamed Liu who wanted to show her son the different sounds animals made - but he pointed out that the animal in the cage labelled "African lion" was barking. The beast was in fact a Tibetan mastiff - a large and long-haired breed of dog. "The zoo is absolutely cheating us," the paper quoted Liu, who was charged 15 yuan ($2.70) for the ticket, as saying. "They are trying to disguise the dogs as lions." Three other species housed incorrectly included two coypu rodents in a snake's cage, a white fox in a leopard's den, and another dog in a wolf pen. The chief of the park's animal department, Liu Suya, told the paper that while it does have a lion, it had been taken to a breeding facility and the dog - which belonged to an employee - had been temporarily housed in the zoo over safety concerns. Users of China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo service mocked the zoo. "This is not funny at all. It's sad for both the zoo and the animals," said one. "They should at least use a husky to pretend to be a wolf," said another.

When we first put a jumper on Collie he looked so cute and was absolutely lapping up the attention from the store staff and customers. Sarah on the other hand would just wait until you weren't looking and take it off...still no idea how she does it, it's a knitted jumper and probably a bit too big for her but still. One cold Melbourne winters day however I put on Sarah's jumper after she was still a bit damp from a bath, she spend all day in the jumper and even lasted all night, usually if I left it on her at night I would find it sitting next to the dog bed in the morning. I think being that it was extra cold she finally realised it's advantages :p But like everything else just give it time and Sascha will come round, at least she hasn't taken it off yet :)

I may be stepping on a few toes here but to me this is a puppy farm, registered breeder or not. Most puppy farms are registered as there's essentially no law against it. Just because the dogs appear to be in good health doesn't mean these conditions are not affecting them mentally. Dogs are designed to be with people, either as a working dog or pet and there's no way this many dogs are getting the necessary exercise and socialisation. Unfortunately the current laws regarding registered breeding facilities in VIC state that the minimum exercise requirements is 10 minutes twice a day, when the dog is spending the rest of it's life in a cage or kennel that's no-where near enough. I adopted my Poodle x through a rescue that received her from a puppy farm and by the rescue standards the farm was 'one of the better ones'. Apart from a minor ear infection she was in perfect health when we got her but mentally she's got a long way to go. I've heard of many worse situations, Sarah is settling in really well but there are plenty of things that still make her really anxious and confused. If she was raised as a puppy in a loving home she would most likely be confident and easy going like our Cocker. I'm sure many of you have read the story from Darien who's little Cocker Misty is now on prozac since she's moved from a Kennel situation into a home. Why can't we get away from accepting what is 'acceptable' standards and start working on giving every dog the best we possibly can, after all we domesticated them in the first place so it's our responsibility to make sure it wasn't to the detriment of future generations. Primary industries should not exist to provide pets.

You need to talk to the tenants, you can't really do anything unless you know where they stand. Mention the constant barking which is making you and your dogs agitated. I wouldn't go into the fence fighting with them because then they can lay some of the blame on your dog. Just because you tell them it's never happened before doesn't mean they'll believe you. Suggest a meet and greet with your dogs, suggest a behaviourist and this will give you an indication if they're likely to try and solve the problem. If they don't seem interested in fixing the problem then you can contact the council, real estate agent or owners if you have their details. Better they know about the problem sooner rather than later.

Will definitely be taking lots of pics, when we make it up there anyway. Everytime I look at the forecast there's less and less snow, so it might end up being another weekend

Where abouts in VIC are you? I just joined the Dog Obedience Club in Knox and they seem very good, they're all about the quick reward system and finding out what works best for your dog.

Thanks Guys, I was a bit concerned about them getting wet and cold for the trip home as well so I'll bring some towels and their jumpers along for after. Sunday seems to be the best day for it so it's going to be a big one, We've got obedience in the morning and our club is putting on people and doggie cup cakes for RSPCA Cupcake day, then it's off to the snow from there... Getting exhausted just thinking about it :D